Town Starts Process to Fight The School District

On Monday the Fort Myers Beach Town Council initiated its first action against the Lee County School District which the town believes is in “material breach” of the Interlocal Agreement the district signed with the town to rebuild the the Beach School.

The town vote 5-0 to set November 5th at 1PM as the date and time to hold a meeting at the Town Hall building. The meeting is the first step in the conflict resolution process prior to possibly filing a lawsuit. We reached out to the School District to see if they planned to attend that meeting.

Town Attorney Nancy Stuparich said now the town needs to provide a detailed letter about the process to Superintendant Denise Carlin. The district then has 10 days to respond to the town’s request for a meeting and to file their own request for a conflict resolution. Vice Mayor Jim Atterholt and Mayor Dan Allers will attend the meeting which will be open to the public and public input is allowed during the meeting. Town Attorney Becky Vose said, “We need to get this in front of the public. This needs to get out in front of the public and to the voters.” If there is a second meeting Vose says it will include a mediator. 

The School District has still not made an official decision on whether the Beach School will reopen, however, the community sees the writing on the wall. The town believes the School District is now backing out of the agreement it signed to rebuild the Beach School. The school was heavily damaged by Hurricane Ian in September 2022. It did eventually reopen after the inter-local agreement was signed but was damaged again last year by Hurricane Milton and remains closed today. 

Here’s an excerpt from the resolution the Town Council will consider Monday: “Recent events have created a doubt in the mind of the Town Council regarding the School Board’s willingness to adhere to the terms and conditions, as well as the spirit of the Rebuild Agreement, as evidenced by actions indicating an intent to close the Fort Myers Beach Elementary School at the conclusion of fiscal year 2026-27 due to an insufficient number of students for Fort Myers Beach Elementary to financially sustain itself, as determined by the School Board in its sole discretion based on the Cost Per Student Report. Section 164, Florida Statutes, the Governmental Conflict Resolution Act, requires governmental entities to engage in negotiation and mediation prior to the initiation of litigation to enforce rights and obligations in agreements between one another. The Town recognizes the Rebuild Agreement itself requires written notice of breach and the pursuit of good faith efforts to resolve disputes through negotiation and nonbinding alternative dispute resolution prior to litigation. The Town Council finds it in the best interest of the public to formally initiate the statutory conflict resolution process as provided in Chapter 164, Florida Statutes and the dispute resolution as required in the Rebuild Agreement.”

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