Total enrollment
116,440
+12,064 (+12%) vs SY 2020-21
171 schools in POLK
Florida · 116,552 students · 20 cities
Looking at the POLK system: 171 public K-12 schools serving approximately 116,552 students inside Florida, averaging 682 per school.
4-year change in POLK
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25School count
159
+3 (+2%) vs SY 2020-21
Source: NCES Common Core of Data, enrollment-weighted demographic averages
How POLK ranks
Among districts| Measure | This district | In Florida | In the US |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 46.9% | #57 of 63 | N/A |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 116,552 | #7 of 70 | #21 of 9,234 |
| Number of schools ranked most first | 163 | #7 of 70 | N/A |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.3:1 | #56 of 70 | #8,201 of 9,044 |
| Free or reduced-price lunch share ranked highest first | 64.9% | #9 of 70 | #2,326 of 8,164 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 67.3% | #17 of 68 | #708 of 6,853 |
Districts need at least 2 schools and 500 students to be ranked. Test proficiency is ranked within the state only, since each state gives a different test. Each rank links to the full list.
Inside POLK
State test results across the district's 129 scored schools run from LINCOLN AVENUE ACADEMY at 83.8% proficient to MCLAUGHLIN ACADEMY OF EXCELLENCE at 25.9%, a gap of 58.0 points. That is the 17th widest gap among 62 Florida districts with four or more scored schools.
Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across each school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25; schools with fewer than 100 students and schools serving specialized populations are left out. Staffing figures come from the NCES Common Core of Data and count only schools that reported students and teachers in both years.
About POLK
POLK is a medium-population Florida school district running 171 schools with combined enrollment near 116,552.
For a sense of the school types, POLK covers 94 elementary, 26 middle, 38 high schools, and 13 combined or other.
Trend over the past 4 years. Across the same 4-year window, public-school enrollment increased 12%: 104,376 students in SY 2020-21 versus 116,440 in SY 2024-25. The school count climbed from 156 to 159 across the same 4-year window.
Within the allk12 community for this area, the community for POLK discusses open enrollment windows, redistricting talk, and busing logistics. Discussions cut across districts, schools, and grade levels.