A replacement for the current Belleview Elementary School moved another step closer to reality Tuesday as the Marion County School Board considered selecting a construction manager for the project, bringing into sharper focus what students, parents and the community can expect over the next two years.
District staff recommended negotiating a contract with Ausley Construction Co., LLC. Contract negotiations are expected to take about 30 days before a final agreement returns to the School Board for approval.
While Tuesday’s action does not begin construction, it advances one of the largest school projects planned in South Marion County.
The new campus will replace the current Belleview Elementary School while also consolidating Belleview Elementary and Belleview-Santos Elementary into a single school designed to serve 950 students. District planning documents show the project will feature a new two-story, approximately 127,000-square-foot classroom building on the existing campus, while two existing buildings will remain and be renovated.
Plans also call for a media center, cafeteria with a stage, administration offices, clinic, covered play court, playgrounds, physical education facilities, expanded parking, covered walkways, separate parent and bus loops, and a central energy plant. Existing Buildings 1, 4 and 7 would be demolished as part of the project, while Buildings 8 and 9 would be renovated and incorporated into the finished campus.
Perhaps the biggest change for families won’t happen on the Belleview campus at all.
According to district planning documents, Belleview Elementary students and staff are expected to temporarily relocate to the former Lake Weir Middle School for the 2027-28 school year while the existing campus is demolished and rebuilt. Preparations at the temporary campus, including renovations and the relocation of equipment, are scheduled for next summer before demolition begins.
The district’s timeline calls for bid documents to be completed this fall, permitting by December, and phased construction beginning in early 2027. If the schedule remains on track, the new Belleview Elementary campus would be completed by July 2028 in time for the start of the 2028-29 school year.
Project budgets included in the planning documents estimate approximately $47 million for new construction, $3.6 million to renovate the two existing buildings, and another $1 million to prepare the temporary “swing school” campus and assist with relocating staff and equipment.
Four firms were interviewed for the construction management contract. Ausley Construction earned the highest evaluation score from the selection committee, followed by The A.D. Morgan Corporation, D.E. Scorpio Corporation and Charles Perry Partners Inc.
If contract negotiations are successful, the proposed agreement with Ausley Construction will return to the School Board for final approval before work moves into the design and pre-construction phase
