Polk County Public Schools
A public hearing will be held during the Tuesday, January 27 school board meeting to consider a proposed rezone that would affect some students at six schools in east Polk County.
The rezone will be voted upon by the school board following the public hearing and any student attendance zone changes would become effective starting with the 2009-2010 school year in August.
The public hearing will begin no earlier than 5:30 p.m. on January 27 at Haines City High, 2800 Hornet Drive, Haines City.
The proposed rezone calls for:
• Approximately 40 students living in the Carlton Arms Apartments near Cypress Gardens Boulevard to be rezoned from Winter Haven’s Denison Middle to Lake Wales’ McLaughlin Middle And Fine Arts Academy. These students would spend approximately the same amount of time in bus travel as a result of the rezone.
• Approximately 77 students living in the Ranchettes and Waverly areas to be rezoned from Dundee Ridge Middle to McLaughlin Middle And Fine Arts Academy. These students would spend approximately the same amount of time in bus travel as a result of the rezone.
• Approximately 122 students living north of Dean Still Road near U.S. 27 to be rezoned from Haines City’s Boone Middle to Lake Alfred- Addair Middle. These students would spend approximately the same amount of time in bus travel as a result of the rezone.
• Approximately 208 seats to be added to middle school Daniel Jenkins Academy, a choice school in Haines City. Students previously applying to Daniel Jenkins from Boone Middle and Dundee Ridge Middle and currently on a waiting list will be offered the opportunity to fill the 208 seats for the 2009-2010 school year.
• Approximately 244 fifth-graders currently attending three Poinciana elementary schools will be rezoned to attend Poinciana’s Lake Marion Creek School for sixth grade in 2009-2010 rather than Dundee Ridge Middle. The 244 students currently attend fifth grade at Lake Marion Creek School, Laurel Elementary and Palmetto Elementary.
Lake Marion Creek School, which opened in August 2007, currently has pre-kindergarten to fifth grade but originally was designed to be a middle school and includes science labs, an art studio and a music suite found in middle schools. Lake Marion Creek’s sixth graders in 2009-2010 would be housed in a separate building for core academic courses.
This rezone would significantly reduce a bus ride for Poinciana-area sixth graders and allow some to walk to Lake Marion Creek School.
Parents or others seeking information on the proposed zoning boundaries should call (863) 519-8298.
Media inquiries on the proposed rezoning should be directed to Dr. Bruce Tonjes, associate superintendent for school-based operations, at (863) 534-0521.
