WEEk OF MARCH 20, 2024
VOLUME 62, NUMBER 18
Fire board picks contractor for station rebuild By TIFFANY REPECKI
trepecki@breezenewspapers.com
The Sanibel Fire and Rescue District's commission selected the contractor for the Station 172 reconstruction project and approved the purchase of a utility trailer at its recent meeting, as well as held a pinning ceremony for a staffer and heard about a recent medical call that crews responded to. On March 13, the commissioners voted unanimously 3-0 to award the contract for the station on Sanibel-Captiva Road to the Manhattan Construction Company in the amount of about $7,439,017.
Chamber announces Islands Night, annual meeting
T
he SanCap Chamber of Commerce announced that April 17 will bring the 31st annual Sam Bailey’s Islands Night to Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers, with the chamber's annual meeting on May 15. “Whereas last year, due to Hurricane Ian, we combined the two events for lack of annual meeting venues, this year each of our banner events gets its due,” chamber President and Chief Executive Officer John Lai said. As has been tradition for Islands Night, a parade showcas-
ing Sanibel and Captiva businesses and organizations will precede the game starting at 6:15 p.m. Admission gates will open at 6 p.m. At 7:05 p.m., the Minor League Baseball game will start, pitting the Florida State League Fort Myers Mighty Mussels against the Jupiter Hammerheads.
See FIRE BOARD, page 21
IslanderInsIde
See ISLANDS NIGHT, page 21 The 31st annual Sam Bailey’s Islands Night parade on April 17 at Hammond Stadium in Fort Myers will bring islanders together for fun, promotion, community support and camaraderie.
School district reports on bump in ‘disruptive behavior’ By MEGHAN BRADBURY
news@breezenewspapers.com
The School District of Lee County has seen an increase in disruption, insubordination and disrespect and skipping classes since the 2019 school year. The information was recently presented to the school board as part of a discussion on campus safety and how campus safety is perceived.
Safety, Security & Emergency Management Executive Director David Newlan discussed the KPI 5.1 score card, which is based on a scale of one to five. He said they are looking for a four to five rating of students and teachers feeling safe. The accreditation survey questions were “adults make us feel safe for elementary students,” “adults make decisions to keep us safe for second-
ary students” and “at my institution, we think of everyone’s safety when making decisions” for the teacher survey. “A raw baseline was created from the spring accreditation data,” Newlan said. The raw baseline was 88% for grades 3-5 students, 71% for grades 6-8, 65% for grades 9-12 and 88% for employees. Newlan said the four-year performance target is to go up 2% each year. They look at layers of security at every school site — such as monthly drills, OPENGATE weapons detection system, See SCHOOL DISTRICT, page 21
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