Weighing uncertainties

about the economy against an overwhelming desire to see each of the county's

high schools have "equitable" facilities, an exasperated Fayette

County School Board spent 90 minutes Tuesday debating whether to award

a construction contract for full renovation of McIntosh High School, or

to leave out a key phase of the plan that would have eliminated a fine

arts auditorium.

Renovating

the present gym at the school to turn it into a theater will cost the

school system an extra $1.56 million, money not earmarked for the project

and not identified in any long-range funding scenarios.

Even so, despite

recommendations from school district facilities and finance staff that

the auditorium be eliminated and finished at a later date, the board voted

5-0 to proceed with the entire project and find the money somewhere down

the road. The renovations would not be undertaken until after a new gymnasium

is completed, about 30 months after its construction begins.

"This

is the most difficult decision I've made since I've been on this board,"

sighed member Janet Smola after the meeting.

Agreed chairman

Terri Smith, "This is the hardest I've worked since I've been on

this board."

A nearly $9

million contract was awarded to Nix-Fowler Constructors, Inc., for the

McIntosh project, to be completed over the next 30 months.

At the same

time, the board signed off on awarding a $3.6 million contract to MEJA

Construction Co. for adding an auditorium at Sandy Creek High.

"I don't

see how we can't do this," said Board Member Greg Powers of the McIntosh

project. "This is the last opportunity we have to make these schools

equitable, to put them all on a level playing field.

"I think

in 30 months we can come up with $1.5 million somwhere to pay for this,"

Powers said. "We can put it in next year's budget if we have to.

We're going to shortchange ourselves again if we don't.

"We're

foolish if we don't take advantage of this," he said, pointing out

that coming back at a later date to build the auditorium at McIntosh would

likely cost way in excess of $1.5 million.

"It's

a steal," Powers argued. "The whole reason we're doing the Sandy

Creek and McIntosh projects at the same time is that we're getting the

work done at half the price."

Facilities

services director Mike Satterfield agreed that coming back at a later

date to complete McIntosh would cost more, due to rising construction

costs alone, and would inconvenience students even more in the future.

Smola questioned

the board's obligation to the community, to avoid spending money it does

not have but also to take advantage of situations that might save money

down the road.

"If we

obligate the taxpayer without the taxpayers' permission, is that taxpayer

going to support a bond vote a year from now?" she asked. "Or

do we have an obligation gto get the most for that taxpayer's dollar now?"

The McIntosh

and Sandy Creek additions, though not proposed as part of a $65 million

bond referendum approved by voters in 2000, nonetheless are the last in

a string of major projects to come as a result of that vote.

Nearly $81

million in work will have been completed when this phase of school system

expansion is finished, Powers pointed out, thanks to interest earnings,

lower-than-projected construction costs and overall good fiscal management

There's no

reason to think the same careful spending can't compensate for the $1.56

million needed to complete McIntosh, money that won't be needed for another

two years anyway, Powers said.

Among the funding

possibilities: Selling off excess land in the area around Cleveland Elementary

School, worth an estimated $800,000, or dipping into the district's $12

million reserve fund.

That scenario

concerns school system finance director Jim Stephens, who has a reputation

for fiscal conservancy.

"Does

this worry you?" Smola asked Stephens directly at one point about

proceeding with the plans without the funding in place.

"Yes,

it does," he responded.

Board member

Lee Wright insisted on close scrutiny of the projects, the costs and the

funding mechanisms.

"If we

proceed, I think it's imperative we track this thing closely, that the

finance and facilities staffs stay in close contact," Wright said.

He was seconded

insisting she did not approve of "spending money we don't have."

"If the

costs don't come in close to the bids or there are cost overruns, I want

to know about it ahead of time," she said, addressing school district

staff. "I don't want to have to come to a board meeting and find

out on a memo about this stuff. We need to know what's going on."