Good News About Polk County Public Schools

The school board passed an official resolution at its April 12 meeting urging the state legislature and Governor Rick Scott to stabilize state education funding in the wake of proposed education budget reductions.

The resolution will be distributed to the Polk County legislative delegation, Gov. Scott, state Senate President Mike Haridopolos, House Speaker Dean Cannon and the Florida Board of Education. The resolution is signed by all seven school board members and Superintendent Sherrie Nickell, Ed.D. The resolution is also part of the official school district record and minutes from the April 12 meeting.

The full text of the resolution is available by clicking here.

Key points of the resolution include:

• The resolution quotes the Florida Constitution’s mandate to adequately fund education.
• It notes that the Polk County school board is attempting to avoid any budget reductions adversely impacting student achievement, employee salaries or reducing the school district workforce.
• The resolution notes that Florida’s per pupil spending currently ranks 34th in the country according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
• The school board urges Florida to pass legislation that “allows flexibility within school district budgets, promotes stability in overall education funding, supports local control and delays implementation of new or existing programs not directly funded through the K-12 public education budget.”