Reopening of Lee County Schools uncertain after Hurricane Ian, 3 schools destroyed

It's still unclear when Lee County Schools will reopen as professional inspections of all schools in the district began Monday, according to superintendent Christopher Bernier.

"We know how important the schools are to our families and to our workplace and to our economy," Bernier said. "We are going to do everything humanly possible to open as quickly but as safely as possible."

While an initial assessment of Lee County Schools has been completed, a professional assessment by certified building inspectors began Monday, according to Bernier.

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"Those are the people who have the expertise to make determinations as to whether school buildings can be opened and re-inhabited by our young people," Bernier said. "We're focused on ensuring the safety of our students but being sensitive to the community's needs and determining what an effective reopening process would look like."

On Saturday, the district announced they would not be able to reopen this week. Collier County Schools announced Saturday they would be reopen on Thursday. Collier County Schools was not open on Monday and said they would "attempt" to provide answers on the state of schools, teachers and students on Tuesday.

Here's what you need to know about the current state of Lee County Schools:

What schools will not be able to reopen?

At least three schools were so damaged, students will need to be relocated to another school while the district rebuilds them, according to Bernier. The three schools are Fort Myers Beach Elementary, the Sanibel School and Hector A. Cafferatta, Jr. Elementary School in Cape Coral.

While Pine Island Elementary appears to be intact, Bernier said there's power and water connection issues to the island which will interfere with any reopening of the school.

When will parents, students get another update on the reopening of schools?

"I asked my team for an operational update by Thursday afternoon so that we could put out information as to the status of Lee County Schools moving forward," Bernier said.

What schools are still being used as shelters?

South Fort Myers High and Ray V. Pottorf Elementary.

How many employees have been accounted for?

As of Monday, around 95% of Lee County's employees had been accounted for, according to Bernier.

Some employees left town after their homes were destroyed and to get away from disaster areas, according to Bernier.

"We are still diligently working to find all of our staff members and now our schools have begun the process of trying to reunite with our children," Bernier said.

What is the status of Lee County Schools' students?

"We will continue to be diligent to talk and keep communicating and find our students," Bernier said. "We suspect since many of them have left the Southwest Florida area potentially to go to safety, they will be harder to reach. But when we reopen, we will continue to be diligent to find out what happened and where those children are located."

What about hurricane make-up days?

Since Lee County Schools have not yet reopened, Bernier said it's difficult to know how many make-ups days the district will need.

"My team is putting together a calendar based upon the days that we've already been out and we will submit that to the Department of Education and they will help us make decisions about how we move forward," Bernier said.

College applications are due in November, how will Lee Schools help seniors meet deadlines?

The district is currently working on a plan to help seniors meet college application deadlines, according to Bernier.

"Our deputy superintendent and academic services team are already putting together a plan to open at least the district offices with computers and counselors support to allow children to be able to make those applications." Bernier said.

He also said that as schools get power and water and are cleared for reopening, they may open for seniors to work on college applications.

"These are children that were impacted by two years of COVID. They started their senior year excited about a normal and natural reopening to school and we need to do everything we can to support them moving forward with their dreams for college education."

Nikki Ross covers education for the Fort Myers News-Press and Naples Daily News. She can be reached at NRoss@gannett.com, follow her on Twitter @nikkiinreallife, Instagram @reporternikkiinreallife or TikTok @nikki.inreallife.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Reopening of Lee County Schools uncertain after Hurricane Ian