A Board of Education committee has come up with a possible solution to the ethical dilemma posed by public school teachers traveling free as chaperones on field trips they organize with tour companies.

The plan would clearly delineate between school-sponsored trips and private travel, and require the former to conform to the state procurement code. School employees could still travel free as chaperones on such trips, but would not be involved in negotiating with travel companies.

Private trips could continue, but they would have to be arranged separately from the school by people acting in their private capacity, without state involvement or resources.

The recommendations of the Investigative Committee on Ethics, Educational Travel and Teacher Participation will be considered Tuesday at the board’s regular meeting.

The board intervened last month after a face-off between the Ethics Commission and the Department of Education over the issue dragged on for months with no sign of progress.

“We wanted to find a can-do solution,” said board Vice Chairman Brian De Lima, who served on the committee with fellow board members Hubert Minn and Amy Asselbaye. “We invited everyone to participate.

“We wanted to ensure that opportunities that have been available continue to be available, but be done in compliance with state law. The investigative committee was able to get everybody to sit in a room and understand exactly what is permissible and what is not permissible, what are the conditions.”

Schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi and Ethics Commission Executive Director Les Kondo took part, and the committee considered how other school districts handled the issue.

The Ethics Commission first raised red flags in the spring about the role teachers were playing in working with tour companies to arrange and promote student trips for educational enrichment during school breaks.

The commission said some teachers appeared to be violating ethics provisions against conflicts of interest and accepting gifts because they were acting on behalf of the tour company to solicit participants and accepting free trips and other benefits in return for their official action.

That stance provoked an outcry from teachers who said they were not getting a benefit, but giving up their own vacation time to expand their students’ horizons, and shouldn’t have to pay for the privilege of chaperoning children 24 hours a day.

The board committee’s report spells out criteria for school-sponsored trips, including the requirement that such trips be approved by the principal, complex-area superintendent or superintendent.

School-sponsored trips must involve a school’s athletic team or academic team traveling to a competitive event, such as a tournament or science fair; a school band traveling to a competitive event or performance; or any other extracurricular event under the purview of a school. Educational trips that involve an entire class, grade level or school would also be included.

For school-sponsored trips, the procurement code would apply, determining which tour company would provide travel, based on the best deal. The cost of chaperone travel would be covered by the Department of Education, including a new fund specifically for school-sponsored travel, which could receive donations.

“What we would be doing is creating a fund in order to comply with state law and the procurement code to receive the donations or benefits that are derived from the negotiated travel arrangements, so there is no direct solicitation for the benefit of any specific employee,” De Lima said. “The resources are then used to support the school-sponsored trip.”

Many travel companies offer a free trip for every 10 or so tickets booked as a group.

Unlike school-sponsored trips, private travel would involve students and guardians who opt in, with parents contacting the travel company directly and handling the transaction. Educators could be involved strictly on their own time, not in their role as teachers or administrators. No school resources could be used to plan, solicit participation or raise funds for the trip.

The tour company would work with teachers and other individuals to chaperone the tours, and negotiate compensation without involvement of the state. The tour company and chaperones would be required to make clear that tours are not sponsored by the school and that the educators are acting in their private capacity.

Trips that are already in the planning stages for this school year that do not meet the requirements of a school-sponsored trip should be canceled, and could be reorganized outside of school as private trips, the committee recommended.