Fayette

County voters may know by the end of the week

whether a special local option sales tax will be

on the ballot this September to help fund $91

million worth of improvements and additions to

the county's school system.

small crowd of 50 turned out Monday night at Sams

Auditorium in Fayetteville to quiz members of the

Fayette County Board of Education and school

system staff members about specifics in the

SPLOST proposal.

While

the board did not make a decision on the issue,

board chairman Debbie Condon announced a special

called meeting of the board at 4 p.m. Friday at

the board of education building on Stonewall

Avenue. While the agenda is not yet completed for

the meeting, it is expected the board will reach

a decision on the SPLOST proposal very soon.

During

the public forum Monday night, the public

sentiment seemed to be split on the additional

penny of sales tax.

Barbara

Buckley started the session by stating she had no

idea what the board wanted to spend the money for

until she read it in the paper last week. Even

after reading the school system's wish list, she

said she was still a little confused.

"What

is this physical education facility for McIntosh

High School? Is that a gym?" she asked.

Buckley

took exception that just over $11 million of the

SPLOST dollars would be used to fund athletic

facilities throughout the county.

"Thirteen

percent of the SPLOST budget is for

athletics," she said.

School

officials said the proposed facility at McIntosh

is indeed a gym and it is necessary because the

school has outgrown the old one.

Other

audience members pointed out that older schools

will always have somewhat older facilities.

"You're

never going to have equal facilities. There's a

lot of good things in the SPLOST proposal, but we

need more information on the costs of each

project," said Tim Anders.

If

the SPLOST proposal is sent to the voters,

concerned citizen Linda Sutton beseeched the

board to open up a forum on the proposal and

create a dialogue with the voters to keep them

informed. Sutton added that kids really don't

care if their facilities are new.

"I

think they really care that the bathrooms are

working in the present schools," she said.

If

a SPLOST tax is recommended by the board and

approved by the voters, the system has a list of

23 projects that it would fund.

Included

in the spending plan are a new elementary school

in the southern part of the county, a new

elementary school in the western part of the

county and a new high school.

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