A former executive director of the state Public Charter School Commission has admitted to violating state conflicts of interest law and financial disclosure law, and will pay a $5,000 administrative fine, in a settlement with the state Ethics Commission.
The settlement agreement involves Sione Thompson, who was executive director of the Charter School Commission from September 2016 through February 2020. That commission authorizes and evaluates Hawaii’s
public charter schools; currently there are 37 across the islands.
While Thompson was executive director of the Charter School Commission, he also served at various points on the boards of three private nonprofit organizations: Hawaii Children’s Action Network, RiseHI and Malu Hakala. He maintains he was not compensated for his service on any of the boards.
“The settlement agreement resolves a charge alleging that Mr. Thompson, while a member of the board of directors of three organizations, took state action affecting these organizations in violation of the State Ethics Code,” said a news release issued Tuesday by the Ethics Commission. “The charge further alleged that Mr. Thompson failed to report his interests in these organizations on annual financial disclosure statements.”
Thompson admitted he violated the conflicts of interest law on 15 occasions, the release said. He also admitted that he violated the financial disclosure law by failing to disclose his positions on the boards of directors of the organizations on his annual financial disclosure statements filed between 2018 and 2020.
In October 2017, the Ethics Commission said, Thompson became a member of the board of directors of Hawaii Children’s Action Network, also known as HCAN.
Five months later Thompson entered into a $350,000 contract on behalf of the Charter School Commission with HCAN to assist in a media campaign promoting early learning. In January 2020, Thompson also entered into a $50,000 contract on behalf of the Charter School Commission with HCAN to administer a federal preschool development grant. The latter contract was canceled after Thompson left his position as executive director.
Thompson’s duties overlapped similarly as he joined the two other organizations.
Around February 2018 Thompson joined the board of directors of RiseHI. In June 2019 he entered into a $10,000 contract on behalf of the Charter School Commission with RiseHI to create a video playlist of motivational stories of successful entrepreneurs, meant to motivate charter school students.
Thompson also entered into a $150,000 contract on behalf of the Charter School Commission with RiseHI in February 2020 to provide support focused on increasing student engagement and building connections with local industry leaders. That contract was canceled after Thompson left the executive director position.
A little over a year after Thompson joined the board of directors of Malu Hakala in December 2018, he entered into a $25,000 contract on behalf of the Charter School Commission with the National Charter School Institute to develop a training handbook.
In his required annual financial disclosure statements with the Ethics Commission while head of the Charter School Commission, Thompson failed to disclose his positions with HCAN, RiseHI and Malu Hakala, the Ethics Commission said in its Resolution of Charge document.
He also was required but failed to disclose his board positions while he served subsequently as superintendent of the state Department of Education’s Waianae-Nanakuli Complex Area, the release said.
The Ethics Commission’s investigation found that Thompson “repeatedly took official action as a Charter School Commission employee affecting non-profit organizations while he served on their Boards of Directors.”
His actions “included approving Charter School Commission contracts and payments to these organizations. Such actions were prohibited under the Conflicts of Interests law,” the Ethics Commission continued. Thompson “should have recused himself from taking any official action affecting these organizations while he had a fiduciary relationship as a director with the organizations.”
Thompson maintains that “in his capacity as a board member of the various non-profit organizations, he did not take any action involving the organizations’ contracts with the Charter School Commission,” the Ethics Commission said. He also “admits that he did not understand the requirements of the Conflicts of Interests law,” the Ethics Commission said.
