Levy County School Board approves new purchasing policy and class‑size compliance plan, hears midyear student data and votes to terminate employee

Levy County School Board members approved a new district purchasing policy and the district's class‑size compliance plan, heard a midyear student assessment update and district graduation figures, agreed to participate in a two‑day Master Board Program, and voted to adopt a final order recommending termination of an employee.

The board voted during its meeting to adopt Policy 7.13, a purchasing and bidding policy introduced after federal audit changes tied to recent federal grant activity, and approved the district's class‑size compliance plan based on the October (survey 2) counts the state uses for compliance. The board also received a presentation of midyear PM2 assessment data for English/language arts, math and science, and heard that the district's reported graduation rate is 94.8% versus a statewide rate of 89%.

The purchasing policy was presented as a model policy adapted from guidance staff received following pandemic‑era federal funding and related audit findings. The superintendent explained that changes in the Code of Federal Regulations and federal audit requirements prompted the need to formalize the district's purchasing and bidding procedures; the policy had been advertised for the required period before the board vote. The board approved the policy by motion with no recorded opposition.

On class‑size compliance, district staff summarized the statutory maximums used for compliance reporting: 18 students per class for pre‑K through 3, 22 students for grades 4 through 8, and 25 students for grades 9 through 12. Staff said the compliance calculation uses the October survey (survey 2) and that while the district conducts multiple internal counts, the DOE calculation method excludes certain subsets of classes, so the public numbers are not a literal classroom‑by‑class roll count. After…