Section 5-E3716. CONTRACTING ETHICS AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

 

3716.1It shall be unethical for a person to be retained, or to retain a person, to solicit or secure a school system contract upon an agreement or understanding for a commission, percentage, brokerage, or contingent fee.

 

3716.2No employee, officer, or Board member shall serve on the board of directors or other governing body (whether or not receiving compensation) of any contractor with whom the school system has a current contractual relationship.

 

3716.3It shall be a breach of ethical standards for any employee, officer, or Board member knowingly to use confidential information for his or her actual or anticipated personal gain, or for the actual or anticipated personal gain of any other person, or to provide that information in a manner which gives a prospective bidder or offeror an advantage over other prospective bidders or offerors.

 

3716.4It shall be unethical for any employee, officer, or Board member to participate, directly or indirectly, in any proceeding; request for ruling; other determination, claim, or controversy; other particular matter pertaining to any contract; or any solicitation or proposal for a contract in which, to his or her knowledge, any of the following applies:

 

(a)He or she, or any member of his or her immediate family, has a financial interest therein;

 

(b)A business or organization in which he or she, or any member of his or her immediate family, has a financial interest as an officer, director, trustee, partner, or employee, is a party; or

 

(c)Any other person, business, or organization with whom he or she, or any member of his or her immediate family, is negotiating or has an arrangement concerning prospective employment is a party.

 

3716.5As used in § 3716.4, the phrase “direct or indirect participation” shall include but not be limited to involvement through decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, preparation of any part of a purchase request, influencing the content of any specification or purchase standard, rendering of advice, investigation, auditing, or any other advisory capacity.

 

3716.6Any employee, officer, or Board member who has or obtains any benefit from any school system contract with a business in which that individual has a financial interest shall report those benefits to the Superintendent.

 

3716.7It is unethical for any person to offer, give, or agree to give any employee, officer, or Board member, or for any employee, officer, or Board member to solicit, demand, accept, or agree to accept from another person, a gratuity or offer of employment in connection with any decision, approval, disapproval, recommendation, preparation of any part of a purchase request, influencing the content of any specification or purchase standard, rendering of advice, auditing, investigation, or in any other advisory capacity in any proceeding, request for ruling or other determination, claim or controversy, or other particular matter pertaining to any contract or any proposal or solicitation for a contract.

 

3716.8As used in § 3716.7, the term “gratuity” means a payment, loan, subscription, advance, deposit of monies, services, or anything of more than nominal value, present or promised, unless consideration of substantially equal or greater value is received.

 

source

Final Rulemaking published at 30 DCR 3771, 3784 (July 29, 1983).