While students are busy whiling away the lazy days of summer, workers in the Fayette County School System’s Facility Services Department are moving into crunch mode to make sure all the schools are ready when school opens Aug. 13.

For department director Mike Satterfield, the end of school means a two-month rush to get all the renovating and repairs completed to insure a calm opening day.

This year, Satterfield has the additional responsibility of opening a new school, Bennett’s Mill Middle School on Lester Road in the county’s center.

“We’re 99 percent complete and they’ll be moving the furniture and equipment in later this month,” he said.

The school is next to Cleveland Elementary, and features a brick exterior with bold block letters on the front. As you walk through the doors where students will be entering in August, you’re struck by the amount of natural light that flows through the school, especially in the commons area.

Satterfield has no doubt the school will be ready by August and said that’s just one of the many projects keeping school system workers busy this season.

Other projects include:

• Painting the interior of Fayette County High School and replacing the carpet with tile.

• Replacing the floor covering at Peeples Elementary and painting the interior.

• Replacing the ceiling tile grid at McIntosh High School.

• Painting the interior at Booth Middle School and replacing the floor covering.

It’s an ambitious agenda, but Satterfield said the school system focuses on several schools each summer to make sure the facilities stay up to date for a new generation of students.

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