Lee County Schools nearly fully staffed ahead of Aug. 11 start

LEE COUNTY, Fla. - Lee County Schools has gone from hundreds of empty classrooms to nearly fully staffed, and the district is sharing how it got there.

When Superintendent Dr. Denise Carlin took office, the district had more than 230 teacher vacancies. Now, with the first day of school on Aug. 11, that number is down to about 40 openings.

The turnaround started with teacher pay. Last year, Lee County had the highest percentage teacher pay increase in the state, with an average raise of about 7 percent.

The district also rolled out bonus incentives for teachers who choose to work in high-need schools and teach core subjects like English, math, science or social studies.

"If you make those choices this year, I'm going to pay you up to $10,000 in an incentive to go do that. I want to reward teachers that want to teach our highest need children in our highest need schools and that's a secret to our success," said Dr. Carlin.

The district's goal is to have a certified teacher in every classroom when students return on Aug. 11. Lee County plans to keep recruiting and offering incentives to retain teachers long-term.