The Board of Education of Allegany County, recognizing that the system of representative government is dependent in part upon the people maintaining the highest trust in their public officials and employees, finds and declares that the people have a right to be assured that the impartiality and independent judgement of public officials and employees will be maintained. It is evident that this confidence and trust are eroded when the conduct of public business is subject to improper influence. For the purpose of guarding against improper influence, the Board of Education of Allegany County endorses and adopts this policy (BCA) that will require certain school officials to disclose their financial affairs and to set minimum standards for their conduct of school system business, according to the Annotated Code of Maryland, State Government Article 15-811 to 15-815 and the Maryland State Ethics Commission.

The Allegany County Board of Education Ethics Panel consists of five members, appointed by the Board and serving for overlapping five-year terms. One of the responsibilities of the Allegany County Board of Education Ethics Panel is to provide information regarding the purposes and application of the ethics regulations established for Board of Education officials and employees. The Ethics Panel developed an ethics document that describes its membership, terms, and responsibilities as well as the ethics regulations for Allegany County and procedures for advisory opinions and formal complaints. A copy of this document will be available in the office of each school, in the central office of the Board of Education, and on the resource bar to the right.

The Ethics Panel has a primary responsibility to provide advisory opinions, to conduct hearings on ethics complaints, and to make recommendations to the Board of Education on matters relating to conflict of interest, financial disclosure, and lobbying disclosure. An Ethics Panel member must be a resident of Allegany County and must not be a member of the Board of Education, subject to the Board’s control, employee of the Board, employee of a business entity subject to the authority of the Board, or spouse of a Board member. In selecting members of the Ethics Panel, the Board seeks to achieve balance with respect to gender, demographic makeup of the community, and educators/non-educators. Also, the Board seeks members who show a genuine interest in the public school system and all children, who indicate a willingness to devote the necessary time to function effectively on the Ethics Panel, who can work effectively as team members, who reflect an ability to think and act objectively and independently, and who demonstrate an understanding of the responsibilities of the Ethics Panel.