Code of Ethics for School Leaders

The first example of an ethical violation pertains to standard 1.2, the educator shall not knowingly misappropriate, divert, or use monies, and personnel, property, or equipment committed to his/her charge for personal gain or advantage. The Director of Maintenance at a school district was guilty of all of the above offenses. This individual was using equipment, personnel, and supplies at his personal home for a number of consecutive years. He was ordering extra of building supplies and having it delivered to his personal home and then utilize the districts employees and equipment to improve his facilities at home. The short term consequences for this situation were the termination of employment and the launch of a thorough investigation. The long term consequences were the addition of personnel to oversee the expenditures of the maintenance department as well as two signatures for each purchase. There were also numerous policies and procedures for purchasing and the use of district resources placed into effect. As a district, we also held a district wide meeting addressing the importance of modeling and promoting positive ethical behavior
Standard 1.3, the educator shall not submit fraudulent request for reimbursement, expenses, or pay, is another area that I have seen ethical violations. Just until a couple of years ago employees who stayed overnight at conferences, field trips, or any other overnight trip were reimbursed a lump per diem. I observed numerous personnel eat at banquets that were free or even not eat, but still requested meal reimbursement. For short term these individuals were written up in their personnel folders and required to provide receipts for any trip after that date. As many other violations, this prompted a long term investigation which derived new policies and procedures for all personnel. No personnel were reimbursed for any meal without a receipt. The business office sent out an update to all personnel as part of a preventative plan to inform personnel of the importance of promoting and modeling positive ethical behavior.
One other standard violation of ethics that I have witnessed is standard 1.13; the educator shall not consume alcoholic beverages on school property or during school activities when students are present. What I observed is not consumption of alcohol but a coach who was under the influence of alcohol at a track meet. This was at another district’s facilities and the coach had had some specific reason for needing to drive his personal vehicle to the meet. Upon his arrival to the event he was under the influence of alcohol. The students and other coaches made the administration aware and we quickly had the coach leave. There were many short term consequences that were derived from this act of poor conduct. The Coach was terminated the very next day and was reported to SBEC. This was also a very big bad eye for the district and we were frowned upon by students, parents, and community members for poor representation of school personnel and their behavior. Long term effects were the individuals teaching certificate being revoked, respect from stakeholders, and additional policies and procedures for coaching staff and personnel driving personal vehicles to events. The district not only added new policies and procedures for a preventive plan for the future but worked countless hours to gain the respect back of all stakeholders.
After reviewing the standards for “Ethical Conduct Toward Professional Colleagues a couple of standards involve situations which I have witnessed. The first is standard 2.3; the educator shall adhere to written local school board policies and state and federal laws regarding the hiring, firing, and dismissal of personnel. Local policy mandates that any educator dismissed or non-renewed but be given proper documentation of the reason for the dismissal and could just not be told they were not being offered a contract. This occurred with a coach when the AD informed her that she would not be offered a contract the next year. She questioned why and stated that the board policy specifically stated that the AD had to give her a reason. The AD insisted that he didn’t and refused to give the coach a reason. The coach then went to the superintendent and the superintendent did inform the AD that he must give her a reason. He then informed the coach that she just did not fit his program in the district. The coach let it end at that but the procedure set forth by the board was not adhered to by the AD. In short and long term influences this will have is lack of trust from coaches that are currently staffed and when recruiting new coaches to the district. This also gives a bad reputation that administrators in the district do not follow all guidelines and procedures set forth by the school board.
The other standard that I have witnessed is standard 2.6, the educator shall not coercive means or promise of specific treatment in order to influence professional decisions or colleagues. The high school principal encouraged a Jr. High staff member to move over to the high school for a teaching position. He promised her certain classes and even arranged her schedule to have a conference at the beginning of the day. The principal promised her all of these things if she would make the transfer. The teacher did make the transfer and the other staff members caught on very quickly. The new teacher was given a wonderful and easy schedule, which loaded up the existing staff. This made for a very hostile working environment among staff. It also affected the support and trust of the principal.