If you’re zoned for Bennett’s Mill Middle School for next year, that’s where you’ll be going.

After hearing reports from school system staff Monday night, the Fayette County School Board left intact the boundaries for the county’s newest middle school and decided not to allow rising eighth graders to remain at their current school, mainly J.C. Booth in Peachtree City.

The biggest factor was the cost associated with allowing the students to remain at their present school.

“It would cost the system around $835,000,” said Assistant Superintendent of Operations Sam Sweat.

The costs would come from having too many teachers because there would not be enough students at the new middle school to offer the full compliment of classes. The system could also face a loss of funds from the state because 26 classes at Booth are currently over the state maximum for class size. The system got a waiver for those classes this year, but Assistant Superintendent of Education Lyn Wenzel said the waiver was not guaranteed for next year.

“The staff has worked really hard in trying to make this work,” Sweat said.

Board member Janet Smola wondered if it was possible for the eighth grade class at Bennett’s Mill to participate in activities at their old school, if the opportunity was not offered at the new school.

“I know a lot of these students have been looking forward to going on band and chorus trips,” she said.

Superintendent of Education John DeCotis said that was a possibility and cited the recent trip to the Tournament of Roses Parade by the Fayette County High School band.

“The band didn’t have enough people for the trip, so 20 Whitewater High School band members also went,” he said.

The school system earlier had sent out a survey to the parents of rising eighth graders and asked if the students wanted to stay at their current school or move to the new one. More than 90 percent of the 176 students returned the survey, and 81 — about half — said they wanted to attend their current school and 66 said they wanted to move to the new school.

When it came time to vote on the issue, board Chairman Terri Smith was not sure a vote needed to be taken since the board was not changing anything from the previous vote of setting the attendance lines.

But Smola said it would probably be a good idea, since she thought the public expected a vote on the issue. When the vote was initially taken, Smola, Smith and Lee Wright voted to uphold the current attendance line, while Marion Key abstained. Board member Bob Todd was not at the meeting.

But Smola wondered why Key was abstaining. “Do you have a financial or ethical reason for not voting? Don’t you want the people to know where you stand on the issue?” she said.

Key said that people knew where she stood, because she did not support the original attendance line proposal.

“So, you think these students should be allowed to stay where they are?” Smola said.

Key said she didn’t and would change her vote to a yes to allow for a unanimous vote.

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