The Middle

School Restructuring Commission for Fayette County Schools is tackling

13 issues impacting scheduling for both teachers and students.

Stuart Bennett,

assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, said Fayette

County has utilized the middle school model (grades 6,7,8) for 11 years.

The immediate and long range impact of Gov. Roy Barnes' A-Plus Education

Reform Act has prompted the school system to take a look at "where

our middle schools are," kind of a "health check," Bennett

told the Board of Education Monday night.

There will

be two sets of recommendations coming out of the local subcommittees,

one set for the 2001-2002 school year and another for the 2003-2004 academic

year, according to Bennett. "We want to be in compliance [with A-Plus

reforms]," Bennett said.

Key issues

to be considered by the subcommittees are as follows:

1) What will

be the length of the instructional day and length of team planning time?

2) Will there

be additional academic courses?

3) Is there

going to be high school credit earned in middle school?

4) How much

physical education and health time will be required and what to do with

personnel if it is reduced?

5) How will

"connections" differ from present exploratory period?

6) Which of

the current exploratory courses are Quality Core Curriculum based?

7) How will

teams be constructed in accordance with certification requirements?

8) How will

the remedial and gifted programs be structured?

9) How will

middle to high school transition be addressed?

10) What changes

in the middle school grading system or eligibility requirements will be

necessary to accommodate new requirements for connection classes to be

counted toward promotion?

11) How will

additional remedial time be added?

12) What will

be the recommended number of teachers on each team at each grade level?

13) Are there

specific skills beyond the Quality Core Curriculum that important academically

for all students?

Bennett noted

that the two-part committee has discussed the first eight issues.