Redistricting committee scraps its map, adopts one drawn by school executive

The committee to redraw Fayette’s elementary school lines moved closer to nailing down its final options last week, including closing East Fayette Elementary School, housed in the oldest school building in the county.

Closing the school in Fayetteville would be one option as the committee tries to balance the population at existing schools, while opening two elementary schools in the next two years.

The other option the committee is mulling is keeping East Fayette open and distributing the students at 19 schools. After working on a map for several weeks, the committee rejected its initial map last Thursday night, and chose a map that had been previously developed by a central office executive, Coordinator of Athletics, Safety and Discipline C.W. Campbell.

“This map provides more movement of students, but it centralizes the students around schools,” said Assistant Superintendent Sam Sweat.

Campbell added that his map utilizes the large footprint schools such as Minter, Spring Hill, Cleveland, Crabapple and Peeples to the highest capacity.

“These larger schools should have larger populations. My goal is for your child not to be crowded,” said Campbell.

But if the committee chooses the 19-school option, the biggest impact could be felt at Braelinn Elementary School, which could see its population drop from a current 505 to an estimated 346 students next year. Braelinn’s capacity is 588 students.

Currently, Burch, East Fayette, Huddleston, Peachtree City Elementary and Peeples have an enrollment that exceeds each school’s capacity.

If the committee decides to choose the option that would close East Fayette, many of those students would head to Spring Hill, while some would head to Minter and the new elementary school at Inman.

However, the committee was clear that if the school were closed, the faculty and staff should be transferred to Inman. The committee was very impressed with Principal Lewis Robinson and his staff and wanted to make sure the team stayed together.

“You can add that as part of your recommendation,” Sweat said.

During tomorrow night’s meeting, the committee will hear from consultant Kelly Carey, who will have run five-year numbers for the committee’s two maps.