So - what did you learn on your first day back to school today, Little Johnny?

 'I learned not to fuck with an alligator that big..."

 

A 7-foot alligator greeted students during drop-off at Lexington Middle School on Wednesday morning, the Lee County Sheriff's Office announced on Facebook. School Resource Officer and K9 handler Dave Jennings, a former gator trapper, wrangled the intruder and prevented an incident from happening at the Fort Myers school, according to the post.

Rob Spicker, spokesperson for the Lee County School District, said he recalled previous alligator-related incidents across county schools, but was unable to provide a number as to how many times that's happened. "The first thing would obviously be to make sure that the students are safe," Spicker said. "In this case, that was the situation. The alligator was not in an area where arriving or walking to school."

He added schools have steps to follow during a similar encounters. "The first thing would obviously be to make sure that the students are safe," Spicker said. "In this case, that was the situation. The alligator was not in an area where arriving or walking to school."

Spicker said the gator is then secured, as it happened Wednesday. School officials then call for backup.

 

"That's kind of how we're going to leave it to the experts who can handle that," Spicker said. Spicker reminds parents that all campuses in Lee County are surrounded by a fence. "That's the first thing. There's protection around the school," Spicker said. "And once the school day begins, if there were other entrances in parking lots, those are all closed and there's only one way in."

Spicker said they want to ensure students' safety, and they would remove them from the area depending on where an alligator may be discovered.

 

Spicker reminds those on campus to never approach an alligator. "We want them to report it, get to the school resource officer," Spicker said. "Get some fish and wildlife officers out there and get the professionals to handle the situation rather than try to address it themselves. And same goes for students."

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