Board Notes

School Board Notes
Action Meeting - March 10, 2026

Recognitions

The Board recognized:

• The Mariner High School Army JROTC Marksmanship Team as 2026 Florida State JROTC Champions. This marks the team’s third state championship in the past four years, an achievement unprecedented in Florida JROTC history.
• Four schools for earning their Level 1 Marzano Certification for Safe, Supportive, and Collaborative schools.
• Estero High School – Principal, Jennifer Seluk
  Fort Myers High School – Principal, Christian Engelhart
  Hector A. Cafferata Jr. K-8 School – Principal, Dr. Jason Kurtz
  Villas Elementary School – Principal, Shayne Musich
• Four Schools for earning their Level 2 Marzano Certification for Effective Teaching in Every Classroom.
  East Lee County High School – Principal, Tony Allen
  Heights Elementary School – Principal, Doug Palow
  Mariner Middle School – Principal, Dr. Mason Clark
  North Fort Myers High School – Principal, Debbie Diggs
• The first two schools to earn Level 3 Marzano Certification for Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum.
  Cypress Lake Middle School – Principal, Matt Miller
  Hancock Creek Elementary School – Principal, Dr. Denise Phillips-Luster
• Eighteen teachers who earned their High Reliability Teacher Level 1 Marzano Certification.
  Anthony Allevato, Peer Collaborative Teacher – San Carlos Park Elementary
  Janet Bernard, Peer Collaborative Teacher – Harns Marsh Middle
  Kayleigh Boberg, Second Grade Teacher – Harns Marsh Elementary
  Lwigy Collado, Math Coach – Curriculum and Instructional Innovation
  Stefanie DeMichele Velez, Fifth Grade Teacher – Treeline Elementary
  Brittany Gardiner, Peer Collaborative Teacher – Oak Hammock Middle
  Kristina Gezzar, Peer Collaborative Teacher – Amanecer Elementary
  Julie Hancher, Language Arts Teacher – Lexington Middle
  Alexandria Hernandez, ESE Teacher – Buckingham Exceptional Student Center
  Caitlin Linden, Gifted Teacher – Allen Park Elementary
  Jonathan Musci, Peer Collaborative Teacher – Lehigh Senior High
  Dharmistha Patel, Peer Collaborative Teacher – Dr. Carrie D. Robinson Littleton Elementary
  Rebecca Pullen, Peer Collaborative Teacher – Lehigh Senior High
  Christine Sanders, Gifted Teacher – Lehigh Elementary
  Carolyn Staehle, Resource Teacher – Allen Park Elementary
  Christina Toro, Peer Collaborative Teacher – Sunshine Elementary
  Keysha Valentin-Lopez, Kindergarten Teacher – Harns Marsh Elementary
  Marissa Zinkus, Math Coach – Varsity Lakes Middle
• One teacher who earned High Reliability Teacher Level 2 Marzano Certification.
  Michael Lewis, Peer Collaborative Teacher, Lehigh Elementary
• One teacher who earned High Reliability Teacher Level 3 Marzano Certification.
  Christopher Morales, Biology Teacher, Fort Myers High School
• 2026 Thomas Edison Kiwanis Regional Science & Engineering Fair Best of Fair winners in the Senior Division Nishini Fernando from Dunbar High School, Dhira Sharma from Fort Myers High School, and Mason Huffman from Cape Coral High School, and Alyssa Liu from Cypress Lake Middle School in the Junior Division.
• 2026 Thomas Edison Festival of Lights Regional Inventors Fair winners advancing to the Invention Convention Florida.
  Gateway Charter School
  Olivia Arreola, Kindergarten – Hairband Bumper (1st Place; Science Society Award)
  Aaron Nguyen, Grade 1 – Safety Sidekick (1st Place)
  Lucas Stevens, Grade 2 – Smart Bin (2nd Place)
  Zarina Lozada, Grade 3 – EC Banana (3rd Place)
  
  Pinewoods Elementary School
  Siddharth Ramdas, Grade 2 – “Zoomy-Broomy”: The Dustbuster Drone (1st Place)
  Magdelena Gehrold, Grade 2 – Easy Jelly (3rd Place)
  Hadley Gilchrist, Grade 3 – Porta Popper (2nd Place)
  
  Trafalgar Middle School
  Adrian Castillo, Grade 6 – Safestep Smartmat (2nd Place)
  Mahdi-Jelani Balfour, Grade 7 – Liquid Nitrogen Heat Displacement Drone 1 (1st Place; FGCU Scholarship)
  Lillian Koza, Grade 7 – Allergy Apparel (2nd Place; AAUW Special Award)
  Emilie Souza, Grade 7 – Stylish Safety (3rd Place; AAUW Special Award)
  James Taveras, Grade 8 – BioWater (1st Place; James D. & Eleanor F. Newton Children’s Scholarship; FGCU Scholarship)
  Michael Smith, Grade 8 – OceanSport Safety Wetsuit (2nd Place; AIM Award)
  Mariner Middle School
  Elijah Marks, Grade 8 – EcoCrush (3rd Place)
  
