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Polk County Public Schools is preparing to redraw high school attendance zones for the 2026-27 school year.
Why? Enrollment is shifting. Some of Polk County’s 16 high schools are overflowing, while others have extra room.
No decision has been made yet, but the district has released tentative maps and scheduled six town hall meetings over the next six weeks. The new zones could be finalized as soon as Nov. 18.
What’s Going On
- This is comprehensive rezoning. The school district is rethinking all high school boundaries, not just tweaking a few lines. The goal is to even out high school populations and make better use of school space.
- No forced transfers: Kids already enrolled can stay where they are. Siblings and students in magnet programs or academies will be “grandfathered in” where possible, according to the district.
- The rezoning isn’t happening behind closed doors. PCPS has scheduled six town hall meetings over the next six weeks to gather public input. The district emphasizes that these meetings are not just presentations, but listening opportunities for families to share their views and concerns.
Why it matters
The student population at several local high schools would decrease, including George Jenkins and Lake Gibson. Others would see increases, including Lakeland High, Kathleen and Tenoroc.
The rezoning plan also aims to:
- Make bus routes safer and more efficient.
- Keep neighborhoods intact and respect natural boundaries.
- Make sure schools reflect diverse, well-balanced student bodies.
- Respect feeder patterns, providing continuity from elementary and middle school to high school.
Town Halls — When and Where to Voice Your Two Cents
The district has announced six town hall meetings between now and Oct. 2. The meeting focused on Lakeland schools will be on Thursday, Sept. 4.
| Region | Date & Time | Location | Schools Covered |
| Southwest | Thu, Aug. 28 5:30–6:30 p.m. | Bartow High auditorium | Bartow, Fort Meade, George Jenkins, Mulberry |
| Northwest | Thu, Sept. 4 5:30–6:30 p.m. | Harrison Theatre (Lakeland) | Kathleen, Lake Gibson, Lakeland, Tenoroc |
| Central | Thu, Sept. 11 5:30–6:30 p.m. | Winter Haven High School auditorium | Auburndale, Lake Region, Winter Haven |
| Northeast | Thu, Sept. 18 5:30–6:30 p.m. | Ridge Community High School (Davenport) | Davenport, Haines City, Ridge Community |
| Southeast | Thu, Sept. 25 5:30–6:30 p.m. | McLaughlin Academy of Excellence (Lake Wales) | Frostproof MS-Senior, McLaughlin Academy |
| All Regions (Virtual) | Thu, Oct. 2 5:30–6:30 p.m. | YouTube livestream | Every high school across PCPS |
How we got here
A 15-member Attendance Boundary Committee met throughout the summer and drew tentative maps based on population trends, upcoming neighborhood developments and potential future schools.
Committee members included district administrators, parents, teachers and stakeholder groups from different geographic areas.
Committee chair Terry Coney and Joshua McLemore, the district’s director of facilities planning, presented the recommended changes during the school board’s July 29 work session. The School Board made four adjustments for specific apartment complexes and neighborhoods at its Aug. 12 meeting, although none affected Lakeland high schools.
Soon, McLemore said the district will unveil a dedicated web page that will “allow parents to drill down just to a specific school.”
What’s next
The district has set an ambitious, but tentative timeline.
- The survey and town hall feedback are expected to be presented at a school board workshop on Oct. 14.
- The School Board would have the first of two required meetings to adopt the new boundaries on Oct. 28.
- The final vote would be Nov. 18 — although the board could also ask the superintendent to make more revisions.
The new high school attendance zones would take effect this time next year.
The committee will work on middle school boundaries in 2026 and elementary schools in 2027 or 2028, according to Coney.
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Rezoning that results in adding 643 additional students to Lakeland High School forgets something rather important, the student population of Harrison, which shares the Lakeland Campus. While Lakeland shows 1982 students (72% of capacity), Harrison adds another 640 students to the campus. Harrison’s population is listed separately from Lakeland’s, but they share a campus. Harrison’s students use Lakeland’s campus for their academic/non-performing arts classes. The result? Lakeland’s student population should be reflective of this and be shown as 2600 placing Lakeland at 94% of capacity, not 72%. You move another 643 students in there and now you will be at 118% of capacity. The school board is not thinking about this very clearly and is preparing to make a significant mistake.
Hi, Gordon. I checked with the school district, and this was their reply: “We do include Harrison students in our Lakeland school count projections, because they utilize student stations for their core academic courses. From a planning standpoint, this means they contribute to the overall utilization of student stations at Lakeland High. Although Harrison does not have an attendance boundary and students are registered specifically to that school, their use of instructional space aligns them with Lakeland’s total capacity figures.”
Thanks for that update Cindy. It does sound like the district shared a non-answer answer with you. They don’t appear to be disputing my assertion while diminishing the impact of the fact the Lakeland High School campus supports not just Lakeland students (1982 students) but Harrison students as well (~600 students). I do not understand what “…they utilize student stations…” means. I can, however, confirm when my son and daughter were at Lakeland (graduated within the past 5 years) they shared classroom space with Harrison students in their academic classes (ie non-Harrison specific classes). This is all to say the district is not properly considering the situation on the Lakeland High School/Harrison campus, should their plan be enacted we will next be seeing news stories about this campus being overloaded beyond its capacity.
Instead, perhaps the district should focus on addressing reasons for issues such as Kathleen Senior. The district’s own statistics shows a current zoned boundary of 2466 students with 1125 of those students making the decision to Choice Out of Kathleen, that’s 46% of the zoned student population. Conversely, Lakeland has a 1200 student zoning boundary however 1073 students choose to Choice In to Lakeland. I can say of a parent of 2 that have graduated from system, we are zoned for Kathleen yet we made the specific choice to not send our students to Kathleen, not under ant circumstance.
Until the issues and reputation that dog Kathleen Senior are addressed and corrected rezoning schools with not correct student population issues at specifically Lakeland and Kathleen but Lake Gibson as well. The district is ignoring a significant issue but instead trying to patch it instead with redistricting.