Nepotism in Allen ISD

Today I want to talk about the term “nepotism”. Nepotism is favoritism granted in politics or business to relatives regardless of merit. It’s actually even cited in our own policies and procedures under Legal Policy (BBFE) as excerpted below:

NEPOTISM

Except as provided by law, a public official may not appoint a person to a position that is to be directly or indirectly compensated from public funds or fees of office if:

a. The person is related to the public official by blood (consanguinity) within the third degree or by marriage (affinity) within the second degree; or

b. The public official holds the appointment or confirmation authority as a member of a local board and the person is related to another member of the board by blood or marriage within a prohibited degree.

Gov’t Code 573.002, .041; Atty. Gen. Op. JC-184 (2000) [See DBE]

DEFINITION OF PUBLIC OFFICIAL

“Public official” shall mean:

a. An officer of this state or of a district, county, municipality, precinct, school district, or other political subdivision of this state; or

b. An officer or member of a board of this state or of a district, county, municipality, school district, or other political subdivision of this state.

Gov’t Code 573.001(3)

The nepotism law governs the hiring of an individual, whether the individual is hired as an employee or an independent contractor.  Atty. Gen. Op. DM-76 (1992)

A public official may not approve an account or draw or authorize the drawing of a warrant or order to pay the compensation of an ineligible individual if the official knows the individual is ineligible.  Gov’t Code 573.083

These are actual laws that make it a crime for an individual on the board who knowingly had, or has, members of their family working in the school district. Doesn’t matter if it is known, or not, the fact of the matter is that it is a law not a guideline. We cannot just make a board vote to circumvent the law. As an example, my daughter had a small contract to create bows for the Allen High School Cheerleading program, even though she had negotiated the deal before I was on the board, I have informed her, that none the less, she can not pursue the next contract due to Nepotism laws, which I agree. It’s OK for her because she does have business outside this district, in fact around the world.

I even had a sister-in-law that was thinking about applying for a job to support the school as well. Even my wife wanted to help in the cafeteria when needed, but both of them did ask, and I referred them to our Interim Superintendent Beth Nichols. It was also noted that they too would not be allowed to work for the district due to Nepotism laws.

Why am I telling you this? Well I want to stress the importance of following the law, and I believe we cannot jeopardize any of our board actions if Nepotism exists. What I have requested is that an audit be done on all Board Members to insure no one makes a blind mistake and put board judgments at risk. Sometimes these things sneak up on us and nobody wants to get caught in a bad situation.

Dr. Michael Myers

ANY DISTRIBUTION OR COPYING OF THIS MESSAGE IS PROHIBITED WITHOUT THE WRITTEN CONSENT OF DR MYERS.