Outsourcing care: the ethical implications of partnerships in school districts

Purpose This study examines district leaders' actions and beliefs in partnering with external organizations to support students and staff in their schools in the context of Covid-19. The descriptive component of the study details the sorts of organizations that district leaders partner with and the purposes of those partnerships. The analytic component of the study explores the potential and realized ethical tensions produced via external partnerships for care. Design/methodology/approach This study is a secondary analysis of qualitative data derived from a national study of caring district leadership. One emergent theme from the original dataset focused on partnerships with external and intermediary organizations. The data was re-analyzed using pattern coding. Findings District leaders most often partnered with mental or behavioral health providers, universities and local non-profits. The primary purposes of these partnerships were to provide mental and behavioral health services for students and/or staff, support for social and emotional learning programming and medical/dental services. The level of environmental turbulence, goal congruency and opportunism presented potential ethical tensions for district leaders. Originality/value This is the first study to formally explore how district leaders leverage external partners in their efforts to care for and support students and staff. Understanding both the type and extent of these partnerships and the tradeoffs inherent within them offers insight into how external organizations shape human relationships in schools.