Polk County school leaders vote to move forward on rezoning 16 high schools
Polk County’s school board unanimously approved rezoning for all 16 of its high schools Tuesday. The district is one of those in Tampa Bay exploring measures to adjust for changing student populations.
Board members said the changes were a long time coming.
“This is so important as a district, to us, to right-size in essence, but really to give the best educational spaces to our students,” said member Dr. William Allen.
According to a district video, overcrowding is one of the issues currently facing some of its high schools. It says that can lead to strained resources, larger class sizes, and reduced access to specialized programs.
“Davenport, which would still be at 100% capacity, Haines City at 105%, Ridge at 103.2% capacity – that’s even after we’re approving the rezone,” Allen said.
That video notes that overcrowding isn’t the only problem. It says some schools are under-utilized, meaning available classroom space isn’t used efficiently and the selection of courses offered isn’t as wide. Superintendent Frederick Heid says in the video that the rezoning plan follows years of data analysis, demographic studies, and research on population trends.
School board member Kate Wallace said the new boundaries aren’t just about right-sizing – they’re about fiduciary responsibility.
“When there are under-enrolled schools, the cost to educate every student goes up because we’re not utilizing the facilities fully as they’re designed. Then, that is not fair to all the students in our school system,” Wallace said.
While Tuesday’s meeting was meant to be a public hearing, the podium stood empty on this topic.
“Typically with a boundary change, there’s a lot of controversy, and there wasn’t any to my knowledge,” said board member Kay Fields.
“I think that’s a testament to the job that our team has done in the planning office,” said member Sara Beth Wyatt. “This has been a very long time coming. There’s been a ton of opportunities for community feedback, for staff feedback.”
The rezoning will take effect in the 2026-27 school year. Board members pointed out that students in tenth grade and up can stay in their current schools if they want or go to their newly zoned schools. Heid said impacted families will be sent information on how to let the district know what they decide.
Polk schools will next look into new boundaries for its middle and elementary schools.
“As we go down to elementary schools, we have to be very mindful of the families and the families who purchased homes based on where they would be zoned to school,” said member Lisa Miller.
The district is expected to start planning for middle school rezoning next.