New Lee school superintendent informs Chamber
Newly appointed Lee County School District Superintendent Dr. Joseph Burke stressed the importance of a strong, positive relationship between Lee public schools and the local chamber as the guest speaker at the monthly luncheon meeting of the Greater Fort Myers Beach Area Chamber of Commerce at Minerva’s Grill in Fort Myers.
Burke, who followed the announcement of 18 FMB Chamber Foundation Scholarship recipients, commended the local chamber for offering scholarships to the qualified students.
“It is a very special day for the students who were awarded the scholarships. We are very proud of them and very, very grateful to the chamber and its foundation for the work they are doing to help support the students that are graduating from Lee County schools and going on to their professional careers,” he said.
Burke called the career choices of the selected students “interesting” before expanding his thoughts on the relationship between the local chamber and school system.
“I saw for most of them choices that are going to guarantee them jobs in the future. We look forward to them serving our community,” he said. “It is extremely important that we work together in fostering excellence in public education. We have lots of different committees that the school system has that we need help with. We also have aspirations for the success of all of our students.”
Burke, who holds a Bachelor degree from Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass., a Masters degree in Education Supervision from Florida International University and a Doctorate in Education Leadership from Nova Southeastern University, complimented the dedication, excellence and commitment of the teachers and principals in the school district.
“The leadership team, the people who are in the schools that are working on a daily basis to educate our children, are doing a great job and we are very, very proud of them,” he said.
The former superintendent for schools in Springfield, Mass. and, most recently, Monroe County (the Florida Keys) knows there are challenges ahead during the difficult economic times. He mentioned the young families on the Beach who had to relocate due to the economic impact and the enrollment at Beach Elementary dipping as a consequence of that.
“It’s been very, very difficult times,” said Burke. “The district this year faced about a $48 million shortfall in terms of the overall dollars that were coming in versus what we have in terms of our expenditures, so there were a number of cuts made. There will be more coming in the near future, but we are going to be presenting a balanced budget to the school board for their consideration at the July 26 meeting.
“The bottom line is that we have gone through a very difficult economic time. I’m hopeful, as you are, that the property values around the county will start coming up, and the growth will help us.”
Officials in the school district will be seeking ideas and input from community members. Volunteer efforts are again needed.
“As we begin to go through the process in making some changes in the system and creating greater efficiencies, we would hope that those of you who are activists and want to be involved will choose to serve on various standing committees and help us formulate the public policies that will make our school system strong,” said Burke. “The synergy between the schools and the chambers are really important. We need to know from you what kinds of jobs will be available in the future, what kinds of things we need to be training our students to do and what kind of expertise will they need to be successful, assuming they will be working in the local community.”
BOX
FMB Chamber Foundation Scholarship recipients
– Stacey Mielke Estero High Accounting & Sports Mgmt
– Chelsea O’Riley Cypress High Business Admin. & Pre-Law
– Max Albion Canterbury Animal Vet Science
– Hunter Woodard (not listed) Undecided
– Robert Kiesel Cypress High Stage & Theater Production
– Louis Mausser Fort Myers High Bio-Tech/DNA/Enviro. Biology
– Collette Kiesel Cypress High Medical field
– Sydney Lambeth Cypress High Nurse Practitioner
– Ryan Jenkins Cypress High Business
– Anthony Monaco Cypress High Undecided
– Louis Monaco Cypress High Sports Mgmt.
– Charity Kiesel (not listed) Nursing
– Zachary Brindise Cypress High Western Carolina
– Robert Swanbeck Fort Myers High Business/Real Estate
– Jacob Albion Canterbury Sociology & Anthropology
– David Albion Canterbury Communications
– Dean Simmons Cypress High Political Science & Finance
– Andrea Mausser (not listed) Mass Comm.& Leadership Studies