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Gittens updates Community Council

By MELISSA BILL - | Dec 16, 2020

Gwyn Gittens

news@breezenewspapers.com

School Board member Gwyn Gittens has provided the Lehigh Community Council with an update on growth in the East Zone, pandemic or not.

The District 5 board member spoke about current student enrollment numbers, and the need for more schools and teachers here in the zone that includes Lehigh Acres.

“We started in August to bring back students face to face, with masks. At the end of the first nine weeks we had 10,000 students. Recently our numbers have dropped slightly due to loss of jobs, COVID-19 and people leaving the area,” Gittens said. “We are also in need of teachers and district is offering grants to aid in the certification of potential candidates.”

Although numbers are presently somewhat low, Gittens expects schools will see a surge in students coming back face-to-face due to the high percentage of students falling behind academically.

Gittens represents District 5, which encompasses the East zone – Lehigh Acres makes up the majority of that zone.

“I represent District 5, which includes the East Zone and parts of Lee County up to State Road 82. That’s important, because of something I have been bringing up quite often, the equity of our schools. To give you a quick idea, here in the East Zone we have 1,900 students currently that are being educated in portables. In the West Zone there are 88 students and in the South Zone which is Bonita, Estero and a little bit of Fort Myers they have 22 students. My concern is still equity. Once those numbers are a little more equal, I won’t feel we have an issue but as of now, we do,” Gittens said.

The Lee County School District is addressing the need by building additional schools to help the overcrowding in the East Zone including the new Gateway High School and a new Lehigh Acres Middle.

Recently the school district shifted gears and decided to pivot away from plans to create a new school to alleviate crowding and will instead move the approximately 1,400 students enrolled at Lehigh Middle out of their aged facility and into the new school.

“This middle school will only replace the current Lehigh Acres Middle, which now has between 1,300-1,400 kids, 20 of them in portables. This new school can house 1,200 kids, so the additional 200 kids coming from LAMS will have to be in portables,” Gittens said. “And for how long?”

Gittens also spoke briefly about a few projects being looked into by the school district; a kindergarten through eighth school that’s in coordination with FGCU, called an innovation school and a technical college in the East Zone.

“I would like to see these schools closer to the Lehigh area, but they are considering Treeline. We need more input from the community. Residents can do this by going to the meetings and voicing their opinions or apply for a position on the Lee County School Board’s advisory committees,” Gittens said.

Anyone who would like to be on an advisory board can visit www.leeschools.net go to leadership section and then to a list of advisory committees.

The council also discussed backyard chickens, which was scheduled to be heard by Lee County Commissioners and up for a vote on Tuesday, Dec. 15, at 9:30 a.m. inside Board Chambers in the Old Lee County Courthouse, 2120 Main St., downtown Fort Myers.

Members of the public were invited to and speak in regards to the considered amendments, which included:

A proposed Land Development Code amendment that would allow the keeping and raising of chickens in certain residential areas for personal use only. This would not supersede HOA regulations or deed restrictions where those exist. Chickens would be limited to hens, with no more than four chickens per lot under one acre and six chickens per lot one acre or larger. Sale of chicken eggs or slaughtering on premises would not be permitted. The chickens would need to be contained in a coop located in the rear yard, with size and setback limitations and visual screening requirements. This proposed amendment also contains requirements for obtaining a permit, and proof of the completion of a class for the proper care of chickens through the University of Florida agricultural extension service.

Three advisory committees: the Land Development Code Advisory Committee; the Executive Regulatory Oversight Committee and the Local Planning Agency all met and reviewed the amendments and recommended not moving forward.

Residents in favor of the amendments worry that these committees could be biased because they are comprised of mainly developers and those in the real estate industry.

For more information on The Lehigh Acres Community Council visit https://www.facebook.com/LehighAcresCommunityCouncil/