Walter the Tortoise will soon depart McLaughlin Academy of Excellence, along with a cow and several donkeys.
But the Lake Wales school for grades sixth through 10 in Lake Wales is not eliminating its agriculture programs, as some students and parents might have feared.
In a letter to McLaughlin families dated Sept. 9, Principal Diameshia H. Williams wrote that the school has “restructured” its Exceptional Student Education Farm, which allowed students with disabilities to help care for a campus-based menagerie.
When Polk County Public Schools selected McLaughlin as its showcase school for the first day of classes in 2022, teachers guided media members through the farm occupying a shady area behind the school. A sign posted at the entrance read, “Exceptional Student Ag Program” and bore cartoon images of a chicken, a goat and a donkey.
Students in the ESE program collected eggs from chickens, fed grass to the giant tortoise and petted donkeys, including a diminutive, brown one named Chester.
Two years later, McLaughlin is discontinuing the program specifically for exceptional education students but pledges to ensure that the students will still have access to animals, according to Williams’ letter.
“During the summer of 2024, it was brought to the administration’s attention about several concerns regarding the animals' health, the safety of students, funding of the program, and lost instructional time due to taking care of the animals,” Williams wrote. “Working through district and school staff it was determined that our on-campus agriculture program would be a viable option to absorb many of the animals from the Exceptional Student Education Farm, but still allow our students with disabilities who want to participate in animal care, work-based programs, or animal showmanship.”
Williams said that the “majority” of the farm animals will remain on campus, and the school has provided pens for students to raise other animals “in alignment with the agriculture program’s design, and state standards.”
McLaughlin will still offer two periods each day for students to work with animals and learn about agriculture, in addition to an elective agriculture course, a spokesperson for Polk County Public Schools said.
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All McLaughlin students can choose to participate in a school-based agriculture program, allowing them to join the McLaughlin FFA Chapter, Williams wrote. Members of that group, previously known as “Future Farmers of America,” can enter the annual Polk County Youth Fair in such categories as animal showmanship and animal and plant sales.
The engagement with animals promotes the social, emotional and cognitive development of students in the exceptional student education program, Williams wrote.
The remaining animals from the Exceptional Student Education Farm will be moved into McLaughlin’s school-based agriculture program, Williams wrote. That change ensures that all the school’s animals receive care from a local veterinary office that supports other agriculture programs in the district, she wrote.
Funds for the ESE farm will be directed toward food and other expenses for the animals, Williams wrote.
The school planned to relocate several animals to a local sanctuary within 30 days “due to the lack of resources and space required for the larger animals,” the principal wrote. She mentioned a cow, several donkeys and a tortoise.
About 30 students took part in the ESE farm program, district spokesperson Kyle Kennedy said. Some of them have already joined school’s agriculture program, and others have enrolled in different electives, he said.
While many schools in Lake Wales are operated by Lake Wales Charter Schools, McLaughlin is part of the much larger, countywide public school district. Previously a middle school, the district announced in 2022 that it would add one grade per year until it reached grades six through 12.
Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on X @garywhite13 .
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk school closes farm for ESE students but offers them access to animals in ag programs
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