Fayette County’s newest school has its first principal.

Rae Presley-King, who is currently an assistant principal at Booth Middle School in Peachtree City was approved by the Fayette County Board of Education Monday night for the top slot at the new school.

However, the board held off on whether rising eighth-graders would attend the new school or be able to stay at their current location. School spokesperson Melinda Berry-Dreisbach said the school system sent out a survey to the possible 176 eighth-grade students eligible to attend the school.

In November, after a contentious battle over boundaries for Bennett’s Mill, the board left a small glimmer of hope open for upset parents. The board asked the staff to look at the feasibility of leaving rising eighth-graders at their current schools next year.

The problem could be that if some eighth-graders opted to go to Bennett’s Mill, there could not be enough students for the teachers to teach on a full-time basis.

Berry-Dreisbach said the school system received 91 percent of the surveys back and 81 students wanted to stay at their current school, while 66 voted for Bennett’s Mill and 16 did not respond.

“We’ve tried to contact those who didn’t respond, but many of them have moved or their phone has been disconnected,” she said.

The board did not take any action on the survey results, but Berry-Dreisbach said the system may call for a special meeting Feb. 5 to deal with the issue.

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