Teachers who organize educational trips for students should not travel free as chaperones, courtesy of the tour company, according to new advice from state Ethics Commission attorneys.

The directive flies in the face of longstanding practice in Hawaii’s public schools and quickly ran into resistance. It was the second time in less than a month that the ethics staff has issued advice to teachers that was immediately challenged.

Schools spokeswoman Donalyn Dela Cruz said Thursday the Department of Education is taking no action on the ethics guidance regarding free trips until it talks to the commission.

"We will not be issuing anything to the schools until we have a clear understanding of what the commission is asking of us," she said.

"The department is in full support of schools expanding learning opportunities for students, and when teachers do this, they are not just traveling recreationally," Dela Cruz said. "On the contrary, not only is it instructional, they chaperone a number of students. When they say ‘free travel,’ we actually feel they haven’t even been compensated for that extra effort that they are putting in."

She noted that the department does have an oversight process because such trips must be approved by the complex area superintendent.

"This would impact all of our schools," said Dela Cruz, whose own first trip out of state was as a member of the Leilehua High School band.

A six-page letter from commission staff attorney Virginia M. Chock to Superintendent Kathryn Mata­yoshi, dated March 30, recognized the educational value of such trips and the work teachers perform as chaperones. But it concluded that it was inappropriate for teachers to organize and promote school trips and get free travel and other perks.

It cited the state Ethics Code’s prohibition on state employees accepting gifts that appear to influence or reward official actions. Chock asked that the guidance be disseminated to all schools.

Commission Chairman Ed Broglio said Saturday the commission wants to work with the Department of Education to ensure such school trips can continue. The chaperone issue was not brought to commissioners for a vote, and they did not see the letter, but the issue came up in the executive director’s report at their Feb. 18 meeting.

"My recollection is that during the meeting we said it should be up to the school and not the teachers to put the trips together," Broglio said. "As it is currently structured it does raise some ethical issues."

According to the minutes of that meeting, commissioners recommended that staff not issue a public ethics advisory, and instead send a letter to the superintendent expressing the commission’s concerns and asking her to develop a policy on educational travel.

The six-page guidance letter that went out concluded, "Should you have any questions as to how DOE teachers and other employees might participate in student educational trips without raising concerns under the State Ethics Code, please do not hesitate to contact our office for guidance."

The five volunteer commissioners meet monthly and staff attorneys give advice on a daily basis to state employees.

In the other ethics dispute, the commission’s executive director, Les Kondo, told a Maui teacher who is running for vice president of the teachers union that he could not place campaign brochures in school employee mailboxes. The advice came in response to an inquiry from a complex area superintendent’s office.

The Hawaii State Teachers Association quickly appealed to the Hawaii Labor Relations Board and got a temporary restraining order allowing the fliers to be distributed until April 24, when votes are counted.

A lawsuit filed by the union is pending.

"I was puzzled and alarmed why an activity that has gone on for 42 years was now viewed as a violation," the candidate and teacher, Justin Hughey, who works at Kamehameha III Elementary, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

HSTA attorney Colleen Hanabusa pointed out that the union’s contract allows it to use school mailboxes, and collective bargaining is protected in the state Constitution. She said the union and the Department of Education concur on the issue, and their stipulated agreement with the labor board makes that clear.

"Part of the stipulation is an agreement between the HSTA and the Department of Education that they will go before the Ethics Commission and basically challenge the ruling of the executive director," Hanabusa said. "It’s so contrary to what has been the past practice and I believe clearly what is established law."

In a March 12 letter to the superintendent, Kondo said the ethics law trumps contract provisions and prohibits state employees from using their positions to secure "unwarranted" privileges or preferential treatment.

He also said state resources may not be used for "private business purposes," such as the teacher’s campaign for HSTA office.

"It is our position that state law cannot be ‘contracted away,’ including as part of a collective bargaining agreement," he wrote.

COMMISSIONERS did not vote on the mailbox issue, either, but heard about it at their March 18 meeting. Broglio asked the staff whether it would be OK if a union representative collected the fliers from candidates and put them in the mailboxes.

"That’s what I thought would be a work-around at the time, without causing a bunch of turmoil and getting everybody riled up," Broglio said. "But there was no answer to my question."

The chaperone issue arose when the Ethics Commission received an inquiry from the Castle-Kahuku complex area superintendent’s office about plans for an educational trip for King Intermediate students over spring break to Washington, D.C., and New York City.

Teachers organized the trip, chose the tour company and promoted it to students. For every 10 students, one chaperone would receive a free trip, including airfare, room and board, plus points that could be used for personal travel or items. The group leader would also receive a separate, free weekend trip to New York for an orientation.

"In light of how educational trips are currently organized and arranged, we believe that the State Ethics Code prohibits school employees from accepting free trips and other benefits from the travel company," concluded Chock, the ethics attorney.

Since the trip was already booked, the policy would apply in the next school year, but teachers were advised not to accept any points, stipends or other items from the tour company for this trip.

More than 50 eighth-graders paid $2,600 each to go on the trip, and were accompanied by three teachers, a teacher’s aide and the student services coordinator, who served as chaperones. Parents paid their own way.

The school told the commission it does not have money to cover teachers’ travel costs, and teachers may not want to use their own money to travel with students on vacation.