Cape schools among those hit hard by Hurricane Ian
A hard look at Hector Cafferata Elementary School told the whole story. Two feet of sheetrock removed from the bottom walls. All the ceiling panels were removed while black spots can be seen on the ceilings, a sure sign of mold.
At Diplomat Middle School, the scene was somewhat less severe. Bags of debris were piled up in front of the school, waiting to be picked up and brought out of there.
On Thursday, School District of Lee County Superintendent Christopher Bernier and many of those who serve under him took school board members and the media to tour the damaged schools in Cape Coral. While some were just ready enough to get going, one school, Hector Cafferata Elementary is so badly damaged it seems unlikely if it will be re-opened, or even allowed to stand.
Board members visited Lexington Middle School in South Fort Myers, and Diplomat Middle, Hector A. Cafferata Elementary and Gulf Elementary and Middle schools in Cape Coral.
Lexington and Diplomat Middle have started with virtual instruction with their teachers through the Florida Virtual School until those campuses are expected to be ready on Oct. 31.
Hector Cafferata, which was among the most seriously damaged schools, has been split between Hancock Creek (K-2) and Pelican Elementary (3-5) and will take much longer to either repair or rebuild.
Meanwhile, Gulf Elementary opened Monday while Gulf Middle is set to open Friday, though both have some damage that can be more easily overcome.
Cafferata did not appear in any shape to re-open. Jeff Wagner, interium COO for Lee County Public Schools who just came to help with the recovery, said he was pleased with how the community, the district and those working on behalf of the district have come together. He just wished the school could have fared better.
“We have a school that has been severely damaged by water and we’re taking steps to remediate that. Based on an assessment by local professionals, we’ll determine if the building gets renovated,” Wagner said. “In some areas two feet of wall was removed, in others the entire wall was taken down. It’s a matter of how much water a particular area got.”
The building is currently in remediation and stabilization mode. With all the mold and moisture in the building, Wagner said they have to decide whether to selectively demo the building and put it back together in its previous state or demo the entire building and build a new one.
“In some cases, remediation and stabilization allows us to occupy the building. Obviously, this building’s damage is beyond that,” Wagner said. “In some schools, damaged buildings have been fixed allowing students to return because temporary repairs have taken place. We will continue to do permanent repairs to those buildings.”
At Diplomat Middle School, the damage was not quite as severe. However, the roof was compromised and the gutters failed and blew off.
Michael Ramirez, chief of staff for Lee County Schools, said they have made significant progress every day, getting closer to the potential of student return by Oct. 31.
“We’re tearing out carpets, drying out the building. We have 60 to 70 people here helping with the remediation of the building,” Ramirez said. “We anticipate occupying the building by Oct. 31, but this is a fluid situation.”
School board members began to arrive around 10:30 a.m. Gwynetta Gittens took pictures and showed everything on social media and was conducting interviews like a pro.
When the pros started to interview her, she said she wasn’t surprised to see all the progress that had been made.
“There was not as much damage as I thought at Lexington. Some of the teachers and students who haven’t had a chance to see their schools have a chance to see them now,” Gittens said. “By the looks of the bags here at Diplomat there was a lot more damage. We’re working very hard and if you want to know why it takes a village, go back and watch what happened after Ian.”
Wagner compared the experience to a sprint and a marathon.
“We’ve completed the sprint. We got the building stabilized and reoccupy the building. We are starting the marathon. We will be in recovery for a long time that will require permanent construction,” Wagner said.
To reach CHUCK BALLARO, please email news@breezenewspapers.com