By: Katrina Salokar | East Lee County News
Lee County Residents Urged to Take Action on East Zone High School Site Decision
THE STUDENTS ARE IN LEHIGH. THE SCHOOL SHOULD BE TOO.
More than 90% of the approximately 2,000 high school students projected to attend School NNN live in Lehigh Acres. Alva, by contrast, is expected to contribute fewer than 100 students. Despite this overwhelming data, the School District is proposing to force Lehigh students onto long, unnecessary bus rides across rural terrain to a school that would sit miles from where they live—past a shovel-ready site already owned by the District.
This plan undermines not only fiscal logic but also the District’s own Elementary Proximity Project, which was designed to reduce long-distance busing. That policy, purchased with millions of taxpayer dollars, is being blatantly reversed—at the cost of over 64,000 student bus hours per month.
THE JOEL/DAVID SITE IN LEHIGH IS READY. ALVA IS NOT.
The District already owns 46.5 acres of fully prepped land at 201 Joel Blvd. in Lehigh Acres:
- Water, sewer, sidewalks, broadband, and public transit access are all in place.
- The site is surrounded by five feeder schools and is fully integrated into the existing community.
- Emergency response capacity and road infrastructure already exist.
The Alva site, by comparison:
- Lacks all essential infrastructure—no water, sewer, sidewalks, broadband, or lighting.
- Sits on environmentally sensitive land, within a 20/20 Conservation corridor.
- Threatens habitats of Florida panthers, black bears, scrub jays, and gopher tortoises.
- Is surrounded by active gun ranges and narrow, unsafe rural roads.
- Will require years of environmental mitigation and massive public investment to make viable.
THE TRUE COST OF A BAD DECISION
The school was initially budgeted at $140 million. That number has already ballooned to $162 million—and could climb to $180–220 million due to concurrency requirements, offsite infrastructure, road expansions, and environmental compliance at the Alva site.
This comes at a time when:
- The district’s capital budget has been slashed from $2.3 billion to $1.4 billion.
- A $400 million bond may be required to make up for growing shortfalls.
- Impact and sales tax revenues are falling.
- Lee County already faces $423 million in unmet school construction and maintenance needs.
Vital projects in Lehigh and across the county will suffer if the Tuckahoe site is forced forward. Drainage, public safety, and classroom expansions could be delayed or canceled altogether.
ENVIRONMENTAL DESTRUCTION AND LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS
The Alva site lies within a vital conservation corridor and is dangerously close to the Caloosahatchee River, risking water pollution, habitat disruption, and long-term environmental consequences.
Additionally, community leaders are preparing a federal Title VI Civil Rights complaint on the grounds that the site selection process discriminates against low-income and minority students in Lehigh by burdening them with excessive travel and ignoring proximity-based planning.
THIS ISN’T JUST ABOUT A SCHOOL—IT’S ABOUT TRUST, PRIORITIES, AND THE FUTURE
The School Board’s decision threatens to:
- Strip Lehigh Acres of vital funding and local control.
- Shift infrastructure and growth planning away from communities that need it.
- Undermine years of community engagement, planning, and promises.
- Further erode public trust in how major educational decisions are made.
Residents of Alva themselves are also opposed to the plan, noting that it threatens the rural character of their community and provides no direct benefit to local families, most of whom are already bused elsewhere.
WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW
A Community Action Toolkit has been released to guide residents in taking immediate action. Here’s how you can help:
- Email or call your School Board members and demand that School NNN be built at the Joel Blvd. site in Lehigh.
- Share the facts with neighbors, on social media, and in your local organizations.
- Attend School Board meetings and ask for transparency, accountability, and equity.
- Report concerns to the press at: press@eastleenews.com
Lee County School Board Switchboard: 239-337-8243
Board Member Emails:
- Armor Persons (Chair, Dist. 5): ArmorDP@leeschools.net
- Melisa Giovannelli (Dist. 2): MelisaWG@leeschools.net
- Debbie Jordan (Dist. 4): DebbieJ@leeschools.net
- Jada Langford-Fleming (Dist. 6): JadaNFL@leeschools.net
- Samuel Fisher (Dist. 1): SamuelJF@leeschools.net
- William Ribble (Dist. 3): WilliamFRI@leeschools.net
- Vanessa Chaviano (Dist. 7): VanessaMC@leeschools.net
- Superintendent Denise Carlin: DeniseMC@leeschools.net
FINAL THOUGHT: DECIDE NOW—OR LOSE CONTROL FOREVER
This decision will shape education, infrastructure, environmental policy, and tax spending for decades. The Joel/David site offers a fiscally sound, community-aligned, and environmentally responsible solution.
Build where the students live. Protect where the wildlife thrives. Spend taxpayer money where it makes sense.
