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Board OKs bus lease plan

By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@TheCitizenNews.com

Fayette County’s students will have new buses this year, thanks to some creative financing by the Fayette County Board of Education.

On Monday night, the board unanimously approved a five-year lease agreement with Bank of America to lease 18 new buses at a total cost of $1.245 million.

Purchasing Agent Fred Phillips explained Bank of America offered the lowest interest rate of 2.94 percent.

He added the school has always had an excellent relationship with the bank and the total interest cost for the period would be just over $95,000.

At the end of the lease, the board has the option of purchasing the buses for $1.

The board will pay semi-annual payments of $124,519 for a total cost of $1.245 million.

In other news, the board:

• Approved the purchase of bleachers for Fayette Middle School. The board had approved $80,000 for the bleachers, but had to reject the low bid of $79,133 by Institutional Equipment Company. Phillips said the company could not meet the specifications of the bid, so he recommended accepting the next lowest bid from Georgia Institutional Furnishings for $85,493.

Since the bid was over budget, board member Marion Key wondered about the funding. Facilities Services Director Mike Satterfield explained several recent projects had come in under bid, so the system could pull money from those projects.

• Announced that Sharlene Patterson would be the new principal at Fayette Middle School. For the last three years, Patterson has been an assistant principal at Sandy Creek High School and also served as an assistant principal at high school summer school.