Oversight committee hears referendum spending report; officials cite personnel-driven gains, questions raised about charter passthroughs and reconciling budgets

At a meeting of the Marion County referendum oversight committee, district leaders reported that referendum revenues have come in slightly above budget and outlined how the money has been spent, emphasizing personnel costs for class-size reduction, physical education and school safety.

Doctor Brewer opened the review and framed the committee’s role as oversight of the voter-approved referendum funds. “We are not going to be satisfied until we have 100% of our students walking across the stage with a diploma in hand and reading on grade level,” Doctor Brewer said, summarizing the district’s long-term goal as officials presented the 2025–26 referendum report.

Chief Financial Officer Rios Welsh told the committee the adopted referendum budget was about $41 million and that the district had received roughly $41.9 million to date (reported at about 101.7% of projections). Welsh said expense tracking was “just a little under” budget at roughly the high‑80s percent range and noted the books remain open for final reconciliation; the carry‑forward balance from 2024–25 into 2025–26 was reported at about $13.3 million and the budgeted fund balance for 2025–26 at about $10.8 million.

Officials said most referendum dollars are being spent on salaries and benefits. Welsh presented program-level shares that showed class-size reduction as the single largest cumulative use (reported as about 34.5% of funds, roughly $61 million over the referendum period), with physical education, school safety, music, art, media and vocational programs following. Staff repeatedly noted the financial figures are preliminary and subject to adjustments during reconciliations.

Presenters used program vignettes to illustrate outcomes. Charity Cornelison described how referendum-funded physical-education teachers and technicians contribute to school culture, participation and events such as field day; “The greatest investment this referendum makes isn't in equipment or facilities. It is in the people,” she said. The district reported that elementary-level PE staffing is largely funded by the referendum and that vacancies exist among PE technicians and teachers.

Kathy Ode summarized career and technical education (CTE) activity: the district offers dozens of CTE pathways, had more than 15,000 students enrolled this year, and reported about 2,104 industry certifications earned so far. Officials said referendum funds are critical to outfit classrooms with industry-level equipment and to support teacher externships and training.

On school safety, coordinator Dennis McFadden described a “layered” strategy that pairs school resource officers with physical-security upgrades and portable screening tools. He said the quarter’s investments included storeroom-function locks at multiple elementary schools (reported near $461,000) and nearly $829,000 spent on SRO services. McFadden said the district deployed weapons-detection systems at seven graduation ceremonies, screened more than 31,000 guests and reported recoveries including 54 knives, three firearms and one taser; staff said additional handheld detectors and signage were purchased to support large events.

Committee members pressed staff on two recurring themes: unexplained slide discrepancies in school-safety totals and oversight of charter-school spending. One member pointed to differing line items across presentation slides (for example, figures listed at about $7.1 million, $5.3 million and $6.8 million on different slides) and Welsh acknowledged a reconciliation is needed, saying the district will correct the final report once the books are closed.

On charter schools, Welsh said the district is legally required to pass referendum funds through to charter operators but does not control charter budgets or audits; charter schools must report their actual expenditures to the Florida Department of Education and the district passes along those reported numbers. A committee member asked whether a charter representative should be required to attend oversight meetings; staff answered that existing statute does not require their presence, but the committee could invite them or request additional information.

Several speakers asked about money that appears unspent this quarter. McFadden said roughly $1.9 million in the school-safety line likely will roll forward because some planned projects require additional engineering or design work; staff said they will try to start projects earlier to reduce rollover in future cycles.

The committee also reviewed library/media, visual and performing arts, and professional-development uses of referendum dollars. Presenters noted near‑complete spend rates for some program budgets, where the bulk of the allocations pay teacher and specialist salaries.

The committee asked staff to reconcile presentation numbers and to share updated, finalized figures once the district closes the books. The meeting closed after the chair confirmed the next committee meeting on Oct. 15 and a motion to adjourn passed at 5:10 p.m.