The School District of Lee County will continue its focus on student achievement and school safety for the 2026-27 school year.<\/p>\n
Superintendent Dr. Denise Carlin said the district must continue its focus on raising the bar for student achievement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI declared a line in the sand for no D schools,\u201d she said. \u201cOur goal is to have zero C schools \u2014 a little bit of a challenge because of the state of Florida is raising the bar. We are up for the challenge and will continue to focus on teaching the Florida benchmarks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carlin said the focus will be on each and every individual child \u2014 and the next steps when they learn or do not learn a benchmark.<\/p>\n
She said there will be extra instruction when a student does not acquire a skill or achieve a benchmark, as well as continued enrichment for those who do.<\/p>\n
The school district had zero D and F schools last year, with 29 schools that improved their grades. Carlin said she is proud of the children who stepped up to the challenge, as well as teachers and teams at the schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t be prouder of their work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Students were expected to fill the hallways on Aug. 11, a day Carlin said she was looking forward to, as there is nothing like a brand-new school year.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, we have just over 40 teacher vacancies,\u201d she said on July 29.<\/p>\n
Carlin said a goal was declared.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will have all of our classrooms filled with certified teachers on day one \u2014 we are setting the bar high,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The school district implemented a teacher incentive \u2014 stepping out of collective bargaining \u2014 to provide an incentive of up to $10,000 to teach at the highest need schools and core academic subjects.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of those teacher incentives, there is one teacher vacancy in our East Zone. We had over 100 teacher vacancies when I was sworn in,\u201d Carlin said.<\/p>\n
She said she has a huge amount of appreciation for the governor and legislation passed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout it, we would not be able to pay the teacher incentive to choose the most difficult assignment,\u201d Carlin said.<\/p>\n
There are also strides being made in the transportation department, which leaves the superintendent feeling \u201clike a proud mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said they are making sure there is laser-like focus on getting children to school on time, which is the \u201cbig secret to our success.\u201d<\/p>\n
The combination of having students in the classroom when the bell rings and high-quality teachers before them in each is that secret to success.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will continue to work on refining our routes,\u201d Carlin said.<\/p>\n
She asked that parents keep their patience the first few weeks of school as it is bound to be a little bumpy.<\/p>\n
Spokesperson Rob Spicker said through a state appropriation and BusPatrol proceeds, the district is investing in routing software as the current software is old and no longer meets the needs of the district. It anticipates having part of that process completed in time to maximize efficiency during the second semester and fully on board to optimize routes the following school year.<\/p>\n
The software will have the ability to incorporate GPS, student data, ridership trends and optimize the efficiency of routes.<\/p>\n
In December, the school district implemented BusPatrol to take care of \u201cour most valuable asset and that is our children,\u201d Carlin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very heartened by the decision that we made to protect children\u2019s safety while entering and exiting our buses,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen a number of violations, an extraordinary number of citations given out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spicker said 30,232 citations had been issued since the bus cameras were implemented.<\/p>\n
Carlin said 95% of people who offend will not re-offend.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrivers on the road \u2014 despite how busy they are \u2014 take the time to stop when stop arms go out,\u201d she said as it is important for students to enter and exit buses safely. \u201cWe look forward to decreasing the number of the citations.\u201d<\/p>\n