Posts Tagged ‘Lee County School District’

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Crickets

Wednesday, April 18th, 2012

I’ve been attending Lee County School Board meetings off and on for 13 years. Some sessions feature highly controversial topics, like changing school bell times or firing a cheerleading coach who happens to work at Hooters. Others aren’t so contentious, and just a handful of community members take their turns behind the microphone to address board members.

But zero?

Nobody spoke during Tuesday’s public comment period. Nobody in a community of 600,000 or so residents. Nobody in a school district with 83,610 students and almost 10,000 employees. Nobody for an agency with a $1.4 billion — with a “b” — annual budget.

The lack of public comment is a rarity, for sure, but it does happen occasionally. The last “Bueller, Bueller” moment was Aug. 23, and without a stream of public speakers using their three minutes to address board members, the meeting was adjourned in 1 hour, 13 minutes. In the 12 regular meetings between then and Tuesday, the number of speakers ranged from one to 20, with the average being 6.4 speakers.

The board meets again May 1.

School Board room

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Free Mickey D’s

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

Local students in grades 3 through 11 can get a free breakfast at McDonald’s on Monday. For the third consecutive year, more than 800 McDonald’s restaurants across Florida are giving free breakfast to public school students on the first day of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

Kids will get a a free Egg McMuffin, apple slices and a choice of 1 percent low-fat white milk, fat-free chocolate milk or orange juice between 6-8:30 a.m. Monday.

Last year, more than 120,000 students in Florida picked up the free McDonald’s breakfast deal before the FCAT. Students under the age of 15 must be accompanied by their parent or guardian to get the free breakfast.

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Snowbirds to the rescue

Monday, April 9th, 2012

Snowbirds at Indian Creek Resort in Fort Myers Beach are making a difference in their adopted community.

The resort’s residents gave High Tech Central School in Fort Myers a $8,000 check to be used for a student scholarship.

“What a wonderful school it is, with many very qualified instructors and coordinators and thirty programs for the 600 students enrolled,” said Mary Ann Bayer, who is on Indian Creek’s committee for High Tech Central scholarships.

The school district supports the technical school as well as adult education.

“We are proud to assist in helping students in need and will continue our efforts in fundraising activities for these students who are willing to work and learn,” Bayer said.

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District growth

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012

We all know the Lee County School District has grown exponentially over the years, but chief administrative officer Alberto Rodriguez put the numbers into perspective.

The district has more than doubled its number of schools and facilities and almost tripled its amount of square footage in the last 27 years, Rodriguez said.

In 1985, the district had 46 schools, eight facilities and more than 4 million square footage of property. Today, the district has 95 schools, 12 facilities and 13 million square footage.

Rodriguez was impressed that the district has only slightly increased its number of maintenance employees in the last 27 years. In 1985, the district had 150 maintenance employees. Today, the district has 154.

Rodriguez is new to the district so for the past several months he visited every school. He had walkthroughs with principals.

“I have not seen any school district like this as far as cleanliness and maintenance,” Rodriguez said. “I have been nothing but impressed from one school to another school. There is not a weak link in any of our schools. Our schools are well maintained and clean.”

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Leasing vacant land to growers

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

In January, I wrote about how the Lee County School District wanted to lease some of its vacant land to farmers. The district has 892 acres of vacant land. At Tuesday’s board meeting, the school board officially approved the leasing sale of four parcels.

The Cultural Heritage Center leased two parcels: 40 acres on Littleton Road and 19 acres on Joel and Tuckahoe. The center paid $20 per acre for each parcel; $1,180 per year for both parcels. The center plans to do plot farming.

Pronto General Services Inc. leased two parcels: 18.3 acres on S. Olga Dr.and 14.4 acres on Treeline. Pronto $200 per acre on the first parcel for $3,660 per year; $100 per acre at the second site for $1,440 per year. Pronto plans to put palm trees and tomatoes on the parcels.

So the district is going to make $6,280 per year to lease these four vacant parcels. Board member Tom Scott, who came up with the idea to get some use of these vacant lands, said the move isn’t about money. It’s about giving the community a chance to farm closer to the marketplace.

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Spring break? Try spring wait

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

I’m sure last week seemed crowded at area beaches, malls and attractions as public schools in Lee, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties were among 24 Florida districts observing spring break from March 12-16. The state’s other 43 districts stagger their breaks, starting as soon as March 5 and as late as April 27.

Think crowds here were bad? I ventured to Texas, where the state’s 1,000 or so school districts all observe “Texas Week,” the official name for spring break. Roughly 4.3 million students were out of school at the same time, as well as a majority of state universities. Many families also take their annual vacations then, before the 100-degree heat settles in. And with airfare prices through the roof, Texas families opted for road trips within the Lone Star State. That meant everywhere I turned, from Six Flags and Cowboys Stadium in Dallas to the River Walk and Spurs game in San Antonio, I stood shoulder to shoulder with other moms, dads and children who jammed into every family-friendly venue in sight.

