The Universal Service Administrative Company’s ruling that the Lawrence School District violated conflict of interest policies is a reminder to school board members to always avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

The USAC found that district officials violated federal conflict-of-interest rules by accepting free internet access for more than a dozen school officials. The ruling could cost the district $840,000 in USAC funding, $500,000 that the district would have to repay and $340,000 in future funds.

USAC is an independent nonprofit organization designated by the Federal Communications Commission to administer funding to ensure affordable broadband internet connectivity for schools and libraries. Earlier this year, the USAC told the district that it believed the company’s gift rule had been violated because the Lawrence district accepted 15 free residential internet accounts as a part of its contract with then-internet provider Knology of Kansas. Accepting the free accounts — an estimated value of $17,400 — violated the USAC program’s policies for schools that accept funding for internet access.

Among the school officials who received the free internet access were former Superintendent Rick Doll and six current and former school board members.

The school district and Knology have appealed the ruling to the FCC, arguing that the free accounts were offered “as a part of Knology’s regular commercial offerings made over the course of many years” and did not influence decision-makers in the district. On Friday, district spokeswoman Julie Boyle said the district approved a five-year contract with Knology in 2011 and the company was the only bidder for the “fair and open bidding process.” Knology made a similar argument in its appeal.

In 2014, the district was notified of the possible problem with the free internet accounts. As a precaution, the district “took steps to modify the contract, cancel those accounts, and prepare an appeal to USAC.” The internet accounts were not officially canceled until May 2015.

On Friday, Lawrence school board Vice President Shannon Kimball said she did receive free internet through Knology when she first joined the board in 2011. Kimball said she had no idea that the internet access was connected in any way to the district’s USAC funds.

“This is really unfortunate because when I joined the board I was told, ‘Hey, this is something the district has that you can use because we expect you to communicate and we do most of our communication through email anyway,'” she said.

Kimball said she does not believe any rules were violated. She noted that a consultant who examined the Knology contract before it was approved by the board did not raise any red flags about the free accounts.

For the sake of the financial health of the school district, let’s hope that the district’s appeal is successful. But let this be a lesson for school board members — if a contractor, vendor or anyone seeking influence comes bearing gifts or anything that could be construed as a gift, just say no.