School district changes policy on tutors

In an attempt to clarify what Oak Park teachers can and cannot do when it comes to tutoring and counseling students outside the classroom, the Oak Park Unified School Board recently voted to change the district’s tutoring and counseling policy.

According to school officials, the longstanding policy was written to ensure that teachers could not require students to pay for after-school tutoring.

“There’s a concern that there would be a conflict of interest because tutoring is for profit,” said Cliff Moore, the district’s assistant superintendent.

The portion of the policy under review reads, “Certified employees may provide tutoring services to students from their work location who are enrolled in other classes and/or grade levels or to students enrolled at other schools in the District.”

The school district changed the rule to read “. . .who are enrolled in other classes/courses and/grade levels.”

The addition of the word “courses” allows instructors teaching sixth through 12th grade the opportunity to tutor students in their same grade without creating any conflicts of interest.

According to Jim Kalember, a school board member, if the policy uses the word “class” when describing the freshman, it may be interpreted as the entire grade level. The word “course” prohibits teachers from tutoring students taking the same course that they teach.

With the addition of the word “courses” to the rule, a ninthgrade English teacher may tutor any another student as long as thastudent is not enrolled in ninthgrade English.