School board members touring heavily damaged Lee County schools

Lee County School Board members got the opportunity to tour the more heavily damaged Lee County schools on Thursday.

The district had them visit Lexington Middle School, Diplomat Middle School, Hector A. Cafferata Elementary, Gulf Elementary School, and Gulf Middle School.

Lexington and Diplomat Middle are both starting with virtual instruction through FLVS on Friday. The district says Hector Cafferata is split between two partner schools and will take much longer to repair or rebuild.

Gulf Elementary opened Monday, and Gulf Middle will open Friday, but both still had damage.

WINK News was able to walk into Hector A. Cafferata Elementary, where paintings hang above cut-out sections of drywall.

“Crews are taking out material that has received water damage you’ll see this throughout the building today,” said Jeff Wagner, interim COO of the School District of Lee County.

Wagner walked WINK News through hallways that are usually filled with students, but just a few weeks ago, Ian changed that, filling the halls with water instead.

Rain and wind damage was no match for the school’s sturdy structure, it remained intact, but the roof was torn off.

“Exposing it to the rain and then allowing fresh water to saturate,” said Wagner.

Wagner said there was enough water that it saturated the top of the building down to the bottom.

On the second floor, there are spots of mold and fungus growth, with chords and tubes hanging from the ceiling.

“You can see a room like this also took heavy water damage. Ceiling tiles have been removed. We talked outside about being able to salvage certain material. The material was moved to the center of the room tarp that will be gone through in a methodical fashion to ensure that it’s actually safe to continue to be used,” said Wagner.

Hector a. Cafferata received so much damage that Wagner said students would be unable to return any time soon, and there is no timetable for a return.

There are still professionals assessing the building to understand the damage. Then the decision will be made on whether the building will be renovated or demolished.

The district shared photos of the damage to Lexington Middle School and Hector A. Cafferata Elementary, which you can see in the gallery below.

At Lexington Middle School in Fort Myers, storm surge seeped into classrooms and hallways and left a lot of damage behind.