Menu

Polk School District work session, Sep 8, 2026

2 h 03 min

This board doesn’t post agenda times. Click a board member to jump to where they first speak; we list only members whose voice our check named. Video length 2 h 03 min.

  1. Who spoke · first speaks at
What happened

What happened at this meeting

Polk school board reviews pharmacy benefits recommendation, new behavior program and teacher pay agreement 7:33

  • The Polk County School Board held a work session on September 8th, 2026, that began with the pharmacy benefits manager item, including a recommendation of RightWay. 5:05
  • Staff presented a tentative agreement directing $6.7 million in state salary money to about 2,700 classroom teachers with 10 or more years of Florida teaching experience. 1:25:48
  • During review of the evening meeting agenda, an item on a clinic vendor strategy was pulled and moved to the action agenda. 1:45:04

Until Nov 4, lines where a board member takes a side don't name the member. Why →

Item by item (9)
  1. Opening of work session 5:05
    • Justin Sharpless called the work session for September 8th, 2026 to order and read the board's Who Are We statement. 5:05
  2. Pharmacy benefits manager recommendation 6:43
    • A staff member said the evening agenda item sought approval to move forward with the recommendation and was not the final contract, which would come to the board later. 7:33
    • A broker said Weldyne declined an offer of an early renewal with better pricing and that the SIC committee recommended RightWay; the broker said about 333 of 17,300 members would be disrupted and would be grandfathered for the first 3 months of the plan year starting January 1st. 8:27
    • One board member asked whether affected members would be contacted by district staff or by RightWay staff, and another board member said they were struggling without being able to see the actual documentation. 13:06
  3. School improvement plans 28:17
    • A staff member said school improvement plans have 7 components and that 56 of the district's 151 schools are CSI schools, 48 of them district schools and 8 charter. 29:04
    • The staff member said plans will be published November 13th and mid-year reflections are due February 2nd. 34:22
    • Lisa Miller asked how many of the 48 district CSI schools were new to that list. 35:31
  4. Growth Point Academy update 37:38
    • A staff member said the program opened August 11th and currently has 27 K-5 students, and that 8 students returned to their zone schools. 39:47
    • Justin Sharpless asked how long-term success would be measured, and a staff member said the district would track academic performance, behavior and attendance. 1:08:07
  5. Teacher salary increase allocation agreement 1:25:26
    • A staff member said teachers on salary level AAG-07 and above would move 6 pay levels, on average about an $1,800 increase, and that the agreement passed a teacher vote with 88% in favor. 1:25:48
    • Lisa Miller asked how much general fund money would be needed, and a staff member said about $4,000. 1:30:20
  6. Recess for closed session 1:32:17
    • A staff member asked for a 20-minute break for a closed session on school safety and security. 1:32:17
    • After the board returned, Justin Sharpless said item A6 would be taken up at the end in the superintendent's large conference room. 1:42:25
    • Justin Sharpless announced the board was recessed at 1:57 and would return by 2:20. 1:32:41
  7. Clinic vendor item pulled 1:43:08
    • One board member asked that Q1 be pulled for the action agenda, saying the request was about timing and not the proposal's content. 1:44:34
    • Justin Sharpless said item Q1, clinic vendor strategy and recommendation, was pulled and moved to the action agenda. 1:45:04
  8. Questions on action item U-5 1:45:48
    • Dr. William Allen asked for the impact on the school district, how the item would be carried out and how far back the precedent could apply. 1:46:00
  9. Internal audit consulting contract 1:48:10
    • Travis L. Keyes asked why only one firm was considered, and a staff member said the contract is a piggyback off other contracts. 1:48:10
    • A staff member said the $135,000 budget covered the vacant position's salary and benefits plus a supervision factor, estimated at about 25%. 1:50:57
    • One board member said they would not be supporting the contract. ~1:53:17

Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.

Other meetings

Other meetings of this board

Video: posted by the district as “School Board Work Session | September 8, 2026”