Island schools parents react to school closing

Parents said they’re concerned and feel the district isn’t doing enough to calm their concerns about The Sanibel School and Fort Myers Beach Elementary.

On Wednesday, the district said there is still no timeline for students returning to their regular schools.

Parents said that the answer was not good enough. Some parents said they need an answer soon because this will not be a long-term option for them.

“I’m more concerned for my middle schooler,” said a parent. “What about the school dance? What about sports? They’re supposed to start volleyball soon. How does that look? She’s literally a middle schooler at an elementary school like that. That speaks enough for itself. You know, it makes no sense.”

Erin Field is a parent whose 4th and 7th grader attends The Sanibel School.

“Sanibel school had such amazing aftercare and after-school activities that my children love to do,” said Field. “Instead of doing those activities and growing as a student and being a kid, they’re on a bus again back to the island, and to me, that’s just not worth it. Not only are they losing an hour’s sleep every night. They’re also bussing back from heights, and that’s just not okay. “

When it comes to picking your child’s school, It’s a choice with a lot of intention and thought behind it.

Alexis Cooper is a parent who said she researched before enrolling her kindergartener at Fort Myers Beach Elementary.

“I looked at every school in the district,” said Cooper. “I read all of their ratings between, like, I think it was 2020, all the way to current ones. And I was like, well, they have really great ratings. They had a low student-to-teacher ratio, which I preferred.”

With their children enrolled at the Sanibel School and Fort Myers Beach Elementary School, parents have several thoughts about their students attending other schools.

“They’re saying this got messed up,” said Field. “It’s going to be a month. Or, you overshoot, and when you under, when you do it faster, you look like a hero. So I don’t understand why nobody can say anything.”

The district has communicated that they’re working to remediate the damage and will consider repair options once that’s complete, but they haven’t given any set timeline.

This is leading some parents to create a timeline of their own.

“I’m certainly not going to do this for an extended period again,” said Field. “I’m just not going to do it.”

The district said non-emergency personnel haven’t been cleared to enter the schools.

Erin said that her kids usually start getting ready for school at 6:45 a.m. because of the change. They’re now waking up at 5:45 a.m.”

Field said she went through this with Hurricane Ian and said, “Here we go again.”