Wednesday, August 1, 2001

Bursting at the seams

More students on the way, more schools being built

By MONROE ROARK
mroark@TheCitizenNews.com

Fayette County is adding a school this year. Well, sort of.

The county is not actually opening a new campus this fall, but enrollment for the 2001-02 school year is up nearly 600 over last year almost the equivalent of an elementary school.

Enrollment figures for the coming year, as of Monday morning, total 20,403 students. That's an increase of 571 over the 19,832 students enrolled last year.

The first day of school for the 2001-02 academic year is Aug. 10.

To accommodate this growth, the school system has added 64 new teaching positions, which will bring that total to 1,438.

While there are no new schools set to open this year, next year should be a different story.

Ground has been broken for Cleveland Elementary, on Lester Road on the western edge of Fayetteville, and school system officials hope to open it to new students next fall, according to spokesperson Melinda Berry-Dreisbach.

Two other schools already on the drawing board include another elementary school and the county's fifth high school, both of which are to be situated along Ga. Highway 85 south of Fayetteville. A construction bid for the elementary school was officially accepted by the Board of Education at its July meeting.

Both of these schools should be open within three years, if not sooner.