What constitutes a conflict of interest for a member of the School Board?

Washington State has an Ethics in Public Service Act (chapter 42.52 RCW), and for many state agencies the rules that tell officials how to follow the law are written by the Washington State Executive Ethics Board. They have a manual describing its authority and rules, here in html and here in pdf format.

The Tacoma School Board’s Policy no. 1000 acknowledges their obligation to such state laws when it says “(s)ources such as the school code (Title 28A RCW), attorney general's opinions and regulations of the State Board of Education (Title 180 WAC) and the state superintendent of public instruction (Title 392 WAC) delineate the legal powers, duties and responsibilities of the board.” The Board is also subject to Chapter 42.23 RCW, which prohibits all municipal officers (which include School Board members) from benefiting from contracts undertaken by their organization. This part of the state laws does grant some exceptions. The prohibitions and exemptions of the law are incorporated into Board Policies 1610 and 1610R. (These policies are almost identical for all Washington school districts, as they are products of state law.)

Board Policy no. 1610 is unambiguous: “Individual directors and the superintendent shall not have any pecuniary interest, directly or indirectly, in any contract, purchase of materials or activity paid for from school funds.”

If a Board member owns a business or whose payment by an employer is affected by a contract with the district, the prohibition is absolute. It will not do to abstain from a Board vote on such a contract, that will not remove the prohibition. Policy 1610 goes on to say, “no director or employee of Tacoma School District No. 10 shall be beneficially interested, directly or indirectly, in any contract which: a) may be made by, through or under the supervision of such director or employee, or b) which may be made for the benefit of his/her office in whole or in part.” The italics in that last sentence were added. It says “or,” not “and.”

It is important to make this clear to the public. As stated in Policy 1610R, “Even the appearance of a conflict of interest should be avoided.”

Employment matters, such as a spouse of a Board member employed as a teacher, are in some circumstances permitted exceptions to these rules, but only according to limitations stated in the policy. And, “Ownership of a financial interest in a corporation or business is permissible so long as the financial interest is less than on percent of the outstanding shares.” (1610R)

The policy is spelled out in some detail, both in Policies 1610 and 1610R. These are the rules Board members must live by. They are legal violations.

What is the penalty for a violation? “Violation of Policy 1610 or this regulation shall be grounds for disciplinary action, which may include dismissal.” (1610R)