5342 Week #5 Part 1-Code Of Ethics

EDLD 5342 Week 5-Code Of Ethics

     While I am not aware of many situations where the ethics of finance have been violated, I am aware of one incident.  A well-respected district employee had access to many pieces of equipment.  This employee had been a member of the district for many years and was often the “go-to” person for construction and maintenance solutions.  Obviously, as equipment becomes old and obsolete, there is still a process to follow to liquate assets. This employee allegedly took some of these old and obsolete pieces of equipment and placed them on their own land, perhaps even to another state.   Somehow, someone found out about it and reported this violation, as is always the case.  My understanding is that the equipment was valued at less than $5000 and was no longer usable by the district. Since the employee did not accurately follow the process for liquidation, there was an employment consequence and legal proceedings ensued.  This is an unfortunate situation that essentially tarnished the fine reputation this employee had established and gave people cause to question the district’s asset liquidation process.  As a result, that district now utilizes a much more tedious process for asset accountability with much tighter guidelines on equipment usage.  The ethical conflicts involved in this situation violated TAC Standard 1.4:  “the educator shall not use institutional or professional privileges for personal or partisan advantage.”

      I conducted an internet search and learned about another district, which discovered a missing escrow account, which violates TAC Standards 1.3 and 1.6.  Standard 1.3 states, “The educator shall not submit fraudulent requests for reimbursement, expenses or pay” and Standard 1.6 states “The educator shall not falsify records, or direct or coerce others to do so.”   Apparently, the district’s former Chief Financial Officer informed the board that he established an escrow account to help pay for the district’s Chapter 41 payments.  Not only was the account not established, but also the funds were allocated to other district expenses.  In addition, the district did not follow Texas Education Agency guidelines.  As a result, the CFO was fired and the Superintendent ‘s integrity came into question by the board and community.

     Other examples of ethics violation include one district where the employees used district credit cards to purchase personal items.  This violates 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.) and 1.1. (The educator shall not intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly engage in deceptive practices regarding official policies of the school district, educational institution, educator preparation program, the Texas Education Agency, or the State Board for Educator Certification (SBEC) and its certification process.) The superintendent’s failure to disclose connections or personal gains from professional affiliations such as consulting fees, etc. violate Standards 1.7 “The educator shall comply with state regulations, written local school board policies, and other state and federal laws.”  A fifth and final example of an ethics violation would be a superintendent who claimed they had the appropriate certifications for which they truly did not.  This would violate standard 1.8 “The educator shall apply for, accept, offer, or assign a position or a responsibility on the basis of professional qualifications.”

     The short and long-range consequences of any of the violations always include deterioration of trust in the public education system.  For example, in the district where employees inappropriately used the district credit card, the short -term results are that the district needed to pay for the debt.  In addition, the public lost confidence in the fiduciary procedures for the district.  When the superintendent does not appropriately disclose business or personal relationships, there is potential for a conflict of interest.  The short-term consequence is that the Board of Trustees, as well as the community, questions the integrity of the superintendent, which could develop into long-term consequences due to the lack of trust, confidence and belief in the integrity of the superintendent and the system.  In the example involving obsolete district equipment, the short-term consequence was that the public and the board questioned district procedures.  A long-term consequence is that these valued employees of the district lost their jobs, the district lost a valuable employee resource and the employees faced possible legal consequences. 

     In order to avoid the above-mentioned violations, there are several pro-active plans that can be used.  To avoid a credit card nightmare, a district could either eliminate the use of credit cards or create a monitoring system that prevents unauthorized use of the cards.  This would show that the superintendent is following a quality indicator similar to Superintendent competency that “models and promotes the highest standard or conduct, ethical principles, and integrity in decision making, actions and behaviors” as well as illustrating that he/she “apply laws, policies, and procedures in a fair and reasonable manner.” To prevent a superintendent and district from being embarrassed about a business or personal relationship, full disclosure of any questionable relationship should be expected.  A form allowing for this full disclosure by the superintendent would help alleviate any questions and protect him/her from future allegations.  Again, this illustrates the modeling of highest standards as well as “exhibiting understanding and implementing policies and procedures that promote personnel compliance with The Code of Ethics and Standard Practices for Texas Educators.” Lastly, by implementing procedures that require a paper trail for any asset liquidation and verification by an outside source of the receipt of those assets, the superintendent not only shows that he/she is implementing policies and procedures stated above, but is again modeling and promoting highest standards.