All six middle schools Lakeland addresses are zoned for are in Polk's rezoning review. Town halls Oct. 22, Oct. 29 and Nov. 12; the board votes Jan. 26, 2027.
Polk County Public Schools is drawing new middle school attendance boundaries, and every middle school that Lakeland addresses are zoned for is part of the review. Parents get three in-person town halls between Thursday and Nov. 12, plus a virtual one.
No decision has been made. The district says the 2026-27 school year continues on the current boundaries, and the School Board has not said when any new lines would take effect. That is all in the district’s notice on the middle school rezoning town halls.
Which meeting covers your school
Each in-person session runs from 6 to 7 p.m. The district grouped schools by region:
| Date | Place | Schools serving Lakeland |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, Oct. 22 | Bartow High auditorium, 1270 S. Broadway Ave., Bartow | Lakeland Highlands Middle |
| Thursday, Oct. 29 | Lake Region High auditorium, 1995 Thunder Road, Eagle Lake | Crystal Lake Middle |
| Thursday, Nov. 12 | Harrison School for the Arts theater, 726 Hollingsworth Road, Lakeland | Kathleen Middle, Lake Gibson Middle, Sleepy Hill Middle, Southwest Middle |
| Thursday, Nov. 12 | Online, on the district’s YouTube channel | All middle schools |
Bartow is about 14 miles southeast of Lakeland, and Eagle Lake about 12 miles east. The Oct. 22 session also covers Bartow Middle, Fort Meade Middle-Senior High and Mulberry Middle. The Oct. 29 session also covers Denison, Stambaugh and Westwood middle schools. A first session, for the Northeast region around Haines City, was held Thursday.
The district has posted the proposals on an interactive map with an address search, so families can check what would change for their home before they go.
How many Lakeland homes this touches
We ran a sample of 1,817 city address points through the district’s zoning tool for 2026-27, as set out on our Lakeland public schools page. Every address in the sample was zoned for one of the six schools now under review:
- Sleepy Hill Middle: about 34%
- Southwest Middle: about 27%
- Crystal Lake Middle: about 13%
- Lake Gibson Middle: about 13%
- Lakeland Highlands Middle: about 9%
- Kathleen Middle: about 4%
Crystal Lake, Lake Gibson and Kathleen middle schools have Lakeland mailing addresses but sit outside the city limits.
What happens after the town halls
The district says families will also be able to answer surveys. Its timeline, every date marked tentative:
- Nov. 17: the district presents the feedback from the meetings and parent survey results at a School Board work session.
- Dec. 8: the School Board holds a public hearing but takes no action.
- Jan. 26, 2027: a second public hearing, then a vote. The board can approve the proposal, ask the superintendent to gather more input or send it back for revisions.
Students already in middle school can stay
The district said it will not require students already enrolled at a middle school to switch. They can finish where they started. The same applies to middle school students in districtwide magnet programs and specialized academies.
That mirrors what the board did for high schools. It approved new high school boundaries on Jan. 27, 2026, and let current high school students stay put, according to the district’s high school boundaries announcement.
What it means for you
- Look up your address on the district’s rezoning map before your session.
- Lakeland Highlands Middle families: your session is Thursday, Oct. 22, in Bartow.
- Crystal Lake Middle families: Thursday, Oct. 29, in Eagle Lake.
- Sleepy Hill, Southwest, Lake Gibson and Kathleen Middle families: Thursday, Nov. 12, at Harrison School for the Arts in Lakeland, or online the same evening.
- If your child is in middle school now, the district says they can stay at their school.
- No start year has been set for any new boundaries.
School profiles with zones and state grades are on our pages for Lakeland Highlands Middle, Sleepy Hill Middle and Southwest Middle.
Have your say