District clerk/Superintendent Secretary

[Paul Haggett]

Hello Forum members:

Our district is interviewing for a new District Clerk and secretary to the superintendent this week.  One of the major needs of this position is an ability to keep much information confidential.  

Let's say the BOE was discussing something of a controversial nature involving the superintendent....obviously the secretary's boss. Should the board expect the same level of confidentiality with our clerk as the superintendent would have a right to expect of his secretary?

If I as President ask the clerk to pull the superintendent's file for me; or we seek some inside office information for an evaluation, is the clerk under the same obligation to keep such inquiries private among the board as s/he would be with the superintendent?

Thanks for your insight!

[Paul Haggett]

Thanks for the input. Happily, we are not in this situation. This was my first go-round as an interviewer for a district clerk. This was just a “what if” scenario I was honestly not sure how to handle. I hadn’t thought of the school attorney angle. Thank you!

[Michael Kelly]

We also have the superintendents secretary as our district clerk. It may be asking a bit much fr anyone to maintain dual loyalties. s the question of having her pull information from a superintendents file, we always make sure that a duplicate file is maintained with the districts legal counsel. Therefore any requests are directed to them.

I can not think of a situation where the district clerk would be included on a conversation the board would be having regarding the superintendent. I do agree with the earlier post that if you are concerned about asking for confidential information on your superintendent, you may want to consult with legal counsel and then have a open conversation with the superintendent.

[Michelle Jacobsen]

I would think so. Here's the thing though, if you are asking for something and don't want your superintendent to know about it, there are likely bigger fish to fry...Open communication between you and the superintendent is important to the success of the school.