The School Board shall not knowingly approve a contract or purchase using any funds received from a Federal grant or award in which a Board member, employee, or agent of the Board has a pecuniary interest.

The Board shall not knowingly approve a contract or purchase using funds other than any of those received from a Federal grant or award in which a Board member, Corporation employee, or agent of the Board or their spouse or dependent profits or has a pecuniary interest unless the Board member, employee, or agent with the profit or pecuniary interest makes the written disclosure on State Board of Accounts Form 236 required in I.C. 35-4.1-1-4, and the disclosure is approved by vote of the Board before the Board vote on the contract or purchase.

The Superintendent shall see that a written disclosure of a conflict of interest on State Board of Accounts Form 236 that is approved by the Board is filed with the State Board of Accounts and the Clerk of the Circuit Court within fifteen (15) calendar days after approval by the Board.

Notwithstanding the above provision, the standards prohibiting conflict of interest in Bylaw 0144.3, Board Policy 1130, Board Policy 3113, and Board Policy 4113 apply to all Corporation employees, officers (that is, all members of the Board), or agents of the Board. No written disclosure shall exempt a Corporation employee from disciplinary action for violation of the conflict of interest provisions in those policies.

For the purpose of this policy the terms "pecuniary interest" and "profit" have the meaning given to those terms in I.C. 35-44.1-1-4.

All representatives of vendors proposing to provide goods or services to the Board shall report their intention to propose that the Board approve the use of a product or service to the Superintendent before contacting any Corporation teacher, student, or employee, other than the employee assigned responsibility for the contract or purchase by the Superintendent.

The Corporation's purchasing agent or committee (see Policy 6320) shall not extend or give preference to any vendor. Each contract, service, product, and vendor recommended favorably to the Board by a Board member or Corporation employee shall be recommended based upon a favorable assessment of the quality, quantity, price, and delivery proposed. Where bidding is required, recommendations shall be based on the lowest bid from a responsive and responsible bidder. Past experience with a provider may be considered in determining if the proposed provider is "responsible" as that term is used in this policy. The terms "responsible" and "responsive" shall have the meaning given them by I.C. 36-1-12-4 (10) & (11).

The Board expects its members, Corporation employees, contractors, and contractors’ employees to disclose a personal or spouse or dependent’s pecuniary interest or profit in a contract or purchase approved by the Board and to report possible violations of these Board expectations by others to the Superintendent. Parents, volunteers, contractors and concerned citizens are encouraged to report possible violations of the Board’s expectations, if they believe a violation has occurred.

The Board is committed to protection of persons reporting violations, i.e., "whistleblowers". Specific protection is addressed for administrators in Policy 1411, for professional staff members (all certificated employees who are not administrators) in Policy 3211, and for support staff in Policy 4211.

Reports by contractors and their employees are protected by this policy.

A contractor or an employee of a contractor, hereafter an "employee/contractor", who is aware of acts by a Board member, Corporation employee, or another employee/contractor that possibly violates Federal or Indiana law or Board policy shall report this conduct to his/her immediate supervisor. If the employee's immediate supervisor is not responsive or the supervisor is the person whose behavior is in question, the employee/contractor shall report the possible violation to the Superintendent. If the reported conduct relates to the Superintendent, the report shall be filed directly with the Board President.

If a violation of law or Board policy is reported, the employee/contractor will be directed to put the report in writing. An employee/contractor making such a report in writing and his/her spouse and dependents, shall be protected from retaliation for making a report pursuant to this policy if the employee/contractor had a good faith belief at the time the report was made that the information reported was true.

Contractors are subject to sanctions, including debarment. As used here, "debarment" means exclusion from eligibility for future consideration for a specific or indeterminate period, or cancellation of the current contract or relationship upon a finding by the Board that the greater weight of the credible information available to the Board demonstrates that the contractor knowingly violated a law, Board policy, or made a false report under this policy. Contractors may also be subject to debarment if they knew of a violation of law or Board policy involving or related to the business of the Board but did not make a report confirmed in writing to a supervisor in accordance with this policy.

I.C. 5-22-7 (competitive bidding)
I.C. 5-22-16-1 (responsibility)
I.C. 5-22-16-2 (responsiveness)
I.C. 22-5-3-3 (employees of contractors)
I.C. 35-44.1-1-4 (conflict of interest)
I.C. 36-1-12-4 (bidding procedure for public works)
I.C. 36-1-12-4(10) (responsive)
I.C. 36-1-12-4(11) (responsible)
2 C.F.R. 200.112, 200.113, 200.318

Revised 8/11/09
Revised 10/11/11
Revised 10/6/15
Revised 6/14/16