Polk County School District, Florida

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Polk County School District is a school district in Florida. The school system has a total attendance of 92,553 students project for the 2009-2010 school year. The Florida Department of Education provides a list of past, current, and future school enrollment totals for each district.

[edit] Website evaluation

Main article: Evaluation of Florida school district websites

[edit] The good

  • Budget, annual financial audit report, and lottery report are published.[1]
  • Board members listed with contact information.[2] Meeting schedule, minutes, and agendas available.[3]
  • Administrative officials listed in staff directory.[4]
  • Provides information on student academic testing and performance.[5]
  • Awarded vendor contract bids posted.[6] Union contracts available.[7]

[edit] The bad

  • Millage rates are not posted.
  • Information on background checks not provided.
  • Does not provide information on making public records requests.
Working for accountable government now


[edit] School board

The school board controls school property, establishes, organizes, and operates the schools of the district, including: establishing schools, adopting enrollment plans, providing for school elimination and consolidation, cooperating with school boards of adjoining districts in maintaining schools, maintaining the school year schedule and other more specific duties as outlined in the Florida statute. [8]

It operates, controls and supervises the district's public schools as well as determines the rate of school district taxes, with the option of two or more school districts operating and financing educational programs together.

The board is in charge of approving the annual budget and maintaining financial stability. It will adopt school programs and prescribe minimum standars, establish the school calendar, assure student transportation, and control property. [9]

Member District Term
Frank O'Reilly, Chairman District 1 3rd
Lori Cunningham District 2 2nd
Hazel Sellers District 3 2nd
Dick Mullenax District 4 1st
Kay Fields District 5 2nd
Margaret Lofton District 6 2nd
Tim Harris Vice Chairman District 7 1st

The Superintendent of Schools is Gail F. McKinzie Ph.D. [10]

[edit] Budget

The total budget for the Polk County School board is $759.9 million, with $221,401,000 (or about 29.1%) dedicated to teacher salaries.[11] Approximately 78% of the general fund goes to teaching and transportation, with 19% being dedicated to operating and maintaining schools. 67% of the budget revenue comes from the state, and the rest comes from local sources. [12]

As of the end of the most recent fiscal year, there were 89,443 active students.[11]

[edit] Millage

Type 2008-09 2009-10 Proposed
Required Local Effort Millage 5.136 5.136
Discretionary Millage 0.498 0.748
Additional Discretionary Millage 0.250 0.250
Total 5.884 6.134

[edit] Academic performance

95% of the schools in Polk County are at or above state standards with 59% receiving an 'A' or 'B' rating. [12]

[edit] 2007-2009

Below is a chart of the school's grade based on the student's performance of the statewide test called the FCAT.[13] To see results, click "show".

[edit] Unions

The employees of the Polk County School District are represented by the Polk Educational Association (PEA). [14]

In mid-2009 the PEA entered a bargaining session with the District that would reduce insurance benefits for all employees working 25 hours a week, allow them to extend benefits wait times for new employees, and remove language guaranteeing comparable health-care programs year to year. [15] The PEA rejected the changes with a 97.5% vote.

[edit] Lobbying

Main article: Florida taxpayer-funded lobbying

The school district pays membership dues to the Florida School Boards Association, a taxpayer-funded lobbying association.[16]

[edit] FBI investigation

In November 2008, a local newspaper reported that eight federal agents had entered the school's division offices in Bartow to question employees. In the wake of the investigation, four District employees, including an assistant superintendent, were placed on leave.

At issue in the investigation is whether building contractor M.M. Parrish Construction of Gainesville had received preferential treatment from the school district. M.M. Parish has received "tens of millions of dollars" from the district in construction funds.[17]

[edit] Public records controversy

In late 2008 STOTW Joel Chandler filed a public records request with all 67 Florida school districts for the names, addresses, phone numbers and dependents' names of school employees. The Polk County district fought the request, but lost in court. They were ordered to pay Chandler's lawyer fees of $35,000, but initially refused to do so despite an Attorney General's opinion issued in the matter that concurred with the original ruling. [18],[19]

Wes Bridges, the Polk County School District lawyer, has been charged with violations of the Florida Sunshine Law after a State Attorney's Office investigation concluded that he failed to provide public documents in a timely fashion in the Joel Chandler case. [20]

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ↑ Business Services
  2. ↑ Board Members
  3. ↑ Meetings
  4. ↑ Staff Directory
  5. ↑ Testing
  6. ↑ Purchasing bids
  7. ↑ Employee Relations
  8. ↑ School board powers and duties, Florida statute
  9. ↑ School Board Policies ch1.03
  10. ↑ Superintendent of Schools
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Polk County School District Information
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 District Information, Polk County Public Schools
  13. ↑ Florida School Accountability Reports
  14. ↑ Polk Education Association
  15. ↑ Bargaining Notes
  16. ↑ Florida School Boards Association members list
  17. ↑ The Ledger, "Polk Schools Under FBI Scrutiny", November 18, 2008
  18. ↑ State Backs Public Records Request, The Ledger, November 10, 2008
  19. ↑ Florida Ledger, "Polk Schools To Pay $25,000 in Legal Dispute", January 7, 2009
  20. ↑ School Board's Lawyer Faces Charges, The Ledger, April 18, 2009
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