OCALA, FL (352today.com) – A vision that’s going to become a reality and open new opportunities for students in Marion County, will be available in the near future.

The Marion County Public School Board unanimously approved Marion Technical College’s request at their meeting Sept. 9, 2025, to move forward with a project that will transform lives and prepare students for a brighter future.

A few months ago, the Director of Marion Technical College Gary Smallridge talked to the Marion County Public School Board about the school’s radiologic technology program, and the possibility of moving forward with offering an Associate of Science degree in radiography. MTC needed to purchase equipment from CMS Imaging in Jacksonville, Fla. to make the vision a reality.

‘This CMS (Imaging) purchase is part of this plan,” said Smallridge. “We’re going to have a live radiology lab at MTC, and the largest part of this project is that actual purchasing of the three pieces of equipment, two permanently mounted x-ray machines, is the best way to describe them and then a portable one that the students can learn on.”

When the project was being discussed, there was conversation about the hospitals that the school district’s students go to for clinicals, and that they use two types of imaging machines, said Smallridge.

“So, we’re looking at purchasing the best that’s out there, and what our students are going to get hired into and need to be familiar with, so we would have the most up-to-date lab in Marion County, especially against our competitors,” said Smallridge. “We would offer our students instead of just clinical time on real machines, they would use real machines to use what I call, ‘medical mannequins.’ There’s probably a better name for them. I think they’re called Phantoms.”

The students can actually take real images and can practice seeing if they’re taking the proper type of images because if they don’t take the proper image, they will be able to see it immediately, said Smallridge.

“So, not only will they have their clinical experience, but they’ll also have their hands-on experiences at the college,” said Smallridge. “What I learned by going through my other building projects was that if we separate out the actual equipment, buy it separately from giving it to the builder, not only do we save the tax money from owner direct purchasing, but we can also als0 save the 8% that we would pay the builder to handle that which is not necessary. We also could reduce the amount of contingency money that we need.”

The purchase being done separately is a little different, but the build out part of it is roughly $300,000, and it’s just under $600,000 for the equipment. The money is available from fund balance, from being fiscally responsible, said Smallridge.

“The money’s there, we just need the permission to move forward with the purchase,” said Smallridge. “We’re going to save a lot of money and have a really good lab.”

It was about a year ago, that Smallridge and Marion County Public School Board member Dr. Sarah James had talked about the lab, and she noted that he has been diligently working on it, and seeing a vision to impact, looking at the big picture, where the school district’s students will have access to quality education, post-secondary education that will be available in the Marion County Public School community.

“I welcome competition, I think it’s wonderful,” said James, who represents district no. 5. “Yes, there are programs that are similar to this within the Marion County community. We’re going to offer a program, and other schools will offer a program as well. I thnk students will have an opportunity for a choice, which is something we love in the State of Florida, and I’m confident that the program we offer at MTC is going to be exceptional. It’s going to meet our students exactly where they are, so I’m looking forward to it.”

The program is already in place, but instead of it just being a certificate program, they’ll be a second track to go for the A.S. degree, said Smallridge. MTC is the only technical college in Florida that has this particular program.

“The potential for the A.S. program expands the opportunity for more students to be able to participate,” said James.