All but two of the county’s 29 schools have a parent representative on the committee charged with the task of recommending potential changes in Fayette County school attendance boundaries, according to a list furnished by Superintendent Jeffrey Bearden at The Citizen’s request.
The redistricting committee was formed to arrive at possible changes in school boundaries related to the two options on the table for potential school closures next year. The school system had already released, and The Citizen reported on, the names of committee members that includes a large number of parents along with school system employees and community members.
As for the parents affiliated with a particular school or schools, only Starr’s Mill High School and Rivers Elementary have no affiliated parent. Affiliated parent means that the parent has one or more children currently attending that school.
More than half of Fayette’s schools have one affiliated parent on the committee, while five schools have two, three schools have three and two schools have four affiliated parents.
The schools with one affiliated parent include Braelinn Elementary, Cleveland Elementary, Fayette County High, Fayette Middle, Hood Avenue Primary, Huddleston Elementary, Inman Elementary, Kedron Elementary, North Fayette Elementary, Peeples Elementary, Peachtree City Elementary, Burch Elementary, Tyrone Elementary, Minter Elementary, Sandy Creek High School and Spring Hill Elementary.
The schools with two affiliated parents include Fayetteville Intermediate, Flat Rock Middle, McIntosh High, Oak Grove Elementary, Rising Starr Middle and Whitewater High. The schools with three affiliated parents include Bennett’s Mill Middle, Brooks Elementary and Crabapple Elementary, while Booth Middle and Whitewater Middle each has four affiliated parents.
The Citizen reported Sept. 3 that the committee comprised 42 members.
The two closure options came by a consensus of the Fayette County Board of Education. The only charge to the committee is to arrive at possible school attendance boundaries.
Option A would close Fayette Middle School, Hood Avenue Primary School and Fayetteville Intermediate School (FIS) — all in Fayetteville — and open Rivers Elementary School just west of Fayetteville to accommodate most of the children from the two elementary schools on Hood Avenue.
Option B would close Fayette Middle, close Tyrone Elementary School and Brooks Elementary School, consolidate FIS and Hood Avenue administratively at the existing campus and leave Rivers as it is now serving some of the county special education students.
The committee’s first public meeting was held Aug. 30 at Fayette County High School. Input gained from the more than 400 parents and community members at the meeting can be accessed on the homepage of the school system’s website at www.fcboe.org
The redistricting committee in September worked on Option A. In October, the committee will continue boundary work on Option A and will begin work on Option B. The committee in October will conduct a second public hearing/information meeting if needed.
In November, the committee will continue to work on Option B, conclude all work on boundaries, conduct two public hearings and prepare a report on boundary recommendations .
And in December, the committee’s recommended boundaries will be presented to the school board for a vote.
Not mentioned in the above list are the Open Campus, alternative and after-hours school programs headquartered at the old Fayette County High School Campus on Lafayette Avenue in Fayetteville.
