Board Conduct, Ethics, and Conflict of Interest (Nepotism)
Revised 4-11-12 (Combined Policies BBF and BBFA) 2/11/26
Philosophy
Elected members of the South Sanpete Board of Education are representatives of the citizens of the District. As such, they shall strive to interpret the needs and attitudes of the community and translate them into education policy and recommendations with, honesty, and integrity. In so doing, the Board has all of the powers, privileges, and authority granted to school boards under Utah Law. The Board recognizes District Administration as an arm of the Board and delegates to the Administration the responsibility for administering the school system in keeping the policies and directives established by the Board.
Policy
In order to better serve the citizens, employees, and students of South Sanpete School District, the South Sanpete Board of Education shall perform their duties in accordance with the code of conduct and ethics to avoid conflict of interest situations.
Conduct and Ethics
- Integrity
- Represent all school district constituents honestly and
- Refuse to surrender to special interest, partisan, or political
- Avoid any conflict of interest or the appearance of
- Refuse to use Board membership for personal gain or
- Respect the confidentiality of privileged
- Unity
- Recognize that Board decisions can be made only by a majority vote at a sanctioned Board Meeting.
- Give full support to Board decisions, even if personal opinion may
- Value and support the role of the Superintendent and
- Work actively to achieve unity and
- Be accountable for decisions and policies made by the
- Respect
- Encourage the free expression and opinion of fellow Board Members by listening and seeking to understand them.
- Respect and value the expressions and diverse opinions of individuals or groups addressing the Board.
- Be an advocate for public
- Refrain from dominating discussions and from making unreasonable demands for information from the District staff.
- Responsibility
- Commit to provide the best quality education for all
- Be prepared, on time, attentive, and
- Become knowledgeable about local, state, and national educational
- Seek to be attentive, thorough, and loyal to the policies, programs, and procedures of the District.
- Be responsive to patron and employee communications and address them through the established line of authority.
- Recognize that Board business may be transacted only in an Open
- Hire and employ the most highly-qualified
- Conduct oneself in a manner commensurate with being a Board
- Develop one's ability to govern effectively and knowledgeably by participating in professional development.
- Avoid Communicate questions and concerns in advance so all are informed.
- Represent and act in the best interest of the students, parents, and employees of the District
- Recognize and support community
Nepotism
For purposes of this section, a “relative” means father, mother, husband, wife, son, daughter, sister, brother, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, first cousin, mother-in-law, father- in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, or daughter-in-law.
No Board member or employee of the District may employ, appoint, or vote for or recommend the appointment of a relative or cohabitant in or to any position or employment, when the salary, wages, pay, or compensation, of the appointee will be paid from public funds and the appointee will be directly supervised by a relative, as outlined in Utah Code 52-3-1 “Employment of Relatives Prohibited—Exceptions.”
Conflict of Interest
A Board Member shall not have any direct money interest in a contract with the school District, nor shall he or she furnish directly any labor, equipment, or supplies to the District.
In the event a Board Member is employed by a corporation or business or has a secondary interest in a corporation or business that furnishes goods or services to the District, the Board Member shall declare his interest and refrain from debating or voting upon the question of contracting with the company.
It is not the intent of this Policy to prevent the District from contracting with corporations or businesses because a Board Member is an employee of the firm. The Policy is designed to prevent placing a Board Member in a position where his interest in the public schools and his interest in his place of employment (or other indirect interest) might conflict and to avoid appearances of conflict of interest even though such conflict may not exist.
Private, Controlled, or Protected Information:
Board members may not:
- Accept employment or engage in any business or professional activity that the member might reasonably expect would require or induce the member to improperly disclose controlled information gained by reason of being a member of the Board.
- Disclose or improperly use controlled, private or protected information acquired by reason of membership on the Board or in the course of official duties for the member’s or another’s private gain or benefit.
- Use or attempt to use the member’s position on the Board to substantially further the member’s economic interest or to secure special privileges or exemptions for the member or others.
- Accept other employment that the member might expect would impair the member’s independence of judgment in performing the member’s public duties.
- Accept other employment that the member might expect would interfere with the ethical performance of the member’s duties.
