Philadelphia Schools Welcome New Safety Advocate
By Mike DeNardo
Philadelphia's new school safety watchdog begins her job Monday.
Kelley Hodge is a former chief of the Philadelphia District Attorney's juvenile unit. But now, she's Philadelphia's safe schools advocate. Hodge says she wants to be visible in order to let victims of school violence know someone is on their side and to hold the school district accountable for fully reporting crime and violence.
"I do plan on being at School Reform Commission meetings. I do plan on going out to schools and making sure that I introduce myself, especially to those schools that have shown a history in the past, of violence," said Hodge.
The position of safe schools advocate has been vacant for more than two years, but state lawmakers reinstated the office this past summer, moving it from the state Education Department to the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
