Conflicts of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual’s personal interests – family, friendships, financial, or social factors – could compromise (or be seen to compromise) their judgment, decisions, or actions.
Any board member with a conflict of interest must declare it and then excuse themselves from that part of the meeting or all of the meeting.
Ideally, conflicts of interest will be declared before a meeting (from the agenda), but this is not always possible.
A member may declare and excuse themselves during a meeting.
The member may return once your board has discussed, considered anything relating to, and decided on the matter.
Regulation 15 of the Education (School Boards) Regulations 2020open_in_new relates to conflicts of interest, but we’re unpacking it in this article.
How do you manage conflicts of interest?
Ultimately, boards rely on the integrity of their members.
It is up to each board member to declare when they have a conflict of interest and exclude themselves from the whole or part of the meeting.
There are some tools that have been designed to help manage conflict. For instance, your board could:
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Set up and maintain a conflict of interest registeropen_in_new that includes actual and potential conflicts, such as family relationships that may conflict with board members.
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Adopt a conflict of interest policy statement that sets expectations and limitations.
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Actively ensure everyone understands the code of conduct for board membersopen_in_new.
If your board finds itself in a position where most of its members are conflicted and cannot form a quorum, it could appoint a delegated committee to deal with the matter.
All board committees must have at least two people, one of whom must be a board member.
If this is not possible, your board might need to engage an external contractor to deal with the matter on its behalf.
Your board may already have a register. If not, download from the links at the end of this article.
When discussing matters involving a student or staff member, do staff and student reps have an automatic conflict of interest?
No, they do not automatically have a conflict of interest.
According to Regulation 15 (2 and 3) of the Education (School Board) Regulations 2020open_in_new, they must be excluded from any meeting while the board discusses, considers, considers anything relating to, decides on any matter relating to their own employment or them as an individual student, or if a complaint has been received related to them.
However, like any board member, if they have a close connection with the person involved, they should disclose the conflict of interest.
What happens if someone doesn’t accept that they have a conflict of interest?
Most boards rely on their conflict of interest policy statement and the code of conduct for board members to show the board member why they have a conflict.
This is just one reason why it’s a good idea for your board to annually review and discuss the code of conduct for board members issued by the Minister of Education.
If your board identifies a serious risk to its function, it could exclude the conflicted board members from discussions and voting on that particular matter.
This would require a motion to appoint a delegated committee (that doesn’t include the conflicted member) to deal with the matter, along with the reasons it was determined necessary to exclude the conflicted board member.
If you are in this situation, please call our Advisory and Support Centre.
How often should you review your policy statement and register?
We recommend reviewing them at the start of each year and:
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Whenever there is a change in the membership of your board, or
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When a board member notifies the board of a relevant change in their circumstances.
Questions your board could ask
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Do we all understand what a conflict of interest is?
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Do we have an up-to-date interest register outlining things that have the potential to become conflicts of interest?
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How often do we review it?
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Have we sat down as a team to write/review our board’s conflict of interest policy statement?
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Do we have an up-to-date conflict of interest register that records each time a declaration of a conflict is made and what actions we took to mitigate any risk to the integrity of our board?
Templates, resources, and references
Click on the link(s) below to access this topic’s templates, resources, and references.
Depending on your device, these may download or open in a separate browser.
Links from us
Ministry of Education
Education (School Boards) Regulations 2020