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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\u201cThey have fun and everything inside. I\u2019ve been in the portables and it\u2019s the same as going to a regular classroom,\u201d said Maria Ecsobedo, a Lee County schools parent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lee County School Board member Gwyn Gittens said the portables were supposed to be a temporary situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA fix,\u201d Gittens said, \u201cwhich is fine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/544709_1-239x300-1.jpg\")
But where her concern grows is over the disproportionate number of portables in the east zone, which she represents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn my mind, it was never meant to be a permanent solution,\u201d Gittens said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got all these portables over here because we didn\u2019t have the money, so don\u2019t we need to start over here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gazette asked the school district for a breakdown on the number of portables and which schools use them back on Oct. 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead of providing the records, they sent WINK News to a meeting where the information was never discussed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the Lee County School District has not fulfilled the original public records request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, the records were provided by a Lee County School District source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The records show 13 schools use a total of 107 portables for classrooms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The majority, 89 portable classrooms, are in the east zone. There are four portable classrooms in the west zone and 14 in the south zone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gittens read the breakdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFrustration is putting it mildly,\u201d Gittens said. \u201cThe little bit of hair I have left; I\u2019m ready to pull it out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eighteen of the 89 portables in the east zone are close or more than 20 years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nevin Sutcliffe\u2019s children learned in portables while attending Lee schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now his grandson is learning in one, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019d be in the same portables over there when we used to live on Third Street 20 years ago,\u201d Sutcliffe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, the debate about the new Lee County school set to be built in Estero rages on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you see one particular area that has a plethora of those students that are not getting what they need and prioritizing the resources, that\u2019s an issue,\u201d Gittens said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The creation of the new Lehigh Acres Middle School shows the district will invest in the east zone and the district has committed to more projects in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But skeptics said it\u2019s hard to accept words over actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m tired of hearing them every year saying this is what Lehigh is going to get,\u201d Sutcliffe said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gittens said she understands how expensive new schools are but she would love to see current schools expanded in the east zone at a lower cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen I see construction, when I see the crews going in then I\u2019ll believe that you\u2019re listening,\u201d Gittens said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gazette reached out to Lee schools about our unfilled public records request and concerns about portables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Lee County school district said they are still working on the request, but released a statement on the concerns of the number of portables in the east district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRecognizing the growth in Lehigh Acres we have or currently plan to build seven new schools, add space at and renovate four schools, and open two new Pre-K Centers. The new schools alone add more than 8,000 student stations in the East Zone. The sales tax is a large reason why this is now possible and we thank the community for their trust and support.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
One of the main reasons behind a new school in the works is need. Some elected officials say Estero is too crowded and requires a new facility, but a Lehigh… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":51235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[862],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51234"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51234"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51234\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51237,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51234\/revisions\/51237"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}