Fort Myers Beach and Lee County School District explore deal: town offers lease of historic campus while requesting ~$12M toward a new resilient school

A mediated Chapter 164 conflict‑assessment meeting on 2025-10-30 brought Fort Myers Beach town officials and the Lee County School District together to seek a path forward for Fort Myers Beach Elementary School after repeated hurricane damage and years of dispute over rebuilding and enrollment.

The town urged the district to honor an interlocal agreement (ILA) that the town says requires the district to renovate and reopen the Fort Myers Beach Elementary campus on its original site, and asked the district to withdraw any demolition plans for the historic school building. "Reopening Fort Myers Beach Elementary School is more than a building. It's a symbol of resilience," Fort Myers Beach Town Manager Will McCann said in his opening remarks.

The district, represented by Superintendent Denise Carlin and board members, said it has invested in stabilization and repairs but that later storms produced additional, material damage and that enrollment on the island has declined. "Before Hurricane Ian, enrollment averaged between 50 and 59 students... this year enrollment has dropped to 41 students," Dr. Denise Carlin said, adding that only about 20 enrolled students appear to live on the island. The district said engineering assessments show degraded structural elements and estimated additional repairs of roughly $7 million to $10 million on top of prior…