The Clarke County School District opened a new health clinic at the H.T. Edwards complex—which houses Classic City High School, the Athens Community Career Academy and the Early Learning Center West—and will cut the ribbon on another next week at Coile Middle School.
Both clinics are currently open, although the ribbon-cutting ceremony at Coile is not until Nov. 12. Staffed by the nonprofit Medlink, they provide treatment for illness and injuries, wellness checks, immunizations, preventative screenings, mental health support, sports physicals and more for students, staff and their families throughout the district. The centers accept most major insurances and Medicaid, and a sliding fee scale is available for families who qualify. They are funded by a $2 million grant from the Georgia Department of Education.
“School-based health centers have proven to be a convenient option for students, staff and families, allowing students and staff to obtain care without having to leave campus, meaning they miss less school time and less work,” CCSD Superintendent Robbie Hooker said in a news release. “In many cases, they also allow our working families to miss less work by cutting down on the number of stops they have to make.”
CCSD also has health clinics at Hilsman Middle School and Clarke Middle School. They are partnerships with the Athens Neighborhood Health Center and the Augusta University/UGA Medical Partnership, respectively.
Odds and Ends
The Athens-Clarke County government is accepting public input through Nov. 24 on the Safe Streets and Roads for All Program, a federal grant that aims “to help improve roadway safety for all users, including driving, walking, biking and transit.” The local government wants to hear about specific streets and intersections where crashes and close calls happen, as well as the populations most affected. An online survey is available at accgov.com/safestreets.
Western Circuit Superior Court judges have appointed Amanda Trimble and Latasha Barnes Prempeh as juvenile court judges. Trimble, a former public defender, served a four-year term as the court’s part-time judge and was appointed the full-time judge in 2020. Prempeh was the lead attorney for the public defender’s office in juvenile court and will now serve as the part-time judge, replacing Kamau Hull.
Acting Manager Niki Jones has named Melinda Lord director of the ACC Housing and Community Development Department. Lord has held the position on an interim basis since February, when Roderick Wallace resigned. She has worked for HCD since 2015, except for a brief stint at the City of Atlanta, and previously worked for a Greenville, SC nonprofit that provides transitional housing and support service to homeless individuals and families. HCD distributes and oversees federal grants for affordable housing, economic development and social services.
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