| Advisory opinion request regarding whether a member of the East Baton Rouge City Parish Council may receive a thing of economic value for services render to Franciscan High School at a time when Franciscan High School administers a work study program through FBR Work Study Program, Inc. that places students with the East Baton Rouge City Parish Government. |
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Rowdy Gaudet is an elected member of the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council. Franciscan Baton Rouge, Inc. d/b/a Franciscan High School (FHS) is a private high school in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The President of Franciscan Baton Rouge, Inc. is Eric Engemann located at 4000 Saint Gerard Ave., Baton Rouge, LA.
The educational model for this high school is to provide a way for low-income families to afford a high quality Catholic education. The education model is based on a work study program that off sets the cost of tuition for each student.
Franciscan High School administers a Corporate Work Study Program through FBR Work Study Program, Inc., a nonprofit corporation that is an affiliated entity of Franciscan High School. Eric Engemann is the President of FBR Work Study Program, Inc., (FWSP) located at 4000 Saint Gerard Ave., Baton Rouge, LA.
When a student enrolls at FHS, the student becomes a participant in the Corporate Work Study Program and an employee of FWSP. Students at Franciscan High School work at area businesses, nonprofits, and governmental entities earning tuition while developing critical skills and experiences.
The CWSP is administered by employees of FHS. The corporate partners make all payments for the services of the
students to FBR Work Study Program, Inc. Funding from Corporate Sponsors per the contractual relationship between
the Corporate Sponsors and CWSP is paid to FHS to offset the cost of
tuition. Contracts are renewed/entered
into during July each year and executed by the employee of Franciscan High School that holds the position of Director of the Corporate Work Study Program.
Rowdy Gaudet was hired as the Vice President of Mission Integration at Franciscan High School on June 20, 2022. The Vice President of Mission Integration is not responsible for fundraising or obtaining sponsors or partners, only ensuring the policies, practices, and decision-making of the CWSP align with the strategic plan, vision, mission of FHS.
The Corporate Work Study Program would like to partner with both the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, which is operated as a department of the City of Baton Rouge; and, the East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President's office. The Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport enters into a contract to host four students between September and May at a cost of $17,000, which is paid by the Airport to FBR Work Study Program, Inc. The Mayor-President's office hosts four students at no cost to the office, but is paid for by donated funds from other corporate sponsors.
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La. R.S. 42:1111C(2)(d) provides that no public servant and no legal entity in which the public servant exercises control or owns an interest in excess of twenty-five percent, shall receive any thing of economic value for or in consideration of services rendered, or to be rendered, to or for any person during his public service unless such services are: (d) Neither performed for nor compensated by any person or from any officer, director, agent, or employee of such person, if such public servant knows or reasonably should know that such person has or is seeking to obtain contractual or other business or financial relationships with the public servant's agency.
La. R.S. 42:1102 (2)(a)(vi) defines "agency" for public servants of political subdivisions, to mean the agency in which the public servant serves, except that for members of any governing authority and for the elected or appointed chief executive of a governmental entity, it shall mean the governmental entity. Public servants of political subdivisions shall include, but shall not be limited to, elected officials and public employees of municipalities, parishes, and other political subdivisions; sheriffs and their employees; district attorneys and their employees; coroners and their employees; and clerks of court and their employees.
La. R.S. 42:1102(9) "Elected official" means any person holding an office in a governmental entity which is filled by the vote of the appropriate electorate. It shall also include any person appointed to fill a vacancy in such offices.
La. R.S. 42:1102(12) "Governmental entity" means the state or any
political subdivision which employs the public employee or employed the
former public employee or to which the elected official is elected, as
the case may be.
La. R.S. 42:1102(17) "Political subdivision" means any unit of local government, including a special district, authorized by law to perform governmental functions.
La. R.S. 42:1102(19) defines "Public servant" to mean a public employee or an elected official.
La. R.S. 42:1102(20.1) defines "service" to mean the performance of work, duties, responsibilities, or the leasing, rental, or sale of movable or immovable property.
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Adopt proposed advisory opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Tracy Barker |
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