Marion Co. school board hears CTE student presentations, approves personnel and financial measures

The Marion Co School Dist board on Tuesday heard brief presentations from students at the Carl Lofton Career and Technology Center and approved a slate of personnel, calendar and financial measures by unanimous votes.

Board members received comments and short presentations from multiple CTE students, who described the programs they attend and their career plans. Chloe Callahan, a construction program student at East Marion, said she hoped to “one day hopefully own my own construction company.” Mallory Blocker, an early-childhood student at West Marion High School, thanked the board for support of the program and said she plans to become a teacher.

The superintendent’s report updated the board on enrollment and testing. The superintendent said district enrollment for January was down “probably another 60, 65 students” from this time last year and noted ongoing illness had affected daily attendance. He also reminded board members that juniors will take the statewide ACT in February and that Marion County will continue to offer paper-based testing at district requests.

Board members described a recent facilities walkthrough and agreed to schedule a March work session to review priorities identified during the tour. The board approved routine personnel items, athletic schedules, student transfers, discipline hearings, resignations and retirements, redeployments for directors and principals, and salary-handbook changes. The board also approved claims dockets, financial reports (including reconciled bank statements and fund-balance analysis), a cash-flow statement, fixed-asset deletions and a change to the March meeting date from March 10 to March 17 to avoid spring break.

Votes at a glance: all recorded motions carried 5–0 unless noted otherwise. - Adoption of the agenda — approved 5–0. - Approval of minutes (Jan. 13 regular and Jan. 24 special) — approved 5–0. - Presentation acknowledgment: Carl Lofton Career and Technology Center students — received; no vote required. - Consent agenda — approved 5–0. - Approval of athletic schedules (West Marion and East Marion teams, power lifting) — approved 5–0. - Approval of student transfers (students released by Walthall County) — approved 5–0. - Approval of discipline hearings for January 2025 — approved 5–0. - Approval of resignations and retirements — approved 5–0. - Approval of personnel recommendations and exceptions payroll — approved 5–0. - Salary handbook changes (central office administrators, principals for 2025–26, business office) — approved 5–0. - Redeployment of directors and principals for 2025–26 — approved 5–0. - Approval of the Marion County School District 2025–26 calendar — approved 5–0. - Approval of claims dockets and financial reports (statements of revenue/expenditures, fund-balance analysis, reconciled bank statements, cash-flow statements) — approved 5–0. - Approval of fixed assets deletions — approved 5–0. - Change March 2025 board meeting date from March 10 to March 17 — approved 5–0. - Motion to go into closed session — approved 5–0.

The meeting included expressions of appreciation for board members during School Board Recognition Week and brief remarks by principals presenting tokens of appreciation. There were no public comments recorded during the public-comment period. The board moved into closed session after the recorded business.

The items approved were routine administrative and fiscal measures that the board described as necessary to manage personnel, operations and upcoming testing; the superintendent said the district will continue to monitor enrollment trends and report back if numbers change substantially.