The Board of Education of Allegany County, recognizing that the system of representative government is dependent in part upon the people maintaining the highest trust in their public officials and employees, finds and declares that the people have a right to be assured that the impartiality and independent judgement of public officials and employees will be maintained. It is evident that this confidence and trust are eroded when the conduct of public business is subject to improper influence. For the purpose of guarding against improper influence, the Board of Education of Allegany County endorses and adopts this policyand the regulation BCA-R that will require certain school officials to disclose their financial affairs and to set minimum standards for their conduct of school system business, according to the Annotated Code of Maryland, State Government Article 15-811 to 15-815 and the Maryland State Ethics Commission.

The Allegany County Board of Education Ethics Panel consists of five members, appointed by the Board and serving for overlapping five-year terms. One of the responsibilities of the Allegany County Board of Education Ethics Panel is to provide information regarding the purposes and application of the ethics regulations established for Board of Education officials and employees. The Ethics Panel developed an ethics document that describes its membership, terms, and responsibilities as well as the ethics regulations for Allegany County and procedures for advisory opinions and formal complaints. A copy of this document will be available in the office of each school, in the central office of Board of Education Office, and on the resource bar to the left.