District targets student achievement as its primary emphasis for the ’26-’27 school year
The School District of Lee County will continue its focus on student achievement and school safety for the 2026-2027 school year.
Superintendent Dr. Denise Carlin said the district must continue its focus on raising the bar for student achievement.
“I declared a line in the sand for no D schools,” she said. “Our goal is to have zero C schools — a little bit of a challenge because of the State of Florida is raising the bar. We are up for the challenge and will continue to focus on teaching the Florida benchmarks.”
Carlin said the focus will be on each and every individual child — and the next steps when they learn or do not learn a benchmark.
She said there will be extra instruction when a student does not acquire a skill, or achieve a benchmark, as well as continued enrichment for those who do.
The school district had zero D and F schools last year with 29 schools that improved their grades. Carlin said she is proud of the children who stepped up to the challenge, as well as teachers and teams at the schools.
“I couldn’t be prouder of their work,” Carlin said.
Students will fill the hallways on Aug. 11, a day Carlin said she is looking forward to, as there is nothing like a brand-new school year.
“Right now, we have just over 40 teacher vacancies,” she said on July 29.
Carlin said a goal was declared — “We will have all of our classrooms filled with certified teachers on day one — we are setting the bar high.”
The school district implemented a teacher incentive — stepping out of collective bargaining — to provide an incentive of up to $10,000 to teach at the highest need schools and core academic subjects.
“Because of those teacher incentives, there is one teacher vacancy in our East Zone. We had over 100 teacher vacancies when I was sworn in,” Carlin said.
She said she has a huge amount of appreciation for the governor and legislation passed.
“Without it, we would not be able to pay the teacher incentive to choose the most difficult assignment,” Carlin said.
There are also strides being made in the transportation department, which leaves the superintendent feeling “like a proud mother.”
She said they are making sure there is laser-like focus on getting children to school on time, which is the “big secret to our success.”
The combination of having students in the classroom when the bell rings and high-quality teachers before them in each is that secret to success.
“We will continue to work on refining our routes,” Carlin said.
She asks that parents keep their patience the first few weeks of school as it is bound to be a little bumpy.
Spokesperson Rob Spicker said through a state appropriation and BusPatrol proceeds, the district is investing in routing software as the current software is old and no longer meets the needs of the district. The district anticipates having part of that process completed in time to maximize efficiency during the second semester and fully on board to optimize routes the following school year.
The software will have the ability to incorporate GPS, student data, ridership trends and optimize the efficiency of routes.
On Dec. 8, the school district implemented BusPatrol to take care of “our most valuable asset and that is our children,” she said.
“I’m very heartened by the decision that we made to protect children’s safety while entering and exiting our buses,” Carlin said. “We’ve seen a number of violations, an extraordinary number of citations given out.”
Spicker said 30,232 citations have been issued since the bus cameras were implemented.
Carlin said 95% of people who offend will not re-offend.
“Drivers on the road – despite how busy they are — take the time to stop when stop arms go out,” she said as it is important for students to enter and exit buses safely.
“We look forward to decreasing the number of the citations.”
Carlin said it is a tremendous honor to serve in the role of the superintendent in a community that she has lived for more than 57 years.
She said by offering a high-quality education in the county, it’s good for the economy, children, and the future workforce.
“I am a mom and have a large family — six siblings, all of us are raising our families in Lee County,” she said. “I want the very best for each of your children, for the whole community’s children.”
To reach MEGHAN BRADBURY, please email news@breezenewspapers.com