Accepting Gifts, Compensation or Loan:
No Board member shall knowingly receive, accept, take, seek, or solicit, directly or indirectly, any gift, compensation, or loan for the member or another if:
- It would tend to influence someone in the member’s position in the discharge of official duties;
- The member knows or someone in the member’s position should know it is a reward for the member’s action; or
- The member recently has been, or is now, or in the near future may be involved in any governmental action directly affecting the donor or lender, unless a disclosure of the gift, compensation, or loan and other relevant information has been made in the manner provided below captioned “Receiving Compensation for Assistance in Transaction Involving a Government Agency.”
This section does not apply to the following:
- An occasional non-pecuniary gift having a value of not in excess of $50.00;
- An award publicly presented in recognition of public services;
- Any bona fide loan made in the ordinary course of business by an institution authorized by the laws of this state or any other state to engage in making such loans.
- A political campaign contribution if the contribution is actually used in a political campaign of the recipient Board member.
Receiving Compensation for Assistance in Transaction Involving a Government Agency:
A “government agency” is any department, division, agency, commission, board, council, committee, authority or any other institution of the state or any of its political subdivisions, including the District and Board of Education. No Board member shall receive or agree to receive compensation for assisting any person or business entity in any transaction involving a government agency unless the member files with the Board president, the superintendent, the state attorney general’s office, and the head of the agency with which the transaction is being conducted a sworn written statement containing the following information:
- The name and address of the Board member.
- The name of the District.
- The name and address of the person or business entity being or to be assisted.
- A brief description of the transaction as to which service is rendered or is to be rendered and of the nature of the service performed or to be performed.
The sworn statement shall be filed on or before the earlier of 10 days after the date of any agreement between the Board member and the person or business entity being assisted or 10 days after the receipt of compensation.
The superintendent shall post the sworn statement on the District’s website and ensure that it remains on the website while the Board member remains in office.
Utah Code § 67-16-3(1) (2024)
Utah Code § 67-16-6 (2024)
Annual Conflict of Interest Disclosure—
Unless the Board member is required to file a conflict of interest disclosure statement because of holding another position, each Board member shall prepare and submit to the superintendent a written conflict of interest disclosure statement between January 1 and January 31 of each year the Board member is in office.
Utah Code § 67-16-16(1) (2024)
The written conflict of interest statement shall include each item of information required by Utah Code § 20A-11-1604(6).
Utah Code § 20A-11-1604(6) (2025)
Utah Code § 67-16-16(1)(a) (2024)
The superintendent shall post an electronic copy of the conflict of interest disclosure statement on the District’s website within 10 business days of receipt from the superintendent and provide the lieutenant governor with a link to the posting. The superintendent shall ensure that the disclosure remains posted on the District’s website while the Board member remains in office. If the Board member is not required to submit the disclosure statement to the superintendent because the Board member is required to file a conflict of interest disclosure statement because of holding another position, the superintendent shall post a link to the Board member’s disclosure on the District website and shall provide the lieutenant governor with a copy of the link. If the Board member or the Board member’s spouse is an at-risk government employee as defined in Utah Code § 63G-2-303(1)(a) and the Board member requests redaction of employment information or the spouse’s name and employment information, the superintendent shall redact the information from the disclosure before posting the conflict of interest disclosure statement.
Utah Code § 67-16-16(2), (7) (2024)
Utah Code § 20A-11-1604(7) (2025)
Utah Code § 63G-2-303(1)(a) (2025)
If the superintendent determines that a Board member has not timely submitted a conflict of interest disclosure statement or that the statement does not meet the statutory requirement, the superintendent shall notify the Board member within five days and direct the Board member to submit a statement or an amended statement correcting the problem. If the statement or corrected statement is not submitted within seven days after the superintendent’s notice, the superintendent shall report the violation to the Utah Attorney General and shall impose a civil fine of $100 against the Board member. Any such fine shall be deposited into the District’s general fund as a dedicated credit to pay for the costs of administering the disclosure requirement.
Utah Code § 67-16-16(3)-(6) (2024)
FORM
Board of Education Member Conflict of Interest Disclosure
If additional space or entries are required for any required disclosure item, attach additional pages containing the required information and identifying the disclosure item the information relates to. If additional pages are attached, please check this space: ______.
Note: If you are an at-risk government employee, as defined in Utah Code § 63G-2-303(1)(a), you may request that your employment information provided below be redacted before this disclosure is made public; if your spouse is an at-risk government employee you may request that your spouse’s name and employment information be redacted from this disclosure before it is made public.
