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Polk board hears plan to adopt Frog Street pre-K curriculum across district programs
Summary
District staff recommended adopting Frog Street, a research-aligned early-childhood curriculum, for all district-run pre-K classrooms and partnering with the Early Learning Coalition to extend training to private providers; estimated five-year cost ~$712,810 covering materials for 173 classrooms.
The district presented a recommendation to adopt Frog Street, a research‑aligned early‑childhood curriculum, across Polk County Public Schools’ Head Start, VPK and Title I VPK classrooms and ESSER pre‑K units. Miss Stewart said the adoption would standardize instruction across programs, bring evidence‑based literacy and social skills instruction, and create a partnership with the Early Learning Coalition so community providers could receive the same professional development and materials.
Staff said the five‑year implementation would cover 173 classrooms and about 2,438 students and estimated a total budget impact of roughly $712,810. The quoted cost package covers teacher materials, classroom manipulatives, and teacher-facing digital resources; district presenters said the package does not require ongoing consumable purchases and that the digital student-facing tools (if any) are not part of classroom screen time and are subject to the state PUR approval process. Staff emphasized that the digital content included in the budget is teacher-facing and that the district is not introducing student devices in pre‑K as part of this adoption.
Board members pressed for measurable goals and data collection plans. Dr. Allen asked how success would be measured; staff said they expect to model evaluation on published implementations (notably Hillsborough County), track kindergarten-readiness measures and literacy indicators, and provide annual performance metrics. Staff cautioned that some measures — overall county kindergarten-readiness rates — are affected by pre‑K participation countywide (including private providers that do not partner with the district). To address that, the district will track cohort-level readiness for children enrolled in district programs and those in partner ELC programs where feasible.
Several trustees requested rollout and training details, confirmation that manipulatives are non‑consumable, clarity that the five‑year price includes digital teacher resources, and assurances about PUR review for any student-facing digital elements. Staff responded that Frog Street includes in-person professional development, vendor support for initial implementation, and ongoing office hours; the district will present a measurement and data plan and suggested integrating the adoption’s evaluation with an upcoming broader conversation about technology and screen‑time policy for young learners.
If the board approves, staff said they expect to phase the program in and to return with evaluation metrics and the formal PUR-approved digital content for final approval of any online student-facing pieces.
