(Marion) — Marion ISD voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly showed strong support for investing in the future of their schools. During the Nov. 4 General and School Board Election, voters approved the district’s $60 million bond proposition.
A total of 1,161 (65.52 percent) votes were cast in favor of the new and upgraded facilities across the district while 611 (34.48 percent) votes were cast against it.
The 2025 voter approved bond package includes plans for a new elementary school, new buses, land acquisition, and districtwide upgrades — all part of the district’s long-term facilities plan.
Marion ISD Superintendent Dr. Don Beck says he appreciates the community’s confidence in the district’s vision and leadership.
“I’m truly excited by the results. There were a lot of people that took part in this, you know, getting the information out. I’d hate to even begin to name every one of them because I’d miss somebody. But the biggest thing is we want to make sure everybody got information and it worked. This is by far the largest turnout that the Marion ISD has had, to my knowledge, other than a gubernatorial or a presidential race. The most voters that I know that we’ve had recently was 1,100. Now we’re sitting at fifteen, sixteen, seventeen-hundred votes so I’m thrilled. We’re thrilled; the school board is thrilled that people came out and voted. I know that the work was tireless for some. So, in the end when the results happen, no matter where it is, it’s a relief. It’s exciting. The kids were the number one focus. This is for the students as we move forward. We’re truly blessed and want to thank the voters for coming out and voting, and they came out in numbers and so that speaks volumes,” said Beck.
Beck says Marion ISD’s bond planning process began months ago with input from parents, staff, and community members who studied the district’s priorities and growth trends.
He says the district will now begin planning the implementation phase for these new projects approved by voters.
“To be honest with you, since this is the first new elementary school where you’ll have two, technically, pre-k through five setups, we’re going to be starting on working on a yearlong journey of meeting with parents, constituents, to figure out various things — and getting a demographer involved and figuring out where exactly boundary lines should be, how things should roll out — so the board will be involved in that discussion too. So, it’s going to be a process. It’s not just about the building. It’s about how do you now fill these schools with the students that are coming, and what is the best location for that. The building part is one piece, but the other part –– the part that people had a lot of questions about was how exactly do teachers move, how do parents move, where do the kids go? That’s the part where we are going to spend a lot of time visiting with constituents to find the right way to make things work for Marion ISD,” said Beck.
District leaders say this new bond will serve as the next step in Marion ISD’s long-range plan. Meanwhile, the district is currently wrapping up 2023 bond construction at the high school.