Second Chance for Hodge Elementary?

Second Chance for Hodge?

Dr. Thomas Lockamy says he plans to make a recommendation to the school board to keep Hodge open at its current location. Chatham County voters approved the closure in 2006 under E-SPLOST, the penny sales tax for education.

Plans call for Hodge to be torn down to make way for a new Beach High School. But many were taken by surprise with the announcement to close the school three weeks ago.
"This week I looked at all the opportunities to design a state of the art high school for Beach. And as a result of that, I can keep the Hodge school in place and provide that service," says Dr. Lockamy.

He admits this was a tough decision but says he will make that recommendation at the May 6th school board meeting. "Not because of the outcry, because there will be opportunities in the future when I start redistricting I will get the same type of outcry and so I did this. I made this recommendation because I as superintendent really believe children should be in their neighborhoods and keep the parents engaged in their work."

The school board will have the final say on what happens to Hodge.

School District 1 Town Hall
Tuesday night Dr. Lockamy was one of more than 100 people at the District 1 Town Hall meeting.

One of the topics was the K-12 redesign plan and some parents are concerned about how the changes will affect schools.

One concerned parent, Mehmet Caglayan, asked the question, "All the other schools in the county that are failing, Jacob G. Smith is one of the successful schools, why are they changing? Why is it a good idea that my 9-year-old daughter is gonna be with a 14-year-old teenager on the same campus?"

In that situation, Dr. Lockamy says space issues played a part in changes with Jacob G. Smith and Heard Elementary, but assured parents that this is a good change.

Isle of Hope Recommendation
Dr. Lockamy also announced that he plans to recommend to the board that they make Isle of Hope a Pre-K-8 school. It's news that many at the school have been waiting to hear for years.