005.28.22 Ark. Code R. § 019 Code of Ethics

• Library: Arkansas Administrative Code
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, December, 2023
• Year: 2023
• Citation: 005.28.22 Ark. Code R. § 019

Effective Date: June 2, 2022

1.0 Title

1.1 These rules shall be known as the Arkansas Department of Education Division of Elementary and Secondary Education Rules Governing the Code of Ethics for Arkansas Educators.

2.0 Regulatory Authority

2.1 These rules are promulgated pursuant to the State Board of Education's authority under Ark. Code Ann. §§ 6Powers and duties6-11-105 6Teacher's license requirement6-17-401 6Teacher licensure - application renewal application, revocation, suspension, and probation6-17-410 6Professional Licensure Standards Board6-17-422 6Subpoena powers6-17-425 617-426, 6Ethical violations6-17-428, 25Title25-15-201 et seq., and Act 96 of 2021.

2.2 All rules, procedures, hearings, and appeals relating to the Code of Ethics complaints shall be promulgated and implemented under the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, Ark. Code Ann. § 25Title25-15-201 et seq.

3.0 Purpose

3.1 The purpose of the Rules Governing the Code of Ethics for Arkansas Educators (Code of Ethics) is to define standards of ethical conduct for all educators, whether licensed or employed under a legal waiver from licensure, and to outline procedures for receiving complaints, authorizing and conducting investigations, and recommending enforcement of the Code of Ethics.

3.2 The professional, ethical educator contributes to the development and maintenance of a supportive student-focused learning community that values and promotes human dignity, fairness, care, the greater good and individual rights. These values are the ethical premises for the standards of professional behavior and ethical decision-making established in this Code of Ethics. By establishing standards of ethical conduct, the Code of Ethics promotes the health, safety, and general welfare of students and educators and ensures the citizens of Arkansas a degree of accountability within the education profession.

4.0 Applicability

4.1 The valid Arkansas educator's license of any person shall be subject to the conditions, requirements, and mandates of the Code of Ethics, procedures, and recommendations for enforcement.

4.2 An educator who is employed under a waiver of licensure granted by the State Board to an educational entity is subject to the conditions, requirements, and mandates of the Code of Ethics, procedures, and recommendations for enforcement, including public notification of violations of the Code of Ethics and fines equivalent to those for licensed educators.

4.3 A preservice teacher who is assigned to a school as a student intern in a supervised field experience or supervised clinical experience is also subject to the Code of Ethics. A sanction adopted by the State Board of Education may be imposed on a license when, and if, it is issued to the sanctioned preservice teacher.

5.0 Definitions

5.1 Acted upon means that the State Board has taken an action to address an ethics complaint by revoking, suspending, or imposing another sanction upon an educator's license.

5.2 An Authorized Ethics Complaint Investigation is an ethics complaint that has been: (1) validated by an Investigator of the PLSB as being submitted by an identifiable person; and (2) authorized for investigation based upon reasonable belief by the Ethics Subcommittee that if the allegation is true, it would constitute a violation of the Code of Ethics as set forth in these rules committed by an Arkansas educator. The Ethics Subcommittee shall investigate an ethics complaint that it determines is credible. (Ark. Code Ann. § 6Ethical violations6-17-428) .

5.3 AELS means the Arkansas Educator Licensure System.

5.4 Code of Ethics means the Code of Ethics for Arkansas Educators established by the PLSB under Ark. Code. Ann. § 6Professional Licensure Standards Board6-17-422.

5.5 Dispositions are the values, commitments, and professional ethics that influence behaviors toward students, families, colleagues and communities and that contribute to student learning, motivation, and development as well as the educator's own professional growth. Dispositions are guided by beliefs and attitudes related to values such as caring, fairness, honesty, responsibility and social justice.

5.6 Division means the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.

5.7 Educator means: 5.7.1 A person holding a valid educator's license issued by the State Board; even if the license expires during the pendency of the ethics complaint process. 5.7.2 A person employed under a waiver from licensure; 5.7.3 A preservice teacher; or 5.7.4 A person employed under an emergency teaching permit.

