Broward County School District is adding more manpower to the recovery efforts on Florida’s southwest coast. Superintendent Dr. Vickie Cartwright met with maintenance crews at the district’s Physical Plant Operations site, as they prepared to help Lee County School District rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.
“We’re sending over 20 individuals,” said Cartwright. “They’re electricians, plumbers, carpenters as well as HVAC system individuals that can help get these things online.”
According to the superintendent, the effort is part of a contingency plan set up before Hurricane Ian ravaged Lee County.
“Unfortunately we’ve seen the impact on this,” said Cartwright. “They reached back out and said listen, we need people, we need help now, we are really starting to gear up and get our schools ready.”
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Early Thursday, 13 maintenance trucks rolled out of a BCPS district’s site in Oakland Park heading to Lee County. Officials say the school employees behind the wheel and inside the trucks are highly skilled and can help rebuild or repair school structures and equipment.
“We’ve got 13 different trucks going over full of supplies as well in order to work with lee county and alongside them” said Cartwright. “Support them the best we can.”
Cartwright told NBC 6 it’s a necessity as schools work to bring students and their families a sense of normalcy.
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“When schools are open and children are in school, we know that food is available for our children as well,” said Cartwright. “Unfortunately with such a tragic event as this, that is a concern.”
Crews will remain in Lee County until Friday night.
