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On Nov. 7, Gov. Ron Desantis appointed Kate Wallace, former executive director of Lakeland Leads, to the Polk County School Board.
Wallace, 40, was sworn in on November 18 to fill the vacancy in District three after Rick Nolte’s death in August.
Wallace said she was surprised and grateful to be appointed. “I don’t know who all applied or who else was under consideration, but anytime your name is called for something like that, that is an honor.”
Following Nolte’s passing, Polk School District Superintendent Fred Heid sent Governor DeSantis a letter recommending potential candidates for the role. Wallace was not among his four recommendations.
Wallace will serve for the remainder of Nolte’s term. The seat will be up for election in November 2026. Sarah Corona of Lakeland and Victor Sims of Winter Haven have both filed to run for the seat next year. Judi New filed but has withdrawn her candidacy.
District three includes 23 schools in Alturas, Bartow, Lakeland, Mulberry and Winter Haven.
Who is Kate Wallace?
Wallace grew up in Bartow and attended Polk County public schools. She graduated from the International Baccalaureate School at Bartow High School in 2003.
“I grew up around parents that were very involved in the community, very involved in church,” Wallace said. “When I was in high school, (I) really got interested in politics and advocacy.” She was inspired by politicians from Bartow, including former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, former Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Bob Crawford, and Adam Putnam, who was elected to Congress at 26 and for whom Wallace later interned.
Today, Wallace is the director of state government affairs for Charter Communications, Spectrum’s parent company. She is also a member of the Polk County Public Schools Charter Review Team, the Florida Fiduciary Board of IDEA Public Schools, and the United Way of Central Florida Community Investment Team.
Government work and lobbying
After earning her bachelor’s degree in public relations from the University of Florida in 2007, Wallace spent years working for various political organizations and lobbyist groups in Tallahassee.
She began working with the Foundation for Excellence in Education in 2012, today known as ExcelinEd, a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank, founded by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. She also worked for Foundation for Florida’s Future, a subsidiary of the organization.
In 2019, Wallace became executive director at Lakeland Leads, now known as ConnectED Polk. That same year, Lakeland Leads paid for then superintendent Jacqueline Byrd to attend ExcelinEd’s National Summit in San Diego with Wallace, sparking controversy.
Wallace said Lakeland Leads was instrumental in bringing IDEA Public Schools, a college-prep charter school network based in Texas, to Lakeland. She also said Lakeland Leads brought three-dimensional education, 3DE created by Junior Achievement, to Tenoroc High. In the program, “Students get to learn all of the core subjects through experiences and project-based learning,” she said.
“Kate has such a huge passion for education and our students and her community, so I just think it’s a great appointment for her and for the school district,” said Melody Rider, president of ConnectEd Polk.
Wallace said that during her time on the school board she hopes she can “help get Polk County to be the front of the line for considerations for pilot programs.”
Perspectives
Wallace believes those working in education need to think futuristically. “If we really focus on what is best for students, we’ll be really open to some radical ideas that maybe … people weren’t even open to five to 10 years ago,” she said.
“The number one thing that figuratively keeps me up at night about education is just that, generally, half our kids cannot read or do math on grade level,” said Wallace. “And on top of that, about a quarter of all students every year in 12th grade are truly prepared for the next step in life, whether that’s college, career or military.”
She thinks that students are capable of more than is asked of them. “There’s a lot of conversation around what we require (of) students, and is that too much, or is it unfair to certain student groups or what if they come from certain disadvantaged backgrounds?” she said. “When we set high expectations then they will rise to meet them.”
Polk County Public School faces a lot of challenges, said Wallace, but she also sees successes: “The fact that we’ve become a B district after being a C is huge,” she said. “That just shows forward momentum and that we’re moving in the right direction. And that’s so hard. We’re such a huge, diverse system.”
She also notes support for public schools from external stakeholders. “We have business groups, we have faith-based groups, we have nonprofits that are serving, offering wraparound services,” Wallace said. “There’s a lot of evidence that the community cares and wants to give back and wants to see opportunity for everybody.”
Policies
However, Wallace’s policies can be divisive. She believes in improving schools through partnerships with charter schools and businesses, pushes back on opposition to Florida’s Schools of Hope model, and is a staunch advocate for school choice. Wallace also believes that public school funding is tied to students, rather than schools.
“The way I view funding is it’s to the child first. We’re funding their education, and then that funding follows,” Wallace said. “I do think that when a parent chooses to enroll in a non-traditional option, meaning not a school that the Polk County Public School District runs, that money wasn’t our money. It was the money that belongs to them and that child.”
Polk Education Association President Stephanie Yocum says this stance is problematic, particularly after an audit of funding accountability by the Florida Auditor General found that $270 million dollars in voucher funds were unaccounted for last year.
According to the audit, “The administration and oversight of State education funding for the 2024-25 school year was met with a myriad of accountability challenges that left a Statewide funding shortfall and a system where funding did not follow the child.”
Districts have reported that the voucher system is syphoning millions of dollars away from public schools. Statewide, voucher costs are expected to total $5 billion in the 25-26 school year.
“I would be lying if I said her background doesn’t trouble me, and, I think, trouble a lot of our union members, because she’s very pro-privatization,” Yocum said. “She’s on corporate charter boards. She’s been a huge part of that push for privatization, and so I’m hoping that maybe this opens her eyes to what we’re actually dealing with in public schools and the inequities that public schools are facing because of those pro-privatization legislative initiatives.”
Wallace said, “I would view this like we want to be the first choice and the best choice, but recognize that it’s impractical to think that one school on a given corner, street corner, can be all things to all students.”
Perpetual bottom-feeder district
In 2019, a video circulated of Wallace’s comments at a school board meeting where she called the district a perpetual bottom-feeder district academically.
“I think we all have times where we could have used more thoughtful rhetoric,” Wallace said of the comment.
“But what I was saying, which is true — and this is an example of an uncomfortable conversation that people don’t want to have — is the state of Florida, since 2004 has issued district grades, … So what I was referring to back then, that again, I could have used better rhetoric, is that we had consistently placed in the bottom quartile of the 67 county districts when it comes to total student achievement.”
“So throw the letter grade aside and just look at where we are. And what I would ask your readers, our community is, are we comfortable with being 53 or 54 out of 67? Is that where we think we belong? Some people would argue that that’s not a reflection of who we are. And I would say, no, it’s not an entire reflection of who we are, but it’s the first indicator.”
“I think that I just want anybody who doesn’t know me, or, you know, has any preconceived notions about me due to the fact that I’ve been out in the community, … I would just say, try to approach me with an open mind. Or if you have something you want me to know, I’m all ears. I’m open-minded, and that I, ultimately, my heart is in the right place,” Wallace concluded. “I want to make a difference for kids. I want to see Polk County reach its full potential, and I’m, again, just honored to be able to serve in this way, and I appreciate the public support.”
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