- December 4, 2025
Flagler County School Board member Lauren Ramirez has asked the Florida Commission on Ethics whether talking to classes on health-related issues could be construed as a conflict of interest.
Ramirez owns Salus Medical Training and is frequently invited by classroom-to-career instructors to talk about nutrition and other health topics.
“I’ve always done it, but they invite me on behalf of my business. Now that I’m a School Board member I want to see if it’s a conflict of interest because I own a business that teaches health education,” she said.
When she reached out to the commission, she was told, “We’ve never had this come up before.” So they scheduled a consideration on the question at their June 6 meeting in Tallahassee.
Ramirez said she has turned down these classroom invitations since she became a School Board member in November of last year. Rymfire Elementary School’s classroom to career focus is on medical sciences, health and fitness and they try to bring in a guess speaker monthly, Ramirez said. Since November, she has had to turn them down.
“I don’t want there to be a gray area,” she said. “I want to make sure I’m doing things the right way. If it is a conflict of interest, I’ll have to say no for good. I’m really enjoying the School Board role, and I know I can make a difference, but I feel like the schools need this. If I can’t do it, I hope someone can fill the gap.”
