The Marion County School Board heard a quarterly safety compliance report Oct. 16 from district school safety specialist Cynthia Barnes, who said the Florida Department of Education Office of Safe Schools conducted no compliance visits in the district during the first quarter of the 2025–26 school year.

Barnes told the board the first-quarter total of Office of Safe Schools compliance visits was zero and therefore the percentage of schools inspected or reinspected in the quarter was 0%. She also recapped the required annual counts for the preceding calendar year: 29 schools inspected by the Office of Safe Schools (52.72% of district schools), 13 schools with no safety-requirement deficiencies (44.82% of inspected schools with no deficiencies), and 16 reinspections — all of which, she said, showed no remaining deficiencies after reinspection.

The quarterly report was given under the requirements of state law and the implementing rule Barnes cited in her presentation. She reminded the board that House Bill 41473 (as discussed in the report) and Florida statute language require district safety specialists to report quarterly on Office of Safe Schools compliance activities and annually on the prior calendar-year inspection totals.

Barnes closed her briefing by thanking school leaders and staff, and stressing the collective nature of school safety. "It takes everyone making safety a daily priority to create a safe learning environment," she said.

Board members accepted the report for information. No formal action or vote was taken on the item during the Oct. 16 work session.

Looking ahead, Barnes and staff did not announce new compliance visits; the district will continue to report quarterly and make its annual report public as required by statute.