MARION COUNTY, FL (352today.com) – New schools. New principals. New students. And new procedures. These are all part of the new school year in Marion County Public Schools.
A projected 46,195 students will attend MCPS schools this year with Monday marking the first day of class.
Teachers returned earlier this week while brand-new teachers and those new to MCPS started in late July. To date, the district has hired over 480 new teachers with another 54 in processing. As of today, MCPS has 71 teacher vacancies, far fewer than at this same time in previous years.
Two new schools open their doors for the first time Monday morning – Ross Prairie Elementary in Marion Oaks and Winding Oaks Elementary in Ocala. Both are located in the southwest portion of Marion County, along with a new high school under construction and set to open in August 2026.
New legislation in Florida, HB 1105, prohibits elementary and middle school students from using cell phones during the instructional day. High school students may use mobile devices outside of class and within class for educational purposes with teacher permission.
Parents also have a new mobile app to track school buses this year. The “My K-12” mobile app offers real-time tracking for pickup and drop-off times and bus stop locations. The free app is available in most app stores. Parents and families should use student ID numbers to link their students within the app.
Speaking of buses, MCPS operates about 250 bus routes every day, transporting approximately 23,000 students to and from campus 180 days each year. The 35,763 daily round-trip miles add up to about 64 million miles annually – enough to travel to the moon and back 13 times.
Bus transportation details are available at school orientations held this week and by contacting your child’s school or the Transportation Department at 352.671.7050. A word of caution – that hotline number is extremely busy at the opening of school each year so patience is encouraged.
Drivers are reminded to be especially alert, particularly for those large yellow school buses, cars with students riders, and students walking or riding bicycles to school. School zones are often marked with flashing yellow lights, and fines for speeding in school zones are doubled.
Florida Statute 810.097 prohibits unauthorized boarding of school buses by parents and other adults. Doing so is a second-degree misdemeanor and may result in arrest and prosecution.
Existing state law also requires incoming seventh graders to have their immunizations up-to-date by the start of school. Otherwise, they are not allowed in class on the first day. Last year, only 87 seventh graders lacked proper immunizations and were prevented from attending first-day classes. Outreach efforts to reduce this number started back in the spring with in-school clinics and continued as recently as Tuesday evening with phone call reminders and immunization clinics.
MCPS continues offering free meals to all students regardless of income because of the district’s participation in the Community Eligibility Provision, part of the federal government’s school nutrition program. Schools in high-need areas provide breakfast and lunch at no cost to students without requiring families to apply for free and reduced-price meals.
Ten schools have new principals this year, including some first-time principals (marked with an asterisk):
- Belleview Middle – Ashley Kemp
- College Park Elementary – Dr. Stacey Varner
- East Marion Elementary – Dr. John Pope*
- Forest High – Dr. Dion Gary
- Harbour View Elementary – Jennifer Pollard*
- Lake Weir High – Jason Jacobs
- Lake Weir Middle – Dr. Brian Greene
- Madison Street Academy – Heather Lipira
- Oakcrest Elementary – Sarah Dobbs
- Saddlewood Elementary – Vicki McAlhany
The complete school calendar is available, along with lots of other information, at www.marionschools.net.