Lee School Board discusses future of Hector A. Cafferata Jr. Elementary

Nikki Ross, Fort Myers News-Press
·4 min read

The Lee County School District may tear down Hector A. Cafferata Jr. Elementary in Cape Coral and build a K-8 school on district-owned land about 3.5 miles away.

At a Lee County School Board workshop Tuesday, school officials presented four options for the future of the school heavily damaged by Hurricane Ian, from a complete rebuild to closing it altogether. All of the board members agreed the best of the options was to build a new school for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Not only would that solve the issue of Hector A Cafferatta Jr. Elementary's future, but it would also address the need for another middle school, based on population growth, for the Cape, according to Superintendent Christopher Bernier.

"It appears to be the better option," Bernier said.

The next step is for district officials to get more information and answer some logistical questions before bringing it back to the board for a vote.

Vice-chair Sam Fisher, who attended a K-8 school himself, agrees the board should move forward.

"I think we have a really big opportunity here," he said. "I see this as a win-win, make Hector A. Cafferatta Jr. better and increase what we have. We can look at this as a long-term investment that will save this community money in the long-run."

Board Member Chris Patricca said the K-8 school idea is "genius" since the district already has the money to build a middle school in its capital plan.

"This to me is the big difference between Hector A. Cafferata Jr. Elementary and Fort Myers Beach Elementary, we already have the money to rebuild this school where for Fort Myers Beach Elementary we don't," she said. "Here we can accomplish everything even if FEMA doesn't reimburse."

Damage to Hector A Cafferata Jr. Elementary, which has yet to reopen after Hurricane Ian. The school had the roof membrane ripped off, allowing rain to penetrate the entire second floor and into the first. Remediation is underway to remove all the wet material, but the repairs will be a longer term project.
Damage to Hector A Cafferata Jr. Elementary, which has yet to reopen after Hurricane Ian. The school had the roof membrane ripped off, allowing rain to penetrate the entire second floor and into the first. Remediation is underway to remove all the wet material, but the repairs will be a longer term project.

The 17-year-old school, which has been closed since the hurricane, and the district opened a portable campus for the on adjacent land at Cape Coral Technical College. Before the hurricane, there were 715 students. Now, there are just over 600, school officials said.

The board also discussed using the elementary school's land for an expansion of Cape Coral Technical College in the future.

The proposed options for the elementary school presented to the board include:

  • Restore the building to pre-hurricane status.

  • Demolish the school and build a new elementary school on the same land.

  • Close the current location and build a new K-8 school at a nearby location.

  • Have students attend other schools in the west zone.

All of the options cost more than 50% of the worth of the building, which means they need special permissions to get reimbursement from FEMA. The total worth of the current building is $12.5 million, according to Jeff Wagner, chief operations officer of the district.

More:Options for Hurricane Ian damaged Fort Myers Beach school presented to Lee school board

Here are more details on each of the options presented.

Restoration

Restore the elementary school to how it was before Hurricane Ian. Due to the level of damage to the building, it would have to be stripped down to its structural elements and completely redone. Board members did not seem to want this as a final option.

Timeline: 12 months

Total cost: $20 million

Demolish and rebuild

Demolish the existing building and rebuild the elementary school on the same land. Wagner said this option is not as feasible, since they could not use the current building plans and would have to pay an architect to create new plans, which would take more time.

The configuration of the school would change. The bus ramp and possibly drainage and retention would also need to be redesigned.

This could still be an option if plans for a K-8 school end up not being in the best interest of the district.

Timeline: 24-30 months

Estimated rebuilding costs: $60 million

Estimated demolition costs: $3 million

Total cost: $63 million

Build a new K-8 nearby

This would mean closing Hector A. Cafferata. There is a need for middle school seats by the 2025 school year and this would help address that need.

The new school would keep the name, Hector A. Cafferata Jr.

The district already has plans for a new middle school, that would allow for on-site parking and drainage. It would be built to hold 1,800 students.

The new school would be about a 3.5-mile drive from the current school.

Timeline: 24-30 months

Estimated cost of new K-8: $100.5 million

Estimated demolition costs: $3 million

Total cost: 103.5 million

Demolish and hold on to property

Students would be sent to other schools in the west zone for school year 2023-24. None of the board members support this option.

Elementary schools in the west zone are: Caloosa Elementary, Cape Elementary, Diplomat Elementary, Gulf Elementary, Hancock Creek Elementary, J. Colin English Elementary, Patriot Elementary, Pelican Elementary, Pine Island Elementary, Skyline Elementary, Trafalgar Elementary and Tropic Isles Elementary.

Families would select schools during student enrollment.

The district would then discuss a future use for the property.

Estimated cost of demolition/Total cost: $3 million

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Changes possible for Ian-damaged Hector A. Cafferata Jr. Elementary