Flagler County School Board member Lauren Ramirez is contesting a proposed finding by the Florida Ethics Commission that would severely restrict local public school students and employees from her business. The finding has to be ratified by the commission to take effect.
“I must respectfully disagree with the conclusion that a prohibited conflict of interest arises when a Flagler County School District student independently registers for and participates in a certification or training program offered by my private business,” she wrote the Ethics Commission, which is to discuss and rule on the findings on July 25.
“As a school board member, I fully understand and honor my ethical responsibilities. I do not engage in direct instruction for the vast majority of programs offered through my company, and I do not use my public position to promote, market, or benefit my business,” Ramirez wrote. “I strictly separate my role as a board member from my business operations.”
Prohibiting local students from using her company’s services, she argued, would “have broad, unintended implications for public officials who own businesses unrelated to their elected duties and who operate in good faith under the assumption that members of the public, including students or parents, can choose where to spend their time and money.”
Ramirez owns Salus Medical Training, owns and operates Salus Medical Training, which trains individuals, including students, in first aid, CPR, phlebotomy, personal safety and other health-related skills. The school district previously contracted for her services for pay. That stopped when she launched her campaign for a school board seat last year. She continues to run camps and other programs.
Ramirez was elected to the School Board in November. In February, she asked for an opinion from the Ethics Commission, posing several questions related to her business and her interactions with the district, students and employees. She wanted clarity, and a record, to eliminate any possibility or appearance of a conflict of interest.
The staff attorney of the commission issued a proposed opinion in June. It was unsurprising for the most part. The opinion, if ratified, would prohibit Ramirez from marketing Salus Medical Training on school grounds or recruiting students for her programs while on school grounds (or while using the district’s electronic platforms), or employing school district employees as paid employees or as volunteers, since she has oversight authority on district personnel.
Ramirez would be barred from doing business with the district. And while she or her company could contribute money or resources as sponsorships for district programs, she could not tie that money to her company. For example, before she ran for the seat, she had sponsored a Community Problem Solvers school team, including by providing clothing branded with her company’s logo. That would not be allowed.
The opinion would still leave her free to volunteer her services and even showcase her company’s offerings on campus, at fairs, for example, as long as she did not brand her presence or look like she was advertising Salus Medical Training
Ramirez did not contest those findings. She had organized her company within those same parameters last year, before posing her questions. But she was surprised by what she considers the overreach of the proposed opinion, which went on to recommend a prohibition on any public school students enrolling in Ramirez’s company programs or camps.
“My business’s interaction with Flagler students is no different than if a Flagler student chose to patronize a sports alliance, local restaurant, gym, summer camp, or any other business that caters to school-aged children owned by another public official,” Ramirez wrote. “If the current interpretation stands that the independent, voluntary use of my business by a student constitutes a prohibited conflict, then by that same logic, no elected official could operate a business open to the public if that business is likely to be frequented by children within the district.”
The Ethics Commission attorney had reasoned that since Ramirez’s responsibilities as a school board member include voting on student expulsions (a rarity these days), her decisions could be influenced by the fact that a student could be a client. In those cases, Ramirez said, she could recuse herself, the way elected officials ordinarily recuse themselves when they have any conflict.
Ramirez is not questioning as much as seeking further clarification on the hiring of district employees as independent contractors on a temporary basis, where “There is no supervisory relationship with any independent worker (1099), and I do not provide performance evaluations or exercise control over how the service is delivered.”
Ramirez is not contesting that point as strongly. “If the answer remains that even short-term, independent service provision under a 1099 arrangement constitutes a prohibited conflict,” she wrote, “I would appreciate the committee explicitly clarifying that point in the final opinion so that I may fully understand the scope of the limitation and communicate it properly to those who inquire.”
The Ethics Commission meets at 8:30 a.m. July 25 in the third-floor Courtroom, First District Court of Appeal, 2000 Drayton Drive, Tallahassee. Except for the closed-door session, the meetings are generally live on the Florida Channel.
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