In a move that left a packed crowd cheering wildly, the Coweta County Board of Education decided not to combine the school populations of Newnan Crossing Elementary and White Oak Elementary.

The school board called a public hearing Wednesday night at the home of the Arnall Middle School Knights to discuss a controversial proposal to put all kindergarten through second grade students at Newnan Crossing and third through fifth grade students at White Oak. With nearly 300 parents on hand ready to joust, school board chairman Mike Sumner defused the crowd before the first shot could be fired.

The school board had scheduled a budget hearing at 7 p.m., with the public hearings on the schools set for 7:45.

But shortly after 7, Sumner delivered the news the parents wanted to hear.

"We have decided not to recommend adoption of the proposal to the superintendent," Sumner.

The announcement set off a one-minute display of applause and cheers from the crowd. Sumner said the school system would establish a committee to work on the problems at the two schools this summer and look at other alternatives next fall.

The deciding factor, according to the board chairman, was the number of e-mails the system received about the issue. He estimated the system received more than 100 e-mails, with 50 of them arriving at the office Wednesday.

The school board is trying to solve three problems, Sumner said.

First, White Oak is overcrowded. The school has 800 students this year and is projected to have 850 students next year.

Second, Newnan Crossing is being under-used with a population of only 450 students.

Third, there is a high concentration of at-risk students at Newnan Crossing.

The board chairman said the newly established committee would look at possible solutions including redistricting and building an addition at White Oak.

Since the issue was first brought up at a school board meeting earlier this month, parents organized to try and keep the schools with their current configuration and rumors have swirled through the county about why the board was considering such a drastic proposal.

One rumor concerned Pathway Communities Development Corp.'s new development, SummerGrove. SummerGrove is a planned community of 2,000 homes on Lower Fayetteville Road that is currently zoned for the Newnan Crossing school district.

Residents have claimed that Pathway was behind the school consolidation proposal to help the company's homes sell better, but superintendent of education Richard Brooks denied that Pathway was even a consideration in the debate.