Board needs to revise conduct, not policies.

Brian Sonntag:
We also found that District Board Policy 6810 is inconsistent with the Policy 1260. Policy 6810 states that “No person shall be employed by the district who is the spouse of or dependant child of any member of the Board of Directors or of the superintendent.” We have recommended the District revise its policies to be consistent.

Mark Zandberg:
Board Policy 1260 has nothing to do with Board Policy 6810. BP1260 pertains to contractual work performed for the District where a board member may be affiliated in a non-salaried capacity. Meaning, the board member cannot receive any financial benefit from any business transaction between an employer and the District - unless this relationship is specifically disclosed and recorded in board minutes. The policy essentially sought to exclude conflicts between board members (spouses and dependents included) and entities providing services to the District.

In case the Conflict of Interest provisions were not entirely clear in BP1260, earlier, more enlightened boards specifically called out a circumstance that would be a clear conflict. It is contained in BP6810 and reinforces the conflict described in BP1260.

The inconsistency is not between BP1260 and BP6810 but rather between these board policies and the conduct of this board. Don't feel bad Mr. Sonntag, three years in law school and several years of practicing law apparently wouldn't have made it any clearer.

So, now the Edmonds School District will revise board policies to specifically allow clear conflicts of interest to exist. Would such a revision be in the best interest of the public? Would such a revision be "For the Kids"? How do these board members sleep at night?

Board minutes have also reflected the board's intention to revise policies contained in the 1000 series, when in actuality, any revisions in that series would be meaningless without altering the intent of BP6810. Maybe this board intends to eternally postpone any action on Series 1000 until Gary and Kay Noble have milked every conceivable advantage in maintaining this conflict. [Discussion Topic 1 on Page 2 of the Board Agenda]

BP1260 - CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

It is the policy of the Edmonds School District that no member of the Board, or any spouse or dependent relative of such member, shall receive or accept any compensation or reward for services rendered to the District or have any pecuniary interest in any contract to which the District is a party except to the limited extent authorized by law. For the purposes of this policy, such pecuniary interest shall not be deemed to exist by reason of a contract between the District and the employer of a Board member if: (a) the compensation of the Board member from such employer consists entirely of fixed wages or salary; (b) such employment relationship is disclosed and is recorded in the minutes of a Board meeting prior to the formation of the contract with the employer; and (c) the contract is approved by a vote of the membership for the Board sufficient for the purpose without counting the vote of the Board member employed by the contracting party.

BP6810 - CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

No person shall be employed by the district who is the spouse or dependent child of any member of the Board of Directors or of the superintendent.