MARION COUNTY, Fla. – Officials with Marion County Public Schools offered tours Monday at some of its schools to showcase the need for repairs and improvements.
More tours will be offered Thursday, officials said.
Monday’s tour started at Marion Technical Institute at 8 a.m. before heading to Belleview Elementary, Dunnellon Middle and Dunnellon High schools.
The tour on Thursday starts at Sparr Elementary at 12:25 p.m. before heading to Anthony Elementary, Fessenden Elementary, Ward Highlands Elementary and Fort King Middle schools.
“The tour is really important for people to be able to see first-hand what our buildings look like,” said Dr. Diane Gullet, superintendent of Marion County Schools.
On Feb. 19, News 6 reported on the need for repairs in many of the district’s schools.
“It’s not to be overly dramatic. When you look at the data, the growth and our facilities. When you have about half our facilities are over 50 years old, the cost of maintenance continues to climb,” Gullet said.
News 6 investigated and discovered 80% of Marion County’s school maintenance requests do not get fixed because the district does not have the $840 million to do it. Some of the maintenance money used to come Public Education Capital Outlay funds, also known as PECO. The dollars came from fees from telephone landlines, but the state stopped distributing the money to the district in 2019.
The following day, on Feb. 20, Marion County commissioners pushed forward a resolution from the school board for a half-cent sales tax to appear on the general election ballot.
According to the ballot language, the measure is designed to retain high-quality teachers, reduce classroom overcrowding, and improve safety and security by expanding, constructing, and improving school facilities.
If approved, the impact fees will help handle growth and build new schools and wings. According to school leaders, only five new schools have been built in Marion County since the first iPhone was released in 2007. Now, the district is seeing record enrollment. Its student population grew by 9% in the last decade.
The referendum question for the half-cent sales tax will be decided by voters during the Nov. 5 general election.
If approved by voters, the half-cent sales tax would be in place for 10 years.
“It’s not about just wanting newer buildings, it’s about needing buildings that are safe that are maintaining in a proper manner,” Gullett said. “I’m confident that the community will stand up to support our schools and what we need for our students. We have not had the money to be able to maintain them properly, so all of that has come to a head with we’ve got to do something. We’re in a crisis state.”
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