STATEMENT OF ETHICS FOR SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS

An educational administrator's professional behavior must conform to an ethical code. The code must be idealistic and at the same time practical, so that it can apply reasonably to all educational administrators. The administrator acknowledges that the schools belong to the public they serve for the purpose of providing educational opportunities to all. However, the administrator assumes responsibility for providing professional leadership in the school and community. This responsibility requires the administrator to maintain standards of exemplary professional conduct. It must be recognized that the administrator's actions will be viewed and appraised by the community, professional associates, and students. To these ends, the administrator subscribes to the following statements of standards.

The educational administrator:

1. Makes the well-being of students the fundamental value of all decision making and actions.



2. Fulfills professional responsibilities with honesty and integrity.



3. Supports the principle of due process and protects the civil and human rights of all individuals.



4. Obeys local, state, and national laws and does not knowingly join or support organizations that advocate, directly or indirectly, the overthrow of the government.



5. Implements the governing board of education's policies and administrative rules and regulations



6. Pursues appropriate measures to correct those laws, policies, and regulations that are not consistent with sound educational goals.



7. Avoids using position for personal gain through political, social, religious, economic, or other influence.



8. Accepts academic degrees or professional certification only from duly accredited institutions.



9. Maintains the standards and seeks to improve the effectiveness of the profession through research and continuing professional development.



10. Honors all contracts until fulfillment or release.

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of these guidelines is to provide Alabama school administrators with applicable provisions of the "Ethics Act" of the State of Alabama, and to point out some activities and questions which may be encountered by school administrators in the performance of their duties.

These guidelines are intended as an overview and reference tool and are not an "all-inclusive" compilation of rules and regulations.ETHICS GUIDELINES FOR SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS

The State Ethics Act, which became law in 1973, was enacted as a result of public officials feeling a need for guidelines to aid them in fulfilling their duties in a manner that would be beyond reproach. One important part of the Act is found in Section 36-25-5, Code of Alabama, and provides that:

No public official or employee shall use an official position or office to obtain direct personal financial gain for himself, or his family, or any business with which he or a member of his family is associated unless such use or gain is specifically authorized by law.Section 36-25-6, Code of Alabama, further provides:

No public official or public employee shall use or cause to be used his or her official position or office to obtain personal gain for himself or herself, or family member of the public employee or family member of the public official, or any business with which the person is associated unless the use and gain are otherwise specifically authorized by law. Personal gain is achieved when the public official, public employee, or family member thereof receives, obtains, exerts control over, or otherwise converts to personal use the object constituting such personal gain.Section 36-25-7, Code of Alabama, provides:

Any person who violates any provision of this chapter and is found guilty shall be fined not more than $10,000 or shall be imprisoned for not more than 10 years or both.

It should not be fear of penalties that governs the actions of school officials, rather a desire to do what is right to protect the reputation and integrity of our state's educational system.

(a) No person shall offer or give to a public official or public employee or a member of the household of a public employee or a member of the household of the public official and none of the aforementioned shall solicit or receive a thing of value for the purpose of influencing official action.

(b) No public official or public employee shall solicit or receive a thing of value for himself or herself or for a family member of the public employee or family member of the public official for the purpose of influencing official action.

(c) No person shall offer or give a family member of the public official or family member of the public employee a thing of value for the purpose of influencing official action.

(d) No public official or public employee, shall solicit or receive any money in addition to that received by the public official or pubic employee in an official capacity for advice or assistance on matters concerning the Legislature, lobbying legislative body, an executive department or any public regulatory board, commission or other body of which he or she is a member. Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a public official or public employee from the performance of his or her official duties or responsibilities. (Acts 1973, No. 1056, p. 1699, 5; Acts 1975, No. 130, 1; Acts 1995, No. 95-194, 1.)

