New students moving into Fayette County will soon have a one-stop center for registering for school and discovering pertinent information about the school system.

During Monday night’s school board meeting, Assistant Superintendent of Operations Sam Sweat and safety coordinator C.W. Campbell outlined the system’s new welcome center.

The center opens Jan. 3 at the LaFayette Educational Center in Fayetteville. Campbell said the center will provide a centralized registration service to better serve the community. In January of 2005, more than 300 new students registered, and Campbell said the center will help the school system maintain a centralized database and provide a consistent practice for enrolling students.

The center is already taking appointments for registration, but Campbell did say walk-ins would be allowed as the schedule permits.

“This is a big change, but we believe it will help us,” said Sweat.

Parents will have to bring the normal paperwork for a student to enroll, such as birth certificate and immunization forms, but the system is changing one form of residency proof.

“We used to allow warranty deeds, but now we’re requiring a property tax statement or a signed lease agreement,” Campbell said.

Once the information is input at the center, the parent will receive a sealed packet to take to the school to complete the registration process. The information at the center will be input into the database, so when the parent arrives at the new school, the information will already be processed.

Four employees, plus an additional three clerks who work at the center, will help process registration at the beginning of the semesters.

Having all the information at one location will aid the system in locating out of district students, Campbell added.

Board members suggested that maps to the center be available at all schools, since some parents may show up at the schools to register their students.

Campbell agreed and said the system will monitor the efforts of the center and make any adjustments after it opens for business.

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