As the school year gets rolling, the state Ethics Commission is reminding public school teachers and coaches that they may not give their students private lessons for pay, as the longtime tennis coach at Mililani High School recently learned the hard way.

"We’ve had a number of inquiries about teachers tutoring some of their own students privately outside of school," Leslie Kondo, commission executive director, said Thursday. "We just issued a memo with the superintendent to remind teachers of the Ethics Code provision that they’re not allowed to enter into financial arrangements with their students."

The memo is being distributed to schools by the Department of Education and is highlighted in the commission’s current newsletter. It notes that teachers and coaches may offer tutoring or lessons to their students for free.

In the Mililani High School case, former coach May Ann Beamer agreed to pay a $500 administrative fine for violating the state Ethics Code by giving students on the tennis team private lessons, according to a negotiated resolution of the charge reached last month by the commission.

Beamer, who had coached tennis teams at the school for 23 years, told the commission that she wasn’t aware of the prohibition on making substantial financial transactions with subordinates. Her contract at the school was not renewed for this academic year. Beamer did not respond to phone calls and emails requesting comment for this story.

The issue arose when a group of parents of Mililani High tennis team members submitted a written complaint to the Ethics Commission in August 2011, saying that Beamer gave some of them private lessons for pay. The complaint alleged that she gave preference to those who took her private lessons and that those who declined to do so felt "mistreated and bullied" by her.

The commission investigated and brought an 11-count charge against Beamer on April 18, alleging that she solicited team members to take private lessons and taught them over a period of years. They usually took place as group lessons, and Beamer received $25 or $30 per lesson from each student, according to the charge.

In her response, Beamer denied she had solicited or coerced players. She said school officials knew she gave private lessons and never told her the lessons violated the Ethics Code.

The prohibition against state employees, including teachers and coaches, entering into substantial financial transactions with people they supervise is based on the unequal bargaining relationship between the parties. As tennis coach, Beamer was responsible for selecting members of the girls and boys varsity teams, ranking players, determining playing time, teaching, coaching and disciplining team members.

"In this situation of unequal bargaining power, a team member whose coach offers to provide private lessons for pay may perceive the offer to be one that cannot be refused," the resolution of the charge noted.

The decision in the Beamer case (Resolution of Charge 2012-4) and the memo ("Application of the State Ethics Code to DOE Teachers Regarding Private Instruction for Pay") are posted on the commission’s website at hawaii.gov/ ethics.