To the community’s dismay, it looks like it’s nearing the end of its days.
The Putnam County School Board in February approved a revitalization plan with a 3-2 vote that will eventually downsize the district from 18 to 10 schools, closing some along the way.
Those closures include Jenkins, which was built in 1955. The rest of the plan calls for building or rebuilding facilities across the district over a 10-year span.
Despite pleas from the community at the school board meeting to save Jenkins, or to at least slow down the plan, the district chose to advance with the proposal, leaving many with ties to the school devastated.
Interlachen Elementary to be renamed for Black American hero
The Putnam County School Board voted unanimously for the change
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PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. – The name of Medal of Honor recipient Robert H. Jenkins Jr. will not be lost to history, despite the closing of the Putnam County middle school named in his honor.
The county’s School Board voted unanimously this week to rename Interlachen Elementary School as Robert H. Jenkins Jr. Elementary, ensuring the Black American hero’s legacy will live on for generations to come.
Jenkins was born in Interlachen in 1948 and enlisted in the Marines after graduating from high school.