Lee County School District

A Lee County School District statement said daily updates would be provided on the schools cleared to open and the first day of class for the students. Schools that are cleared to open will provide their families more information about the return to school.

School districts that closed for at least a day because of Hurricane Ian will have flexibility related to reporting enrollment, according to the Florida Department of Education. Districts periodically report enrollment numbers and other information to the state that can affect their funding.

Photos posted Monday showed damage at Lee County schools on Pine Island, Sanibel and Fort Myers Beach. School superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier, i a video posted to Facebook Monday, outlined several aspects of what the county schools are doing including a food distribution event and making plans to restart school despite the buildings that have been damaged.

A call involving a possible active shooter was determined to be part of a number of “swatting” calls impacting schools around the country. "Swatting” is the action of making a prank call to emergency services in an attempt to garner a large number of law enforcement to a specific location.

Lee County School District Superintendent Christopher Bernier is holding three town hall-style meetings across the district to share his priorities for the school system, get feedback on the district’s changing student enrollment process, and other issues.

Military veterans could qualify for temporary teaching certificates in public schools in Florida. A new law is attempting to provide ways to ease the teacher shortage.

Lee County Public Schools has a new Superintendent in Christopher Bernier, who took the oath of office on Monday to serve the district.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a new record high number of new COVID-19 cases in Florida on Dec. 31 with more than 75,900 new infections. The ongoing surge driven by the Omicron variant is impacting hospitals and schools in Southwest Florida.

The Lee County School District faced yet another hiccup in transportation this week. Eighty three drivers called in sick Monday morning, leaving parents in a lurch.

Hospitals in Southwest Florida continue to report declines in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Lee Health officials say they plan to comply with a new Biden Administration rule requiring some employers to require workers to be vaccinated or to be tested for COVID-19 weekly.Child advocates and Democrats are criticizing Gov. Ron DeSantis after his administration passed on $820 million in federal funds to help feed children from low-income families who are out of school due to a COVID-19 infection or exposure.The Lee County School District has changed its policy to allow parents to opt their children out of mask-wearing in school without a doctor’s note.Thousands of Sarasota parents turned out for an event last weekend, where physicians were providing medical exemption forms to the school district’s mask mandate.Florida Deputy Secretary for Health Shamarial Roberson, who has been critical in the state’s COVID tracking and response, announced her resignation.Collier County officials have announced plans for spending $74 million in federal American Rescue Plan fundingA consortium of Sarasota arts organizations announced plans to adopt uniform COVID safety policies that require vaccines or proof of a negative COVID test.