FORT MYERS, Fla. — Fort Myers Beach Elementary parents still demanding action after the school has remained closed since Hurricane Ian.
Tonight a special town hall meeting hosted by Lee County School Board member Chris Patricca saw parents, teachers and some from the school board come together at the discussion table.
For 67 days, Fort Myers Beach Elementary has stood with windows boarded up and the school standing empty. Just a shell of its former self. And it's for this reason that has parents worried.
"The solution to get our kids back on this island needs to come immediately," said John Koss, a parent of a student at Beach Elementary. "Our kids need to be back on this island.”
It's a common sentiment being felt by parents of students of the school. As parents, teachers, and school board staff come together for a town hall.
"This is actually the first time that we were able to sit down in an informal meeting and have a discussion with them,” said Koss.
A discussion about the future of the school.
"There's plenty of stuff in that school that is savable and we need to get in there immediately and do it," says Koss. "We need to keep engaging our elected officials in having them go in there so we can get this done.”
But any work on the school has been put on pause as all options are being weighed by the school board. Even the Mayor of Fort Myers Beach, Dan Allers, who has spoken on the topic before made his voice heard tonight.
“I don't know anybody in here that can tell me that those kids that go to that school would have a better opportunity somewhere else than where they feel at home.”
And teachers spoke up as well.
“We are worried about our school but we go into school everyday with that smile on our face and we teach what needs to be taught because the expectations are still there," said Lori Zamnika, who has been teaching at Fort Myers Beach Elementary for 27 years. "Meanwhile, there's that worry and stress always lingering in the back.”
The School Board says all options remain on the table as they continue to gather all of the necessary information to make a decision. A special workshop meeting will be held by the board next week to discuss next steps for the school. In the meantime, parents and teachers are staying hopeful.
“I mean, we have to stay hopeful," said Zamnika. "Especially for the kids, we have to stay hopeful for them. We're still trying to be as normal as we can at the school. Provide all of our same beach traditions that we've always done just at a new location.”
Said Koss, “If we can get our children back and I see some action on that, it'll be the best Christmas present a person could ever get.”
