Polk board approves tentative calendars, amends travel rules and ratifies PEA settlement

The Polk County School Board approved several action items on Feb. 24, 2026, including tentative instructional calendars, a technical amendment to the district's out-of-county travel policy and ratification of the Polk Education Association's 2025-26 bargaining settlement.

Board members voted unanimously to adopt the tentative instructional calendars for 2026-27, 2027-28 and 2028-29 after members who served on the calendar committee described broad participation from principals, teachers and operations staff. "There was a lot of intentionality around it," board member Wyatt said in support of the calendar process.

The board also approved a policy amendment to align district travel and expense language with state statute. Staff explained the change removes a phrase that implied approval was required for all out-of-county expenses and clarifies approval is required only when expenses exceed $500, consistent with the statutory reference cited in the work session.

Earlier in the meeting, during the agenda public comment opportunity, Stephanie Ocum, identified as president of the Polk Education Association, urged the board to ratify the union contracts and criticized statewide underfunding of public education. "2% is not enough," Ocum said, urging continued advocacy for greater funding and opposing universal vouchers. The board later moved and approved the PEA settlement as item V-3.

The board's official votes that evening also included unanimous approval of three sets of minutes and acceptance of the consent agenda. Where specific vote counts were not recorded at the dais, the chair announced motions carried unanimously.

The board also authorized staff to advertise a public hearing for rule development and policy updates to be held on April 28, 2026, with text of proposed rules to be published when the notice is issued.