South Marion High School opens with Florida’s newest AI career and technical education track
South Marion High School opened August 10, 2026 with a state-funded AI career and technical education program, the 36th CTE track in Marion County, Florida.
Photo by Yan Krukau on Pexels
South Marion High School (SMHS), the newest campus in Marion County Public Schools (MCPS), opened to its first students on Monday, August 10, 2026, offering a state-funded artificial intelligence career and technical education (CTE) track alongside programs in avionics, digital cinema production, entrepreneurship and agribusiness. The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) awarded SMHS $259,635 in October 2025 through the Workforce Development Capitalization Incentive Grant Program, known as Workforce CAP, to fund the AI career and technical education program, according to Ocala-News.com and WFTV.
Located near Marion Oaks in southwest Marion County, SMHS is a more than $180 million, 115-acre campus with 61 classrooms and 20 labs across a three-story main building, built to relieve overcrowding at Dunnellon, Westport and Belleview high schools, which had all exceeded capacity, according to WCJB. The school opened at an initial capacity of 2,011 students, with room to grow to 2,711 once a third floor is completed, and is, according to WCJB, the first newly built high school in Marion County in 25 years.
Marion County’s 36th career and technical education track
The FDOE distributed a total of $40 million to 49 projects statewide through Workforce CAP, which funds equipment and training tied to high-demand industries, Florida Education Commissioner Anastasios Kamoutsas said, according to WUFT. Katherine Otte, Marion County’s Coordinator of the Career and Technical Education program, applied for the Artificial Intelligence Foundations Program grant that funds SMHS’s track. Otte said Marion County’s CTE program already spans 35 curriculum categories, including engineering, hospitality and agriculture, and that AI will become the 36th, drawing on ties to existing computer science coursework.
“It’s [AI] impacted us in a way where we’re having to think about what tools we use, but also how we safely use them with students,” Otte told WUFT.
Ten Florida school districts received Workforce CAP funding tied to AI education, according to WUFT, as the state expands career-track AI instruction alongside its broader push into AI education policy for schools. Logan Johnson, MCPS’s Coordinator of Digital Technology, said the district is training teachers and administrators on tools such as Windows Copilot while stressing that AI use in the classroom must remain “human-centered.”
“AI is only as powerful as the human intelligence behind it, and we’re aware that we have to be future-ready when it comes to how to use the tools,” Johnson said, according to WUFT. “But we also need to stay grounded in that human work in it. Any outcome that comes from AI is the responsibility of the end user.”
| Metric | Figure |
|---|---|
| FDOE Workforce CAP grant to SMHS | $259,635 |
| Total Workforce CAP funding (statewide) | $40 million |
| Statewide projects funded | 49 |
| Florida districts funded for AI-related CTE | 10 |
| SMHS construction cost | More than $180 million |
| SMHS campus size | 115 acres |
| SMHS classrooms / labs | 61 / 20 |
| Initial student capacity | 2,011 (up to 2,711 at full build-out) |
| Marion County CTE curriculum categories after AI is added | 36 |
National context for AI in classrooms
Nationally, the Pew Research Center found that 64% of high-school-aged students use AI chatbots such as ChatGPT or Character.ai for some purpose, with more than half using them for schoolwork help, according to WUFT’s reporting. MCPS officials said the district must weigh those realities against student-privacy obligations under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) as AI tools handle more student data. Florida’s SB 482, which would have required parental consent for minors to hold chatbot accounts, passed the state Senate but died in the House earlier in 2026, according to WUFT. For a broader look at how U.S. districts are structuring rules around classroom AI use, see Winss’s guide to AI policy in schools.
About Marion County Public Schools
Marion County Public Schools serves the Ocala, Florida area and operates one of the state’s longer-running career and technical education programs, spanning 35 curriculum categories before the addition of AI. The district broke ground on South Marion High School in December 2024 and selected the school’s name earlier in 2026 ahead of its August 2026 opening. With the FDOE’s $259,635 Workforce CAP award secured before the campus opened its doors, Marion County becomes one of ten Florida districts to fold state-funded AI instruction into its career and technical education offerings for the 2026-27 school year.
Sources: WUFT; WCJB; Ocala-News.com; WFTV
Featured image: photo by Yan Krukau on Pexels (free Pexels license).
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I specialize in sustainability education, curriculum co-creation, and early-stage project strategy. At WINSS, I craft articles on sustainability, transformative AI, and related topics. When I’m not writing, you’ll find me chasing the perfect sushi roll, exploring cities around the globe, or unwinding with my dog Puffy — the world’s most loyal sidekick.
