District’s goal is to open schools on Oct. 17
Lee County Superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier announced Friday during an afternoon press conference that the district’s goal is to return to an educational environment on Monday, Oct. 17.
“Unfortunately I have to report that schools will remain closed. Certified inspectors have evaluated our buildings and special centers,” he said. “The majority of our schools are considered what is called a low needs environment. Meaning they need very little more in order to open.”
The reason the schools will remain closed this upcoming week is the district still has significant and disproportional challenges to overcome as not all the district’s buildings were impacted in the same manner by the storm. There are at least eight schools that do not have power.
“Some schools, most schools, do not have suitable drinking water. Most of our schools remain on a boil water notice. We still have safety and debris issues, which will impact the safe pick up and delivery of our students both to and from our schools,” Bernier said. “We have to reopen in a way that is safe for our students and staff and sensitive to their needs, while being effective enough to be able to provide teaching and learning that we expect.”
There are schools that remain in the high needs category with some significant damage, with some needing time for repairs and some needing longer to rebuild.
The list of schools not ready to open include Fort Myers Beach Elementary, Hector Cafferata Elementary School, Heights Elementary School, Pine Island Elementary School, Skyline Elementary School, Caloosa Middle School, Cypress Lake Middle School, Diplomat Middle School, Gulf Middle School, Lexington Middle School, Mariner Middle School, Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School, Trafalgar Middle School, The Sanibel School, North Fort Myers Academy for the Arts, North Fort Myers High School, Fort Myers Tech Center and Success Academy.
Bernier said they have plans in place for the schools that are not able to reopen to ensure they have educational environments for those children. He said they will do their very best to keep those communities of learning, those students, teachers and principals together in the process.
“There could be the possibility of double sessions based upon the buildings that we have ready to go,” Bernier said.
As of Friday the calendar has not been revised to show the days students have missed because they do not have an official reopening date. When that date is finalized they will work with the Department of Education and unions to ensure they revise their calendars.
The community, he said, has rebounded nine days post hurricane, but they are just not ready to reopen next week. In the upcoming week debris will continue to be removed, power will be restored, drinking water will return to the school buildings, as well as further assessing staff’s ability to return to work.
“My academic team, my cabinet and my board members are committed to developing a plan and revising plans to return all of our students, no matter the status of our school buildings, to an educational environment. There are still many factors that I previously mentioned that must be overcome,” Bernier said.
Teachers need the opportunity to return to the school buildings, set for Thursday, Oct. 13. Bernier said that will begin with a reunification of staff and support to help them in the transition. He said depending on where families live and where the school their child attends, their return and how the district goes about will reflect the disappropriate challenges.
“Their response and our support professionals’ response will provide another critical determining factor to reopening,” he said. “That is our staff, our support professionals and teachers’ readiness to return. We cannot ignore this storm has impacted all of us.”
Bernier said he realizes that all students, just like staff, may not return.
“We as a district will remain flexible with our parents and students during this period of time, just as we will remain flexible for staff,” he said. “When we return to an educational environment we will be and have the opportunity to provide our students with the learning they need.”
The return also will depend on staff, as the district wants to be sensitive to their needs as well.
“We have staff that has been impacted by complete loss of home, flooding, all their personal belongings. We continue to work with what we refer to as the coalition of willing.”
On Oct. 5 the district surveyed its staff, including support professionals and teachers, which revealed that 65 percent at the middle and elementary schools are already in the position where they believe they can return.
“We saw a number approaching 65 percent with our high school people as well,” Bernier said. “That was on Oct. 5 and that was a staff check-in.”
On Oct. 13 staff will have the chance to reunify and those without a school building will be provided with another location.
“We understand there is a lot of displaced people in the community. We also know there are a lot of people that have lost their jobs. Our Human Resource Depart-ment is ready, willing and able. We have great jobs here in Lee County,” Bernier said.
On Wednesday, Oct. 12, the School Board discuss an updated reopening plan.
“Nine days ago Hurricane Ian landed directly in Lee County. The storm’s impact was historic and disproportional across this great Southwest Florida community. People have lost lives, their homes and much, if not all of their personal property. None of us were untouched by this hurricane. Citizens, community members, support professionals, teachers, this hurricane touched us all,” Bernier said. “As a community, we were all impacted.”
He went on to say that out of the devastation, they know Lee County will rebuild and it will recover.
“We all love this community and we will take back what this storm has attempted to take from us,” Bernier said.
The school district closed all of its schools before Hurricane Ian swept through the area, as a safety measure for children and staff, as well as providing the opportunity to open 12 campuses as a shelter.
“We are thankful to the Lee County EOC team for asking us to step into that process and provide food, water, supplies and support. We continue to do that today. We have had food drives, food distribution sites and we will continue to support this community in every way possible,” Bernier said.
Since the landfall of Hurricane Ian, the School District has kept the schools closed due to the support need of shelters and the damage caused by the storm and associated safety hazards.
“We have been working in partnership over these last nine days with the governor’s office, the Florida Department of Education, Lee County Emergency of Operation Center and our community partners to help heal and recover from the store and begin the process of reopening our schools,” Bernier said.
As a new resident of Lee County, he said he and his family are proud to see the way the community has responded in such a catastrophic event. Bernier said he is also proud in the way their employees – teachers, administrators, support professionals and all staff – has also responded.
“I have to thank the EOC command team members, the Florida Department of Education and all of my fellow 66 school districts in the state of Florida,” Bernier said. “All of them have responded and offered their support. They have shared plans, their knowledge and their staff to help us. We are forever, and will be forever grateful.”
To reach MEGHAN BRADBURY, please email news@breezenewspapers.com