Zone adjustments proposed for two Cape middle schools
Proposed adjustments for two middle school zones in Cape Coral were presented to the Lee County School Board earlier this week to create enrollment balance.
A steering committee met to review attendance zones that meet one or more of three criteria. Those include zones where all schools are operating below 80% of building capacity, zones where all schools are operating above 100% of building capacity and zones impacted by the addition of a new school requiring adjustments to balance enrollment and optimize capacity.
Capital Planning Assistant Director Dr. Adam Molloy said the zones include AA – Mariner Middle operating at 60% capacity, and Challenger Middle operating at 79% capacity. In zone CC, he said those schools are – Caloosa Middle School operating at 103% capacity, Diplomat Middle School operating at 109% capacity and North Fort Myers Academy operating at 106% capacity.
Molloy said the rezoning will help accommodate the opening of the new Hector A. Cafferata K-8 school with an additional 679 middle school seats. He said the district’s proposal is to redesign the AA and CC middle school zones to balance enrollment across both zones.
“Our team intentionally shifted the zone east for zone AA,” Molloy said due to a deficiency of more than 1,000 middle school students.
The proposed change will shift approximately 782 to 861 additional students into zone AA in the next 10 years.
Molloy said students can remain at the current school, as long as parents provide the transportation.
Open enrollment begins at the end of January.
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