The committee's Safe Schools presentation outlined how referendum funds support daily law-enforcement presence on campuses, safety technology and communications upgrades. Dennis McFadden, representing the Safe Schools department, said the largest share of recent spending supported the school resource officer program and listed quarter payments to partners: $17,957 to the Bellevue Police Department, $42,183 to the Ocala Police Department and $768,750 to the Marion County Sheriff's Office. He said the district uses referendum dollars alongside general funds to maintain required staffing levels.

McFadden described investments in the Raptor visitor and volunteer management system to support compliance with the Jessica Lonsberg Act and the placement of 800-megahertz mobile radios on buses and safe-schools vehicles. He said the district spent $48,136 this year on a radio system framework upgrade to improve reliability and interoperability; the radios currently link directly to the Marion County Sheriff's Office dispatch and the city of Ocala is working toward coordination to enable patched dispatching.

The Safe Schools team also noted an onboarding package and one-time vehicle purchase order for a crisis-response coordinator (a $36,000 purchase order submitted and to be paid when the vehicle arrives) and described standard pre-employment screening for new officers. Staff paid tribute to Alfonso Gordon, a radio systems manager whose work improved district communications before his death in August 2023.

Committee members asked for clarification about whether the remaining SRO costs are borne by the general fund; staff confirmed the general fund covers balances beyond referendum-supported payments. Members were advised that rising SRO contract and infrastructure costs will remain under ongoing monitoring.