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.