The Fort Myers Beach Town Council voted to create 6 committees to focus on the creation of a Charter School on Fort Myers Beach. The beach government is exploring opening a Charter School after it became clear the Lee County School District had no plans to reopen the beach School.
At this point in time, there has been no information about how much a Charter School will cost, how much a building will cost to build (or rehab), whether or not the School District will turn over the current school property to the town, or where ongoing funding would come from to finance a Charter School.
The Lee County School District has made it clear they have no intention to open the Beach School. The school was opened briefly after Hurricane Ian but Hurricane Milton put a quick end to that and the remaining kids have been scattered in other schools.
The 6 committees would assist the town with the application for the Charter School. The six committees that were established are: Governance, Educational Program, Human Resources, Community Engagement, Facilities, and Finance.
Town staff has created a timeline to get the committees up and running:
August 3, 2026 — Town Council approves the charter advisory committees.
September 10, 2026 — Applications due to the Town Clerk.
September 23, 2026 — Town Council reviews and appoints committee members.
October 6, 2026 — Sunshine Law training for all appointed committee members.
Mid-October 2026 — Committees begin meeting on a bi-monthly basis.
Well, if Byron Donalds gets elected, you can be sure we will end up with a charter school. His wife’s business is getting money from the state to open charter schools and has stakes in companies that provide services to a charter school chain she co-founded. I’m sure she will be licking her chops over money she can get for a charter school on FMB.
That would explain much! Might there be a violation of Sunshine Laws?
More government waste at a time when belt tightening should be pervasive. Stealing the taxpayers money has become a sport.
Six committees? Really? I agree with the concerns of those above: waste of time, money and resources.
How many students are we talking about? This is only an elementary school, correct? These students will go to inland schools after elementary school. Seems like a huge waste of money.
* Median age on Fort Myers Beach. is 66.3 years.
* 58.2% of population is 65+ years. * 3.6% of population is under the age of 18.
Read the room.
Forget about the charter school—- unsustainable and wasted time and money.
The school district won’t open the school due to cost concerns, but the town wants to take it on. Will this end up on the list of items where expenditures are greater than revenues ( i.e. Bay Oaks, The Mound House, the mooring field) and require town tax funds in the future? The leaders of this town have a habit of taking on things others want out of……. Is there a 100% commitment that the school will not end up costing our residents (many of which are retired) additional money beyond the school taxes they are already paying??