Diane Gullett resigns as MCPS superintendent

Superintendent of Marion County Public Schools Diane Gullett speaks during the Howard Academy Community Center Black History Museum Archives Gala at the Mary Sue Rich Community Center at Reed Place in Ocala, Fla. on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, during which many principals and assistance principals were honored. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.

Marion County Public Schools Superintendent Diane Gullet has announced she is resigning after five years in office. She said she will be leaving after the end of her contract, on July 11.

Gullet, who earned her doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Central Florida and a bachelor’s in elementary education from the University of Florida, previously served as an administrator in Orange County Public Schools for 19 years.

“It has been my privilege to lead with such an exceptional team and I am proud of the work we have accomplished to set our district on a path for future success that out students, employees and community deserves,” Gullet wrote in her resignation letter to the school board.

Gullet was the district’s first appointed superintendent. She was appointed in July of 2020 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and served through a period of unprecedented student population growth in MCPS.
One of Gullet’s first actions as superintendent was getting county-wide voluntary pre-kindergarten at every school in the district.

“Throughout my tenure, I have been truly blessed to work alongside dedicated educators, staff students and families,” she wrote. “The commitment to fostering a high-quality and safe working environment has been both inspiring and humbling.”

From 2020 until the present, the student population of MCPS has grown from about 41,000 to now more than 45,600 students enrolled in the district. From 2014 to 2024, the school district grew by 9%, according to MCPS officials.
With many of the district’s schools reaching or exceeding capacity, Gullet and the school board were tasked with generating revenue to pay for building new schools and adding wings to existing schools to remedy overcrowding, particularly in the southwest area of the county.

Gullet’s tenure brough in massive changes to the status quo—including reinstating impact fees after 13 years of suspension and bringing back the half-cent sales tax after voters said yes to funding school capital projects in the 2024 election.

The Marion County Board of County Commissioners approved the reinstatement of impact fees in March of 2024—one-time payments made by developers for each new home built to support the cost of building new schools. The county suspended impact fees in 2011 during the economic recession.

Gullet, the school board and school district staff worked on finding a way to reinstate the fees since May 2022, when the school board was presented with updated statistics on student population growth and many schools’ issues with reaching capacity due to lack of space.

School impact fees and the half-cent surtax will aid in funding a great need for more schools as the district seeks to build five new schools and nine new wings at a cost of $1.8 billion over the next 13 years.

Making such large strides toward building new schools was not always smooth sailing—Gullet navigated a very public conflict with school board member Sarah James during the procurement process for the future new high school in southwest Marion County.

In April of 2024, a district selection committee chose Wharton-Smith Inc. as the winning bidder for the $120 million contract to build a high school in Marion Oaks. In the days and weeks following, competing firm Ausley Construction and school board member Sarah James were accused of tampering with the procurement process by violating the “cone of silence” policy and issuing threats to school district staff, another board member and Gullett. An external investigation by the GrayRobinson law firm substantiated the allegations.

With Gullet’s resignation, the school board now has until July to find a new superintendent.

Diane Gullett, the superintendent of Marion County Public Schools, speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new elementary school that will be built at Winding Oaks Farm off Southwest 49th Avenue Road in southwest Ocala, Fla. on Thursday, March 21, 2024. [File photo by Bruce Ackerman]