EAST LEE COUNTY, Fla — As students return to class, they'll see more than a few new faces. According to the Lee County School District, in a usual year, there are 1,300 new students in Lee County.
This year, that number is 1,700.
Lee County School's Director of Planning and Growth Adam Molloy says the district is constantly monitoring each school's capacity as more students move to the area.
Molloy says, "The the district is prepared. Growth is not something that we're unfamiliar with it's been a fairly constant."
He says 84% of the new students they see live in East Lee County which is why in the ten year plan, the district will build ten new schools.
Find more information on Lee County School District's Ten Year Plan here.
Eight of those new school will be in East Lee County. Three on State Road 82, Two in Alva, One in Savannah Lakes and one on Treeline avenue.
A location for the eighth school has not been chosen yet.
"Schools are you know kind of coming on line at the same time that we need them for the most part, but it is yeah, it's still a challenge as you know growth and movement is constant," Molloy says.
They can't build schools overnight, and parents want to know how the district plans to manage overcrowded classrooms now.
He says, "I think some of the the more kind of creative approaches to addressing capacity needs of you know, whether it's scheduling or temporary ads...talking with parents like hey, we are on top of this. We are monitoring this every single day."
With these eight schools the district will create 11,000 new seats in ten years to match they growth they expect in East Lee County.
Molloy adds they'll review school boundaries for rezoning if it becomes necessary.
