Hodge said that she is in arrears with her rent for the building since she simply cannot afford to pay the rents without government subsidy. Hodge said each time she requested subsidy for the school the island government has turned it down saying she is operating an illegal school. She has been operating Starlight Educational Center for the past 16 years accommodating mostly to children that are residing on St. Maarten illegally. Students attending the center have to pay a school fee of $100 which has to cover the expenses of the school as well as salaries for ten teachers.
Hodge used to house her students in her private building in Cole Bay which had to be foreclosed due to lack of payments. That building was sold by the bank to an American investor who now has apartments at the location.
Hodge then moved to a dilapidated building she renovated in St. Peters area and committed herself to paying a rent of Naf 7,500. The school teacher said she pleaded with the female landlord to reduce the rent since she lost almost half of her students when she was evicted from Cole Bay. With the pleas the landlord agreed to reduce the rent to Naf: 5,800 but still Hodge could not make the payments and pay ten teachers without government subsidy.
Hodge said she owed her landlord some Naf. 55, 000 in arrears which covers the year 2006 to 2007 which landed her in the situation she is in today.
She said the landlord took her to court last year and won the case but she managed to make a soft agreement with the landlord via a pastor and she began paying her monthly rent which was paid up to December 2008. Even though having such an agreement the landlord approached the Marshals office and requested that the occupants of the building be evicted if the arrears could not be paid with the last two weeks of December 2008.
Hodge said she visited the office of commissioner Wescot Williams trying to secure meeting with the commissioner but that did not happen until Thursday. She said the only reason she got the appointment is because her husband went to the Commissioner house and waited until she came out and approached her. She said Wescot Williams had promised to call her on Wednesday but she only received the call on Thursday where she ultimately met with the commissioner and pleaded for the children whose parents would have nowhere for them to go. Hodge said that the commissioner said the department of education is dealing with subsidies for her school and felt it was not necessary for her intervene.
Hodge said she told the commissioner she did not came to see her about the subsidies instead she wanted to discuss an urgent matter to avoid the eviction. Hodge said the commissioner said she is not the one to decide since other people also have to decide on how to deal with the matter.
Hodge said she even tried to see the island Lt. Governor during this week but did not manage to see him due to office bureaucracy. However, it is not over for Carmen Hodge and the students of Starlight Education because Hodge said she already made contacts in Holland and in Curacao and she would fight this matter to end. She said she has a court order from a judge who ordered that her case be handled by the island council.
It is expected that all students will be at the school on Monday since parents and the students does not know that the marshal placed a lock on the door of the school on Friday while the teachers of all five illegal schools were participating in a workshop which is funded by CEES POT.