The massive improvements in the East Side and the new schools are either completed, under construction, or about to start, all through the half-cent sales tax approved by voters three years ago.

The Li County School District has experienced a decade of national capital budget cuts, which prevented the school district from building any schools or keeping up with the pace of routine maintenance.

As Li County voters passed a 0.5% sales tax increase three years ago, it created $228,152,475 for construction, safety and security, maintenance, and technology. From 2019 to 2021, income accounted for 33% of all capital income in the district.

In the current fiscal year, the sales tax provided $87 million for district-wide improvements.

"It's hard to overstate the impact of the sales tax on the school district," Chief Financial Officer Dr. Ami Desamours said in a prepared statement. "Just a few years ago, we were still postponing maintenance. Now we are building for the future, upgrading our schools, improving safety and adding new technologies. Thanks to the support and confidence of our community, our students benefit from us every day Improvements available now."

As of November 9, US$28,874,601 was used for construction, US$46,567,696 for maintenance, US$36,617,279 for safety and security, and US$40,584,108 for the entire technical zone.

The district spokesperson Rob Spicker said that the income helped the district keep up with the construction of new schools in the Eastern District and is responsible for maintaining the project and the improvements needed by the school.

The community promised that if the sales tax is passed, it will build six new schools and two reconstructions, and limit spending to four categories.

The reconstruction of the two schools is located in the Southern District with Franklin Park Elementary School and Cypress Lake Middle School. Speke said that rebuilding these schools is more cost-effective than continuing maintenance.

Franklin Park has entered the design stage, and construction will begin about a year later. Cypress Lake Middle is slightly further away.

Many projects have been completed using sales tax revenue, such as the renovation of Lehigh High School. These renovations and additions include a JROTC building, the library was transformed into a classroom and media center, the front entrance was redesigned and rebuilt to increase the size of the clinic, and the external seating of the cafeteria.

"All of this was completed in August 2019. We have to start. Sales tax revenue helped pay for the financing of the building," Speke said.

During the renovation, Lehigh Senior also received $1.7 million worth of storm safety windows, more than $1 million in security upgrades, and $500,000 in Promethean boards.

Speke said that these blackboards are large interactive TVs, and teachers can play videos, work and write on the blackboards.

"For students, this is a very attractive tool. It makes them interested in and participating in what's happening in class," he said.

To date, the district has implemented Promethean boards in 42 schools across the district. The board of directors is located at Mirror Lakes Elementary School, Riverdale High School, Harns Marsh Elementary School, East Lee High School, Lehigh Middle School, Lehigh High School, and Gateway High School. The ultimate goal is to enable every school in the area to have classes in the classroom.

Other completed projects include a new Lehigh Acres Middle School, which costs US$54 million and can serve 1,300 students. An additional 200 seats will start in February or March.

Students from the old Lehigh Acres Middle School were transferred to the new school.

The old LAMS has a $12 million refurbishment plan, which has shown its age. Spicker said that they will bring the old LAMS and some additional features to the modern day. The Veterans Park Academy of Arts will also undergo renovations, which will include a black box theater connecting the two campuses.

Gateway High School is another completed project, which opened on August 23 and has 2,000 student stations at a price of US$98 million.

"They have a great school," Speke said.

The East End project also includes the construction of Elementary J, The Innovation School, and the renovation of Lehigh High School, Riverdale High School and the old Lehigh Acres Middle School and Veterans Park Art Institute.

Innovation College is a major construction project that has not yet been completed, including a collaboration with Florida Gulf Coast University. The project is planned to be built on Treeline Avenue near Daniels Parkway, with a tentative opening date of August 2024.

"Innovation Academy has some funding plans this year to start design (stage) and construction within the next two years," Speke said.

The Innovation School will be a K-8 campus with 1,300 to 1,600 student seats. According to the school board meeting in March, the estimated cost is $75 million.

According to the same board meeting, the school’s vision is to stimulate motivation through teaching best practices including critical thinking and collaboration.

Riverdale High School is undergoing a major expansion and renovation, which will include a new science building, gymnasium, an expanded kitchen and cafeteria, and a new student parking area.

"Thanks to this project, all portable devices on this campus will no longer be needed. It eliminates the need for portable devices on campus," he said.

A few years ago, Riverdale High School was the largest school in the area. Speke said that they have reduced the school’s population, although it is still large, but the work will be easier because they can move students to parts that have not been renovated.

G. Weaver Hipps Elementary School received a new roof for sales tax revenue. He said that a brand new preschool center is also under construction, and construction will start next year.

Other Eastside projects include improving the safety of Varsity Lakes Middle School because it is not safe for students to walk along the long corridors. Speke said concrete barriers have been installed to isolate students from traffic.

The second phase of improvement will begin during the winter holidays and will include increasing the traffic flow of buses as there will be different exits and entrances.

Sales tax revenue has also brought a lot of security upgrades to the Eastern District. They include entrance security and fixed uneven concrete.

Many covered walkways have also been added to keep students dry in laptops or unconnected buildings, parent transfers and bus ramps. These improvements occurred at Harns Marsh Elementary School and Veterans Park Art Institute.

Technological improvements include assigning a Chrome book to each elementary school student, which is funded by sales tax. The school’s surveillance system has also been updated and the number of cameras has been increased to eliminate blind spots.

Speke said that by focusing on the campus and an area at the same time when responding to the situation, the entire campus can be monitored.

You can track improvements made by the school on the school district’s "change for change" webpage https://www.leeschools.net/our_district/change_for_change.

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