And the district now must wait for a decision from the Illinois Attorney General's office to determine whether a three-person ethics commission can decide the case instead of the board.

This is the first time a school board has applied the new state ethics law.

Warren was accused of breaking the law when she was involved in a survey about a potential property-tax referendum conducted earlier this summer. A complaint filed by a resident states that Warren introduced the survey committee to the political action committee that paid for the survey and asked district employees to provide information for the survey.

The school board by law must determine whether Warren violated the ordinance.

As a sitting board member, Warren is required by state law to remain impartial on political matters, meaning she cannot advocate for a referendum.

However, three board members – Anne Miller, Mary Fioretti and President John Court – will be called to testify at the hearing, district lawyer Darcy Kriha said.

That leaves only Susie Kopacz and Vice President Richard Traub to make the decision, which is fewer than the four board members required to legally take action.

Kriha proposed that the board create a three-person ethics commission to hear the evidence and decide whether Warren broke the law. The change would remove the school board from the process.

"They [board members] want to move ahead the best they can," Kriha said. "We're trying to handle this in a way that makes sense."

The board on Monday approved implementing the new ethics procedure for cases when the board does not have a quorum.

Kriha said the attorney general must issue a formal legal opinion on the idea, but she said preliminary conversations with state officials indicated the process will be approved.

The formal attorney general opinion could come in 30 days.

Officials from state Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office could not be reached for comment.

Kriha said the ethics commission would include Traub, Julie Vallejo, associate superintendent in the Kane County Regional Office of Education, and Richard Majka of Educational Management Consulting Inc. Kriha said Majka is a lawyer and retired assistant superintendent in Elgin School District 46.

District 300 Superintendent Ken Arndt said he was comfortable with a majority of the commission not being affiliated with the district.

"I don't have a problem with that," he said. "They're reputation speaks highly [of them]."

The commission will have a hearing and then can take up to 45 days to issue a decision. If the panel finds an intentional violation, the matter would be referred to the Kane County State's Attorney's Office.

Violating the state ethics law is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail.

None of the ethics commission's hearings would be open to the public nor subject to the Illinois Open Meetings Act, Kriha said. She said the written decision would be a document open for public inspection.