OCALA, FL (352today.com) – As questions remain within the community regarding the future of Wyomina Park Elementary School in the wake of two public input meetings, Director of Public Relations for the Marion County Public School System, Kevin Christian, has released a prepared statement on behalf of Marion County Public Schools.
Christian said the school’s future has been before the school board and the public since mid-July as part of the district’s five-year “Forward Together” planning, which looks at student capacity, construction, and maintenance needs across Marion County’s 54 public schools.
The original proposal, now on hold, would have rezoned Wyomina Park students to Oakcrest Elementary, which has a newer classroom wing and unused seats under district capacity reports, Christian said. The next step would have been to move Bridgeway (formerly Marion Technical Institute) students onto the Wyomina Park campus because of ongoing maintenance needs at Bridgeway’s 1950s-era buildings.
Christian said no Wyomina Park students would have been sent to Bridgeway.
“Both moves are on hold pending the assimilation of input gathered at two community meetings last week regarding WPE,” Christian said. “That feedback will be presented to school board members at a work session later this month.
“Bottom line, so far, no definitive decision has been made by the school board regarding WPE.”
Superintendent Danielle Brewer previously said that the briefing is scheduled for the Wednesday, Sept. 17, work session.
The two public input sessions were held Thursday, August 27, 2026, at 9 a.m. in the Browne Greaton Cole Auditorium at the Bridgeway/ former MTI campus, and at 6 p.m. in the cafeteria at Fort King Middle School, 545 N.E. 17th Ave. Brewer announced those dates after the Aug. 11 School Board meeting, when the board approved most of a five-year facilities package, referred to in board materials as the Future-Focused Operations Plan, but delayed action on Wyomina Park Elementary after parents, teachers, and students packed the room in the school’s red and black.
That meeting fell two days into Wyomina Park’s school year. The campus is the only Marion County school on Florida’s year-round calendar pilot, so its students had already returned while most district schools were still on summer break. Teachers told the board they had not been given the same early community process other north-end schools received.
Under the paused timeline, Wyomina Park students would have been rezoned to Oakcrest for the 2027-28 school year, with Bridgeway relocating into the 1949 Wyomina Park building the same year.
Wyomina Park’s published school profile identifies it as a Title I campus and states that 85 percent of students come from economically disadvantaged homes and that all students receive free breakfast and lunch.
Until the board acts, students remain at 511 N.E. 12th Ave.; Bridgeway remains on its current campus, and no date has been set to rezone Wyomina Park or occupy its building.
Marion County School Board meeting information can be found here.
As 352Today previously reported, the School Board tabled the Wyomina Park rezoning after public comment at its August 11, 2026, meeting, and neighbors then circulated flyers urging people to turn out for the Aug. 27 input sessions, including an evening meeting at Fort King Middle that 352today flagged the day before. That coverage also noted the complaint at the heart of the delay: Wyomina Park families said they did not get the earlier community meetings already held for other north-end schools under review.