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Marion County School Board approves policy updates, contracts and expulsions in unanimous votes
Summary
At its June 23 meeting the Marion County School Board unanimously adopted revised board policies, approved several contracts (including a $2.3M fresh-produce renewal and a $650K piggyback bus agreement), accepted insurance renewals with $335,000 in reported savings and approved multiple expulsions for 2025–26 and 2026–27 school years.
The Marion County School Board on June 23 unanimously approved a package of routine and business items, including revised board policies, multiple contract renewals and a list of student expulsions.
During the business portion of the meeting the board voted 5-0 to adopt revised board policies that staff said bring district rules into statutory compliance. The board then moved through the consent agenda and several regular agenda items with no recorded opposition.
Key approvals included renewal of a fresh-produce term contract for school food service reported at $2.3 million and a piggyback payback agreement for school bus transportation tied to Polk County bid ITB 049 (total contract amount $650,000; staff said the district intends to use the agreement primarily for substitute drivers). The board also renewed the district's general insurance package for July 1, 2026–June 30, 2027; district staff reported $335,000 in savings after recent negotiations.
Board members reviewed and accepted several construction-related information items tied to the district's construction management/GMP delivery method. Staff described a series of deductive change orders that return unused funds to the owner on projects including the Denali High School lift station and HVAC and roof work at Denali campuses and offsite improvements at Ross Prairie Elementary (formerly New Elementary School W). Exact project identifiers and deductive amounts were read into the record by staff.
On student discipline, the board approved expulsions for a list of student case IDs to remove those students from the district for the remainder of 2025–26 and the whole 2026–27 school year but with services provided. The motion passed 5-0.
A pulled agenda item delegated signing authority for Gary Smarridge, director of Marion Technical College; that item passed 4-0 with one board member recused.
All motions called for votes in public session; the clerk recorded the roll calls and each motion passed without dissent unless otherwise noted.
The board adjourned at 7:09 p.m.
