Fayette

County Board of Education will plan its course of

action for an estimated $91 million special local

option sales tax and possible bond referendum

Monday at 7:30 p.m. at F.A. Sams Auditorium.

Prior

to the meeting, the board will take public

comment during a forum, 6-7 p.m. at the

auditorium.

"We

need to get the resolution in place soon, so we

can get clear to get on the ballot," school

superintendent John DeCotis told the board during

an informal discussion on the SPLOST and the

projects it will fund last Thursday. The board

may seek a special referendum as early as

September to get things rolling on a major

funding package, which will provide additional

classroom space, upgraded technology and improved

security.

"I

truly believe we're at a point where we need to

make some hard decisions and give them

[taxpayers] the opportunity to vote," school

board Chairman Debbie Condon said during the

meeting.

"I

know we have the need, but how do we want to get

the money? I don't know about borrowing... how do

we want to go?" asked board member Connie

Hale.

Board

member Woody Shelnutt said he was "a little

gun shy" about the amount of the proposed

sales tax and the projected construction costs of

building a new high school, estimated at about

$23 million.

He

said he was concerned about committing $11.8

million to technology for the schools. "I'm

gun-shy on the big prospectus. I'd like to see

the difference between the bonds and pay as you

go. So what if we don't start anything for a

year," Shelnutt said. "Let's leave the

high school out of the proposal and look at what

we have left." He suggested putting money in

escrow for the high school.

Proposed

facilities include two new elementary schools (40

classrooms), a new middle school (65 classrooms),

and a new high school (90 classrooms), plus

additions at existing schools (54 classrooms) for

a total of 289 classrooms.

Security

proposals include 30 color cameras, two color

monitors, two multiplexers, two walk-through

metal detectors and two hand-held metal detectors

for each elementary school; 45 color cameras,

three color monitors, three multiplexers, three

walk-through metal detectors and three hand-held

metal detectors for middle schools, and 60 color

cameras, four color monitors, four multiplexers,

four walk-through metal detectors and four

hand-held metal detectors for the high schools.

Total

cost for the new security equipment is estimated

at $1.6 million.

Plans

for upgrading technology in the county's schools

and offices include extensive rewiring with fiber

optics, replacing dated computers and adding

software over a period of five years with a grand

total of $11.98 million.

Compared

to surrounding counties like Coweta and Henry,

Fayette is way behind in technology, admitted Ed

Steil, who heads up the schools' technology

services. "Some school computers are so old

they won't take Internet Explorer," he said.

It also takes 30 minutes or more for some

teachers to log on to the Internet, because of

the schools' limited power capacity, Steil noted.

The five-year technology plan would "get us

caught up to be competitive," he said.

He

noted that the growing trend is putting computers

in the classrooms as opposed to keeping the

majority of them in the labs. "The counties

next door, Clayton and Coweta, are setting a

standard. They have four or five computers in

each class versus putting them in labs,"

Steil told the board.

The

first-year plan calls for extensive rewiring in

existing schools with fiber optic cable, plus

replacing the existing high school writing lab

computers and old foreign language labs. Software

for special education departments, student

information and human resources total $2.65

million.

School

officials hope to impose a SPLOST for five years,

with a bond sale immediately to provide money for

the most crucial projects, such as one of the two

elementary schools. The school already has been

awarded state funding. Bonds would be paid back

using the sales tax as it comes in.

The

board will present information on the proposed

tax and varying estimates of how much money will

actually be generated during the public forum

prior to the meeting.

Two

financial groups that want to handle the funds

will present their plans to the board for

informational purposes only, giving the members

at least three firms to choose from. One group

presented its plan at the June 28 work session.

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