Polk County School Board

Polk County School Board, a U.S. local government school district headquartered in Bartow, Florida, receives federal grant funding as a prime recipient under education, nutrition, and emergency management programs rather than as a federal contractor. The district acts as a prime grant recipient on 28 awards (18% of its federal footprint) and as a sub-recipient on 130 awards (82%), with the vast majority of recent activity flowing through state intermediaries — principally the Florida Department of Education — that pass through federal funding to support K–12 instruction, special education, career and technical education, English language acquisition, nutrition programs, and early childhood services.

Customer concentration sits entirely within education and agriculture grant programs. The top five federal funding sources account for 87% of recent awards, led by the Department of Education Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (64 awards), the Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (25 awards), the Department of Education Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (23 awards), the Department of Education Office of Career Technical and Adult Education (19 awards), and the Department of Education Office of English Language Acquisition (7 awards). One outlier award from NASA Goddard Space Center carries $1.2 million in potential value; all other awards in the combined portfolio reflect routine pass-through and sub-recipient allocations with minimal individual dollar magnitudes. The district's obligated dollars significantly exceed potential value — $1.3 billion obligated against $1.2 million in combined potential value — indicating that awards documented in the source represent allocation authority rather than invoiced spend across a multi-year execution cycle.

Activity has grown sharply. The source records one award in 2022, twenty-nine in 2023, fifty-one in 2024, forty-one in 2025, and five awards year-to-date in 2026. This growth reflects increasing federal pass-through activity from state agencies into the district rather than new direct prime relationships. The district holds one recompete exposure in the next twenty-four months.

As a prime recipient, the district operates under two marquee federal grants. A $19.6 million five-year Head Start Project Grant from the Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families (CFDA 93.600) began January 1, 2026 and runs through December 31, 2030, funding comprehensive early childhood education, health and nutritional support, social-emotional development, and family engagement services for three- and four-year-old children and pregnant women and infants in the Early Head Start component, with the district required to provide a 20 percent non-federal match. A second prime award, the Amplifying Magnet Programs Project Grant from the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, ran from October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2026.

Sub-recipient work cascades through state agencies. The Florida Department of Education serves as the pass-through entity for the bulk of the district's federal sub-awards — Title I Part A funds supporting low-income schools, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) funding for special education services, Perkins V Career and Technical Education grants, English Language Learner (ELL) programs, adult education and family literacy services under WIOA, homeless children and youth services, migrant education support, and school improvement grants. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Florida channels National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) funding, along with Child Care Food Program allocations. The Florida Department of Health pass through Child Care Food Program meal-service funding. The State of Florida Division of Emergency Management awarded debris removal and building-contents grants following emergency events in 2023 and 2026. Representative sub-awards include NSLP allocations (recurring monthly or quarterly from USDA through the state agency), Title I Part A funds for high-poverty schools, IDEA supplemental grants for special education and related services for students ages 3–21, Perkins V equipment and modernization funds for established CTE programs, comprehensive and targeted school improvement grants, turnaround-school teacher and principal incentive allocations, and disaster-relief grants. The district does not hold contracts with the General Services Administration, hold seats on GWACs, or place task orders under government-wide vehicles — all activity is grant-based and routed through state administrative intermediaries or direct HHS Head Start funding.