CONFLICT OF INTEREST | Policy Manual

1130 - CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The proper performance of school business is dependent upon the maintenance of unquestionably high standards of honesty, integrity, impartiality, and professional conduct by the Governing Board's members, and the Educational Service Center's ("Center's") employees, officers, and agents. Further, such characteristics are essential to the Governing Board's commitment to earn and keep the public's confidence in the Center. For these reasons, the Governing Board adopts the following guidelines to assure that conflicts of interest do not occur. These guidelines apply to all Center employees, officers, and agents, including members of the Governing Board. These guidelines are not intended to be all inclusive, nor to substitute for good judgment on the part of all employees, officers, agents, and Governing Board members.
1. No employee, officer, agent, or Board member shall engage in or have a financial or other interest, directly or indirectly, in any activity that conflicts or raises a reasonable question of conflict with duties and responsibilities in the school system.
2. Employees, officers agents, and Board members shall not engage in business, private practice of their profession, the rendering of services, or the sale of goods of any type where advantage is taken of any professional relationship they may have with any student, client, or parents of such students or clients in the course of their employment or professional relationship with the Center.
  
  Included, by way of illustration rather than limitation are the following:
  1. the provision of any private lessons or services for a fee
  2. the use, sale, or improper divulging of any privileged information about a student or client gained in the course of the employee's, officer's agent's, or Governing Board member's employment or professional relationship with the Center through the employee's, officer's, agent's, or Board member's access to Center records
  3. the referral of any student or client for lessons or services to any private business or professional practitioner if there is any expectation of reciprocal referrals, sharing of fees, or other remuneration for such referrals
  4. the requirement of students or clients to purchase any private goods or services provided by an employee, officer, agent, or Board member or any business or professional practitioner with whom any employee, officer, agent, or Board member has a financial or other relationship, as a condition of receiving any grades, credits, promotions, approvals, or recommendations
3. Employees, officers, agents, or Board members shall not make use of materials, equipment, or facilities of the Center in private practice. Examples would be the use of facilities before, during, or after regular business hours for service to private practice clients, or the checking out of items from an instructional materials center for private practice.
Exceptions to Part A of this policy shall be approved by the Superintendent before entering into any private relationship.
No employee, officer, agent, or Board member with a real or apparent conflict of interest may participate in the selection, award, or administration of a contract supported by the Federal award. A conflict of interest includes when the employee, officer, agent, or Board member, any member of their immediate family, their partner, or an organization that employs or is about to employ any of the parties indicated herein, has a financial or other interest in or a tangible personal benefit from an entity considered for a contract.

An employee, officer, agent, and Board member of the Center may neither solicit nor accept gratuities, favors, or anything of monetary value from contractors.
If the Center has a parent, affiliate, or subsidiary organization that is not a State, local government, or Indian tribe, the Center may not conduct a procurement action involving the parent, affiliate, or subsidiary organization if the Center is unable, or appears to be unable, to be impartial in conducting a procurement action involving a related organization.
Employees, officers, agents, and Board members must promptly disclose any potential conflict of interest which may lead to a violation of this policy to the Center. Upon discovery of any potential conflict of interest, the Center will promptly disclose, in writing, the potential conflict of interest to the appropriate Federal agency or, if applicable, the pass-through entity.

The Center will also promptly disclose whenever, in connection with the Federal award (including any activities or subawards thereunder), it has credible evidence of the commission of a violation of Federal criminal law involving fraud, conflict of interest, bribery, or gratuity violations found in Title 18 of the United States Code or a violation of the civil False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. 3729–3733). The disclosure must be made in writing to the Federal agency, the agency’s Office of Inspector General, and pass-through entity. The Center is also required to report matters related to recipient integrity and performance in accordance with Appendix XII of 2 C.F.R. Part 200.
Employees, officers, agents, and Board members found to be in violation of this conflict of interest policy will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination, as permitted by applicable Board policy and may also face criminal charges and/or risk loss of State-issued licenses/permits.