The School District of Lee County will piggyback with the Suwannee County School District for panelized modular buildings.

The approval, though had one dissenting vote last Tuesday from a board member who said she will not support any financial expenditures for portables.

The “piggyback” to share one accepted bid is for type IIB panelized modular buildings, which was awarded to Mobile Modular Management Corporation from July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022. The estimated expenditure, which is to be funded from budgeted planning, growth and capacity department funds, is $350,000.

The school district currently leases 29 portable classrooms and two portable restrooms.

 “My personal opinion, anything that has to do with financial expenditures for portables in Lee County, I will not support,” Board member Gwyn Gittens said. “Yesterday we were told this was a new company. I was told this afternoon it is the same company used presently. Have we looked at our priorities and a way out of portables? I have questions about it going on three years that have not been answered. It’s a matter of principal for me.”

Although Board member Betsy Vaughn voted in favor of the piggyback motion, she said she does it with hesitation due to the number of portables in use in Lee County. She said she does not like how the district does a soft opening of a school, such as the last two high schools, one of which is Gateway High School, with portables cited.

“It’s not just here is the building and it is plopped on the piece of ground. You have to have sidewalks and canopy’s. The buildings are not good investments because they deteriorate. They are worth almost nothing, but yet we still have to fix them,” Vaughn said. “With that said, I understand what Ms. Gittens is saying. I spent one terrible semester one time teaching in a portable. Safety concerns, so many aspects, so many costs that go along with the portables and then when you have to move them there are those costs too.”

She said she understands they need seats, and student stations, as well as office space.

“I will go on record one more time with my disapproval in general of way too much use of portables in this school district,” Vaughn said.

Superintendent Dr. Greg Adkins told the board not to forget the tremendous cut in the capital budget of more than $200 million, which affected the district’s ability to build schools, maintain schools, add technology and security upgrades. He said they went from a more than $300 million capital budget down to $100 million over a 10-year time period.

“We are in catch up mode. In Cape Coral, and other places in the county, had many portables to deal with,” Adkins said, adding that they gradually caught up in Cape Coral in the mid 2000s. “The shift has gone rapidly to the east after the recession when our funding went down tremendously.”

He explained that the portables are leased, so they do not count against their inventory. When the district decided years ago to purchase the portables it counted against them. Adkins said they are moving in the direction of not using the number of portables they currently have as they continue in catchup mode.

Gittens said in the last 20 years, 66 percent of the growth has been in the East Zone; 28 percent of the voter-approved half penny sales tax funds have been spent there.

“To me it is unacceptable and it goes back to priorities. I understand there is growth all over. Most of the growth is in one area. Until we can see a plan, approve some type of plan, we are just kicking the can down the road,” Gittens said.

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