Rocky View Schools (RVS) now has a policy in place outlining employee conduct as the board of trustees approved Policy GBC Employee Code of Conduct into policy at the Jan. 8 meeting.
RVS Trustee Helen Clease made the motion for second reading and was unanimously approved.
“I think it’s always important to make sure expectations and tracking (are in place),” Clease said.
Though much of what the policy refers to is already in RVS procedures, Lang said this policy is a “slightly stronger call of action for employee conduct.”
The policy covers everything from accepting gifts, information disclosure, treating others with dignity and respect, private endeavors that might cause a perceived conflict of interest and displaying best practices in the performance of their assigned duties.
Public gifts to schools
The board passed Policy JH Public Gifts to Schools at the Jan. 8 meeting, however the decision was not a unanimous one.
RVS Trustee Fiona Gilbert made a motion to return the policy to the Policy Development Committee for further revision.
“We have spent time over the last little while discussing the difference between policy and procedure,” Gilbert said. “When I re-read this policy, when I look through it with that lens, I find it to be very procedural.”
She said as the policy reads, it is “how it should be done and not just the what.”
“As you were talking it occurred to me this might be one of those policies that needs a little more meat in it because it effects stakeholders,” RVS Trustee Bev LePeare said. “The public can know right off the bat how it will work.” “Someone who’s thinking of making a donation would go to our policy. This is kind of for the general public,” Clease said. The policy clarifies that any donation becomes the property of the division and not just the school it was donated to and outlines procedure for money and equipment donations. Gilbert and RVS Trustee Todd Brand voted in opposition but the policy was ultimately passed and enacted.
