In 1969, after additional adverse federal rulings, the district adopted another plan which also proved to be ineffective at integrating the schools.
[2] By October 13, 2021, 17 employees died in the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida, with 15 of them having started work for the fall semester.
[3] In November 2007, four Polk County School Board members interviewed by The Ledger daily newspaper said they would support a resolution advising the Florida Board of Education to revise proposed science standards to include alternative theories to evolution.
[4] In 2013 the district expelled a 16-year-old girl after her experiment mixing household materials resulted in a small explosion.
[5] Tiffany Madison of the Washington Times argued that the district's punishment reflected American schools becoming "mindless, bureaucratic prisons".