Ethics Policy
As members of the local Board of Directors, representing all the citizens of our school district, we agree:
To take the initiative in helping all the people of this community to have all the facts, all the time, about their schools, to the end that they will readily provide the finest possible program, staff, and facilities.
To devote time, thought, and study to the duties and responsibilities of a School Board member so that we may render effective and creditable service.
To work with our fellow constituents in a spirit of harmony and cooperation in spite of differences of opinion that arise during vigorous debate of points at issue.
To base our personal decision upon all available facts in each situation; to vote our honest conviction in every case, un-swayed by partisan bias of any kind.
To remember at all times that as an individual we have no legal authority outside the meetings of the Board, and to conduct our relationships with the school staff, the local citizenry, and all media of communication on the basis of this fact.
To resist every temptation and outside pressure to use our position as school board members to benefit ourselves above the total interest of the school district.
To recognize that it is as important for the Board to understand and evaluate the educational program of the schools as it is to plan for the business of school operation.
To bear in mind under all circumstances that the primary function of the Board is to provide oversight and accountability for the business of the school district. To accomplish that role the Board establishes policies by which schools are to be administered. The administration of the educational program and the conduct of school business shall be under the direction of the employed Superintendent of Schools and the professional and non-professional staff.
To welcome and encourage active cooperation by citizens, organizations, and the media with respect to establishing policy on current school operations and proposed future developments.
To strive step by step toward ideal conditions for the most effective school board service to our community, in a spirit of team work and devotion to public education as the greatest instrument for the preservation and perpetuation of our representative democracy.