School Option Voting Results Announced By Polk County Schools

WINTER HAVEN, FL — Polk County Public Schools has new data on parent and staff intentions for the 2020-2021 school year, the school district said on its website.

The voting results are in for which school options parents have chosen for their children, as the district has made three different learning formats available to students: brick-and-mortar format, Campus eSchool, which allows students to remain enrolled in their current school but participate in structured virtual learning and Polk Virtual, a 100 percent online program.

The online questionnaire was originally scheduled to close on July 27, but the school board extended it to August 2.

Voting results show:

• 45.2 percent of students will participate in face-to-face, brick-and-mortar learning
• 46.1 percent of students will participate in Campus eSchool
• 8.6 percent of students will participate in Polk Virtual

Next Steps for Parents:

Michelle Townley, who is acting chief academic officer, said on the district's website that principals will begin contacting their school's families during the week of August 17, to share information about orientation, eSchool schedules, device distribution, on-campus health and safety protocols and more.

Parents are asked to create a Parent Portal account before school starts at https://polkschoolsfl.com/parentportal/.

Parent Portal is the district’s online platform that allows parents to access their child’s records, including attendance and grades, said the school board. After establishing an account, parents are encouraged by the school's staff to regularly check Parent Portal for updates from their child’s school.

“Parent Portal is the best way for parents to stay on top of their child’s individual performance, participation and progress in school,” Townley said in a news release. “The better informed parents are, the better they can support their children – and their support will be vital in the upcoming school year.”

Polk Virtual School

The school district said that parents who selected Polk Virtual School on the 2020-2021 intent survey will need to enroll at PVS. The final deadline to do so is August 7, at 5 p.m.

You can find more information on enrolling in PVS here.

More information on the reopening of schools can be found here: https://polkschoolsfl.com/reopening