The Fayette County Board of Education approved two elementary boundary maps on Dec. 17, 2007, one for the 2008-2009 school year with East Fayette remaining open as an elementary school and the other for the facility to be used for another purpose in 2009-2010.

A proposal was brought before the board at its regular meeting on Jan. 28 to move up the repurposing of the school one year earlier due to budget constraints.

Two public hearings are scheduled for Feb. 11 and 13 beginning at 7 p.m. at the Fayette County Board of Education office at 210 Stonewall Avenue, Fayetteville.

The board of education plans to vote on the matter immediately following the public hearing on Feb. 13.

Under the proposal, East Fayette would be repurposed by the Fayette County Board of Education for other uses within the school system.

Students currently attending East Fayette would be assigned to Inman Elementary, with an approximate enrollment of 470, for 2008-2009, and Spring Hill Elementary, with an approximate enrollment of 600, for 2008-2009. The approximated enrollments include the addition of the East Fayette students.

Inman and Spring Hill Elementary schools are the only schools to which students will be assigned. There are no plans to expand other existing elementary schools to accommodate the students from East Fayette.

The construction budget for Inman Elementary is $14 million with funding coming from bond money and savings on other bond projects.

A final decision as to the use of East Fayette has not been made. Any decisions regarding the future use of the school will be made by the Board of Education through public meetings. If the repurposing of East Fayette is approved, it will be following the two public hearings.

Residents wishing to address the board at the hearings will need to place their name on a sign-in sheet the night of the meeting. The doors will open at 6 p.m. both evenings for speakers to sign in. All sign-in sheets will be promptly taken up at 7 p.m. Citizens may also submit formal written comments or suggestions.

Speakers will be called in the order they signed up and will have three minutes to make their statements. Neighborhoods should select one speaker to represent groups of residents supporting the same idea. There may be multiple representatives from one neighborhood if there are differing viewpoints.

A complete list of guidelines that will be followed at the hearing are available online at www.fbcoe.org, click on “Board of Education” on the left-hand side of the screen, select “News” from the top menu bar and then “District News” from the pull-down menu.

The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the time-line and feasibility of repurposing East Fayette Elementary only. The school boundaries were finalized in December and will not be reconsidered.

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