- May 20, 2026
Flagler County School Board member Lauren Ramirez recently joined Observer Now to discuss scholarship surprise deliveries, school choice vouchers, artificial intelligence in classrooms, rising health care costs, district grades, bullying and her message to graduating seniors. The interview covered both the challenges facing Flagler Schools and the programs Ramirez says are helping students prepare for the future. What follows is a transcripted, edited for length and clarity.
I saw you participating in the Flagler County Education Foundation's Drive-by Surprise scholarship deliveries recently. That must have been a thrill.
Yes, that was a very fun night. It showed all the hard work that is put in behind the scenes from not only our staff administrators, but the community. There were so many community and business organizations out there, and on their own time and on their own dime. It was fun. I had the time of my life.
And how about the kids? It’s a special thing enough to get a scholarship, but the attention they got and the surprise, I think it’s a very special thing.
Some of them were a little nervous and scared, because they were expecting it. They were like, “Oh my goodness, I’m really getting this.” It was hard for them to believe. And some, tears of joy. They were laughing. Their parents or guardians or siblings, that was the best because you could see from their perspective how proud they were. They were very grateful, excited, and very open to telling us what their next path was in life. I’m excited to see where these scholarships are going to take them. Hopefully they are back here in Flagler one day, and we can see how that worked out.
When you participate in something like this, you see the county in a different way — from deep in Bunnell to deep into Flagler Beach. And you realize there are a lot of talented kids all over this county.
Some students think to get a scholarship, they have to have straight A’s, never get in trouble and have 100% attendance. But these scholarships range. You could be the average Joe student and get a scholarship. You could be an excelling student and get a scholarship. It’s really meant for everyone. Between maybe 60 or 70 drivers and over 200 scholarships between the campuses, the two high schools and out in Bunnell, we were all over. It didn’t even matter if they were at work. We were coming to their work to give them that scholarship. It really was meant for any student that has a vision, has a dream. These were local homegrown organizations here in our community that were able to give back and be recognized for giving back, but also see those students’ reactions.
There was a recent article in the Palm Coast Observer that reported that over 1,900 students are choosing vouchers over going to public schools. What’s the impact that is having financially and academically on the district?
It is a significant impact, and significant meaning the funding. The money that we receive as a district, where it goes, changes because students, whether they’re staying or leaving, if they leave for whatever reason, they have that choice. We still have to provide those services to the students that are staying. Safety, electricity, all of those services we still have to fund and provide to the ones that stay.
For the students who are not staying with us, they are able to get the services that their parent or guardian believes are best for them. But we also are providing different services for students who are not necessarily with us full time. For example, our fire academy. If we have a homeschool student and they really want to be in our fire academy, they have that option and that choice to utilize that part of our program too. It’s a win-win for a lot, but the things that need to be looked at and monitored are funding because we still have a responsibility to provide resources to the current students who decide to stay.
Are there certain things Flagler Schools is doing to remain competitive?
I feel like we’re doing a fantastic job. There’s always room for improvement. But the positive things we as a district and the team and [Superintendent LaShakia Moore] have worked really hard on are programs. Our fire academy, our allied health programs, culinary programs, and certifications these students can get.
When I was campaigning, the certifications were just a few hundred. We’re over 900-plus certifications now that our students have received. We’re providing more tools for them to use in the workforce for whatever route they decide to go. We’re providing those tools internally here in our public school system.
A big conversation right now all over the world is AI. We recently had an article about how Flagler County Schools are staying ahead of the curve as far as AI education. What exactly does that look like in the classroom?
The first thing for us is safety. AI was discussed years ago. The district staff has been preparing for it. One thing Ms. Moore said multiple times is guardrails. She said, “I do not care how amazing this tool is, if we don’t have the safety guardrails for this tool, whatever the tool may be, then it’s not going to happen in our district.” We made sure the safety aspect was on point.
They have provided professional learning for our staff for AI training. That means those faculty and staff want to continue that with their students. We’re providing the tools for them.
AI is changing every day. It doesn’t stop, and they know that. They’re continuing with training and guardrails and educating. I think the students like it. They’re not scared. They’re excited because this is going to be their future. It’s our future right now.
Some parents and teachers worry AI is being misused by students. How do you balance innovation with the worry of cheating or over-reliance on technology?
With cheating, even back when I was a kid, it was, “No cheating.” That can happen no matter what. You have AI, you don’t have AI. If a kid is going to cheat, they’re going to figure it out. I think of it like a calculator. You can use a calculator on this test, you can’t on that one. Use it to check. These tools are amazing, and they can help you, but they can also hurt you. You need to use it the right way.
Our staff and team are trained on how to train the kids that way. There are ways to tell if you’re cheating with AI, but just letting them know, use it the right way. We will provide the tools. I think we’re on the right track.
