FL Special Needs School Damaged In Hurricane 1 Year After Opening

CLEARWATER, FL — A little more than a year after moving into its new facility in Clearwater, a special needs school sustained more than $2 million in damages during Hurricane Milton.

And that’s “a rough estimate, a conservative estimate” for how much it will cost to restore LiFT Academy, Matt Spence, executive director, told Patch. “We think it will probably be more than that.”

The school, which serves nearly 200 neurodivergent children and adults ages 5 to 57, saw significant water intrusion, which flooded the technology lab, five classrooms and a clinic, among other areas. The storm also destroyed LiFT’s sensory room and the gymnasium floor and roof.

About 70 percent of the school’s campus was affected by the storm, Spence added.

Staff and contractors quickly got to work replacing all drywall and most flooring while the school was closed for about 10 days after the storm hit. Some work will be completed over Thanksgiving break.

“The big loss is our gym … it will take six months or so to have that replaced,” Spence said. “It’s a space we used for a bunch of different things, including the lunchroom, so we're scrambling around to make do.”

Despite the damages, the school welcomed students back on Monday.

“There was great excitement to be back and see their friends again. Our students are really resilient. They've had a lot of things happen around them,” he said, adding that the school offers “consistency, routine and comfort” to them.

That’s why it was so important to reopen as quickly as possible, Spence said. “When we looked at the facility the week before, it looked like a pretty big stretch, but we got it done.”

LiFT Academy was founded in Seminole in January 2013 with a mission of inspiring and empowering people with neurodiversity to learn, thrive and succeed. In addition to academics, it offers its students life skills, career training and opportunities to strengthen social schools.

The school moved into its new facility, located in the former Clearwater YMCA building at 1005 S. Highland Ave., last year.

“Fourteen months after we open our doors, we have to rebuild our doors,” Spence said.

The school is turning to the community for help to raise the funds needed for its restoration.

“We have a long way to go and insurance only covers so much,” he said. “We are a nonprofit. We operate on tuition and community support and we have a big hole in our budget that we did not plan for and we’re asking the community to help us rebuild.”

Donations can be made directly through the school’s website.

The school’s two major fall fundraisers, which were rescheduled, are another way to support LiFT. The Rise Awards will now take place on Dec. 3 and the LiFT Your Clubs golf tournament is set for Dec. 9.

The school will also organize a student t-shirt contest and the winning design will be printed and available for purchase. Proceeds from sales made by the adult training program’s LiFT Your Heart microbusinesses also benefit the school.