A Monday afternoon tour of Cowboys Stadium? Not available; come back Tuesday. Lunch at Rainforest Cafe on a weekday? Sure, but you had a two-hour wait for a table. A visit to the Alamo? The line wrapped out the front door, around the corner, through the trees and onto the sidewalk. Things only calmed down once the kids were in bed, but even then you were never alone.

Alamo

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All’s quiet

Thursday, March 8th, 2012

This time, school board members didn’t verbally attack each other. No one called a member’s actions “despicable” or politically based.

Unlike last month’s blockbuster meeting, this week’s gathering was mundane. Board members seemed to get along and at one point member Jeanne Dozier joked with Chairman Mary Fischer. No one discussed the anonymous letters about Lee Superintendent Joseph Burke that has divided the board. Members Jane Kuckel and Dozier wanted the letter’s accusations investigated while Don Armstrong, Fischer and Tom Scott were forcefully against it.

Kuckel, who wrote an 11-page memo chastising Burke for issuing pay raises for two top aides, had a brief verbal confrontation with Burke on Tuesday. Kuckel questioned an agenda item that would grant $35,000 for a company to plan a dual language program at Tice Elementary. Kuckel wanted to see the program’s entire budget before voting on it.

Kuckel eventually relented and voted for the measure. The item passed 5-0, but Kuckel wasn’t happy.

“Why not be up front (about the program’s budget) before we hire her?” Kuckel told Burke. “I asked for detail and it’s not here. I’m not happy about this. When I put my ‘Yay’ to this motion I’m saying I know these things when I don’t know those things. That’s not the oath of office I took.”

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Riding the bus

Thursday, March 1st, 2012

As it does every year, the Foundation for Lee County Public Schools let The News-Press onto its chartered bus to surprise Golden Apple winners Thursday morning. There were about 40 of us on the bus, mostly the Foundation’s board members and selection committee members, as we traveled to six schools in Lee County.

It was my first time on the bus, and the trip couldn’t have gone smoother. The Foundation’s director Marshall Bower cracked jokes on the bus. The group even sang happy birthday to Gina Lombardo, the Foundation’s director of programs.

One Golden Apple winner stood out to me— Fort Myers’ Eric Riemenschneider. His family—wife, 1-year-old Rhys, 12-year-old Clay and 10-year old Kai— helped surprise him Thursday. 1-year-old Rhys held the Golden Apple trophy box as he was pushed in a stroller.

Riemenschneider walked away from a lucrative graphic design job to teach digital design to high schoolers.Why did he do it?

“The money was great but the reward inside wasn’t,” he said. “I know it sounds corny but it’s the truth.”

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Charter schools legislation

Friday, February 10th, 2012

The Lee County School Board is voicing concerns about a charter schools bill working its way through the state House and Senate. HB 903 and SB 1852 relates to charter schools receiving a share of local capital outlay taxes. According to a letter written by school board members Jeanne Dozier and Tom Scott and Superintendent Joseph Burke to legislators, the bill would cost the district more than $11 million per year.

The bill requires districts to either share capital outlay funding with charter schools as though it were a per-student entitlement or the state will essentially take an equal share of the district’s FEFP allocation and redistribute it to charter schools. Charter schools make up about 13 percent of Lee’s student population.

There have been no votes on the two bills. The bills are both in pre-K-12 subcommittees. They’re two bills to keep an eye on.

—CHRIS UMPIERRE

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The simulations are in

Friday, February 3rd, 2012

The state has released its latest simulations for this year’s FCAT scores and it looks like Lee’s elementary schools will take the biggest hit. The state projects the number of Lee’s “A” graded elementary schools will drop from 34 to 25 as a result of the tougher FCAT standards kicking in this year.The drop would mean Lee’s schools will receive less bonus money from the state. “A” graded schools receive a $70-per-student bonus from the state.

FCAT

Here’s the state’s FCAT simulations for the district:

Lee is projected to have 25 A elementary schools, 11 B schools (up from 9 last year), and 10 C schools (up from 4 last year) and 1 D school (the district had zero last year). No F elementary schools are projected.

Lee is projected to have 13 A middle schools, same as last year. Lee’s combination schools (K-8) will drop from 7 to six A schools. The number of A high schools will drop from 6 to 5.

Lee Superintendent Joseph Burke, who was part of the panel that voted for the tougher FCAT standards, addressed the anticipated drop in A schools at Tuesday’s board meeting. He said he wants to do more professional development training for teachers. Last week, about 28 Algebra teachers attended a district training class.

“We do not consider these simulations a fait accompli,” Burke said. “There is work we can do to offset the predicted declines. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure our schools are successful.”

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