A board member must abstain from discussing or voting on a superintendent candidate who currently works in the district and is in “the supervisory chain of command” over the member’s spouse, according to a recent Advisory Opinion from the School Ethics Commission.

In Advisory Opinion A07-06, the panel determined that the board member would violate the New Jersey School Ethics Act if he participated in the superintendent search and selection process where one of the candidates was an administrator in the district. The candidate is the direct supervisor of a principal who, in turn, supervises the board member’s spouse.

Expands Earlier Ruling The ethics commission’s ruling, which had been solicited by the board member, expands on an earlier advisory opinion. In 2000, the panel said that board members could participate in the initial selection of supervisors of their immediate family members, but could have no further participation in decisions affecting the supervisors’ employment.

However, the commission also noted that the ethics act could be interpreted to preclude participation in any aspect of supervisor recruitment “if the selection is for someone who already knows the board member’s spouse.” Such familiarity existed in this summer’s case where the superintendent candidate was in the supervisory chain of command over the board member’s spouse.

The panel also relied on a 2005 opinion, which held that board members would violate the ethics act if they participated in employment decisions regarding principals who served as direct supervisors of their spouses.