Under an agreement between the state teachers union and the state Ethics Commission, teachers serving as chaperones on school-related trips can continue to have their travel costs paid for by private tour companies.

The companies typically allow one chaperone to travel free for every eight to 10 paying travelers.

The arrangement can continue as long as teachers notify students and parents that their trip may be paid for by the tour company, they do not allow their names to be on the company’s promotional materials and they do not accept for themselves any perks — like tablet computers — for selling or leading trips.

They can, however, pass those rewards along to the state Department of Education.

The Ethics Commission took up the issue in early 2015 and ultimately issued a ruling prohibiting teachers from accepting free travel and other benefits from tour companies. It issued an advisory opinion in August 2015 saying the practice violates multiple sections of the state Code of Ethics, including the gifts, fair treatment and conflict of interests laws.

Dan Gluck, executive director and legal counsel for the commission, said commissioners were concerned that there was potential for conflicts of interest.

After the advisory was issued, many teachers started canceling their trips, said Corey Rosenlee, Hawaii State Teachers Association president.

“So HSTA saw it as a time to be an advocate for students and teachers in Hawaii schools,” he said.

The union filed a petition for declaratory order to get clarification on the commission’s advisory opinion, and it was invalidated by the Circuit Court last spring.

Since then, the union and the Ethics Commission have been working to resolve the issue, Gluck said.

“There were some practices we all agree should not have occurred, and instead of having a broad stroke against the whole policy, we just needed to cut out some of the practices that shouldn’t be occurring,” Rosenlee said.

For example, a tour company shouldn’t be giving an iPad to a teacher, he said.

“No one disagrees with that,” he said. “There should be no personal benefit to taking kids to travel.”

The practice of teachers having their travel costs, which could include flights and accommodations, covered by the tour company has been around for decades, according to Rosenlee.

Without it, many of them wouldn’t be able to afford to go.

Such would be the case for Scott Clarke, an advanced placement European History teacher at Henry Perrine Baldwin High School on Maui. For the past 10 years, he has taken 10-30 students to Europe during spring break to see the places they’ve learned about in class.

With the tour company he uses, for every six students, one chaperone’s trip would be covered. His has been paid for every year, saving him $3,400-$4,000, depending on where he and his students visit.  

This year he only has two students signed up for the trip, however, so he’ll have to pay for most of his own travel costs.

State schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi issued a statement Tuesday saying that the Department of Education is pleased that teachers can continue to receive free travel for their trips and is looking forward to working with the Board of Education to create guidance so that school trips meet the Ethics Commission’s requirements.