The Florida Board of Education will take up school turnaround plans today, and the meeting might determine the fate of eight struggling Polk County schools.

  • State to vote on school turnaround plans, including 8 in Polk
  • Florida Board of Education meeting at Tampa Airport Marriott
  • Schools have received D or F grades by the state

At a meeting at the Tampa Airport Marriott, the Board is addressing "D" or "F" rated schools that were automatically entered into the states "Differentiated Accountability" (DA) program.

Officials will vote on turnaround plans to help the Polk schools that the state has threatened to close if the new plans did not show improvement. 

The Polk schools seeking approvals today: Bartow Middle, Combee Elementary, Crystal Lake Middle, Eagle Lake Elementary, Garner Elementary, Griffin Elementary, Lake Marion Creek Middle and Palmetto Elementary.  

Meanwhile, Boone, Denison, Kathleen, Lake Alfred-Addair and Westwood middle school are already under a turnaround program. The board has given those schools until 2017-18 to show improvement.

School officials said the schools still have some options for their turnaround plans.

They can change district management, close schools, convert them to charter schools or bring in an outside party to run the schools. 

All totaled, state officials are eyeing almost 70 schools in 24 school districts that are implementing turnaround options. 

The Board of Education is specifically set to address the fate of 46 of those schools today.