School district implements regional associate superintendents
One of the major changes for the 2024-25 school year for the School District of Lee County is the implementation of four new positions — regional associate superintendents — introduced to help with student achievement.
“This academic transformation will divide the district into four regions, each with a regional (associate) superintendent supervising the area schools assigned to them,” district spokesperson Rob Spicker said. “All four were principals, so they know the job, and will have a support staff working with them solely focused on improving student outcomes.”
The regional associate superintendents are Angela Nadar, Cheryl Neely, Cherise Trent and Charles Vilardi.
Interim Superintendent Dr. Ken Savage provided a presentation at a recent school board meeting that shared some bleak statistics that showed the district’s student achievement levels were still declining. He said a regional model provides the opportunity for people to get to know families and work vertically through the system — integrating instead of siloing positions.
Savage said the challenges faced are not happening at the central office, they are happening at the schools.
Also new this year is the beginning of middle school proximity zones. Spicker said 4,553 sixth and seventh graders districtwide lived outside of their new zones — 1,709 attended schools in Cape Coral and North Fort Myers.
“We needed 129 less drivers, reduced our routes by 260 and drove 15,000 miles less every day due to the implementation of elementary proximity zones,” he said. “We expect to find even more efficiency with the new middle school proximity zones, but not as significant as last year since there are less than half the number of middle schools than elementaries. Once we have completed the routing, we will be able to calculate the improvements.”
School buses arrived on time 90% of the time in the morning last year, but only 72% in the afternoon.
“We recognize the need to improve and believe that the efficiencies provided by transporting both elementary and middle school students this year on shorter rides in smaller attendance zones will make a difference,” Spicker said.
As in years prior, parents can keep track of their child on a school bus by downloading the Where’s the Bus app. Messages are also sent when possible through the app about substitute buses and delays, he said.
Registration is available year-round for students new to the district or transferring from a charter or private school.
“The entire process can be managed through our website at www.leeschools.net, so parents never have to worry about coming in person. Since our Open Enrollment period has passed, new students will be placed into a school with the capacity to accept them,” Spicker said.
Security is also a top priority for the district. Last year, OPENGATE was installed in every school.
“We know from their responses that students and staff felt safer on campus last year because of the use of this weapon detecting entry technology,” he said. “We are proud to be a leader in school safety in Florida and be the only district statewide to use OPENGATE at every K-12 campus.”
New state laws require the district to secure campus perimeters and lock all doors. Since the district already was in compliance, it will not have to make any changes.
“Another new state law requires us to make the safest areas in each classroom or other instructional space where students must shelter in place during an emergency. We are in the process of identifying those areas this summer,” Spicker said.
In addition, the district will install vape detectors at five schools as part of a pilot program to cut down on student vaping.
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