I was at a friend’s house recently, and she has a son, freshman in high school. Out of nowhere she says to him, “Do your math homework. No AI.” I’m thinking, man, can you imagine that? That’s something I never heard when I was a kid.
It’s actually a good tool for parents. When your kiddos get those worksheets and it has different instructions — use math as an example — the parent can take a picture of that worksheet and say, “I’m helping my child with this problem. I haven’t done this type of math in a long time. Walk me through it.” It can teach the parent to then teach the kid how to utilize it.
There are a lot of pros, definitely cons — but from a parent perspective, it can be very helpful.
Big topic with the school board lately is insurance. Are rising health care costs becoming a threat to teacher pay raises and other district priorities?
Health care is going up, food is going up, groceries are going up. The funding schools are receiving based on how many students are physically in our schools is going down. You still need those resources to provide to the students and teachers. There’s no real right answer.
Flagler County has been working very hard to increase the health of the current members who have the health insurance. For example, our wellness center for preventative health, because prevention is key. It will take a few more years to show the true metrics, but data from other counties that have utilized a health center shows it has improved overall with insurance rates. I’m hoping that is going to happen with our district.
Grades for the district are coming up. Where are we at now, and what do you think is the possibility of improving?
I feel very positive. I’ve talked to the schools and their principals, and they’ve been feeling very good about their student outcomes. We’ve been going up in our FAST testing. The data is there. I know the teachers behind the scenes have been working very hard on integrating different learning styles and additional tutoring opportunities. We’re seeing improvement. Everyone’s working their tails off.
It takes the teachers, leadership, principals and assistant principals working together to see what works best for their campus. They’re implementing group learning and data sharing. Bunnell Elementary, one of my liaison schools — their scores are going up. They’re working closer together and utilizing the trends to help more with their students.
We’ve also been doing amazing with our AICE and IB. The CTE programs, culinary program and certifications help us. I give credit to the district, instructors, Education Foundation, AdventHealth and organizations helping make that happen. If we don’t get that A, it’s going to feel like an A. Everyone should be very proud because everything is getting better and better.
What exactly does an A mean for the district?
I think of myself as an example. I moved to Flagler County because I have four children. I wanted them in public schools. We were looking for an A district and an A school. An A district brings the right people here, more businesses, more opportunity for families and more families here.
There’s also funding involved. When you are an A district, you get more funding and can utilize that for more opportunity to go toward faculty, staff or programs. It’s also an accomplishment. It could mean someone moving here or not moving here. We want these students to stay here, go through our schools, graduate high school here and then get a job back here in Flagler County.
Looking at the next couple of years, what are some of the biggest challenges facing the Flagler County School District?
Understanding the voucher system. It started a few years ago, and they’re still working behind the scenes to have the processes more streamlined. We’re still going to have challenges until that system is fully understood. You don’t know who is going to want a voucher and who is not. If they decide to come back, unfortunately we don’t have the funds we would have had if they started with us. We have to make it work, and we have done a great job making that work.
The challenge over the next few years is figuring out how we can really know how many students are going to stay here the whole time and not come back and forth so we can give them the right resources.
Is there anything happening in the district right now that you think the public is not paying enough attention to?
I think we’ve been communicating better and better. For parents and community members, continue asking questions. If they have a question, whether it’s vouchers or safety, reach out to the district directly by phone call, meeting or email. If you don’t know who to email, email the School Board members. That’s our job, to direct them and get that answered.
How do you feel the district deals with bullying?
Bullying, you’re going to hear that term all the time. The definition varies from person to person, kid to kid. But regardless, when someone’s not nice to someone, whether it’s bullying or not, it’s hurtful. The district has been working hard and changing things to make it better and better.
With any type of bullying or a kid not feeling like they’re being taken care of, communication has to happen right away from the parent or the child. They need to tell someone right away and let us help. It takes the community together. Adults should be nice to adults. Kids are going to do what they see. If they see adults being rude and disrespectful, kids are going to do that.
Within the schools, if a child has an issue, they have to tell someone, because we want to fix it. There is a process, and they’re doing a better job communicating that with parents and guardians. If you have a problem, this is step one, this is step two. If you don’t feel like it’s solved, email us, tell us. You don’t know what you don’t know.
It’s not a Flagler issue. It’s everywhere. It starts with adults. Adults need to be good examples for kids, and everyone needs to communicate.
Last but not least, it’s graduation time. A day many students will remember for the rest of their lives. What is your message for the graduates?
I want them all to know I’m so proud of them. No matter where you are in this school system, whatever your GPA is — 4.0, I know some have 5.7 GPAs — we are so proud of you because you do not know what your life is going to be like. There are so many opportunities.
We as a district hope we were able to provide you something, whether it’s a statement, a certificate, a class, a tool, something we did for you in this time you were in Flagler Schools. We hope it gets you to where you have to be and want to be. Always come back to us. Email us. Tell us. We want to hear back from you. I wish you all the best of luck.
