FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. — The future of Fort Myers Beach Elementary has come down to three options presented to the Lee County School Board on Wednesday.
The first option is to not rebuild the school and relocate students to neighboring schools. Around $4.6 million would go to restoring the historic building, remove the outer buildings and perform site cleanup work.
Option two is two-pronged. Calling it a phased elementary campus, the district would spend $5.8 million to restore the historic building and stabilize the campus. Students would go back to class in the historic building, the library and potentially other surrounding recreational facilities.
With an interlocal agreement, phase 2 would consist of potentially building a new school. However, this is if the district meets the 150 student enrollment threshold.
The third option is the most expensive. Close to $24 million would allow a full portable campus. A new school could be built while students are in the portables.
During Wednesday's meeting, emotions were high from community members, parents and teachers.
"The best case scenario, yes there should be a beach school, but we have to stay fiscally responsible and everyone of you mentioned that today," one community member said.
A parent expressed a clear viewpoint many parents have told Fox 4 in the past: they want the kids back on the island in school.
"Put us all back to square one like we were before the storm, and once we're there we can address that enrollment issue," one parent said.
Some board members expressed a similar sentiment.
"We should be thinking about moving ahead," said Armor Persons, a school board member. "We got to put the kids first and to me that means getting them back to the school."
Others were looking at the overall costs, what is equitable and enrollment.
"We have asked the community to look at, but they have not looked at other viable options such as a charter school, they have asked us to consider an attractor school, but that has not been fleshed out short-term either," said Cathleen Morgan, a school board member.
Since the 2018-2019 school year, student enrollment has dropped every year. Currently, before Ian, 54 students from Kindergarten to fifth grade attended Fort Myers Beach Elementary.
Many board members questioned whether or not building a new school would be worth it due to low enrollment numbers and the cost per student. In a presentation on Wednesday, student enrollment is expected to hit a lot of 38 by 2032.
The meeting was purely information and no decision was made. The Lee County School Board is expected to make a decision in March.
