Marion County Schools meeting summaries, agendas, and minutes

Marion County School Board approves purchase of 22 new school buses

The Marion County School Board approved the purchase of 22 new school buses at its Oct. 13 meeting, voting 5-0 in two separate actions, according to meeting minutes. The purchases were made using a Florida Department of Education bid, the minutes state. The board also approved the expulsion with services of nine students, accepted more than $20,000 in donations, and acted on personnel, grant and data-sharing items, each on 5-0 votes.

22 buses, approved in two votes

The board split the purchase into two actions: 6 new school buses, approved 5-0, and 16 new school buses, approved 5-0. The minutes summary provided does not list a dollar amount for either purchase.

Nine students expelled with services

The board approved expulsion with services for nine students on a 5-0 vote. The summary does not include additional detail on the cases.

Data agreements, grants and donations

Board members approved Special Data Share Agreements with Catapult Learning LLC and One on One Learning Corp., 5-0. They also approved a grant application for the Florida Diagnostic and Learning Resources System Associate Center, 5-0, and a grant award from Marion County Hospital District, 5-0.

The board accepted over $20,000 in donations for various schools and programs. The summary does not break the donations down by recipient.

Construction change orders approved

The board approved guaranteed maximum price (GMP) change orders for Belleview Middle School and Shady Hill Elementary, 5-0. Dollar amounts for those change orders were not included in the summary.

Ground lease amended for South Marion High School

In a separate meeting the same day, the Board of Directors, Leasing Corporation approved Resolution 26-09, a First Amendment to the Series 2024 Ground Lease at South Marion High School (Project 24-105), on a 5-0 vote. No other substantive actions were taken at that meeting, according to the summary.

Work session covers renaming, insurance trusts

The board held an Administrative Briefing and Work Session on Oct. 22. Only the agenda has been published; minutes are not yet available, so no decisions are reported here.

Agenda items included the renaming of Fordham Early Learning Academy, a Florida School Board Insurance Trust presentation, a Florida Educator Health Trust overview, a discussion labeled Enterprise Fleet Management Pt. 2, a review of the Quarterly Compliance Inspection Report, and the evaluation of the Superintendent.

Personnel items

The board approved personnel items covering the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 fiscal years, 5-0. The summary does not list individual positions or names.

Coming up

The School Board meets Oct. 27. The agenda lists construction change orders for two schools and approval of minutes from three prior meetings.

• Osceola Middle School Building 2 Doors and Walls additive change order of $10,683.62
• Osceola Middle School Building 2 Doors and Walls deductive change order of $134,544.92
• Lake Weir High School Serving Line Replacement change order (Project 26-106)
• Approval of minutes for the Sept. 22, Oct. 8 and Oct. 13 meetings

Residents can attend to see how the board handles the Osceola Middle School change orders, which the agenda lists as one additive and one deductive item, and the Lake Weir High School serving line project.

School board agendas list $100,000 services agreement, 5.64-acre lease amendment; no minutes yet published

The Marion County School Board has not published minutes for its two most recent meetings, so none of the outcomes below are confirmed. The agendas for the Oct. 8 and Oct. 13 meetings list a proposed $100,000.00 services agreement, a lease amendment covering about 5.64 acres near South Marion High School, several donations to district schools, and two student re-entry requests.

Contracts and money on the Oct. 13 agenda

The board's Oct. 13 meeting agenda lists a proposed $100,000.00 agreement with Catapult Learning LLC for non-public school services, described in the meeting summary as a data share agreement. The same agenda lists a deductive change order of $25,978.16 for North Marion High School Auditorium Lighting Upgrades. A deductive change order reduces the dollar amount of an existing construction contract. The agenda also includes routine administrative approvals, meeting minutes and a consent agenda. Because minutes are not yet published, the record does not establish whether any of these items were approved.

Land: about 5.64 acres for county access

The Board of Directors of the Leasing Corporation held its annual meeting on Oct. 13 to confirm corporate procedures. Its agenda lists Resolution 26-09, a First Amendment to the Series 2024 Ground Lease at High School "CCC" (South Marion High School) that would provide approximately 5.64 acres to Marion County for ingress and egress. The agenda does not state whether the resolution was adopted.

