Goodwill to close Fort Myers special needs school

FORT MYERS, Fla. A charter school for special needs students will be shutting its doors.

The Board of Directors of the Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida voted unanimously Monday to close the Goodwill L.I.F.E. Academy at 5100 Tice St. amid financial trouble.

The organization will continue until June 30 to try to come up with the $200,000 it would have needed to keep open the school for students with intellectual disabilities. The board would consider reopening if that money is secured.

“We have to have the money first so we can open a conversation and go from there,” Goodwill spokeswoman Carolyn Johnson said.

Parents were given a chance to speak at the meeting, and one mother made an emotional appeal, calling the school a sanctuary for her son. Sara Barboza began to cry as she wondered aloud about the future for her 19-year-old daughter, who is autistic.

“The thought of her going back to a regular school is frightening … because she’s not going to progress,” Barboza said. “She’s going to be housed. She’s not going to be taught, She’s going to be housed.”

Teacher Vanessa Vance said she was devastated by the decision to close.

“We all had gotten together and talked about things that we can do next year to make the school better,” Vance said. “And that’s not happening now.”

There were 40 students at the school, which opened 12 years ago. Eric Watkins, who attended the school for the last seven years, called on the community for support.

“Please help out, please,” Watkins said. “You can do the best you can, just help out around the school. It’d be really nice to help us. Thank you.”

Johnson echoed that sentiment.

“We want the community to help,” she said. “We want the community to be aware, and it’s obviously very heartwarming and important.”

Word of the possible closure began to circulate last week, and parents expressed frustration about having only a brief time to prepare for Monday’s decision. Some rushed to place their students in last week’s graduation, forgoing the opportunity to send their children to another school next year.

Members of the Lee County school district attended Monday’s meeting to help parents who chose to keep their children in the system transition to other schools.