Brooklet area residents Susan Sneathen and Mike Sparks said last week they intend to qualify for the Bulloch County Board of Education seat currently held by BOE member Scott Bohlke.
      Qualifying for the Bulloch County Board of Education seats up for election – Districts 2, 4, 5 and 6 – begins Monday.
Current board members holding these seats are– Bohlke, District 2; Kenny Stone, District 4; Vernon Littles, District 5; and Susan Riley, District 6.
      Bohlke’s current term for BOE District 2 ends Dec. 31 and he said he decided not to run for reelection. Stone was not immediately available Friday to comment on his plans. Littles said he plans to qualify. Riley, however, said she will not.
      “It’s time to hang my hat up,” she said. After eight years on the Bulloch County Board of Education she said, “It’s time to pass the baton” to someone with “fresh ideas and (younger) children in the school system.” Riley’s youngest child will be a senior this year.
      Dr. Bohlke, who has a private practice, also is the medical director of the new Hearts and Hands Medical Clinic on Highway 301 South. As such, Dr. Bohlke said “The time was right for me to step aside and let someone else serve the people of Bulloch County.”
      Bohlke said he is “very proud of what he and the Board of Education have accomplished the past few years.” In particular, he singled out the building of all three new high schools and several elementaries throughout the county.
      The new schools, Bohlke said, “are a sign that the Bulloch County Board of Education is committed to providing the very best for its students.”