SUMMERFIELD, FL (352today.com) – The Interim Superintendent of the Marion County Public Schools Dr. Danielle Brewer, held the first of her Town Hall Meetings Sept. 18 at Lake Weir Middle School, providing the audience with updates on the school district, followed by a question-and-answer session.
Dr. Brewer had an opportunity to share with the audience, what’s going well in the school district, what needs improvement, and to listen to those thoughts and ideas that may bring solutions to existing issues from those who attended the town hall meeting.
The Marion County School District has a deep volume of students, more than 46,000. And unlike many districts in the state, Marion County continues to see an increase in enrollment.
The number of high school students in Marion County for the 2025-26 school year is higher than projected, while the number of kindergarten students was less than projected, with a declining birthrate that’s endemic across the state.
“We also celebrate that we’re not losing students, so we’re excited about that,” said Brewer. “We’re the largest employer in Marion County. We have 7,000 employees. That just speaks volumes, to who is handling, dealing and coaching your students every day. We have over 2,000 classroom teachers. The rest of the staff is all support personnel and administrators.”
The school district’s motto, ‘One Team, One Mission,’ resonates powerfully, and it’s not just the teachers who are making a difference, it’s every single person who comes in contact with the students, said Brewer.
The school district has 250 school bus drivers and over 400 total bus staff members, bus aids in addition to the drivers.
“Those bus drivers are taking those students about 35,000 miles a day, that’s what we’ve estimated,” said Brewer. “That’s a lot of travel time. Marion County is the size of Rhode Island. That’s a lot of space to cover, over 1,600 square miles. Our students are on the bus for a long time. Our drivers mean everything to us. They make crucial decisions every day, and we’re incredibly thankful for them.”
The school district is composed of 53 schools and five charter schools, and the district believes in free choice. There are magnet programs and there are other school choice opportunities, providing an ample number of options for their students, said Brewer.
The Marion County Public School Budget is more than $1.2 billion and is funded through the general fund, referendum, and sales tax, which funds the school district capital projects. The preponderance of the general fund, about 80%, goes toward employees’ salaries.
The budget itself is extremely complex, as certain funding sources can only be used only for teachers and salaries, and others for capital projects. The school district this past year had a shortfall of about $64 million to make up because of the reduction in revenues and the increase in expenditures. There were challenges associated with having less funding available, and finding the necessary means, so as not to experience any layoffs. The school district was faced with a lot of difficult decisions but found ways to ensure that no person was laid off, demonstrating their commitment to the staff and students.
The electorate in Marion County voted for the referendum, which has been a blessing for Marion County Public Schools, said Brewer. Without the referendum, the district wouldn’t be able to have quality, art, music and physical education in all of their elementary schools, they’ve also been able to provide library services. A lot of the career and technical education classes are funded out of the referendum, which provides about $41 million annually.