By PAT NEWMAN
Staff Writer

Fayette County's new school safety task force, formed in response to recent violence in schools nation-wide, will begin its work tomorrow.

The group will meet at 7 p.m. at the LaFayette Center, formerly Fayette County High School.

“We're going to organize and divide up into three subgroups,” said Wayne Robinson, director of secondary operation for the school district. The first group will focus on discipline and dress code, the second will discuss law enforcement personnel and emergency personnel and the third will address the schools' safety plan, according to Robinson.

“We want the terminology to be the same in each school,” Robinson said in reference to the school safety plan, so a term like “code red” will mean the same thing in all the district's schools. “We also want to develop a quick flip chart for different situations,” he said.

Safety issues have been the focus of numerous town hall meetings and foscus groups recently as local educators and community leaders work to prevent problems in Fayette County similar to those at Columbine High School in Colorado and Heritage High in Conyers, Ga.

The Board of Education has directed the safety task force to study all aspects of making schools safer, including the often discussed idea of requiring uniforms at local schools.

The group is composed of parents, educators and staff from the school district's central office.

The task force will make its recommendations to the Board of Education in August with implementation set for the 1999-2000 school year, Robinson noted.