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School board approved first year of five-year capital plan; committee briefed on Bellevue Elementary and project timelines
Summary
The school board approved the first year of a five-year capital plan that totals $576,120,749 across funding sources; the committee was briefed on year-one projects and longer-term priorities including Bellevue Elementary and a likely Dunnellon Middle-High School replacement.
Angela Usher, senior executive director of operations, told the surtax oversight committee that the school board approved the first year of a five-year capital plan at its most recent meeting and reviewed the district's capital priorities.
Usher said the five-year plan totals $576,120,749 across all capital funding sources and that the plan's first year (fiscal 2026) is budgeted at $114,647,009.37. Under the plan, the district included Bellevue Elementary as a replacement school and listed an eventual project cost substantially higher than initial figures: "the project for Bellevue Elementary will be closer to 70,000,000. So next year, you'll see another 35,000,000 for Bellevue Elementary," Usher said.
Usher said sales-tax receipts used in the plan are projected at about $39.7 million annually; earlier in the year first-quarter receipts were lower than expected but projections have returned closer to the original $40 million estimate. She also noted that some projects in the capital plan extend beyond the 10-year surtax window and that the district cannot borrow against the surtax; therefore, larger projects must wait for revenue to accrue. "That will take, like, 5 years. It'll be, like, more than 150,000,000 because we're not borrowing against the sales tax," Usher said when discussing large-scale replacements like Dunnellon Middle-High School.
Usher also confirmed that two security-door projects at Osceola Middle and East Marion Elementary are funded from early surtax receipts and will be procured under continuing contracts because they fall below the $7.5 million threshold for formal competitive selection noted in the procurement manual.
A committee member asked about a line item that lists property insurance as a capital expenditure; staff clarified that property insurance is paid from the district's 1.5 mills capital millage fund, a separate revenue source from the surtax.
Why this matters: the five-year plan frames how surtax receipts and other capital funds will be assigned to school replacement, renovations and safety projects. The plan sets expectations for timing, shows that some major projects will require several years of revenue accumulation, and signals where the oversight committee will see ODPs and other procurement items in future meetings.
