By KAY S. PEDROTTI
Staff Writer

A very excited elementary school principal says she is ready to move into a new school, "way ahead" of the time when she had thought it would be ready.

Sandra Watson, principal of Peeples Elementary, says the new building will be ready next Monday, Sept. 28, "when at one time we had thought it might be Thanksgiving or Christmas."

She said that for a while there was some fear that winter rains might delay the construction of the new school, "but apparently they made up a lot of time this summer." The Fayette County Board of Education had recommended that school start on time in the LaFayette Educational Center, the old Fayette County High School, estimating that the new Peeples facility would be ready four to six weeks after school started Aug. 24.

Contractors have finished work on the new facility on Ga. Highway 74 near Redwine Road, Board of Education building officials confirmed, and the building has been inspected for occupancy.

"The teachers have done a great job," Watson said, "of creating a homey atmosphere while we've been over here (at LaFayette Center)," Watson said. "I can't say enough about how much preparation was done by the county to get this place in shape for us, and everything has been really great. We have not had any problems at all."

Some parents had objected to locating Peeples students temporarily at LaFayette. They cited such reasons as distance from bus and cafeteria facilities, and the age and condition of the LaFayette facilities, including roof leaks and mold problems. Some voiced concerns in an August school board meeting about allowing their elementary-age children to attend school in a facility that also houses the county's Alternative School for middle and high school students.

Watson said none of the feared problems materialized, but she will be glad anyway to be in the new school.

Peeples' enrollment stands now at 398 students, Watson said, considerably more than the 275 projected for the school.