Week 5, Part 1

Standard 1.2: A superintendent had maintenance employees working at his house on school time. The employees used school equipment and school funds to pay for the work being done on the superintendent’s house.

Short-range consequences include loss of time that maintenance employees should have been working at school and loss of funds that should have been spent on the school. Long-range consequences include issues with the district audit and a general distrust of the superintendent.

Preventative measures include requiring accurate records for time spent on the clock. Also, accounting procedures for use of district equipment and funds should be in place with checks and balances to ensure that no one person is able to make the decision to use these resources for personal use. In compliance with SBEC competency 1, the superintendent “model and promote the highest standard of conduct, ethical principles, and integrity in decision making, actions, and behaviors.”

Standard 1.6: A principal falsified attendance records and tried to coerce the attendance clerk to falsify records also. When the clerk brought the principal’s actions to the superintendent, the principal was fired.

Short-range consequences include the attendance clerk losing trust in the principal, and the principal losing his job. Long-range consequences include the school possibly having to pay back funds if too much ADA revenue was paid to the district as a result of the principal’s deception.

Preventative measures include internal auditing of attendance recording and a superintendent that will “apply laws, policies, and procedures in a fair and reasonable manner” in compliance with SBEC competency 1.

Standard 1:9: An administrator threatened violence on an employee who stated his plans to take his request to the administrator’s supervisor after the administrator originally refused. The threat resulted in an argument that turned into a physical fight. Several teachers witnessed the fight.

Short-range consequences include a distrust of the administrator and loss of professional respect. The long-range consequences include the loss of the principal’s job.

Standard 2.2: An administrator who does not like the decisions of the district regarding his campus begins to spread rumors in the community about why those decisions were made.

Short-term consequences include the administrator losing credibility, stakeholders losing confidence in district administrators, and a general feeling of distrust among campus personnel. Long-range consequences could include the administrator losing his job and the community questioning future decisions.

Standard 2.3: A principal fired an employee who made allegations against the principal. The employee was not given proper documentation to warrant dismissal, and prior performance appraisals were satisfactory.

Short-range consequences include the employee’s job loss. Long-term consequences include a lawsuit filed against the district for unlawful termination.

Preventative measures include requiring proper documentation before allowing a principal to move to non-renew or terminate an employee. The superintendent should make sure all administrators are aware and understand the The Code of Ethics and Standard Practices for Texas Educators. Policies and procedures should be in place to ensure compliance with these practices.

Reflection: Reading or hearing about unethical practices of administrators can be disheartening. I want to believe that everyone involved in education truly wants to uphold high moral and ethical standards in order to best educate children and serve our stakeholders. Sadly, this is not always the case. These examples demonstrate the importance of superintendents and other administrator adhering to the code of ethics and keeping others accountable to do the same.