Scheduling

to meet the required deadlines for the $65 million school bond referendum

passed by Fayette County voters in the general election will begin next

week, school finance director Jim Stephens told the Fayette Board of Education

Monday night.

He said the

final closing date for the sale of bonds is set for Feb. 5. With this

in mind, the board discussed possible land acquisitions in executive session

following the open meeting. Once property is secured, plans to build three

new elementary schools and one new high school can move forward.

"We hope

before the end of school to lock in or purchase some property, but we

don't know exactly where that will be," Superintendent Dr. John DeCotis

said last week. Prospective sites may be located south of Fayetteville,

along the Ga. Highway 74 corridor between Peachtree City and Tyrone and

in the West Village of Peachtree, according to preliminary discussions.

In preparation

for the impending construction, DeCotis suggested that the board appoint

citizens to a building committee to oversee the building program, with

an internal committee to determine "how we handle growth" and

set school boundary lines. Three new board members will take office in

January and it was decided that a decision on naming people to either

committee be deferred until the new year.

Board member

Mickey Littlefield suggested that the committee should be composed of

people who represent the geographical areas of the county, as well as

construction professionals.

DeCotis also

pitched the idea of determining a philosophy of construction management.

Should a person be hired by the school system to handle jobs such as determining

the bidding process? Or would it be better to have a project manager hired

It was decided

that a future work session should be scheduled to hear presentations from

both project managers and building consultants. According to the board

members who were involved in the last round of school construction, the

school system itself handled management with assistance from former Superintendent

Dave Brotherton and current facilities director Mike Satterfield.