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Polk County School District, Florida

Polk County Schools, Florida

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Taxes Y
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Budget Y
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Meetings Y
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Elected Officials Y
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Administrative Officials Y
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Contracts Y
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Audits Y
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Public records Y
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Academics Y
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Background checks Y
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Transparency grading process


Polk County School District is a school district in Florida. The school system had a total attendance of 93,179 students during the 2009-2010 school year. The Florida Department of Education provides a list of past, current, and future school enrollment totals for each district.

Website evaluation

In 2011 Polk County School District earned a Sunny Award for having a perfect website transparency score.

Main article: Evaluation of Florida school district websites

This website was most recently reviewed on Dec. 18, 2012.

The good

  • Budget
    • Current budget and archived budgets to 2002 are posted. [1]
  • Audits
    • Annual audits are posted and archived to 2007. [2]
  • Taxes
    • Local tax information is posted. [3]
  • Meetings
    • Meeting minutes are posted. Archived minutes are available to 2006. [4]
    • Agendas are posted and archived to 2007. [5]
    • Meeting schedules are available.[6]
  • Administration
    • Administrative officials listed in staff directory.[7]
    • Superintendent contact information posted. [8]
  • Academics
    • Provides information on student academic testing and performance.[9]
  • Contracts
    • Awarded vendor contract bids posted.[10]
    • Employee contracts available.[11]
  • Background Check
  • Background check information is provided.[12]
  • Elected Officials
    • Board members listed, and direct contact information is available by selecting a member.[13]
  • Public Records
    • Information on how to file a [Florida Sunshine Law|public records]] request is posted. [14]

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. [15]

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. [16]

Member Title District Term Term Expires
Hunt Berryman Member District 1 1st 2016
Lori Cunningham Member District 2 3rd 2016
Hazel Sellers Chair District 3 3rd 2014
Dick Mullenax Member District 4 2nd 2016
Kay Fields Vice Chair District 5 3rd 2014
Debra Wright Member District 6 1st 2014
Tim Harris Member District 7 1st 2014

The Superintendent of Schools is Dr. John A. Stewart, Ed.D. [17]

Budget

The tentative total budget for the Polk County school district is $1,297,702,237 for the 2011-12 academic year. Without transfers and balances, the total revenue is $906,642,846 and the total expenditures is $1,038,826,522. General Operating funds, which pay for daily operations, are estimated to total $730,986,258.[18]

For the 2010-2011 academic year, $374,938,758 in salaries and $137,668,970 in employee benefits combined made up 73.3% of the budget, compared to 75.6% of the budget for 2009-2010.[19]

Millage

Type 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Total Percent Change
Required Local Effort Millage 5.136 5.136 5.294 5.422 5.57%
Capital Outlay (Local Capital Improvement) 1.750 1.500 1.500 1.500 -14.29%
Discretionary Operating Millage 0.498 0.748 0.748 0.748 50.2%
Additional Discretionary Millage 0.250 0.250 0.250 0.000 -100.00%
Total 5.884 6.134 7.792 7.670 30.35%

At 7.670 mills, a family whose home is assessed at $75,000 and does not receive exemptions would pay $575.25 towards education. With the exemption, the total would be $383.50.[20]

Academic performance

2007-2011

Below is a chart of the school's grade based on the student's performance of the statewide test called the FCAT.[21] To see results, click "show".

Unions

Some employees of the Polk County School District are represented by the Polk Educational Association (PEA). [22]

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. [23] The PEA rejected the changes with a 97.5% vote.

Other employees are represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).

Lobbying

Main article: Florida government sector lobbying

The school district pays membership dues to the Florida School Boards Association, a government sector lobbying association.[24]

Lobbyist Wendy M. Dodge represents the school district concerning legislative matters.[25] As of 2009, officially serves as Polk County's Legislative liaison for the Florida Association of School Administrators (FASA).[26][27]

Scandals

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.[28]

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. [29],[30]

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. [31]

iPod giveaway

Polk County School District had planned to give iPods worth $150 to each parent of a disabled child that filled out a survey for the district.[32] This was ultimately contested and defeated by legislators and the Florida Department of Education as a poor use of taxpayer dollars.[33]

Recent News

2 arrested for orchestrating child prostitution ring

Polk County police arrested a school bus attendant, Paul Rosoan Aaron and police officer Demetrius Lamar Condry for running an underage prostitution ring involving two teenagers. One girl was only fifteen-years-old when the seven months of abuse began.[34]

Teachers reject "Learning Focused" program

Many teachers have recommended that the school district end its "Learning Focused" program, despite the district's refusal. The program has been used to reform instruction plans, but has seen resistance from schools that have seen their FCAT-grades dropped. During the 2010-2011 academic year, the district paid the "Learning Focused" company $488,594 to cover consultant work, materials and substitute teachers.[35]

External links

References

  1. ↑ Budget
  2. ↑ Audit
  3. ↑ Taxes
  4. ↑ Minutes
  5. ↑ Agendas
  6. ↑ Meetings
  7. ↑ Staff Directory
  8. ↑ Superintendent
  9. ↑ Testing
  10. ↑ Purchasing bids
  11. ↑ Employee Contracts
  12. ↑ http://www.polk-fl.net/employment/default.htm
  13. ↑ Board Members
  14. ↑ Public Records
  15. ↑ School board powers and duties, Florida statute
  16. ↑ School Board Policies ch1.03
  17. ↑ Superintendent of Schools
  18. ↑ budget
  19. ↑ salaries and employee benefits as percentage of budget
  20. ↑ mill rates
  21. ↑ Florida School Accountability Reports
  22. ↑ Polk Education Association
  23. ↑ Bargaining Notes
  24. ↑ Florida School Boards Association members list
  25. ↑ lobbyist to legislature
  26. ↑ Dodge, legislative liaison
  27. ↑ legislative liaison (p.7)
  28. ↑ The Ledger, "Polk Schools Under FBI Scrutiny", November 18, 2008
  29. ↑ State Backs Public Records Request, The Ledger, November 10, 2008
  30. ↑ Florida Ledger, "Polk Schools To Pay $25,000 in Legal Dispute", January 7, 2009
  31. ↑ School Board's Lawyer Faces Charges, The Ledger, April 18, 2009
  32. ↑ The Ledger, "District to Offer iPods For Filling Out Students With Disabilities Survey", February 10, 2010
  33. ↑ Polk County Democrat, "Plug pulled on iPod scheme", February 13, 2010
  34. ↑ child prostitution ring
  35. ↑ schools reject "Learning Focused"
Retrieved from "http://sunshinereview.org/index.php?title=Polk_County_School_District,_Florida&oldid=81197"
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