OCALA, FL (352today.com) – A number of people came before the Marion County Public School Board, at their meeting Tuesday, April 14, 2026, to voice their concerns about the 35 family liaisons within the school district that were laid off.

Anthony Hartwell Brown spoke on behalf of an employee that he referred to as a dynamic community and caring person, Narvella Haynes. Her efforts over the past three years have been nothing less than spectacular, he said.

“She shows an unconditional love for all of our students,” said Brown. “I wanted to say for the record it will be truly missed from my perspective as well as the many families she has served in our time together.”

Family liaisons countywide are experiencing something similar, said Brown. The method that was presented to the family liaisons was less than transparent, he said.

“That’s difficult, when these are the people who are the faces of our community,” said Brown. “They hug our children. They make sure that they have shoes. They make sure that they’re taken care of on so many levels as a public-school teacher, I cannot. I simply have a desire to say that in a school district that prides itself on caring, I would love to see in the future that we treat these kinds of individuals, who go above and beyond each and every day with a little bit more caring in these difficult situations.”

Choices and transformations

Difficult decisions come across one’s life every day, said Brown. But how one communicates as a human being in those difficult situations is what sets entities apart as a family in Marion County. He thanked Haynes and thanked the board for listening to him.

Narvella Haynes herself came before the school board to address layoffs of family liaisons. She found the way that the layoffs were handled as disturbing.

“We were told that we would be going to site-based budgeting, but it was up to the principals to keep us, but this is where the controversy and emotions come in,” said Haynes. “Not one time, were we told just because that your principal put you in the budget, you would not be the person to keep the job. Had that been relayed up front, I don’t think some of the principals would’ve put that in their budget because they knew the person that was working for them and the impact, they were making with the students and their families, and within the organization and the community.”

Several principals expressed that some of the family liaisons weren’t doing their jobs, and the district didn’t see the impact, said Haynes. However, Haynes told the board that they’re not at the schools every day to see the difference the family liaisons make.

“You’re not there when a child walks in an office with one shoe on and the other one in their hand because the sole is gone because it’s dry-rotted,” said Haynes. “I can give you numerous occasions I’ve had to deal with. Have you ever had a child ask you for plastic cutlery, when they could’ve asked for chips, candy or a drink. That puzzled me. I asked why that baby wanted the cutlery set? His response was ‘so I’ll have something clean to eat with tonight.’ Our families and children need us more now than ever before.”

Family liaisons play a large role, gaining insight and understanding into the issues facing students and their families, including those of food insecurity. On the issue of school attendance, Haynes told the board that on one day when contacting a student’s family member about their attendance, the parent told her, that she was out today also because she was helping the parent locate food banks. Transparency was an issue, and those being laid off would have felt it was more about the budget than the people who hold positions to help the school districts’ children and families.

“I truly feel as if I was misled because when it was first mentioned about us going to site-based budgeting, I prayed about it, and the vision came to me to make an offer to work both schools, which would help save on budgets, while building stronger relationships with our students and families,” said Haynes. “Not only that, the relationships and the partnerships have been established within the community and staff. I shared this with most of you, and you thought this would be a great idea, but not once did one of you say, it would be by seniority. The way it was handled, one being told today and another being told tomorrow, only caused confusion and drama. Had it done been more professionally, with consideration for us, there would’ve been more respect.”

More than a number 

April Rose-McCoy spoke before the board, not just as a school district employee, but as a union voice, representing workers who are giving their time, skills and their heart to the school district. She came before the board in response to the 35 employees, non-instructional staff, including positions that were intentionally created to support one of the district’s stated priorities–family engagement–who were laid off by the school district.

“Several years ago, this district made a commitment to establish the family liaison position, recognizing that strong family engagement is critical to student success, parent involvement and overall school effectiveness,” said Rose-McCoy. “That commitment acknowledged what educators have long known, that when families are supported and connected, schools are stronger.”

In taking a look at the school district’s family liaison job description, Rose-McCoy cited the first paragraph, which outlines the following responsibilities: building relationships with families, supporting communication between home and school, connecting families to resources and helping to remove barriers to students’ success.

“These are not optional services, they are essentials,” said Rose-McCoy. “Yet, the district received all of this work at a wage that was second from the bottom of the wage scale, quite frankly, that was a bargain for the level of responsibility and impact provided. The elimination of these positions raises a serious concern. I would assume the district would expect this important work to continue at every work site. However, with these positions now gone, schools will have to find a way to continue providing these services to families, most likely that responsibility will fall on other non-instructional staff members of my unit, on top of their existing duties.”

Rose-McCoy said the 35 individuals who were laid off were not numbers on spread sheets–they were people, people who opened doors each morning, supported struggling students, assisted teachers, calmed anxious children, kept campuses running and showed up every day because they believed in public education.

“Non-instructional staff are essential to our schools, without them schools do not function,” said Rose-McCoy. “Why we understand that difficult decisions must sometimes be made, we must ask serious and transparent questions. What factors were considered when eliminating these positions? Were employee performance, dedication and contributions evaluated? There were 35 positions eliminated in the district of this size. We do not accept that termination was the only option. We speak often about recruitment and retention, but action speaks louder than words. When capable, committed workers are removed from the system, we lose experience, we lose trust and we lose people who choose education intentionally, often knowing they were accepting lower pay because they believed in service and purpose.”

Proper protocol 

The school district has met for the last few months with the Marion Education Association and Marion Essential Support Personnel presidents, and has been in close communication with them regarding the process, following language that was in the collective bargaining agreement, which states in 7.02, exactly how the school district has to handle layoffs, and that is based on seniority, said Dr. Danielle Brewer, Marion County Public Schools superintendent.

“Our executive director over HR went to every single school personally, and spoke with the employees,” said Brewer. “We were very proud of the sensitivity that Ms. Morant’s team took to talk to the employees, and it did take two days because of the length of time that she spent with each employee. I appreciate you being here, but I do want you to know that I was very proud of the way our executive director of HR handled the layoffs in this tough time.”

Board member Nancy Thrower, who started as a paraprofessional, said it distressed her greatly to see anyone laid off.

“When support professionals are laid off, it’s a huge hit,” said Thrower. “I will say, with starting the site-based budgeting, the way I took it in was, the principals are now going to be responsible. The principals are going to be able to call the shots, isn’t that a good thing, and then the reality of the budget sits in, and because of the union contracts, that the language supersedes even the principals and their discretions. And that came as a very rude reminder to me, about how harsh it is, when any layoffs have to occur, and especially when treasured employees prove themselves over and over day after day, going above and beyond, and those are the losses that are so hard to take, in hard budget times.”