Students to fill Kmart stores in overcrowded district
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BONITA SPRINGS, Florida (AP) -- Lines of students instead of shoppers will fill two Kmart stores when county officials convert them into schools by 2005.
Faced with overcrowded classrooms, Lee County officials agreed to buy the vacant buildings last week. Renovating them will be slightly less expensive than building new ones, and since the structures are already in place they can open sooner.
"If we don't use facilities like Kmart, our overcrowding will be horrendous," Estero High Principal Fred Bode said. "We need to get beyond the aesthetics of a school."
The vacant Kmart buildings were bought for $11.6 million, and officials expect site work, remodeling and furniture to cost an additional $17.4 million. They are supposed to open by August 2005.
School districts across Florida are trying to comply with an amendment approved last year that requires smaller class sizes.
The school district has also purchased land in Estero and Bonita Springs for schools. The cities are just south of Fort Myers on Florida's Gulf Coast.
About 65,000 students attend public and charter schools in Lee County.
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