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Public commenter says Lee County school mailer targeted voters and cost $64,000 in postage
Summary
At the March 10 School District of Lee County board meeting, India Palencia alleged the district mailed promotional materials to more than 280,000 residents using a voter-based list and spent over $64,000 on postage, prompting board members to clarify procurement and mailing practices.
India Palencia told the School District of Lee County board on March 10 that a recent district mail campaign was wasteful and improperly targeted. "The target of this mailing was voters, not families of Lee County students," Palencia said, adding that "the district spent more than $64,000 on postage alone" and questioning why purchases over $50,000 were not brought to the board or put out for bid.
The allegation prompted board members to explain district practice. Deputy Superintendent Dr. Kenneth Savage and a board member said the district’s communications team pulled names from voter-registration lists, then removed duplicates and people who had moved; the original list was said to have contained about 400,000 entries before being pared down. Dr. Savage told the board that postage is treated as a single-source item because only those who contract with the U.S. Postal Service can provide postage, which the district said removes the need for a typical competitive bid process.
The complaint raised additional questions about the overall cost of the campaign. Palencia asked why the expenditure was not presented to the board given its size and whether the printing, mailing-list costs and other production expenses had been included in the total. She also contrasted the mailing expense with district cuts—singling out lost positions and reductions to student services—and urged the board to align spending priorities with classroom needs.
Board members said staff will provide follow-up information. One member praised the communications team’s creativity and said the flyers were produced in-house from an existing budget; others asked the administration to provide details about the mailing list, total costs (printing plus postage) and the decision process used to authorize the campaign.
The board did not take a formal vote on the matter at the meeting; members said they would follow up with staff and include more detail in board materials and one-on-one briefings.