5.8 Educational Setting means any public school, open enrollment public charter school, virtual public school, or education service cooperative in Arkansas serving students in any of grades pre-K through 12.

5.9 Educator's License means a teaching license, an administrator's license, lifetime teaching license, ancillary license, provisional license, or any other license or permit issued by the State Board.

5.10 Ethics Complaint means an allegation of violation form that states alleged facts that if true would constitute an ethics violation of the Code of Ethics, is signed under penalty of perjury by the person filing the ethics complaint, validated by a PLSB Investigator, and authorized for investigation by the Ethics Subcommittee. An ethics complaint may also be a finding made in an audit report forwarded to the Division by the Arkansas Joint Legislative Auditing Committee under Ark. Code Ann. § 6Repeat audit findings - Review by the Professional Licensure Standards Board6-17-426.

5.11 Ethics Subcommittee means the subcommittee established by the PLSB to receive and investigate ethics complaints, and enforce the Code of Ethics through recommendations to the State Board. 5.11.1 The Ethics Subcommittee is composed of five (5) members with proportionate representation as the PLSB of public school teachers and administrators plus one (1) member from any other category of representation on the PLSB.

5.12 Ethics Hearing Subcommittee means the subcommittee appointed by the PLSB to conduct evidentiary hearings under these rules. The Ethics Hearing Subcommittee is composed of six (6) members, three (3) of whom may be appointed by the PLSB based on educational experience. One (1) of the members shall be appointed to represent non-licensed teachers.

5.13 Ethics Violation is an act or omission on the part of an educator, when the educator knew, or reasonably should have known, that such acts or omissions were in violation of the Code of Ethics as set forth in these rules. 5.13.1 An ethics violation does not include: 5.13.1.1 A reasonable mistake made in good faith; 5.13.1.2 Acts or omissions undertaken in accordance with the reasonable instructions of a supervisor; or 5.13.1.3 An act or omission under circumstances in which the educator had a reasonable belief that failure to follow the instructions of a supervisor would result in an adverse job action against the educator.

5.14 Filed means an allegation of violation form, a motion, or other document has been stamped by PLSB staff with a date acknowledging when the document arrived at the offices of the PLSB staff.

5.15 Hearing Officer means an impartial Arkansas licensed attorney who serves in a quasi-judicial role, i.e. opening the hearing, introducing the parties, swearing witnesses, and ruling on objections.

5.16 Impairment means the state of being mentally or physically diminished, weakened, or damaged, with respect to performing the educator's professional duties.

5.17 Level 1 Public Notification of Ethics Violation is a public notification that a nonlicensed educator has violated the Code of Ethics in a manner equivalent to a violation that warrants a written reprimand. The purpose of a Level 1 Public Notification is to publicly admonish the nonlicensed educator;

5.18 Level 2 Public Notification of Ethics Violation is a public notification that a nonlicensed educator has violated the Code of Ethics in a manner equivalent to a violation that warrants the probation of a license. The purpose of a Level 2 Public Notification is to publicly admonish the nonlicensed educator and place conditions or requirements on the educator for a specified period of time.

5.19 Level 3 Public Notification of Ethics Violation is a public notification that a nonlicensed educator has violated the Code of Ethics in a manner equivalent to a violation that warrants the suspension of a license. The purpose of a Level 3 Public Notification is to publicly admonish the nonlicensed educator and for a specified period of time: (a) to place conditions or requirements on the nonlicensed educator; (b) to notify the public that the nonlicensed educator is not recommended for employment or volunteering in an educational setting; and(c) notify the public that the nonlicensed educator is not eligible for teaching or testing duties.

5.20 Level 4 Public Notification of Ethics Violation is a public notification that a nonlicensed educator has violated the Code of Ethics in a manner equivalent to a violation that warrants the revocation of a license. The purpose of a Level 4 Public Notification is to notify the public that the educator is not recommended for employment or volunteering in an educational setting...