Consultants find Fort Myers Beach Elementary repeatedly flood‑prone; board given procedural pathway to reclassification and options

Consultants and district staff told the Lee County School Board on Feb. 10 that Fort Myers Beach Elementary faces repeated storm surge flooding and high long‑term costs that make continued investment in the existing building financially risky.

"Currently, the building is unsafe since it has no floor on the interior, and we find that economically unjustifiable," consultant speakers said during a presentation of the Castaldi assessment and facility analysis. The report estimated modernization costs at roughly 80 percent of replacement and warned those repairs would have a limited 7–10 year life before further investment would be required.

The district and consultants said the analysis shows low utilization at about 43 percent and a per‑pupil operating cost far above the district average. The presentation cited an operational baseline cost of approximately $800,000 to $1,000,000 annually for the site and a FY2024 per‑pupil spending figure for Fort Myers Beach of $27,736.16, compared with a district average near $9,000.

Staff said the Florida Department of Education Office of Educational Facilities provided a Jan. 9 letter that formally acknowledged the feasibility assessment and that reclassification of the building’s room condition would be required to pursue certain funding sources, including FEMA‑related pathways. District presenters described a procedural pathway for the board to consider: (1) a formal board approval to proceed with reclassification, (2) submission to DOE for a room‑condition change and building replacement request, (3) review by the State Historic Preservation Office and the National Historic Preservation Section 106 consult if federal funding or mitigation is involved, and (4) local review by the Lee County Historic Preservation Board and the Town of Fort Myers Beach for certificate of appropriateness and mitigation options.

Consultants presented alternatives to demolition that they said could reduce district operational risk while honoring local history: potential land/building transfer or lease, adaptive reuse for non‑school community or cultural functions, or collaboration with the town or private developers on a memorialization strategy. "That doesn't mean keeping the building," a consultant said of mitigation options; "it simply means how do you document this process and getting that final step so that you could proceed with the raising of the building."

Town Manager Will McCaney, speaking as a public commenter, urged continued collaboration and said the town remains committed to finding funding and partnership options that would keep a school on the site, including public or charter models. "Before considering going down the path of demolition, consider that we want a school," McCaney said.

Board members asked staff to provide more detailed operating and monthly cost accounting for the site and to return with those figures; staff agreed to follow up. The board was repeatedly told the consultant report does not mandate demolition but provides the technical and fiscal basis for board decisions about seeking reclassification and pursuing funding or local alternatives.

Next steps described to the board were procedural: staff will supply detailed operational costs and the district will consider a formal motion to pursue the room condition reclassification and any required historic‑preservation consultations. No final board decision was recorded at the workshop.

Provenance: Presentation and Q&A on Fort Myers Beach Elementary (consultant Castaldi assessment), Feb. 10 workshop.