Employee Ethics, Code of Professional Conduct

Employee Ethics; Code of Professional Conduct

All school employees are expected to maintain high standards in their job performance, demonstrate integrity and honesty, be considerate and cooperative, and maintain professional and appropriate relationships with students, parents/guardians, staff members, and others.

The Principal or designee shall provide this policy to all school employees and students and/or parents/guardians in their respective handbooks, and ensure its posting on the District’s website, if any.

Professional and Appropriate Conduct

Professional and appropriate employee conduct are important Board goals that impact the quality of a safe learning environment and the school community, increasing students’ ability to learn and the school’s ability to educate. To protect students from sexual misconduct by employees, and employees from the appearance of impropriety, State law also recognizes the importance for school employees to constantly maintain professional and appropriate relationships with students by following established expectations and guidelines for employee-student boundaries. Many breaches of employee-student boundaries do not rise to the level of criminal behavior but do pose a potential risk to student safety and impact the quality of a safe learning environment. Repeated violations of employee-student boundaries may indicate the grooming of a student for sexual abuse. As bystanders, employees may know of concerning behaviors that no one else is aware of, so their training on: (1) preventing, recognizing, reporting, and responding to child sexual abuse and grooming behavior; (2) this policy; and (3) federal and state reporting requirements is essential to maintaining the Board’s goal of professional and appropriate conduct.

The principal or designee shall identify employee conduct standards that define appropriate employee-student boundaries, provide training about them, and monitor the school’s employees for violations of employee-student boundaries. The employee conduct standards will require that, at a minimum:

  1. Employees who are governed by the Code of Ethics for Illinois Educators, adopted by the Ill. State Board of Education (ISBE), will comply with its incorporation by reference into this policy.
  2. Employees are trained on educator ethics, child abuse, grooming behaviors, and employee-student boundary violations as required by law and Board policies.
  3. Employees maintain professional relationships with students, including maintaining employee-student boundaries based upon students’ ages, grade levels, and developmental levels and following school-established guidelines for specific situations, including but not limited to:
  4. Transporting a student;
  5. Taking or possessing a photo or video of a student; and
  6. Meeting with a student or contacting a student outside the employee’s professional role.
  7. Employees report prohibited behaviors and/or boundary violations pursuant to Board policies.
  8. Discipline up to and including dismissal will occur for any employee who violates an employee conduct standard or engages in any of the following:
    1. Violates expectations and guidelines for employee-student boundaries.
    2. Sexually harasses a student.
    3. Willfully or negligently fails to follow reporting requirements of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act.
    4. Engages in groomingas defined in 720 ILCS 5/11-25.
    5. Engages in grooming behaviors. Prohibited grooming behaviors include, at a minimum, sexual misconduct.Sexual misconduct is any act, including but not limited to, any verbal, nonverbal, written, or electronic communication or physical activity, by an employee with direct contact with a student, that is directed toward or with a student to establish a romantic or sexual relationship with the student. Examples include, but are not limited to:
      1. A sexual or romantic invitation.
      2. Dating or soliciting a date.
      3. Engaging in sexualized or romantic dialog.
      4. Making sexually suggestive comments that are directed toward or with a student.
      5. Self-disclosure or physical exposure of a sexual, romantic.
      6. A sexual, indecent, romantic, or contact with the student.