Fayette County's

middle schools aren't broken, says Dr. Stuart Bennett, assistant school

superintendent, but at least some "fixing" is going to have

to be done to comply with new state laws.

"It's

not broken and we're not trying to fix it," Bennett told the Board

of Education Monday. "We're just trying to comply with the law."

The board approved

formation of an advisory committee to study the A-Plus Education Reform

Act, approved by the state Legislature last year, and recommend any changes

needed to stay on the right side of the law.

The Middle

School Restructuring Committee also will have to react to any new changes

the Legislature comes up with during this year's session, as the state's

governing body works to further refine the reform bill.

"This

committee will be working for 18 months at least," Bennett told The

Citizen. "It's going to be an ongoing process."

Statewide,

middle schools have not done well, Bennett told the board. Using a combination

of factors to evaluate schools, the state has set a minimum score of 65

that middle schools are required to meet. In the latest scoring, only

16 schools across the state exceeded that score, Bennett said.

"But five

of those were in Fayette County," he pointed out.

That prompted

board member Marion Key to wonder whether the governor is aiming long-term

at doing away with middle schools for grades six through eight and going

back to the old junior high school system for grades seven through nine.

"That

is the fear," said Bennett. "We don't feel we need to."

The state is

requiring more instruction time, which may mean less planning time, and

there are new rules about how much time administrators must spend teaching,

what kinds of courses must be offered, structuring of gifted and special

education classes and "a myriad of other criteria," said Bennett.

New certification

standards also are in effect. "As it stands right now, several people

may have to go back to school," he said.

Three subcommittees

of the 28-member committee will divide up the work load, "going through

section by section," said Bennett, and make recommendations to the

full committee, which in turn will make recommendations to the board.

"Every time we examine one issue, it opens up another," Bennett

said of the complex legislation.

The committee

is composed of school administrators, curriculum coordinators, instructional

lead teachers, teachers and parents.

"We're

putting our best middle school people on this," said Bennett, "and

we've got some of the best middle school people in the state."