Storm reimbursements continue to roll in for school district
The School District of Lee County is not currently in a deficit due to Hurricane Ian damage, a welcome update.
Imperium Consulting Director Joseph Mascali said currently the district is temporarily in a surplus of $30.4 million, a significant increase from the last board update of a deficit of $5 million.
“Those proceeds are going to be expended in respect to ongoing work in relation to the recovery,” he said.
The estimated total loss caused by Ian remains at $227 million for the school district.
To date, the district has received $5.2 million from the National Florida Insurance Program; $75 million for property insurance — the policy limit; $116.9 million from FEMA public assistance; $13 million from the State Public Assistance Cost Share program; $1.2 million from Lee County for the shelter claim reimbursement; and $17.5 million for Legislature capital appropriation.
The estimated non-eligible district losses is $48.4 million.
The presentation highlighted the progress the district has made with FEMA.
Mascali said of the 178 submitted scopes of work for permanent work, 173 have been approved.
The district has also submitted cost summaries — financial asks to FEMA for a total of $5.4 million.
“We are almost halfway through the totality of projects that need to be submitted to FEMA. We are forecasted to complete it by early July. All of the balls are in FEMA’s court and we are working with responding to any questions we receive,” he said.
Business Services Executive Director Susan Malay said FEMA has to make the commitment to replace and repair Hector A. Cafferata Jr. Elementary School before the district can move forward with demolition.
“FEMA needs to put into writing that the facility should be replaced. Until then, they have the option to come back to look at it, or ask questions,” she said.
Malay said rather than risk not having those questions answered, the shell of the building will remain in place. She adding hopefully that decision will come soon, so they can review, consult again and get ready to demolish the original Hector campus.
The presentation also highlighted other funding opportunities to make the school district more resilient during any future events through two funding sources. Those include the 404-Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and the Community Development Block Grant — Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR). Through Lee County, the district was awarded $500,000 to retain an expert to perform vulnerability assessments of its infrastructure.
The 404-Hazard Mitigation Grant Program request is for storm shutters for the school buildings and upgrading shingle tiled roofs to metal slopped roofs.
“The targeted funding amount is $22 million. We are working through the application process,” Mascali said.
The district also has received approval to apply for sponsorship from the county for phase 3 — capital infrastructure. This would be to harden existing shelters and add shelters to the district’s portfolio.
“The available funds are fairly significant. Potentially tens of millions of dollars,” he said.
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