Town Council appoints members to charter school advisory committees
The Town of Fort Myers Beach Council voted to appoint volunteers to six committees that town management has created to assist in town officials as they explore creating a new charter school run by the Town of Fort Myers Beach.
The council appointed Ellie Bunting, Walter Cheatham, and Tyler Spradling to the Edcuational Program ad-hoc committee. Cheatham is a Sanibel resident who was chosen over former Fort Myers Beach Elementary School literacy specialist Sherri Skipper. Skipper of Fort Myers, currently works as a School District of Lee County ELA specialist and spent five years working at Fort Myers Beach Elementary School. According to Cheatham’s application, he is the owner of Anthrogenic Education LLC, and an instructional consultant. According to Cheatham’s resume, he was outdoor education coordinator at the Sanibel Sea School for one year, education coordinator for the Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium for one year, taught for one year the Order of Aletheia in Sebring, taught for one year at Mead Hall Episcopal in South Carolina, and was the founder and educator of the Nature Guy in Sanibel from 2018-2023.
Cheatham’s appointment was the subject of two, tie-breaking votes after Mayor Dan Allers and Councilmember Rebecca Link voted for Skipper, and Vice Mayor Scott Safford and Councilmember John King voted for Cheatham in the first tiebreaker. On the final tiebreaker, all of the councilmembers voted for Cheatham.
Bunting heads the Estero Island Historical Society, and Spradling is a Fort Myers Beach resident who is a practicing physician.
The Council appointed Skipper, Kimberly Verheyden, and Catherine Turner to the Operations and Human Capital committee.
The Council appointed Deborah Groll, Kimberly Verheyden, and David Zammit to the Finance and Business Operations ad-hoc committee. Groll is the head of the Beach Kids Foundation and Verheyden is a Fort Myers Beach resident.
Zammit, of Lehigh Acres, was chosen over Fort Myers Beach resident Denise Monahan. Monahan works for the Pace Center for Girls. Zammit works as the director of finance for the Salvation Army, and explained in a letter to the town that he has worked as a director of finance for several charter schools during a two-year consulting contract.
The Council voted Monahan, Cheatham, and Patrick Vanasse to the Governance ad-hoc committee.
The Council voted Vanasse, Albert Dambrose and John Koss to the Facilities, Safety & Operations committee.
The council appointed Fort Myers Beach residents Chris King, Paula McCarthy, and Jeannette Tardiff to the Community Engagement ad-hoc committee.
The appointments occurred as Town of Fort Myers Beach Manager Will McKannay told the councilmembers last week that he continues to work with School District of Lee County officials on details to finalize an agreement by which the Town of Fort Myers Beach will be granted the Fort Myers Beach Elementary School.
The School District of Lee County School Board voted in May to give the town the elementary school and property. Under the terms of the agreement, the Town of Fort Myers Beach would have to open the school as a charter school within three years or it would be given back to the school district. The town would also be required to provide the school board a work plan outlining the scope, cost and timeline of improvements within 120 days of the agreement’s effective date.
McKannay sought an extension of that agreement along with other stipulations that he is still going back and forth with school district staff.
The transfer of the property comes with no funds from the school district to assist the town, which is facing financial difficulties and just approved a host of fee increases to close a budget gap. The school district also faced an operating deficit of more than $92 million earlier this year, which required the district to move tens of millions of dollars out of its reserve funds and to lay off hundreds of staff members.
Mayor Dan Allers had originally requested $12 million from the school last year during a mediation session in which he made the proposal for the school district to turn over the school. The district refused to grant the town money, though some town officials believe the district never utilized all of the funds that were approved by FEMA for rebuilding the school after Hurricane Ian. The district never rebuilt a cafeteria for the school, which was a stipulation in the interlocal agreement signed between the school district and town in 2023.
To reach Nathan Mayberg, please email nmayberg@breezenewspapers.com