Education panel member gets mixed ethics ruling

Friday, Nov. 14, 2003 | 9:16 a.m.

The state Ethics Commission said Thursday if a proposed charter school operated by Nevada Board of Education member John Hawk has to be sponsored by the board he would have to resign from either the school or his elected post.

However, the commission said that if the Clark County School Board opts to sponsor the charter school that is designed to acclimate high school students to college studies, Hawk would merely have to disclose a conflict of interest and abstain from voting on other charter school issues.

The vote was 5-1 with two members absent. Commissioner William Flangas said there was too much potential for conflict between the board duties and efforts by Hawk and his wife to run the school.

Hawk, whose term on the state Board of Education expires next year, said he has not yet decided whether he will run for re-election.

He requested the opinion from the ethics panel for binding guidance on voting on charter school issues. Hawk waived the confidentiality of his request so the discussion could be conducted during the public portion of Thursday's Ethics Commission meeting.

Hawk is co-director of the proposed Nevada State High School Charter School, where he plans to oversee financial issues. His wife, Wendi, a co-director, plans to handle the administrative duties at the school.

It could pose a conflict of interest for Hawk because the Education Board votes on licensing and regulation of charter schools as well as license revocations.

For Hawk to face the decision of resigning from either the board or the charter school, he would have to fail twice before the Clark County School Board to gain sponsorship before going before his own board.

His charter school application is yet to be submitted to the School Board and a first hearing date has not yet been set.

Hawk, who earns $55,000 annually as a Clark County schoolteacher, and his wife, who earns $65,000 a year as a Clark County school administrator, each would receive annual salaries of $72,000 as co-directors of the Henderson charter school.

Hawk recently resigned from the Education Board's subcommittee on charter schools.

The first part of a two-part motion by ethics panel Vice Chairman Rick Hsu would require Hawk, if the Clark County School District sponsors his school, to follow established laws for disclosure and abstention on applications or revocations of other charter schools that come before the state education panel.

However, the second part of Hsu's motion called for Hawk to resign as a state board member if the sponsorship is forced to go to the state board.

Commissioner Jim Kosinski amended the motion to allow Hawk to either resign from the board or from the charter school post and for his wife to resign from the school if the approval decision goes before the state Board of Education.

After the hearing, Hawk said he did not consider the decision either a victory or a defeat because his reason for seeking the opinion was to get guidance on how to properly and ethically proceed.

The Nevada State High School Charter School plans to take high school juniors and seniors to classes at the Nevada State College in Henderson, where they would earn dual high school and college credits.

The Hawks plan to have 70 students. They would receive $5,168 per student from the state -- a dollar figure set by the Nevada Legislature.

Not counting private donations, that would give the school $361,760. The projected starting date for the school is next fall.