2018-131 - Laserfiche WebLink

STATE OF LOUISIANA ",E' DEPARTMENT OF STATE CIVIL SERVICE '�0'pF LOUj�'-. ,••.. „ 'ya LOUISIANA BOARD OF ETHICS n JGp Y 7 puy .��' : P.O. BOX 4368 csZ) * BATON ROUGE,LA 70821 (225)219-5600 FAX:(225)381-7271 1-800-842-6630 www.ethics.la.gov April 30, 2018 Mr. Perry Norcross Benton Elementary School 562 La. 162 Benton, LA 71006 Re: Ethics Board Docket No. 2018-131 Dear Mr. Norcross: The Louisiana Board of Ethics,at its April 20,2018 meeting,considered your request for an advisory opinion relative to whether you as a physical education teacher at Benton Elementary School can tutor a student who attends the school. You stated that as physical education teacher your job is to teach physical education and health to grades Kindergarten through Fifth Grade. During the course of your teaching you teach archery in a classroom setting for four weeks to Fourth and Fifth Graders, however there is no utilization of the bow and arrows. You further provided that you maintain a personal business known as Norcross Archery in which you tutor and teach archery after school hours, on weekends and during the summer. You stated that schools other than the one you work in have inquired as to whether you would teach an archery camp at their school. Participation in the camp would cost between$25 and$35. You stated that you would not accept payment to put on the camp, but all proceeds would go the respective schools' archery programs. You were interested in knowing whether it would be an ethical violation for you to tutor students who attend your school. The Board concluded and instructed me to inform you that the Code of Governmental Ethics would prohibit you as a physical education teacher from tutoring students who attend your school and are in your class. However, the Code of Governmental Ethics would not prohibit you from tutoring students who are not in your class or students who attend schools other than the school where you teach. La. R.S. 42:1111C(1)(a) prohibits a public servant from receiving any thing of economic value for any service, the subject matter of which is devoted substantially to the responsibilities, programs, or operations of the agency of the public servant and in which the public servant has participated. Thus, a teacher cannot perform any services for compensation for his or her students. However, in the case of students not in your class or attending a school other than the teacher's school, a teacher is not involved in the teaching of these students,nor do students outside of the teacher's class appear to generally have interests which may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of that teacher's official duties. Therefore, you may tutor, for a fee, students who do not attend your school, as well as students who attend your school but are not being taught by you. AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER