Ongoing negotiations

on the purchase price of land for new school development could net the

Fayette County Board of Education a property purchase by the next work

session Jan. 8, according to Dr. John DeCotis, county school superintendent.

An executive

session prior to Monday night's board meeting focused on land acquisition

for the construction of new schools to be financed by the $65 million

bond issue passed by voters Nov. 7.

DeCotis was

cautious about releasing too much information regarding the location of

the site under consideration, saying only the land in question is "between

Peachtree City and Fayetteville."

The bond package

will cover the cost of building three new elementary schools and one new

high school and renovations at aging schools around the county.

In other business,

the board agreed to a property easement at Starr's Mill High School to

allow the county to create a walking path. The pedestrian path will lead

from Millpond Manor to the school.

The board also

gave the green light to Judy Byrd, the school district's human resources

director, to offer contracts to student teachers that had completed their

internships in Fayette County schools. According to Byrd, this will provide

a pool of more than 30 teachers to be assigned to new or vacated positions

in the 2000-2001 school year.

This approach

also was used last year, and as a result, Fayette County schools opened

the year with only a few teacher vacancies in specialized areas.

Also approved

was the hiring of Melinda Berry-Dreisbach as public information specialist,

a new position in the central office. According to DeCotis, Berry-Dreisbach

currently holds similar position at Perimeter College and holds a master's

degree in business administration and marketing.

She is a former

writer for The Neighbor newspapers.