Name: ____________________________________________
Name of Board member’s spouse (if any): __________________________________
Name of each adult residing in Board member’s
household but not related by blood or marriage (if any): _____________________________________
Employment
Board member’s current employer(s)
Name of employer: ____________________________________________________
Address of employer: __________________________________________________
Description of Board member’s employment with employer: ______________________________
Board member’s job title with employer: _______________________________________________
Board member’s occupation with employer: _____________________________________________
Name of employer: ____________________________________________
Address of employer: __________________________________________
Description of Board member’s employment with employer: __________________________
Board member’s job title with employer: ________________________________________
Board member’s occupation with employer: ______________________________________
Board member’s employer(s) during the past year
(List any employers during the past year not listed above.)
Name of employer: ______________________________________________
Address of employer: ______________________________________________
Description of Board member’s employment with employer:
Board member’s job title with employer: _______________________________
Board member’s occupation with employer: ___________________________
Entities
Affiliated entities
(List each entity of which the Board member is currently or in the prior year was an owner or officer)
Name of entity: __________________________________________________
Board member’s position in the entity: ______________________________
Description of the type of business or activity conducted by the entity:
Name of entity: ________________________________________________
Board member’s position in the entity: ____________________________________
Description of the type of business or activity conducted by the entity:
Investment interests
(List any entity in which the Board member holds stocks or bonds with a fair market value equal to or greater than $5,000, valued either at present or within the prior year. This excludes funds managed by a third party, such as blind trusts, managed investment accounts and mutual funds.)
Name of entity: ________________________________________________________
Description of the type of business or activity conducted by the entity: ____________________________
Name of entity: _________________________________________________
Description of the type of business or activity conducted by the entity:
Other income
(List each individual or entity from whom the Board member received $5,000 or more in income during the preceding year. Note that if the Board member provides goods or services to multiple customers or clients as part of a business and licensed profession, the Board member is only required to provide this information in relation to the entity or practice through which the Board member provides the goods and services and is not required to provide information about the Board member’s individual customers or clients.)
Name of individual or entity: ___________________________________________________
Description of the type of business or activity conducted by the individual or entity: ______________________________________
Name of individual or entity: ____________________________________________________
Description of the type of business or activity conducted by the individual or entity: _____________________________________
Entity leadership positions
(List each entity not listed above for which the Board member is currently or in the prior year was either in a paid leadership capacity or in a paid or unpaid position on a board of directors)
Name of entity or organization: __________________________________________________________
Board member’s position with the entity or organization: ________________________________________
Description of the type of business or activity conducted by the entity: _________________________________________
Name of entity or organization: ____________________________________________________
Board member’s position with the entity or organization: _________________________________________
Description of the type of business or activity conducted by the entity: _____________________________________________
Spouse Employment. ___________________________________________
Current employer(s) of spouse ___________________________________________
Name of spouse employer: ________________________________________________
Address of spouse employer: _______________________________________________
Description of spouse’s employment with employer: ___________________________________
Spouse’s job title with employer: ____________________________________________
Spouse’s occupation with employer: ___________________________________________
Name of spouse employer: ___________________________________________________
Address of spouse employer: ________________________________________________
Description of spouse’s employment with employer:
Spouse’s job title with employer: ___________________________________________________
Spouse’s occupation with employer: __________________________________________________
Spouse employer(s) during the past year _____________________________________________
(List any employers of the Board member’s spouse during the past year not listed above.)
Name of spouse employer: _________________________________________
Address of spouse employer: ______________________________________
Description of spouse’s employment with employer: __________________________________
Spouse’s job title with employer: ___________________________________________________
Spouse’s occupation with employer: _________________________________________________________
Affiliated Adult Employment
(Complete for each adult residing in Board member’s household but not related by blood or marriage)
Affiliated adult’s name: ______________________________________________________
Affiliated adult’s occupation: __________________________________________________
Description of affiliated adult’s employment:
Affiliated adult’s name: __________________________________________________________
Affiliated adult’s occupation: ______________________________________________________
Description of affiliated adult’s employment: ________________________________________________________
Optional Disclosures
If desired, describe any real property in which the Board member holds an ownership or other financial interest that the Board member believes may constitute a conflict of interest:
Description of real property: _____________________________________________
Description of the type of interest held by the Board member: _______________________________________________
If desired, describe any other matter or interest that the Board member believes may constitute a conflict of interest:
Description of matter or interest: ____________________________________________
Description of matter or interest: ____________________________________________
I believe that the information provided with this disclosure statement is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge.
Date Disclosure Completed _______________________________________________
Board Member Signature: ________________________________________________
