| Advisory opinion request from Vermilion Charter Foundation, Inc. regarding whether Kona Ice of Acadiana, a business owned by a member of the VCF Board of Trustees, is permitted to operate on the Vermilion Charter Academy campus. |
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VCF, a Louisiana non-profit corporation, is authorized by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education ("BESE") to operate Vermilion Charter Academy, a Type 2 K-8 charter school in Vermilion Parish currently serving approximately 850 students. VCF has hired Charter Schools USA to manage and operate Vermilion Charter Academy. The VCF Board of Trustees consists of volunteer members who receive no compensation apart from the reimbursement of approved out-of-pocket expenses.
Jevon Dehart, a member of the VCF Board of Trustees, owns Kona Ice of Acadiana and holds an exclusive Kona Ice franchise in the Acadiana region. Kona Ice of Acadiana operates mobile snow cone trucks with self-serve stations that can accommodate large groups more efficiently than traditional snow cone operations. Kona Ice of Acadiana is frequently brought in by local schools for events as a reward for students. The typical arrangement is that the students, not the school, pay for the snow cones, and Kona Ice of Acadiana donates a portion of the proceeds back to the school. Vermilion Charter Academy would like to enter into this same arrangement with Kona Ice of Acadiana on its campus, since there are no other snow cone businesses offering comparable services in the area.
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La. R.S. 17:3996B(20) provides that all officers and employees of charter schools are subject to the Code of Governmental Ethics.
La. R.S. 42:1113B prohibits an appointed member of any board or commission, member of his immediate family, or a legal entity in which he has a substantial economic interest, from bidding on or entering into any contract, subcontract, or other transaction which is under the supervision or jurisdiction of the agency of such appointed member.
La. R.S. 42:1102(2)(a) defines "agency" to mean a department, office, division, agency, commission, board, committee, or other organizational unit of a governmental entity.
La. R.S. 42:1102(21) defines "substantial economic interest" as an economic interest which is of greater benefit to the public servant or other person than to a general class or group of persons, except: (a) the interest that the public servant has in his position, office, rank, salary, per diem, or other matter arising solely from his public employment or office; (b) the interest that an elected official who is elected to a house, body, or authority has in a position or office of such house, body, or authority which is required to be filled by a member of such house, body, or authority by law, legislative rule, or home rule charter, (c) the interest that a person has as a member of the general public.
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Adopt the proposed advisory opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Jessica Meiners |
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