A ruling written specifically for the St. Landry School Board by the Louisiana Board of Ethics could have far-reaching repercussions for Chas Roemer should the ruling be applied to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE).
Board of Ethics staff member Tracy Barker directed the ruling to Josie Frank, hearing officer for the 27th Judicial District Court in Opelousas.
Frank, also a member of the St. Landry parish School Board, requested a ruling on whether or not it was permissible for her to participate in votes on approval or disapproval of charter school applications submitted to the school board on behalf of a nonprofit organization on which her son serves as a board member.
She said in her request that her son receives no monetary benefit for his service on the organization’s board.
Barker wrote that Frank was not prohibited of participation in votes on charter school matters since her son does not have a substantial economic interest. “Since your son does not appear to have a substantial economic interest in the nonprofit organization, your participation on its charter school application is not prohibited by Section 1112B(1) of the Code” of Governmental Ethics.
“However, the board concluded that Section 1113A of the code would prohibit your son from appearing before the St. Landry Parish School Board on behalf of the nonprofit organization while you serve as a member of the school board,” she said. “Section 1113A prohibits a public servant, a member of his immediate family or a legal entity in which either owns a controlling interest, from bidding on or entering into a contract, subcontract or transaction that is under the supervision or jurisdiction of the public servant’s agency.”
Roemer represents BESE from District 6, which includes all or parts of the parishes of East Baton Rouge, Ascension, Livingston, Tangipahoa, and Washington.
His sister, Caroline Roemer Shirley, is executive director of the Louisiana Association of Public Charter Schools and the ethics board previously ruled that she could not appear before BESE on behalf of charter school matters pending before the board. She also was prohibited from interacting with the staff and Department of Education on matters under BESE jurisdiction.
The State Ethics Board, however, has never addressed the legal ramifications of Chas Roemer’s participation in discussions and votes affecting charter schools under the jurisdiction of BESE.
Section 1112B(1) specifically addresses the participation of a public servant or elected official in a vote on any matter in which a member or his immediate family has a substantial economic interest. “Section 1120 of the code provides that an elected official shall recuse himself when the vote would be a violation of Section 1112 of the code.”
Louisiana’s Charter School Law was enacted as Act 192 of 1995 as a pilot program to allow up to eight school districts to participate on a voluntary basis. The law was expanded in 1997 by Act 477 to establish BESE and local school boards as charter authorizers.
Act 477 defined five types of charter schools: Type 1, a charter with local school boards (new start-up); Type 2, charter with BESE (new start-up or conversion; Type 3, charter with local school board (conversion), Type 4, school board charter with BESE (new start-up or conversion), and Type 5, charter with BESE (pre-existing public school under the jurisdiction of the Recovery School District (RSD).
In 2003, Act 9 of the legislature created a new type of charter for the operation of pre-existing schools that were transferred to the jurisdiction of RSD.
RSD was charged to take underperforming schools and transform them in to charter schools. Since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the number of public schools in New Orleans has dropped from 123 to four while the number of charter schools has ballooned from seven to 31.
Charter schools operate as independent public schools under five-year contracts granted by BESE or a local school board.
A review of minutes of BESE meetings for 2010 revealed that Chas Roemer often made motions on agenda items dealing with charter schools and then voted on those motions.
In December of 2010 alone, he made motions to approve charter school contracts of $50,000 and under, made motions to approve Crescent City School, the NET Charter High School, the Collegiate Academy Charter School, the Sarah T. Reed Charter Middle School, the ReNEW K-8 Charter School, The ReNEW Alternative High School, and in one case, made the motion to deny an application to commence operation of Joseph A. Craig Charter School in New Orleans.
Is a sibling who does not live with you considered an immediate family member?
@Momnick8 – For the purpose of nepotism reporting at places of employment, a sibling is definitely considered an immediate family member, whether he or she lives with you or not.