Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. District totals are aggregated directly from the schools reporting under this district in the source records. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.
Bartow, Florida - 160 schools
An equity score of 55/100 ranks Polk #29 of 67 districts in Florida (state average 51). Derived live from how evenly resources are distributed across the district's schools.
At $11,454 per pupil, Polk ranks #25 of 67 Florida districts by per-pupil spending (Florida districts). NCES F-33 finance data.
Polk operates 160 public schools serving 109,558 students, placing it among the largest districts in Florida. The school portfolio breaks down into 103 combined, 23 middle, 22 high, 12 elementary schools, giving families in a major system a clear picture of grade-band coverage across a large portfolio before they move, rent, or enrol. These enrollment and school figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-25 release, and the district is based in Polk County.
Per-pupil expenditure runs $11,454 according to the NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey, in the upper half of 67 Florida districts by per-pupil spending. See how Florida compares in our national per-pupil spending analysis. The funding mix is 35.2% local, 43.8% state, and 21.0% federal, a balanced mix across local, state, and federal sources, spreading budget risk across funding cycles rather than concentrating it in one. The district's equity score is 55/100, ranked #29 of 67 in Florida against a state average of 51, in line with the typical spread seen across the state for how evenly funding reaches its schools.
Academic infrastructure includes 19 of 160 schools offering Advanced Placement (223 AP courses district-wide), a 531.3:1 student-counselor ratio, above both the ASCA benchmark and the roughly 408:1 national average, and 40.1% chronic absenteeism from the 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection. Demographically, the student body averages 40.8% Hispanic or Latino, 32.5% White, 22.0% African American across the district's schools. Its most demographically mixed campus is Winston Academy of Engineering, with a diversity index of 72.0/100.
Its largest campus is Haines City Senior High School, enrolling 3,105 students (3% of the district's total enrollment). Its smallest is Ridge Teen Parent Program, at 11 students, a 282x enrollment spread across the district's campuses.
Polk school enrollment ranges from 11 students (lowest) to 3,105 students (highest), a spread of 3,094 students. That ratio is an extreme outlier spread — among the widest gaps observed anywhere in this dataset. Per-school staffing ratios, programme availability, and capital-renovation cycles often diverge inside the same district based on enrollment shape.
Source: NCES Common Core of Data NCES Common Core of Data
free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is the federal threshold for Title I funding allocations, established under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, 2015). Areas above 75% eligibility receive concentration grants on top of the basic Title I formula. Regions with eligibility this high typically draw a substantially larger federal funding share relative to their local tax base, which can either offset or reinforce existing gaps depending on allocation policy.
Source: ESSA Title I Part A; ED EDFacts file system ESSA Title I Part A; ED EDFacts file system
student-counselor ratio is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: the ratio counts FTE counselors against total enrollment, districts that contract intervention or social-emotional staff outside the counselor classification may be under-counted Values this far above typical often signal acute resource constraints or a structurally different scale than most peers — worth reading alongside the underlying counts, not the ratio alone.
Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection NCES Civil Rights Data Collection
chronic absenteeism rate is the simplest comparative metric but it does not capture the full picture: a student is chronically absent if they miss ≥10% of enrolled days for any reason, illness, family obligations, or disengagement Higher values may reflect larger urban scale or recent resource constraints that have widened the gap.
Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection 2021-22 NCES Civil Rights Data Collection 2021-22
This district has moderate funding equity. There may be room to improve funding diversity or resource allocation.
Average demographic composition across 160 schools in Polk.
Source: NCES CCD School Membership 2024-25.
Average Simpson diversity index across Polk's schools, above the Florida average of 52.3.
Source: NCES Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) 2021-22.
The Florida districts closest to this one in total enrollment.
| District | Enrollment | Spending | Funding Mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lee | Similar size | Similar spending | More locally funded |
| Pinellas | Similar size | Similar spending | More locally funded |
| Duval | Similar size | Similar spending | Similar funding mix |
| Pasco | Similar size | Lower spending | Similar funding mix |
| Brevard | Smaller | Similar spending | Similar funding mix |
Comparisons are relative to Polk's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data and the F-33 Finance Survey.
Top districts in the same state, compare side-by-side for enrollment, spending, and demographics.
See how this district compares to others in enrollment, spending, demographics, and academic resources.
Compare vs Miami-Dade →Polk has 160 schools, including 22 high, 103 combined, 23 middle, 12 elementary. Total enrollment is 109,558 students.
Polk spends $11,454 per student. The district has an equity score of 55/100, ranking #29 in Florida.
Polk students are 40.8% Hispanic or Latino, 32.5% White, 22.0% African American, 1.3% Asian, averaged across 160 schools. Source: NCES CCD Membership 2024-25.
Polk has an equity score of 55/100, ranking #29 out of 67 districts in Florida.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.