Fresh from strong criticism for one round of middle school boundary hearings, the Fayette County Board of Education decided Monday night that a possibly more comprehensive set of elementary school hearings will occur next fall.

The decision followed on the heels of deciding to open a new elementary school on Inman Road in 2008 and a new elementary school at either Centennial in Peachtree City or a northern Fayette site in 2009.

During that boundary hearing, the committee will draw the lines for the two new elementary schools and adjust lines to alleviate overcrowding at some of the county’s elementary schools.

But the decision was not without controversy, as board member Marion Key questioned why the board wanted to build on the Inman Road site south of Fayetteville.

“We’re adding on to Brooks Elementary. Why build there? The numbers don’t make sense,” she said.

Superintendent John DeCotis explained the Inman Road site had already been approved by the state and opening the school in 2008 could save the system thousands of dollars in rising construction costs.

Finance Director Lee Davis explained the system would have to sell at least a portion of the second series of $30 million in bonds during the summer of 2007 because the system was going to fall nearly $1.8 million short in construction costs for the projects in the first bond series.

But opening the school in 2008 triggers another round of boundary hearings. With all the contentiousness of this year’s hearings still fresh on their minds, the board explained why parents weren’t included in this round.

“When we used parents before, they were threatened and found it hard to be objective,” said board member Janet Smola.

Board chairman Terri Smith agreed, and added that during the board’s January retreat the issue needs to be examined. The board also needs to address the issue of feeder patterns from elementary to high school to better provide parents an idea of where their children will be going to school, said the board.

“What are our goals for boundaries? Every time we’ve done this, it has been just this bad,” Smith said.

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