Lee County emergency officials brief school board on hurricane readiness, pet‑friendly shelters and evacuation planning

Lee County public safety and emergency management leaders told the School Board at a June 9 workshop that the county and district have improved coordination for hurricane season, including shelter operations, training and plans to demobilize school shelters quickly after storms.

The briefing was led by Ben Abbis, director of public safety for Lee County, and John Schultz, chief of emergency management for the county’s Emergency Operations Center. “All of our shelters are pet friendly,” Schultz said, noting that owners must crate or leash animals and bring the supplies they need.

Why it matters: school buildings are a critical part of the county’s shelter network, and how quickly the district can turn school shelters back to instructional use affects when students return to class and parents can resume work. Officials said stronger coordination with non‑school host sites lets them consolidate people after a storm and restore schools faster.

Schultz and Abbis walked board members through the EOC’s activation levels — a normal ready state (level 3), a partial activation (level 2) used for storms like Helen and Milton, and full activation (level 1) used for large events — and described evacuation zones A–D. Officials said Zone A, the most vulnerable coastal zone, encompasses roughly 250,000 people.

The presenters described several operational practices the county and district have been refining: an integrated WebEOC platform for resource requests; tabletop and shelter exercises that included school staff; a shelter staffing model that pairs county teams with school‑based shelter teams; and a district portal for tracking damage and recovery at each school site. Schultz said recent tabletop and shelter training helped staff find efficiencies and identify what to change before the next storm.

Board members asked whether the district has identified enough non‑school host shelters to demobilize school shelters quickly. Abbis said the county successfully consolidated shelter operations after Hurricane Milton and turned school sites back to the district in about 48 hours in that incident; officials said they can consolidate into non‑school sites and concentrate outreach and social services there to ease the path to recovery.

On pets and special‑needs sheltering, officials said pre‑registration and transport arrangements are used for vulnerable residents and reminded residents that while shelters accept pets they must provide crates, leashes and necessary supplies. “If you bring a pet to one of those shelters, you’re required to have your pet on a leash. They must be crated and you have to bring all supplies and anything that you would need to take care of your pet,” Schultz said.

The board also asked whether new construction — including Alva High School — is being built to shelter standards. Superintendent Dr. Denise Carlin said staff will research the design and return with a written response to the board.

What’s next: district staff agreed to follow up with details on which new schools meet shelter standards, and to provide counts and expected capacity for non‑school host sites used to demobilize school shelters. The board thanked county and district emergency management staff for recent training and partnership.