As part of the cozy -- but legal -- relationship between money and politics, it's not unusual for companies that do business with the Broward school district to give generously to School Board members' campaigns.

On Tuesday, the board is scheduled to vote on awarding a $1.2 million contract to Royal Concrete Concepts, a West Palm Beach-based construction company that hosted an August fundraiser for board member Ann Murray's 2010 reelection campaign.

The Broward Teachers Union cried foul on Monday -- prompting Murray to say she will recuse herself from any vote involving companies that have given to her campaign, even though she is not required to do so.

The Broward teachers union asked the district on Monday to look into whether the relationship between Murray and Royal Concrete broke any ethical rules or state laws.

The union has been stepping up its attacks on the district in the midst of teacher contract negotiations.

BTU is asking for an average 4 percent pay increase. The district isn't offering a raise. It has offered to pick up the difference in individual employee health insurance, although union officials point out that insurance for dependents would skyrocket.

On Tuesday, the board will take up contracting with Royal Concrete to build six modular classrooms at Seminole Middle School in Plantation, which is not in Murray's southeast district.

Royal Concrete sent out an invitation this summer saying it was throwing a fundraiser for Murray on Aug. 27 at the company's Okeechobee plant. The company had given Murray a $500 contribution on June 24, campaign finance records show.

While Royal Concrete advertised in the invitation that refreshments and snacks would be served at the event, Murray reported no in-kind contributions from the company or its officers that day. In-kind contributions count toward the maximum $500 a company can give a candidate each year.

Not reporting snacks -- or other costs, like invitations and staff time -- could be a campaign finance violation if they were worth more than $25, since Royal Concrete had already given Murray a $500 contribution, said Norman Ostrau, former chair of the Florida Commission on Ethics.

Murray said she didn't think enough food or drinks had been served to report.

She said she mostly visited Royal Concrete to tour their plant and called the fundraiser ``small.'' It raked in about $3,000 from a handful of people, she added. Her reports seem to back that up: Murray received a $250 check the day of the event, and six other construction-related companies gave $500 each in the days leading up to the fundraiser.

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