  Fort Myers High School
  Dhira Sharma, Grade 9 – SmartMorph Wing: A Shape-Memory Alloy Actuated Adaptive Aerodynamic System (3rd Place; AIM Award)
  Freya Shah, Grade 10 – SURGERISK: A Dynamic Risk Assessment System and Planner for Operative and Postoperative Outcomes in Surgical Procedure (3rd Place; Science Society Award)
  
  Dunbar High School
  Nishini Fernando, Grade 12 – BabyBeatz 3.0: Development of a Sustainable and Cost-Effective Fetal Heart Monitoring Device for Settings with Resource and Economic Challenges (2nd Place; Argonauta Earthshine Recognition)
• This year's winners from the 2026 Lee County AI+HI Innovation Challenge:
  1st Place
  LeeConnect – Nonprofit/Volunteer Matching App & Website
  Team: Tech Tigers
  Dunbar High School
  Sponsor: Denise Spence, IT Programs Manager
  Nishini Fernando, Grade 12
  Deetya Gogineni, Grade 12
  Meiya Zhang, Grade 9
  Lucas Summy, Grade 9
  
  2nd Place
  SafeLee – Hurricane Preparedness & Mapping App
  Team: Solvably Strategists II
  Dunbar High School
  Sponsor: Belinda Bell, Technology Teacher
  Shourigna Madishetty, Grade 11
  Hudson Belcher, Grade 10
  Alisha Satyr, Grade 11
  
  3rd Place
  Resilient AI – Infrastructure Planning Platform
  Team: T.W.G.
  Island Coast High School
  Sponsor: Shay Pearson, Testing Coordinator/Senior Sponsor
  Lioren Capote, Grade 12
  Deyaneira Cruz-Santiago, Grade 12
  Cristopher Talavera, Grade 12
  Drazen Fortunic, Grade 12

Consent Action Items

The School Board approved:

• A Service Agreement with PTS for services related to Exceptional Student Education (OT, PT, SLI, PSCYH, SLP and SLPA).
• Lease Agreements for the Class of 2025 Graduation Ceremonies with The District Board of Trustees of Florida SouthWestern State College (Suncoast Arena) and Florida Gulf Coast University Board of Trustees (Alico Arena) May 28-June 1, 2026.
• An Affiliation Agreement to establish a three-year partnership between The School Board of Lee County and Florida SouthWestern State College to place teacher candidates in district classrooms for internships and field experiences.
• Funding to pay Employee Wellness Incentives to approximately 10,800 eligible employees.
• Increased funding for two-way radio service upgrades at Early Childhood Learning Services, Harns Marsh Middle School. Island Coast High School, Pine Island Elementary School, Royal Palm Exceptional Center, Success Academy, Cape Coral Technical College, Edgewood Academy, Edison Park Creative and Expressive Arts School, Fort Myers Technical College, Franklin Park Elementary School, Harns Marsh Elementary School, Hector A. Cafferata, Jr. K-8 School, Heights Elementary School, James Stephens Community, Lehigh Elementary School, Dr. Carrie D. Robinson Littleton Elementary School, Manatee Elementary School, Patriot Elementary School, Pelican Elementary School, Pinewoods Elementary School, Ray V. Pottorf Elementary School, Rayma C. Page Elementary School, San Carlos Park Elementary School, Skyline Elementary School, Spring Creek Elementary School, Sunshine Elementary School, Tanglewood Elementary School, Three Oaks Elementary School, Tice Elementary School, Tortuga Preserve Elementary School, Trafalgar Elementary School, Treeline Elementary School, Tropic Isles Elementary School, and Dunbar Community School.
• Funding for roofing upgrades at Gulf Middle School, Spring Creek Elementary School, Orangewood Elementary School, Allen Park Elementary School, Sunshine Elementary School, Cape Elementary School, Colonial Elementary School, and Tanglewood Elementary School.
• Funding for generator upgrades at Diplomat Elementary and Spring Creek Elementary.
• Funding for flooring projects at Pelican Elementary School, Dr. Carrie D. Robinson Littleton Elementary School, Allen Park Elementary School,Gateway Elementary School, Diplomat Elementary School, Caloosa Middle School, Orange River Elementary School, and Trafalgar Middle School.

Administrative Appointments

• Scott Cook, Deputy Chief of Operations, Operations
• Lucas Lussier, Executive Director, Business Services
• Lori Tant, Senior Coordinator, Budget

Please note that this page is updated after every School Board Action Meeting. For past meeting minutes, agendas and for a complete list of actions taken at the March 10th meeting visit the District’s BoardDocs page.

Our next action meeting is at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, at the Lee County Public Education Center. All meetings are live streamed and available to view at your convenience on the District’s YouTube channel.

Thank you.
The School Board of Lee County