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Committee adopts updated ethics and conflict-of-interest language for district policies
Summary
The Waukesha School District policy committee approved revisions to ethics and conflict-of-interest language across administrative, professional and support staff policy series to clarify supervision of relatives, pecuniary interests and information handling.
The Policy and Government Relations Committee of the Waukesha School District on April (date not specified) approved revisions to multiple ethics and conflict-of-interest policies that add explicit limits on supervisory relationships and clarify what constitutes a pecuniary interest.
The committee adopted changes to the administrative policy (11-30), professional staff policy (3-000 series) and support staff policy (4-000 series) that add language barring an administrative employee from directly supervising a relative and defining pecuniary interest as an arrangement that is intended to result in an ascertainable increase in income or net worth for the employee or a dependent.
Dr. Dan Seibert, superintendent, told the committee the revisions align the district with best practice and give clearer guidance to administrators. He used a hypothetical to illustrate why the language matters: “If I write a book about something educational ... and now I, as the superintendent, tell Darren, well, we’re gonna buy that book for all the principals ... and I’m making money on that, that would be inappropriate,” Seibert said.
Board members discussed application details. The committee added a drafting clarification (change of “class” to “classes”) in multiple policies to reflect that an administrative employee should not be placed in a position to evaluate relatives across one or more classes or supervisory relationships. Members also noted existing practice options such as assigning another evaluator when spouses or relatives work in the same building.
Trustee concerns about perceived conflicts also surfaced. One member said she had consulted WASB legal advisers and would typically recuse herself from votes touching contracts involving her adult children, even where the policy language might not strictly require it, to avoid appearance-of-conflict issues.
Moved by Trustee Brodsky and seconded by Trustee Brooks, the motion to adopt the policy revisions passed 4-0.
The adopted language brings the three policy series into closer alignment and preserves existing prohibitions on improper disclosure of privileged student information and other professional conduct standards.