Donations to schools and programs

The Oct. 13 agenda lists three gifts for recognition: a $10,000.00 donation to Marion Technical College from Rotary Club of the Villages Foundation, Inc.; a Heinrich Bachmann Violin valued at $2,000.00 to Dunnellon High; and a $3,751.00 donation to Hammett L. Bowen, Jr. Elementary from Ocala West United Methodist Church. The summary also refers to additional monetary and tangible donations without listing amounts.

Two early re-entry requests

A special meeting on Oct. 8 was scheduled to decide two early re-entry requests. Student JD26-099, expelled Feb. 10, 2026, and student JD26-181, expelled April 14, 2026, each asked to return to their base school effective Oct. 13, 2026, contingent on accepting a District Behavior Contract for the second quarter of the 2026-2027 school year. The agenda lists votes on both requests and marks items 3 and 4 as "Off Air." No vote tally appears in the available record.

Certificates of Participation presentation

An administrative briefing and work session on Oct. 8 at 9:00 A.M. included a presentation and public comment on "Certificates of Participation, Part 2" (Whitehouse), a superintendent's administrative briefing, and board member comments. Public input after each work session presentation was limited to three minutes per speaker. The agenda text contains no votes, contracts, dollar amounts or ordinances; most items are procedural or informational.

A note on the record

The Oct. 8 work session agenda lists the meeting location as 1614 E Fort King Street, Ocala, Florida 34471.

Coming up

• **Oct. 22 — Administrative Briefing and Work Session.** Agenda items include renaming of Fordham Early Learning Academy, a Florida School Board Insurance Trust presentation, a Florida Educator Health Trust overview, an Enterprise Fleet Management Pt. 2 discussion, a Quarterly Compliance Inspection Report review, and the evaluation of the Superintendent. No time or location appears in the provided summary.

Marion County School Board addresses FY 2026-2027 budget, $319,410 in speech therapy contracts

The Marion County School Board held a series of meetings in late July focused on the tentative budget for Fiscal Year 2026-2027, proposed millage rates, and $319,410 in speech therapy contracts. Minutes from all four meetings have not yet been published, so the outcomes listed below reflect what was on each agenda and are not confirmed decisions.

Speech Therapy Contracts

The July 28 regular School Board Meeting agenda included a consent agenda with two contracts for speech language pathologist services totaling $319,410, intended to support students with disabilities.

The contracts were:

• An independent contractor agreement with Danielle Sanchez, SLP LLC for $106,470, covering speech therapy services through June 2027.
• A first amendment with North Florida Speech Services LLC for $212,940, covering speech therapy services through June 2027.

The agenda also included approval of minutes from the June 18 work session, the June 23 regular meeting, and the July 9 special expulsion meeting.

Tentative Budget and Millage Rates

The board met July 21 in a special meeting to receive and approve the tentative budget for Fiscal Year 2026-2027 for advertising purposes, and to schedule a public hearing on the budget for Tuesday, July 28, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.

On July 28, the board held a special meeting scheduled to include a public hearing on the adoption of tentative millage rates under Resolution 26-05 and a public hearing on the adoption of the tentative budget under Resolution 26-06.

Work Session on Operations and Student Fees

A July 23 Administrative Briefing and Work Session agenda included several items for board review:

• Recommendation for Student Fees
• Future Focused Operations Plan
• Facilities Rental Agreement
• Quarterly Compliance Inspection Report
• NEOLA Policies Update

No details on the content of these presentations were included in the agenda materials.

Coming Up

The Marion County School Board has an Administrative Briefing and Work Session scheduled for Thursday, August 6, 2026. The agenda includes:

• 2026-2027 General Fund Tentative Budget presentation
• Realtor Process RFP for Real Estate Broker Services
• Graduation 2027 schedules
• Potential District School Assignments for the 2026-2027 school year
• COPs Presentation

Residents interested in the budget process or school assignments for the upcoming year may want to attend.