Week 5 Part 1 – Code of Ethics for School Leaders
Example 1 – Standard 1.2 The educator shall not knowingly misappropriate, divert, or use monies, personnel, property, or equipment committed to his or her charge for personal gain or advantage. When the Principal is out of the building the Assistant steps in. Years ago my Principal was out due to his wife having a child; the three Assistants were in charge during that time. A teacher reported she left fundraiser money in a cabinet the evening before and it was gone. The teacher stated she told one of the Assistants it was there before she left the building the evening before. Fortunately we had a video camera that captured everyone entering the classroom. Unfortunately, it was one of the Assistant Principals.
Our Area Superintendent was called; she immediately came to the school. After questioning him, she gave him the option to resign or to be terminated. The short term consequence was that he no longer could work there, the long term consequence was that he has not gone back to education since as his peers or supervisor will not give him a good reference as his reputation was tarnished.
A Superintendent interacts with district staff, students, school board and community in a professional and ethical manner. Stakeholders must be able to trust their Superintendent. A preventative action would be to implement financial guidelines for all to follow such as processes and procedures for handling any type of money on a campus, from how it is collected to how it is accounted for. Ensure that all faculty and administration are trained on the procedures.
Example 2 – Standard 1.6 The educator shall not falsify records, or direct or coerce others to do so. When I was a teacher, an administrator falsified documents. To be exact, he did not do his 45 minute observations; at the end of the year he had teachers sign off on their summative appraisals. Needless to say, one of the teachers was not happy with her scores and went to the Superintendent with the information.
Our Superintendent did a thorough investigation. The short term consequence is that he was immediately terminated because he falsified documents. This administrator was hired by another district and the long term consequence was that he was caught falsifying financial records there!! He is no longer is education.
The Superintendent serves as an advocate for children, when appraisals are not completed, it is doubtful that the best possible instruction is taking place in the classroom, which directly impacts children. The district has since installed a new software program that allows the Superintendent and Area Supt. to view the progress of appraisals for all of their administrators; not only do they monitor observations, they monitor walk-throughs. A suggestion for monitoring financial records is to give principals and school secretaries training on the coding system and how funds can or cannot be spent. That would ensure that there is a system of checks and balances.
Example 3 – Standard 1.13 The educator shall not consume alcoholic beverages on school property or during school activities when students are present. As an administrator, anytime 911 is called I receive a text and a phone call asking what the emergency is. A while back, I received three phone calls within minutes of each other. On the fourth phone call I was told that if it happened again, they were sending personnel out and we were going to be fined. At that point I had the teacher come to my office. Being a new administrator and lacking in this type experience, I bluntly asked if he had consumed alcohol that day. When he said “Yes I have,” I almost fell out of my chair!
My Area Superintendent was there within minutes and the short term consequence was that he was put on administrative leave. The long term consequence was that he was terminated by the Board.
As educators we model and promote the highest standard of conduct, ethical principles, and integrity in decision making, actions and behaviors. I don’t know if there is a true way to prevent the incident above from happening. However ethical codes are reviewed every year with all educators and monthly pieces are expanded on during Principal meetings or Faculty meetings, maybe it will keep those thinking about it from doing it.
Example 4 – Standard 2.1 The educator shall not reveal confidential health or personnel information concerning colleagues unless disclosure serves lawful professional purposes or is required by law. In the former school district I worked for an administrator shared confidential health information at a faculty meeting, while the employee was not present. It made those in attendance feel uncomfortable. Upon finding out, the employee filed a grievance.
The short term consequence consisted of the Principal being put on administrative leave; long term consequence was that her employees no longer trusted her.
Example 5 – Standard 2.2 The educator shall not harm others by knowingly making false statements about a colleague or the school system. During an economic crunch several years back, a district had to put a Reduction in Force in place. An administrator went around making false statements about the school system to the community. Eventually the Superintendent found out and called him in.
The short term consequence was that he was written up and put on administrative leave; the long term consequence is that he ended up leaving the district as no one wanted to be associated with him.
