An ethics

complaint lodged against the Fayette County Board of

Education will not be heard by the state Ethics

Commission at its next meeting Sept. 21.

The

meeting, coincidentally, is on the voting date of the

school district's $90 million referendum.

A spokesman

for the Ethics Commission confirmed that a complaint was

received Aug. 27 from Claude Paquin of Fayetteville, and

revised Sept. 2. It is still under investigation.

The

complaint claims the school board made an indirect

contribution to the group called Fayette Citizens for

Continued Excellence in Education, a group working for

passage of a 1 percent special local option sales tax and

bond sale totalling $90 million, by allowing Todd Barnes

of A.G. Edwards to advise the group.

The

investment firm is one of two the board will pay to

execute the sale of $50 million in bonds if the

referendum is passed.

State

ethics rules forbid donations from school boards to

political action groups. The complaint refers to the

possible future payment to A.G. Edwards from the board as

a violation.

The sales

tax/bond package calls for $90 million to be used for new

classrooms and school expansion, technology upgrades and

security devices for the county's schools.