Parent organizations with several public schools say they plan to push forward with operating child care programs at rented school facilities despite education officials advising them of potential ethical or legal issues.

Some 40 parents and child care providers met with Superintendent Patricia Hamamoto and other education officials yesterday where they were briefed on the guidelines they face when renting out school facilities on "furlough Fridays."

In addition to liability and insurance issues when working with children, parents were told that teachers hired by parent groups on furlough days to work out of their own school with their own students may face ethics violations.

"If you hire a teacher to teach in that school, those specific children, that's a conflict of interest for the teacher. They are teaching the children they teach in their normal day," Hamamoto said. "Because they control the grade and give a grade, that puts them in a conflict of interest."

Still, several members of parent organizations said yesterday that they plan to hire furloughed teachers and rent out school facilities to provide an educational option on the 17 public school furlough days. Some groups even are attempting to divide the cost per family to keep teachers in the classroom on furlough days.

Sheila Buyukacar, a member of the Kahala Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization, said her group is considering doing an "experiential learning" program on furlough Fridays. The group plans to hire furloughed teachers, although none have committed to participating yet.

Because the cost to rent public school facilities are relatively nominal for non-profit groups — about $20 an hour for a classroom without air conditioning — the Kahala group is estimating it'll cost parents $25 per child per day, said Kahala PTO President Allison Mikuni.

But if Kahala Elementary teachers do participate, they may not be able to work with their own students.

"We have to check, but possibly teachers could be assigned to a different grade level. We may have to mix it up," she said.

ETHICS CODE

Hamamoto, however, encouraged parent groups to check with the state Ethics Commission because even if a teacher is not working with her own students, she may not be allowed to work out of her own school.

That guideline stems from a 1971 Ethics Commission ruling dealing with teachers being hired to tutor her own students during after-school hours, Hamamoto said.

"It's a direct conflict of interest per the state's ethics code. He is not able to teach the child that he sees during the regular course of his business day. ... The conflict being, did he provide the appropriate educational services during the day, or did he customize his services so that he would have a job after school," she said.

Meanwhile, parents were advised that child care providers that pay to use DOE facilities must meet certain requirements, including liability insurance, criminal background checks of employees or volunteers, and proper training.

LIABILITY INSURANCE

In general, child care providers must have liability insurance of $1 million per occurrence, a benchmark that most parent organizations will be unlikely to meet.

Hamamoto said the DOE is providing the information as a guideline for parent groups as they plan their programs. In working with children, Hamamoto said the groups would be taking on liability issues — such as a child getting hurt, or accusing a child care worker of wrongdoing.

"If you're taking on the care of someone's child, you ought to be sure that you're meeting that trust. They're trusting you with their children. We're concerned," Hamamoto said.

Mona Beddow, a board member with the Hokulani Elementary School Parent Teacher Organization, said the group is still planning what it will do during furlough Fridays.

"Our goal is to keep kids educated during those 17 days," she said.

The group hopes to hire teachers from that school and Beddow said some teachers already have expressed interest.

"Our teachers don't want this time wasted. They're there for the children. They want the kids to be educated," she said.

Kathy Bryant-Hunter, co-president of the 'Aikahi PTSA, said her group has been in contact with parents from many other schools who are hoping to organize a furlough program for their kids.

"This meeting demonstrated that everyone is working together to find a solution to this," she said.