Polk Times

There were 48,725 Hispanic students enrolled in Polk County's only school district in the 2023-24 school year, a 3.6% increase over the 47,036 Hispanic students in the previous school year, according to the Florida Department of Education.

Data showed that Polk County welcomed a total of 116,031 students at the time. Among them, Hispanic students comprised 42% of the student body to be the most represented ethnicity in the county. They were followed by white students with a count of 37,581 (32.4%), and Black students, totaling 24,270, or 20.9% of the student population.

Gov. DeSantis has approved an education budget of over $28 billion for the 2024-25 school year. The new budget includes more than $1 billion earmarked exclusively for teacher salaries to better address the teacher shortage the state faces.

According to the National Education Association (NEA), Florida ranks 50th in the U.S. in terms of teacher salaries, only ahead of West Virginia.

District	No. of Hispanic Students	Total District Enrollment	% of Total Enrollment
Polk County School District	48,725	116,031	42%