District Information | Polk County Public Schools

Race To The Top

RTTT is the Race To The Top federal grant program that will reward States for raising student achievement and promoting reform. Learn more...

Response to Intervention (RTI)

Problem Solving/Response to Intervention (PS/RtI) is a multi-tiered approach to meet the needs of all students.Learn more...

Our Mission

The Mission of Polk County Public Schools is to provide a high quality education for all students.

In accomplishing this mission, we envision that students in the Polk County Public Schools will effectively:

read, write, compute, speak, listen, and use complex thinking skills to solve problems;
be self-directed in creating personal purpose and vision, setting priorities, choosing ethical action, and creating their own knowledge;
cooperate and collaborate with others in working with and leading groups; interact positively in diverse settings; recognize the value and contributions of all individuals; and make positive contributions to their communities;
understand and use social, organizational, and technological systems; design, monitor, improve and correct performance within a system; and create viable products.

These desired student outcomes and practices will be fostered and nurtured in schools and classrooms with an environment in which:

adults assume instructional and ethical leadership to create efficient, effective environments perceived as safe, healthy, and equitable, where students are recognized as unique individuals capable of learning and independent thinking;
adults use varied and reliable teaching and evaluating procedures through relevant curricula;
adults enable students, families, and communities to work cooperatively to assume responsibility for the total educational experience;
adults engage in professional growth and training activities to effect continuous improvement in the system;
students are guided in their total physical, mental, and emotional development through activities which are student-centered and which focus on positive expectations and encourage intrinsic motivation.

Strategic Plan

In order to effectively accomplish our mission, a Strategic Plan was developed to act as a guide for current and future decisions.

About our district

The school district is the eighth largest in Florida and thirty-first largest in the United States. Polk has 163 school sites and centers including 66 elementary, 4 elementary/middle, 7 elementary/middle/high, 18 middle, 3 middle/high, 18 high, 2 technical career centers, 2 adult, 11 alternative education, 24 charters, 5 Department of Juvenile Justice sites, and 3 off-campus Head Start sites. More than 94,000 students are enrolled, with a diverse student body. The district is the largest employer in Polk County with over 13,000 employees. More than half of those are employed as teachers.

Nondiscrimination Statement

The School Board of Polk County, Florida, prohibits any and all forms of discrimination and harassment based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, marital status, age, homelessness, or disability or other basis prohibited by law in any of its programs, services, activities or employment. To file concerns, you may contact the Office of Equity & Compliance, Human Resource Services at 863-534-0513.

Budget

The general fund portion of the 2011-2012 budget is $732.5 million. Approximately 79 cents of every dollar of the general fund goes to teaching, transporting and counseling students. Seventeen cents of every dollar goes to operating and maintaining places of learning. Four cents of every dollar goes to central and fiscal services.

National Honors

The school district's www.polk-fl.net Web site was voted third in a national contest selecting the best school district Web sites. The contest was coordinated by the Kansas-based All of E Solutions organization.

One hundred ninety-two high school seniors were named 2011 Superintendent's Scholars. Superintendent's Scholars have a minimum grade point average of 3.75 and a score of 1270 or above on the SAT (combined critical reading and math) or a 28 or better composite score on the ACT.

Polk had 27 students recognized in the various stages of the 2011 National Merit Scholar program. The various stages are commended, semifinalist, finalist and Scholar.

School Grades

Florida's School Accountability system uses FCAT as the Primary instrument in measuring student achievement. The school district received a grade of C in the 2010 – 2011 school year.
More than half of Polk schools, 53 percent, received either an A or B in the 2010 – 2011 FCAT reports.

Community Involvement

More than 26,000 community members provided assistance in schools last year as volunteers. More than 792,000 hours were volunteered. More than 5,000 high school students provided approximately 445,000 community service hours.

Diversity

The student body is 46.2 percent white, 21.1 percent black, 27.2 percent Hispanic, 1.6 percent Asian, 0.6 percent American Indian or Alaskan Native, 3.1 percent two or more races and 0 percent native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander. There are more than 15,000 students whose primary language is other than English.

Geography

Polk County, with more than 1,850 square miles, uses 520 school buses. Buses transport 49,000 students traveling 53,000 miles daily. That's the equivalent of driving roundtrip from New York to Los Angeles more than eight times.

Page last updated on November 6, 2012.