Christmas present for school system: Move to its new headquarters

The building complex that housed Fayette County High School for 40 years is on its way to becoming the new headquarters of the entire school system.

Above, work on the renovation at the Lafayette Education Center in downtown Fayetteville is on schedule to be ready for the Fayette County School System’s central office to move to its new location in December. Photo/Ben Nelms.

With the conclusion of the year will come the opening of the Fayette County School System’s newly renovated Lafayette Education Center (LEC) on Lafayette Avenue. Previously, the buildings served students of Fayette County High School until completion of the new school campus nearby in the mid-1990s.

School system Facilities Director Mike Satterfield said the renovation and conversion of the LEC is on schedule for a December completion.

“It will be good to have central office under one roof,” Satterfield said, noting that a number of other school system offices have long been at the LEC location.

Located on Stonewall Avenue two blocks from downtown Fayetteville, the one-story central office building has housed portions of the school system administration for the past few decades. The facility is also the meeting place of the Fayette County Board of Education.

All that will change in December, once renovations in buildings A and B at the LEC are complete.

Once moved, the current building on Stonewall Avenue will be demolished next spring to make way for the construction of the new Fayetteville City Hall and the large park and greenspace to its rear.

After renovation, A Building will house central office departments such as human resources, finance, the superintendent and assistant superintendents, purchasing and public information. Joining the other offices in A Building will be departments such as nutrition and the after-school program.

A Building will be the location where the Fayette County Board of Education meets.

B Building will also house a wealth of departments, such as enrollment, student services and social work, curriculum coordinators, health services professional learning labs, exceptional children, pre-K evaluation, and safety, discipline and athletics.

The $3.1 million sale to the city earlier this year of the school system’s 10-acre central office, transportation headquarters and bus storage facility on Stonewall Avenue will help offset the $8.85 million cost of the various changes to the LEC.

That project cost will include the complete renovation and will cover all expenses affiliated with the reconstruction, new equipment and the move of the various offices, Assistant Superintendent of Operations Mike Sanders said previously, adding that much of the furniture will move from current locations into the new offices.