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Policy 2.260
CODE OF ETHICS
The acceptance of a Code of Ethics implies the understanding of the basic organization of School Committees under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The oath of office of a School Committee member binds the individual member to adherence to those State Laws which apply to School Committees since School Committees are agencies of this state.
This Code of Ethics delineates three areas of responsibility of School Committee members in addition to that implied in the preamble:
- Community responsibility
- Responsibility to school administration
- Relationship to fellow Committee members
A School Committee member in their relations with this community should:
- Realize that their primary responsibility is to the children.
- Realize that their basic function is to be policy-making and not administrative.
- Remember that they are one of the team and must abide by, and carry out, all Committee decisions once they are made.
- Be well informed concerning the duties of a Committee member both on local and state level.
- Remember that they represent the entire community at all times.
- Accept the office as a Committee member as a means of unselfish service with no intent to “play politics” in any sense of the word, or to benefit personally from their Committee activities.
A School Committee member in their relations with their school administration should:
- Endeavor to establish sound, clearly-defined policies which will direct and support the administration.
- Recognize and support the administrative chain of command and refuse to act on complaints as an individual outside the administration.
- Give the Chief Administrator full responsibility for discharging their professional duties and hold them responsible for acceptable results.
- Refer all complaints to the administrative staff for solution and only discuss them at Committee meetings if such a solution fails.
A School Committee member in their relations to his fellow Committee members should:
- Recognize that action at official meetings is binding and that they alone cannot commit the Committee to any contract or agreement outside of such meeting.
- Realize that they should not make statements of promises of how they will vote on matters that will come before the Committee.
- Uphold the intent of Executive Session and respect the privileged communication that exists in Executive Session.
- Not withhold pertinent information gathered individually from all school committee members.
- Make decisions only after all facts on a question have been presented and discussed.
Legal Reference: cf. (BBF)
Approved: 1/14/97
Re-approved: 11/23/99
Approved: 5/28/19