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Dear Readers:
If you are a central office administrator, or a campus principal, you have probably encountered a school board trustee who just wanted to know everything about your employees. Worse yet, maybe that trustee genuinely believed that this was one of the perks of getting elected to the school board!
Nothing is more difficult than trying to tell a trustee (who is in a position to decide your future) that the contents of your personnel records are none of their business; that is not a good strategy. But there are some irrefutable things that you can share with trustees that may make them think twice about asking.
First and foremost, one common responsibility of a school board trustee is to sit on a board of review for any term contract non-renewal of a teacher or educational administrator that has been proposed by the principal and/or Superintendent of Schools. This is an enormously important and powerful right of review, and if utilized correctly virtually insures that educators who should not be in your school district are removed. But the trustee who becomes familiar with the facts of the case endangers his ability to serve on the governing board and conduct this all-important review. A member of the governing board can be challenged on the basis or bias or self-interest, and it is exponentially easier to defend against either allegation if the trustee has no prior knowledge of the case. In other words, by knowing too much about the educator's personal information, the trustee potentially handicaps one of the most valuable rights and powers he was elected to exercise. See Gilder v. Meno , 926 SW2d 357 (Tex.App.-Austin, 1996).
Secondly, unlike the private sector where privacy for employees is largely something corporations voluntarily elect to provide, a legion of state and federal laws absolutely guarantee a Texas public school employee privacy, regarding his physical, personal, and family circumstances as well as his professional performance. A trustee that reviews and shares this information with anyone subjects the school district and himself to severe consequences (potentially even criminal) for release of private information.
Please CLICK HERE and CLICK here for more information. The links to these statutes are more compelling than any amount of lecturing. In your every professional adventure, we wish you the very best.
Laura Fowler and THE FOWLER LAW FIRM P.C . are very proud to represent Texas Independent School Districts and their educators and administrators. We are deeply grateful to so many of you who have helped to make our firm a success. The Fowler Law Firm P.C. is a full service law firm whose attorneys have many years of experience in the handling of real estate, family law, probate and estate, business formation and taxation. We never charge a client a fee or incur any expense until the client understands and agrees. In addition, we often counsel with your clients and friends and give them the information they need at no charge when we cannot truly be of service. For more information or to refer a matter to us please contact us at (512) 441-1411 or visit our website at www.thefowlerlawfirm.com .
To find out how you can join The Fowler Law Firm Preventative School and Education Law Program, please CLICK HERE.
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This information is
provided by Laura S. Fowler, Attorney at Law with
The Fowler Law Firm PC. It is not intended as a
substitute for careful review by legal counsel of
your choosing. We would be most honored to assist
you in your every real legal need.
Contact Laura
Fowler at lfowler@thefowlerlawfirm.com
or
call (512) 441-1411.
As with any legal
issues, please consult your attorney with
questions.
