BOARD MEMBER CODE OF ETHICS 165

Wautoma Area School District
Approved 02/11/99

A. As a member of the Wautoma Area School District Board of Education, representing all the citizens of the district, I recognize the following:
1. My fellow citizens have entrusted me with the educational development of the children and youth of the Wautoma Area School District Community.
2. The community expects my first and greatest concern to be in the best interest of each one of the young people without discrimination.
3. The future welfare of this community, of this state, and of the Nation depends in the largest measure upon the quality of education we provide in the public schools to fit the needs of every learner.
4. My fellow Board members and I must take the initiative in helping all community members to have all the facts all the time about their schools, to the end that they will readily provide the finest possible school program, school staff, and school facilities.
5. The legal authority of the Board is derived from the State which ultimately controls the organization and operation of the school district and which determines the degree of discretionary power left with the Board and the people of this community for the exercise of local autonomy.
6. I must never neglect my personal obligation to the community and my legal obligation to the State, nor surrender these responsibilities to any other person, group, or organization; but that, beyond these, I have a moral and civic obligation to the Nation which can remain strong and free only so long as public schools in the United States of America are kept strong and free.
B. In view of the foregoing considerations, it shall by my constant endeavor to:
1. Devote time, thought, and study to the duties and responsibilities of a Board of Education member so that I may render effective and creditable service.
2. Base personal decisions upon all available facts in each situation, to vote my honest conviction in every case, unswayed by partisan bias of any kind; thereafter, to abide by and uphold the final
majority decision of the Board.
3. Work with my fellow Board members in a spirit of harmony and cooperation in spite of differences of opinion that arise during vigorous debate of points at issue.
4. To remember at all times that as an individual I have no legal authority outside the meetings of the Board except as directed by the Board, and to conduct my relationships with the school staff, the local citizenry, and all media of communication on the basis of this fact.
5. Follow any ethical standards for elected officials as established by State law.
6. Recognize that it is as important for the aboard to understand and evaluate the education program of the schools, as it is to plan for the business of school operation.
7. Bear in mind under all circumstances that the primary function of the Board is to establish the policies by which the schools are to be administered, but that the administration of the educational program and the conduct of school business shall be left to the employed District Administrator and his/her professional and paraprofessional staff.
8. Welcome and encourage active cooperation by citizens, organizations, and the media of communication in the district with respect to establishing policy on current school operation and proposed future developments.
9. Support my State and National School Boards Associations.
10. Strive systematically toward ideal conditions for most effective Board of Education service to my community, in a spirit of teamwork and devotion to public education as the greatest instrument for the preservation and perpetuation of our representative democracy.