Marion County School Board adopts 2026 meeting calendar, sets budget hearing dates

The Marion County School Board approved its 2026 calendar of regular meetings and set several related procedural details during a special organizational meeting on Nov. 11, 2025.

The presiding officer read a list of proposed dates for 2026 — beginning Jan. 13 and running through Dec. 8 — and called for a motion to adopt the calendar. A motion to approve the dates was made and seconded; after a brief concern that the Feb. 10 meeting would conflict with Marion County Day in Tallahassee, the board approved the calendar by a recorded vote of 5-0.

Board members also approved a standard start time for regular meetings of 5:30 p.m., unless otherwise specified. The presiding officer recommended the start time and the board adopted it by voice vote (recorded as 5-0). The body further designated 1614 East 4 King Street in Ocala as the default meeting location unless otherwise specified; that motion also passed unanimously.

On the budget calendar, the board scheduled four special meetings: receipt of the tentative budget on July 21, 2026 (5:30 p.m.), a public hearing on the tentative budget on July 28, 2026 (5:30 p.m.), a public hearing and adoption of the final budget on Sept. 8, 2026 (9:00 a.m.), and the organizational meeting together with the annual Board Leasing Corporation meeting on Nov. 17, 2026 (11:00 a.m.). The board moved and adopted those special meeting dates by a 5-0 vote.

Elena Martinez Young, identified in the meeting as the board clerk, provided notice information: "The notice for the 11/11/2025 organizational meeting ran in the Ocala Gazette on 11/08/2025," she said.

The meeting record shows no amendments to the calendar or times; the board indicated it would revisit any specific conflicts (for example the Feb. 10 date) as the dates approach.

The next procedural steps are routine scheduling and any calendar adjustments that may be proposed prior to the individual meetings.