The Board will annually appoint legal counsel to represent the corporation and to advise the Board on legal matters. Counsel will attend regular and special meetings of the Board when requested to do so, and will be available for consultation as needed.

Because it is often necessary to consult legal counsel and receive its expert opinion as part of background information to be used by the Board in making decisions, and because at times the District may be involved in litigation or other legal matters, the Superintendent, Board President and the District Secretary are authorized to seek counsel's services as needed. However, the Board wishes to be kept informed of legal matters that are other than routine, and of legal services that may involve extraordinary expense to the District.

Individual Board members are expected to consult school legal counsel only when the full Board of Directors has given permission for such consultation. Otherwise, the Board member will be expected to pay any legal fees that may result.

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Members of the Board of Directors serve without pay. Board members shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties as allowed by law.

Prior to reimbursement of actual and necessary expenses, the Board member must submit a detailed receipt indicating the date, purpose and nature of the expense for each claim item. Failure to provide a detailed receipt will make the expense non-reimbursable. In exceptional circumstances, the Board may allow a claim without proper receipt. Written documentation explaining the exceptional circumstances will be maintained as part of the District's record of the claim.

Personal expenses will be reimbursed by the Board member to the District no later than ten (10) working days following the date of the expense.

It is the responsibility of the board secretary to compile the expenses of Board members and bring them to the Board for audit and approval in the same manner as other claims of the District. It is the responsibility of the Board to determine through the audit and approval process of the Board whether the expenses incurred by a Board member are actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties.

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Board members may receive a gift on behalf of the school district.  Board members will not, either directly or indirectly, solicit, accept or receive a gift, series of gifts or an honorarium unless the donor does not meet the definition of "restricted donor" stated below or the gift or honorarium does not meet the definition of gift or honorarium stated below.

A "restricted donor" is defined as a person or other entity which:

• Is seeking to be or is a party to any one or any combination of sales, purchases, leases or contracts to, from or with the school district;

• Will be directly and substantially affected financially by the performance or nonperformance of the board member's official duty in a way that is greater than the effect on the public generally or on a substantial class of persons to which the person belongs as a member of a profession, occupation, industry or region; or

• Is a lobbyist or a client of a lobbyist with respect to matters within the school district's jurisdiction.

A "gift" is the giving of anything of value in return for which something of equal or greater value is not given or received.  However, "gift" does not include any of the following:

• Contributions to a candidate or a candidate's committee;

• Information material relevant to a board member's official function, such as books, pamphlets, reports, documents, periodicals or other information that is recorded in a written, audio or visual format;

• Anything received from a person related within the fourth degree by kinship or marriage, unless the donor is acting as an agent or intermediary for another person not so related;

• An inheritance;

• Anything available or distributed to the general public free of charge without regard to the official status of the board recipient;

• Items received from a charitable, professional, educational or business organization to which the board member belongs as a dues paying member if the items are given to all members of the organization without regard to an individual member's status or positions held outside of the organization and if the dues paid are not inconsequential when compared to the items received;

• Actual expenses of a board member for food, beverages, travel and lodging for a meeting, which is given in return for participation in a panel or speaking engagement at the meeting when the expenses relate directly to the day or days on which the board member has participation or presentation responsibilities;

• Plaques or items of negligible resale value given as recognition for public service;

• Nonmonetary items with a value of less than three dollars that are received from any one donor during one calendar day;

• Items or services solicited or given to a state, national or regional organization in which the state of Iowa or a school district is a member for purposes of a business or educational conference, seminar or other meeting or solicited by or given to state, national or regional government organizations whose memberships and officers are primarily composed of state or local government officials or employees for purposes of a business or educational conference, seminar or other meeting;

• Items or services received by members or representatives of members as part of a regularly scheduled event that is part of a business or educational conference, seminar or other meeting that is sponsored and directed by any state, national or regional government organization in which the state of Iowa or a political subdivision of the state of Iowa is a member or received at such an event by members or representatives of members of state, national or regional government organizations whose memberships and officers are primarily composed of state or local government officials or employees;

• Funeral flowers or memorials to a church or nonprofit organization; 

• Gifts which are given to a public official for the public official's wedding or twenty-fifth or fiftieth wedding anniversary;

• Payment of salary or expenses by a board member's employer or the firm in which the board member is a member for the cost of attending a meeting of a subunit of an agency when the board member whose expenses are being paid serves on a board, commission, committee, council or other subunit of the agency and the board member is not entitled to receive compensation or reimbursement of expenses from the school district;

• Gifts other than food, beverages, travel and lodging received by a board member which are received from a person who is a citizen of a country other than the United States and is given during a ceremonial presentation or as a result of a custom of the other country and is of personal value only to the board member; or

• Actual registration costs for informational meetings or sessions which assist a public official or public employee in the performance of the person's official functions.  The costs of food, drink, lodging and travel are not "registration costs" under this paragraph.  Meetings or sessions which a public official or public employee attends for personal or professional licensing purposes are not "informational meetings or sessions which assist a public official or public employee in the performance of the person's official functions" under this paragraph.

An "honorarium" is anything of value that is accepted by, or on behalf of, a board member as consideration for an appearance, speech or article.  An honorarium does not include any of the following:

• Actual expenses of a board member for registration, food, beverages, travel or lodging for a meeting, which is given in return for participation in a panel or speaking engagement at a meeting when the expenses relate directly to the day or days on which the board member has participation or presentation responsibilities;

• A non monetary gift or series of non monetary gifts donated within thirty days to a public body, an educational or charitable organization or the department of general services; or

• A payment made to a board member for services rendered as part of a private business, trade or profession in which the board member is engaged if the payment is commensurate with the actual services rendered and is not being made because of the person's status as a board member but, rather, because of some special expertise or other qualification.

It is the responsibility of each board member to know when it is appropriate to accept or reject gifts or honorariums.

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Approved: 12/9/24                              Reviewed:                                    Revised: