Fayette

County's new school safety task force, formed in

response to recent violence in schools

nation-wide, will begin its work tomorrow.

The

group will meet at 7 p.m. at the LaFayette

Center, formerly Fayette County High School.

"We're

going to organize and divide up into three

subgroups," said Wayne Robinson, director of

secondary operation for the school district. The

first group will focus on discipline and dress

code, the second will discuss law enforcement

personnel and emergency personnel and the third

will address the schools' safety plan, according

to Robinson.

"We

want the terminology to be the same in each

school," Robinson said in reference to the

school safety plan, so a term like "code

red" will mean the same thing in all the

district's schools. "We also want to develop

a quick flip chart for different

situations," he said.

Safety

issues have been the focus of numerous town hall

meetings and foscus groups recently as local

educators and community leaders work to prevent

problems in Fayette County similar to those at

Columbine High School in Colorado and Heritage

High in Conyers, Ga.

The

Board of Education has directed the safety task

force to study all aspects of making schools

safer, including the often discussed idea of

requiring uniforms at local schools.

The

group is composed of parents, educators and staff

from the school district's central office.

The

task force will make its recommendations to the

Board of Education in August with implementation

set for the 1999-2000 school year, Robinson

noted.

<!--

-----------