Gifts

Questions often arise as to what is a gift that would influence decisions or actions of an official. Items donated to a school such as pencils, pens, and note pads are distributed by a number of vendors as advertising. It is hardly conceivable these could be considered gifts that would influence decisions or actions of an official. The test of "reasonableness" should be applied. Reasonableness in this context may be defined as anything that might be construed to influence the decision of the decision maker in the purchase of school related goods and services.

Entertainment

Note an exception is provided in Section 16-25-6 for expenses associated with social occasions. It is generally accepted that a public employee/official may have a business dinner or luncheon paid for by a salesman, or he or she may visit a hospitality room. Although the ethics law does not limit the cost involved, these again should be one of "reasonableness."

Bidding School Related Activities

The bid law is another area about which questions arise. Section 41-15-51, Code of Alabama, provides specifically that the competitive bid law shall not apply to:

Purchases made by individual schools of the county or municipal public school systems from monies other than those raised by taxation or received through appropriateness from state or county sources.

The purpose of the competitive bid law is to eliminate pressures on the awarding authority to select a bid other than the best offer. Usually, the best offer is the lowest bid but service to the account and reputation of the company for performance definitely should be a consideration. It would be wise to follow the purpose of the competitive bid law as closely as possible.

Commissions

Even if not an Ethics Act violation, questions about commissions paid by vendors to a school are often raised. If students or parents are not aware of the commissions, their extent or purpose, a disclosure problem may arise. This may be avoided by communicating to the students and parents that school commissions will be used for school purposes. Accurate records should be maintained of all transactions, and these records should be open to all concerned so the public will understand that no part of a commission goes to benefit a school official or any individual personally.

Employment of Spouse and/or Dependent Children

The Ethics Commission has ruled that school administrators should not use their positions within the school system to hire their spouses and/or dependent children.

Financial Disclosure

All school administrators and all administrative employees who have administrative and discretionary authority for the receipt of expenditure of public funds or earn in excess of $25,000 annually must file a Statement of Economic Interests between January 1 and April 30 of each year. Teachers are specifically exempted from this disclosure requirement. The necessary forms are mailed from the Office of the Alabama Ethics Commission in January and February, but anyone covered by this law who has not received a form by March 1 should contact the Commission and inform them of this fact.

Part-time Employment

The Alabama Ethics law does not prohibit part-time employment by any school administrator unless such employment places the individual in a conflict of interest situation. For example, a principal should not sell cleaning products to his own school or operate a vending machine company with the machines being placed in his own school.

Conclusions

It is difficult in many cases to know exactly what is proper and what constitutes a violation of the ethics law. A good guide is to refuse to accept any kind of gift or service if there is any doubt in one's mind relative to the propriety of such acceptance. A school official should do nothing that would give even the appearance of impropriety in the purchase of school-related goods and services. As a guide, the following is suggested:

1. Schools should be adequately funded; however, in many cases they are not. As long as individual school have to pay for some things from revenue they must generate, it will be necessary to raise money by some means. It would be better to pass the savings on to the student, but this is not economically feasible in many cases. Where a part of a sales transaction is kept by the school, a full "disclosure" should be made to the students and parents.
2. School officials should not accept "personal" gifts or favors from anyone selling or attempting to sell items to be paid for by the school, students, parents or anyone associated with the school system.
3. Insofar as possible, students and faculty members should be involved in making decisions about specifications governing the purchase of goods and services to be used by them.
4. In some cases, it is necessary for the collection of funds to be handled by school officials. This should be carefully planned and carried out so that no instructional time will be used for this purpose. Students may be involved in such a way as to provide a learning experience for them.
5. School officials should not make "personal" purchases through a school fund to take advantage of school purchasing privileges.
6. The test of reasonableness should be applied in dealing with all vendors. If there is doubt in one's mind about the propriety of a certain action, one should refrian from this action.

Following the above recommended procedures will help protect school officials from charges of conflict of interest or improper conduct. Elimination of the appearance of impropriety will enhance and continue the professional image school principals and other school officials have established over the years.

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