HomeMy WebLinkAbout80-049 CaseyRobert P. Casey, Solicitor
Scranton Area School District
Ninth Floor
Scranton National Bank Building
Scranton, PA 18503
STATE ETHICS COMMISSION
308 FINANCE BUILDING
HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA 17120
October 14, 1980
OPINION OF THE COMMISSION
80 -049
RE: Application of Ethics Act, School Administrators,
Principals, and Supervisor or Reading
Dear Mr. Casey:
I. Issue:
The question has been presented as to the applicability
of the Ethics Act to three groups or classes of persons serving
the Scranton Area School District: (1) Secondary School
Principals- Administrators; (2) Elementary School Principals
and (3) Supervisors of Reading: Specifically, are individuals
within these classifications "public employees" subject to the
Ethics Act?
II. Factual Basis for Determination:
You and /or Superintendent of Schools Flynn provided us
with job descriptions and specifications for the classifications
in question. These appear in pertinent detail below:
A. The Secondary School Principal- Administrator is
responsible for the total operation of the secondary
school. This person functions under the general
supervision of the Director of Secondary and
Continuing Education. The duties of this individual,
among general educational goals, are to:
1. Supervise the instructional program of the
Secondary School and administer all facets of
the school in a manner which will provide
maximum opportunity for learning.
2. Direct student control and discipline.
Robert P. Casey, Solicitor
October 14, 1980
Page 2
3. Administer the school athletic program, keeping
strictly within the bounds of Pennsylvania
Interscholastic Athletic Association rules and
regulations.
4. Assign professional and non - professional staff
within the building. This includes the duty to
organize and schedule classes with consideration
for teacher and student teacher competencies,
space allotment and time. Also includes teacher
ratings as directed by Superintendent of Schools.
5. Coordinate special services available to the
school, such as guidance services, home and
school visitors, audio - visual coordinators,
school health services, and the special competencies
of central office personnel, consultants, and other
resource personnel.
6. Administer the public relations program of the
school, interpreting school policies, programs
and achievements to parents, community, individual
groups and others interested in the school.
7. Provide leadership in the selection of material
and equipment used by the staff, as required, to
implement the program of the school, and super-
vises the maintenance of records and inventories
of all items pertaining to the educational programs.
8. Make budegtary recommendations based upon staff
evaluation of existing programs and proposed
extensions and /or changes. This includes the
responsibility to coordinate expenditures of
allocated funds within the district procedure.
B. The Elementary School Principal- Administrator is
responsible for the total operation of the particular
Elementary School to which he /she is assigned. This
person functions under the general supervision of the
Director of Pre - School and Elementary Education. In
addition to general educational goals, this person
is to:
1. Supervise the instructional program of the
Elementary School. This includes the responsibility
to administer all facets of the school in a manner
which provides maximum opportunity for learning.
2. Direct student control and discipline.
Robert P. Casey, Solicitor
October 14, 1980
Page 3
3. Assign professional and non - professional staff
within the building, including coordination of
student - teacher program and organize and schedule
classes with consideration for teacher competencies,
space allotment and time. Includes rating of all
teachers as directed by the Superintendent of Schools.
4. Coordinate itinerant services available to the
school physical education, reading, art, speech,
music, home and school visitors, school health
services and the special competencies of central
office personnel, consultants and other resource
personnel.
5. Administer the public relations program of the
school, interpreting school policies, programs
and achievements to parents, community, indivi-
dual groups and others interested in the school.
6. Make budgetary recommendations based upon staff
evaluation of existing programs and proposed
extensions and /or changes. Coordinate expendi-
tures of allocated funds within the district
procedure.
C. The Supervisor of Reading has major responsiblity in
the area of reading, grades K to 12. This person
reports through the Director of Pre - School and
Elementary Education and works in close Co- operation
with the Principals and Vice - principals in the
Secondary and Elementary Schools. This individual,
most pertinently, is responsible for the following:
1. Cooperating with principals, department chairmen,
teachers and consultants, to define the goals of
the total reading program and those specific
aspects of the program.
2. Assuming a leadership role in directing the services
of the secondary school department chairmen and
teachers representing the elementary schools.
3. Establishing immediate and long range goals for the
improvement of the reading program, grades K -12.
Robert P. Casey, Solicitor
October 14, 1980
Page 4
4. Cooperating with principals, department chairmen,
teachers and consultants, planning and implementing
curriculum revisions, prepare guidelines, to select
instructional materials and design a procedure for
evaluation.
5. Assisting department chairmen and book clerks in
preparing book orders and orders for other
instructional materials, review and approve or
cancel, after consultation with the department
chairman and /or the principal, items in the budget
concerned with this program.
6. Assisting the administration in inteviewing and
selecting teachers when requested by the Superin-
tendent.
7. Cooperating with the principal, department heads,
and the personnel office, in evaluating teacher
performance in the area of reading programs.
•
Working with administration in providing in- service
for administrators.
9. Cooperating with the Pennsylvania Department of
Education in developing pilot and experimental
programs.
10. Preparing reports and records requested by the
Central Office Administration.
