Lee County Schools address teacher shortage, bus delays under new leadership

LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Lee County's new superintendent, Dr. Denise Carlin, has set an ambitious goal for the school district: transforming the B-rated system into one of Florida's best.

"My strategy is high quality teacher in every room, more time to teach. That's the winning recipe," Carlin said.

The superintendent, who began her role last November, faced significant challenges from the start, including a severe teacher shortage.

Senior Reporter Emily Young speaks with the superintendent about how the district is address the shortage:

"When I was sworn in to office last November, we had well over 200 teacher vacancies. Imagine that! The middle of the school year we're down 200 teachers," Carlin said.

That shortage led to an exhausting year for educators who had to rotate between classes and fill in for missing colleagues, resulting in double the coursework, lesson planning, and burnout.

This year, the district has made substantial progress, reducing teacher vacancies to fewer than 50 positions. To ensure every classroom has an instructor when students return, the district has implemented a strategic solution.

"What we've done at the schools is asked a reading coach or literacy coach or someone that is a certified teacher to step into each of those vacancies so that when children come back on Monday, we will have 100% of our classrooms hosted by a full-time teacher," Carlin said.

Transportation was another major challenge last year, with 8,000 students arriving late to school daily and 18,000 students being picked up late every day. The district faced 60 open bus driver positions, forcing drivers to handle multiple routes without adequate turnaround time.

"We're telling parents, our buses are going to be on time this year. We are starting for the first time in a long time fully staffed," Carlin said.

The district has also adjusted school start times. Most elementary schools that previously began at 8 a.m. or 8:55 a.m. will now start at 8:40 a.m., with campus opening to students as early as 8:10 a.m.

Carlin believes the combination of adjusted start times and a fully staffed transportation department will result in more classroom time for students, supporting her goal of achieving an A-rating for the district.

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