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With the School District of Lee County continuing to build schools to meet the demands of a growing community, its board heard this week a presentation about kindergarten through eighth grade schools.

Board reaction was tepid with some members saying the presentation did not show whether a K-8 model was better than the existing kindergarten through fifth grade plan.

Board member Chris Patricca said the presenters did not show her any data that clearly points her in the direction that K-8 schools are great, or K-5 schools are great. What it really comes down to are the leaders in the buildings and the teachers in the classroom, she said.

The discussion the district needs to have concerns efficiencies in regards to K-8 buildings, Patricca said.

Board member Cathleen O’Daniel Morgan agreed in saying that the data is not there.

“It is not conclusive one way or another. I do appreciate you putting the effort in trying to make something we can grab onto one way or another. There isn’t anything we can grab onto,” she said.

Morgan said it boils down to what is best for the district, children and families from an academic and financial point of view.

On the flip side, Board member Melisa Giovannelli thought they were given an excellent presentation. She said the K-8 model brings in an element she believes is lacking, which is the family aspect in the schools.

“The key to a successful child is the family environment. I think growing up in K-8 is an excellent idea. I think we should look more into that, especially in our island barrier schools like Fort Myers Beach. I think it’s excellent, the neighborhood schools and kids growing up together,” she said.

Another view point was shared by Board member Gwyn Gittens who said the model of a school should depend on the demographics of the area. For example the demographics in the East Zone resembles families with multiple children who are used to that multiple family unit.

“If we mirror the culture, then we will get that strategic plan of parental involvement taken care of,” Gittens said.

The presentation Tuesday afternoon began by explaining the middle school movement and how it took shape. It began in the early 1980s with an interdisciplinary curriculum and teaming approach. From there in the 1990s, the resurgence of the kindergarten through eighth grade model unfolded again.

School Development Executive Director Linda Maere said the middle school movement took shape because it was realized that children at these ages have unique challenges. Schools started incorporating the whole child with phycological, social, emotional and academic support.

After the middle school teaming approach began in the 1990s it was later discovered that academics started going down across the country due to it becoming competitive with a lack of collaboration between teachers and students.

Maere said the kindergarten through eighth grade schools have so many positives due to them having a wonderful sense of continuity and family feel.

“These K-8 schools, when you get to know them in kindergarten and they stay with them through eighth grade you become part of their family,” she said. “They did a survey on students and students feel safer in a K-8, less distracted. Research shows there are fewer behavioral problems and higher academic success.”

The presentation continued with a look and comparison of school and bus suspensions for K-8 and traditional schools.

School Development Executive Director Dr. Denise Carlin said when they looked at bus referral data for fiscal year 2019 they saw there were 2.3 percent at K-8 schools per capita, which moved up to 4 percent and 4.9 percent respectively with middle and elementary schools.

“The numbers do not pan out. There is not a larger percentage of bus referrals or instances on buses even though we have a wide array of grade levels,” she said.

The presentation also focused on social and emotional effects at elementary schools, middle schools and a combination K-8 schools through a student survey, which was just completed.

Positive Prevention Director Charles Bradley said they took the data and broke it down by elementary, K-8 and sixth through eighth grade subgroups, so they could see some comparison.

The questions stemmed around if the student likes school, would recommend the school to a family or friend, and if they felt an adult on campus cares about their well-being. The results showed that the K-8 model had a higher percentage than the middle school students when talking about an adult on campus caring about their well-being.

School Development Executive Director Shanna Flecha spoke about the academic findings from both a national and district approach. She said for many students from 2001 to 2016 there was higher academic achievement in English Language Arts, science and math for those enrolled in a K-8 school.

The research also showed that there was a decrease in the achievement gap when highlighting the areas of poverty and race and ethnicity, as well as a decrease in the transition drop from fifth to sixth grade.

When looking at the local data, Carlin said there are some years in English Language Arts when K-8 schools achievements are on par with elementary students. As a whole, the data is pretty similar with traditional and K-8 schools for ELA students, she said.

In terms of math, the percentage is lower for K-8 schools when compared to traditional elementary and middle schools.

In science, K-8 lags behind most years with the exception of the 2018-2019 school year. There are a lot of variables that come into play with those numbers, which may have to do with the size of the school, leadership and mobility of students at a school, Carlin said.

There are currently four K-8 schools in the district, The Sanibel School, The Alva School, Veterans Academy for the Arts and North Fort Myers Academy for the Arts.