The Polk County School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to impose a $400 participation fee on non-traditional student-athletes who play sports in the district, a move driven by a new state law reshaping athletic eligibility across Florida.
Senate Bill 538, which takes effect July 1, standardizes how public, charter, private and homeschool students may participate in school sports. Under the law, students are generally required to play within the district or county where they live. If their school does not offer a given sport, they may compete at another school in the district — or, in limited circumstances, in an adjacent district.
The law also prohibits students from playing for two different schools within the same school year unless specific conditions are met, and it grants school districts the authority to charge participation fees from non-enrolled athletes.
Polk County officials said the $400 fee will be returned directly to individual school programs to offset rising operational costs, including transportation, uniforms, field maintenance, event security and officials’ fees.
“We still get to pay all the expenses for football, which is really expensive, or cheerleading, which is really expensive, but don’t get any income to help support that,” said school board member Sarah Beth Wyatt. “I’m thrilled to level the playing field a little bit.”
About 400 non-traditional student-athletes participated in Polk County sports last year, though district officials acknowledge some uncertainty about exactly who will be subject to the new fee. Senior Director of Athletics Dan Talbot said the law’s language creates ambiguity.
“There’s a discrepancy in the law,” Talbot said. “The way we thought of it by way of FHSAA is that we cannot charge homeschool students or charter school students — only charge private school students.”
Talbot also noted that the actual per-student cost of funding these programs exceeds the $400 fee. District officials said they may eventually offer needs-based waivers for families who cannot afford to pay.
The new fee structure and eligibility rules take effect with the upcoming school year, beginning July 1.
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