An ethics complaint lodged against the Fayette County Board of Education will not be heard by the state Ethics Commission at its next meeting Sept. 21.

The meeting, coincidentally, is on the voting date of the school district's $90 million referendum.

A spokesman for the Ethics Commission confirmed that a complaint was received Aug. 27 from Claude Paquin of Fayetteville, and revised Sept. 2. It is still under investigation.

The complaint claims the school board made an indirect contribution to the group called Fayette Citizens for Continued Excellence in Education, a group working for passage of a 1 percent special local option sales tax and bond sale totalling $90 million, by allowing Todd Barnes of A.G. Edwards to advise the group.

The investment firm is one of two the board will pay to execute the sale of $50 million in bonds if the referendum is passed.

State ethics rules forbid donations from school boards to political action groups. The complaint refers to the possible future payment to A.G. Edwards from the board as a violation.

The sales tax/bond package calls for $90 million to be used for new classrooms and school expansion, technology upgrades and security devices for the county's schools.

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