School district better served by an appointed superintendent
To the editor:
The scenario from the Lee County School Board and superintendent for the past three years has been teacher shortages, use of uncertified teachers, teacher recruitment etc.
Suddenly we have teacher layoffs, a 1,940 loss in student population which was blamed mostly on students that moved out of the country!! What is that? One of the district’s ploys seems to be to lay off teachers that the administrators deem not to be team players.
Our budget is in $47.7 million deficit. The state has not finalized the budget for 2026-27. They are still in session. We do not have a budget but we lay off teachers. The state-projected allocation per student is set to $9,406 per pupil. Factor in the cost, you have a loss of $18.2 million due to state funding. This is a far cry from $47.7 deficit.
The superintendent and board are playing budget Bingo. Call the chips:
Use the contingency fund of about $120 million.
Use the overbudget department line items which are unspent and called back at close of the fiscal year.
Remember the State Auditor found the District mishandling funds.
Bingo: No budget shortfall.
I have asked the School Board and Chair, Mr. Persons, to start a referendum to return to an appointed superintendent. It is obvious that an elected superintendent is on-the-job training (OJT). This is the eighth largest school district in Florida. We had an appointed Superintendent with Dr. Bernier. He was doing a good job. Appointed superintendents have skills that an elected superintendent does not have.
Lou Navarra
Cape Coral