OCALA, FL (352today.com) – The Marion County Public School Board received an update from the attendance boundary committee at their administrative briefing and workshop on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026.

There was discussion about rezoning the Northend. Previous discussion produced a consensus from the board to move forward with community conversations regarding the rezoning proposal, but those have been postponed and will be rescheduled as a result of last Thursday’s administrative briefing and workshop. However, one of the key pieces the school district would’ve like to have received a consensus on that would help with the communication strategy with the Northend schools is the proposal of the combination of Sparr and Anthony Elementary Schools.

There was hope that outcome would provide consensus on the proposal idea to combine the two schools and the timeline on when that combination could occur, however, that was not the case. This isn’t something new; the board has been having this discussion for more than two years.

At a prior work session, the attendance boundary committee updated the school board on the recommendations of their attendance boundary advisory committee, which would include the rezoning four of the school district’s Northend schools.

“We understand with that rezoning it leaves Sparr well under capacity; and that as we mentioned before was intentional because it fits with the ABAC’s other recommendation which was to combine Sparr and Anthony together to create one larger, more efficient school on the Northend,” said Ben Whitehouse, Marion County Public Schools deputy superintendent of curriculum and instruction.

Community meetings will be held the two weeks after Spring Break to provide more accurate information, with a work session to follow where the board will discuss an update to the plan that has been presented.

The proposal: 

Combine Sparr Elementary School and Anthony Elementary School into a single school with the construction of that combination beginning in 2028.

  • Build a new elementary school on the Sparr school site.
  • Keep Sparr students on site during construction. However, at the end of the construction, the Northend zone schools would have to be rezoned again because the number of schools would be reduced by one.
  • Once the construction is complete, Florida Diagnostics and Learning Resource System, FDLRS, would be relocated to Sparr, to Building No. 8, which is the newest building on the Sparr campus. The FDLRS location north of Reddick would no longer be needed.
  • Annual savings in operation expense: $1.3 million.
  • Repair cost savings: $10 million.
  • Repurpose or sell the Anthony Campus for additional capital funds.

Details and decisions

Marion County Public School Board Chair Dr. Sarah James would like to make a data-based decision, so there will be a full understanding of what is coming, and to have that information on where the school will be located, Sparr or Anthony.

“I certainly don’t want to be the board member who lives in this community for the rest of my life with a scarlet letter because we built a brand-new school in Sparr and the population isn’t there and we’re busing kids a long way,” said James. “Understanding Anthony is smaller and we’ll have to be creative.”

Dr. Allison Campbell expressed that she can be committed to having fewer schools on the Northend, noting there’s a capacity for 3,300, with the school district having an enrollment of 2,700, with utilization of around 80 percent being ideal. Marion County, by contrast, always operates in the 90s.

The slides that were presented closely resembled the previous plan that was shown in Nov. 2025, with the ABAC meeting multiple times and coming to the same realization that they’re ready for the school board to spend taxpayer dollars on something that Campbell is struggling with, understanding that it’s the school board’s responsibility to manage money.

‘”It’s difficult to make a decision today to say what we’re going to do as far as combining the two schools, because I don’t even know if it’s a combo that’s going to be needed,” said Campbell. “My biggest question is, with the birth rates as low as they are, and the in migration that we’re having come to Marion County, not coming to the north side, I’m significantly continuing to struggle to say that we would put a $45 million brand-new campus up there. If we’re going to put a brand-new campus up there, let’s put it at North Marion. If we’re going to be doing something on the north side, I don’t know if it has to be elementary.”

Reducing the number

Four schools can become three in Aug. 2026; it’s an uncomfortable proposition, but it’s a reality, if you look at the numbers, with James consistently saying the plan she wants to come before the board is to neutralize an entire campus, redistribute and then come up with a plan. However, that’s not the plan presented for rezoning, from the ABAC and staff, she said.

The rezoning plan isn’t going to work without the promise of something new. Reddick-Collier Elementary has to be addressed immediately. There are 363 open seats at Reddick-Collier, and if 350 students were to go from Sparr to Reddick and if all of Anthony went to Sparr, those schools would be at maximum FISH, Florida Inventory of School Houses, capacity, said James. A critical need is to get the school district’s campuses to 80-plus percent, preferably 90 percent, and that can be done without an entire campus and spending no money.

James has consistently struggled with the option that was presented. If it’s not paired with a commitment from the board for a new school, the problem is being moved from one place to another, if the school district rezones and doesn’t commit to a combination school, the looming question would be, what was the purpose of rezoning?

“What I can tell you, if there’s not a promise of a new elementary school, it’s already been said on the Northend, they’re going to put seven to 10 kids in a car and they’re going to use open enrollment, and they’re not going to change their school,” said James. “We’re going to rezone and they’re not going to go because every single school will still be open for open enrollment, they’ll all get in a car, and their one grandma is going to drop them all off every single day and pick them up every single day.”

The struggle with the conversation is that it wasn’t about rezoning, and yet it was, said James.

“We’re not being asked anything about rezoning right now,” said James. “What we’re being asked is to make a commitment for a capital expenditure on the Northend. For us, that is tied to rezoning and site utilization.”

Vice chair Lori Conrad said, if the conversation of rezoning was going to be entertained and moving students to Reddick, all of the schools should be part of the conversation, citing that her goal as a board member besides being fiscally responsible is that the school district’s students are spending the least amount of time on a bus possible, and that may include rezoning part of Fessenden. Conrad said that she could be on board with the concept of off lining a campus and building something new, if it’s one classroom building or a new cafeteria. However, she’s not on board with the idea of building a new $45 million campus.

“It should all be on the table that it makes sense for our students and our families,” said Conrad.

The recommendation from the committee was to combine the two schools on the Sparr site, with the project beginning in 2028, with a proposed opening date of Aug. 2029, with the intention of keeping Sparr students on site during construction. The goal had been balancing enrollment on the Northend, and the ABAC through their discussions about balancing enrollment, ascertained that it’s not just enough to hit an 80 percent target–there’s the need to look at combining schools to reduce the operation. The goal is to come back with a proposal for rezoning for one less school on the Northend.