III. Applicable Law:
The most pertinent place to begin is with the definition
of "public employee." Section 2 of the Ethics Act defines this
term as follows:
"'Public employee.' Any individual employed
by the Commonwealth or a political subdivision
who is responsible for taking or recommending
official action of a nonministerial nature with
regard to:
(1) contracting or procurement;
(2) administering or monitoring grants or
subsidies;
(3) planning or zoning;
Robert P. Casey, Solicitor
October 14, 1980
Page 5
(4) inspecting, licensing, regulating or
auditing any person; or
(5) any other activity where the official
action has an economic impact of greater
than a de minimus nature on the interests of
any person.
'Public employee' shall not include individuals
who are employed by the State or any political
subdivision thereof in teaching as distinguished
from administrative duties." 65 P.S. 402.
Regulations promulgated by the Commission provide that a
public employee is:
"a) A person who normally performs his or
her responsibility in the field without
on -site supervision; or,
The immediate supervisor of such a
person; or,
The supervisor of the highest level
field office.
b) A person with the authority to make
final decisions; or,
With the authority to forward or stop
recommendations from being sent to the
person or body with the authority to make
final decisions; or,
Who prepares or supervises the preparation
of final recommendations; or,
Who makes the final technical recommenda-
tions; and
Whose recommendations or actions are an
inherent and recurring part of his or her
position and affect organizations other
than his or her own.
Persons in the positions listed below are
generally considered public employees....
School business managers and principals."
51 Pa. Code 1.1
Robert P. Casey, Solicitor
October 14, 1980
Page 6
Other pertinent terms within this definition have been further
defined by Regulation as follows:
IV. Discussion:
"Ministerial actions - An action that a
person performs in a prescribed manner in
obedience to the mandate of legal authority,
without regard to or the exercise of the
person's own judgment as to the desira-
bility of the action being taken."
"Non- ministerial actions - An action in
which the person exercises his or her own
judgment as to the desirability of the
action taken."
"De minimus economic impact - an
economic consequence which is a mere
trifle and which, if continued in
practice, would weigh little or nothing
on the public interest." 51 Pa. Code 1.1
The classifications A and B above, Secondary and Elementary
School Administrator- principal are addressed together in this
discussion. Category C will be addressed separately. Categories
A and B are referred to as Principals in this discussion.
Persons serving as Principals have complete general, day -to -day,
on -site control over the schools they operate. They have the
direct responsibility for assigning teachers and implementing over-
all student disciplinary policies. In these areas they clearly
exercise judgment as to the desirability of the action to be taken.
They are not within the "teaching" exemption of the definition
of "public employee" because their duties are clearly administra-
tive in nature. They have the authority to make final decisions
in these areas at least and the authority to prepare and forward
recommendations in other areas listed in Part VI.
In addition, and most importantly, they are charged with
the clear responsibility for making budgetary recommendations
including proposals for staff and program expansions and /or
changes. These persons are responsible for "coordinating
expenditures" from allocated funds. This must be read to mean that
they determine whether expenditures are authorized as within
budgetary restrictions, for example. This direct responsibility
for recommending on such matters is clearly within the category
Robert P. Casey, Solicitor
October 14, 1980
Page 7
of either taking or recommending official action with regard to
"contracting or procurement." In the area of budgetary recommen-
dations, these persons certainly recommend official action that
would have a substantial impact an the interest of a person. In
general, recommendations regarding staff and program extentions or
reductions must be considered to have an "economic consequence"
which is more than a "trifle" and thus of greater than de minimus
impact.
In contrast, the persons within Category C above, the Reading
Supervisors have responsibility in only a narrower, more circum-
scribed, area. A review of a list of their duties is helpful in
distinguishing them from the Principals discussed above. Persons
within Category C, for example, report to and cooperate with the
Principals. They assist the Principals, department chairmen and
other teachers. They have no direct budgetary responsibility.
They make no independent choices regarding contracting or
procurement, even though they may assist others in preparing
book or film orders, for example. Basically, they do not for
example, plan or make curriculum changes, but they assist the
Principals in making such changes within their field of reading.
V. Conclusion:
In light of the nature and scope of the responsibilities
and - duties of those persons within the categories of Secondary
and Elementary School Principals- Administrators, the Commission
conlcudes that such persons are "public employees" as that term
is defined in the Ethics Act.- These persons are subject to the
Ethics Act and should conform their conduct accordingly. If
they have not previously filed Statements of Financial Interests
as required by Section 4 of the Ethics Act, they should do so
within thirty (30) days of this Opinion. We will provide any
forms and assistance necessary to assist you in this task.
In light of the nature and scope of the responsibilities
and duties of those persons designated as Supervisors of Reading
as discussed in Part IV above, the Commission concludes that
these persons are not "public employees" as defined in the
Ethics Act. Accordingly, these persons are not required to
comply with the reporting and disclosure requirements of
Section 4 of the Act.
Robert P. Casey, Solicitor
October 14, 1980
Page 8
Pursuant to Section 7(9)(i), this opinion is a complete
defense in any enforcement proceeding initiated by the Commission,
and evidence of good faith conduct in any civil or criminal
proceeding, providing the requestor has disclosed truthfully
all the material facts and committed the acts complained of in
reliance on the advice given.
This letter is a public record and will be made available
as such.
PJS /rdp
AUL J., MITH
Chairman/