{"id":381692,"date":"2026-08-26T15:18:44","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T15:18:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/381692\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T15:18:44","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T15:18:44","slug":"lee-county-schools-to-merge-two-special-needs-centers-into-one-flagship-campus-lee-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/381692\/","title":{"rendered":"Lee County schools to merge two special needs centers into one flagship campus | Lee County"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mt-3 overflow-auto whitespace-pre-wrap break-words text-sm\">LEE COUNTY, Fla. (WINK)\u2014The School District of Lee County is moving forward with plans to consolidate Buckingham Exceptional Student Center and Royal Palm Exceptional Center after lifting a temporary pause on the project.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-3 overflow-auto whitespace-pre-wrap break-words text-sm\">The district informed parents that it will establish a state-of-the-art flagship Exceptional Student Education center on the Royal Palm Exceptional Center campus.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-3 overflow-auto whitespace-pre-wrap break-words text-sm\">The pause, which began in April, came after Buckingham parents and staff raised concerns about the relocation and whether the Royal Palm campus could meet the specialized needs of Buckingham students.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-3 overflow-auto whitespace-pre-wrap break-words text-sm\">At the time, parents told WINK News they valued the care and sense of community at Buckingham.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-3 overflow-auto whitespace-pre-wrap break-words text-sm\">&#8220;Buckingham is a family away from home. A sense of normalcy,&#8221; Felishia Wilson said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-3 overflow-auto whitespace-pre-wrap break-words text-sm\">RELATED:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.winknews.com\/news\/lee\/parents-fight-lee-county-plan-to-move-buckingham-special-needs-school\/article_6e13a305-72d5-4d94-90f2-81ee572cf64c.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Parents fight Lee County plan to move Buckingham special needs school<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-3 overflow-auto whitespace-pre-wrap break-words text-sm\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-3 overflow-auto whitespace-pre-wrap break-words text-sm\">The district says that feedback helped shape its updated consolidation plan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-3 overflow-auto whitespace-pre-wrap break-words text-sm\">&#8220;When we paused this process in April, we did so to listen, reassess, and ensure we were creating an environment that puts the safety, dignity, and specialized care of our students first,&#8221; said Chuck Vilardi, Regional Associate Superintendent. &#8220;We heard from our families what they want, incorporated those ideas into our plan, and look forward to continued collaboration to build a model ESE facility that truly serves the unique needs of every child.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-3 overflow-auto whitespace-pre-wrap break-words text-sm\">The updated plan combines specialized programming from both <a href=\"https:\/\/roy.leeschools.net\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">campuses<\/a> into a modernized facility. Key features include specialized physical modifications, integrated behavioral and educational support, and a focus on real-world independence.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-3 overflow-auto whitespace-pre-wrap break-words text-sm\">The district is also launching a structured transition process to keep families informed throughout the consolidation. Parents and guardians will be invited to participate in a series of meetings and committees, with monthly updates provided to stakeholders.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mt-3 overflow-auto whitespace-pre-wrap break-words text-sm\">The updated campus is expected to open to students in August 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LEE COUNTY, Fla. (WINK)\u2014The School District of Lee County is moving forward with plans to consolidate Buckingham Exceptional&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381693,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210,28,356],"class_list":["post-381692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-florida","tag-lee-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381692\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}