I agree with ABCWrap. The location of east fay is always going to be needed and as usual the BOE is being short sighted in their decision making. As far as the building of Inman. It was needed. I have it on very good authority that it was built so that the people in the country near the school could attend Inman and leave room at Minter for the kids from Peeples which is still over crowded. The parents of the Peeples kids raised Cain and the BOE allowed them to stay put leaving a vacant building. Then CW campbell, Sam Sweat, Marion Key, and Bob Todd came up with this plan of shutting East Fay and shifting the kids to Inman. THe only thing I haven't been able to completely find out is what role Dr.Decotis played in all of this. Regardless of the beginning of this fiasco, all of Fayette county will pay for the mistake that the BOE just made. I hope they don't think anyone will ever vote for another SPLOST for money to be given to the BOE.This group of people has proven themselves unworthy of managing any of our tax dollars in the future. I hope people will remember how badly this board has handled this entire situation from beginning to end and vote ALL OF THEM OFF THE BOE.

I too want to thank Tom VanHoozer and all the parents that joined together from Spring Hill. Although not able to attend the meeting personally, I was in fact supportive of moving the entire staff and student body of East Fayette to Inman. Why not? They reap all the benefits and two other schools stay intact. This is not based on any social prejudices or whatever you bloggers are thinking. It is merely what is best instead of moving some here and there. It makes since to keep the staff together (which is what they want) and not upend two other schools as well as EF. As a parent of Spring Hill children, I welcome the diversity and change is good. We have an outstanding new principal this year, Randy Hudson, and a super strong PTO. Our parental involvement is amazing and the students are very happy. I'm sure this is true at Minter as well. Let's leave well enough alone. Our FCBOE has been under fire lately for some of their decisions, some that I too disagree with. However, this decision I support 100%. They really did do Fayette County right this time!
Thanks Tom for all your hard work and for voicing what most of us felt at this forum.

Thank God for the Spring Hill PTA, we would not want to upset the Good Folks in the “Big House” over in Lakemont / Lakeview make their kids go to school with kids from East Fayette… No sir They have saved themselves again. Ok lil children now go play because you can’t come to our school… no sir, you don’t have a big house, or a key to the amenities area. And then I like the compromise.. Well if “they” are going to go to Spring Hill, then we all pull out and go to Minter… What a bunch of John Wieland stuck up, uptight, idiots! Saved again… will see what happens next year!

“Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
George Orwell

...As I sit here in the veranda on my estate and look down on the magnolia's, I can't help but wonder how burdened Shadow08 must be. ...

My dear Shadow08, I have but one piece of advice if you really think this is about "big houses." Get over yourself you self-righteous hate monger. (I know - it's name calling but as my kids would say 'He started it')

Was LM/LS Saved? I never felt like I needed to be "saved" from anything. I was ready to send my kids wherever and with whomever the county decided but I welcomed the opportunity for input. The plan implemented was the best alternative for the greatest number of students and staff that could gain sufficient support from the community and the BOE in the time alloted. Quite an accomplishment when you think about it. I wish the idea had been listened to in the fall when it first came up. I'd be watching Leno right now.

Am I troubled that this wasn't resolved with zero negative impact - Of course. I feel bad that there are those that will have to deal with problems created by the final outcome. It's compassion not guilt though because we fairly tried to help as many as possible. We don't live in a perfect world. If you doubt that - look at the ratings for American Idol.

Just to be fair - I don't completely disagree with you. I am uptight and I do live in a Wieland house. But let's get one thing perfectly clear - technically speaking I am not stuck up because I really am better than you Shadow08.(and really just you) Not because of where I live, or how much I pay in taxes or how much smarter I am than you. Unlike you - I don't judge people by where they live and what I think they do or do not have. Oh - we might also agree that I am an idiot for wasting time to respond.

That's enough for now. I think I'll saunter down to the lake and partake of the amenities.

Isn't it time to stop the whining? What is done is done and the negative comments aren't helping anyone at this point. Maybe your comments make you feel like a big person, but please leave the East Fayette kids out of it. There are alot of good, well-rounded children at that school and to continue to use them as your platform to point out any problems you may have with other Fayette County citizens is just WRONG! These children are remarkable and have been used as pawns long enough!!

The Kids are Great! They are pawns, I just hate the way some of our selct communities can bully others and get thier way. All kids should have the ability to attend a great school, you both are missing my point! No more battle with unarmed oppnt's

“Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
George Orwell

Shadow you seem to be saying that East Fayette isn't a great school.

If you checked the AYP stats you'd see they do an OUTSTANDING job. If you heard their teachers at the board meetings you'd know they truly CARE. That goes a long way!!!

Parents like me just naturally defensive when you talk about yanking half our students away even though there was NO overcrowding at area schools.

What's going on with the preconceived idea that all of E. Fayette is low class and slumming it? I live in a big house and have a key to our amenities area and also pay a fortune in property taxes (which is fine by me) and my child attends E. Fayette and loves it. E. Fayette is NOT made up of a bunch of thug kids. I have a background in education and know that despite a school having a reputation as being the high class school it can have plenty of problems. There are plenty of rich kids that aren't gifted academically and others that can cause behavior issues for a classroom. Enough with the stereotyping!

Read my comments again, the FCBOE has been running scared of the Lakmont / Lakeview mafia for years. They need to close East Fayette down and the good upstanding folks got uppity. Nothing wrong with East Fayette, goes to show you that the BOE will do anything to avoid a fight with the “good” folks of Lakemont / Lakeview.

“Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
George Orwell

I personally know a few folks that live in those subdivsions and they are good people. No pretense, they are just good hardworking people who didn't want to have their community upset so drastically. The drastic part I refer to is not socioeconomic or even race, it was the loss of their family. I grew up with 5 brothers and sisters and if you told me I had to give up 3 to make way for 3 other kids, I would have told you to hold on and let's see if we can make some other arrangements. I believe this is truly what was at the core of the "Save Spring Hill" campaign. Maybe I'm just stupid, but I also didn't want my East Fayette family torn apart either and I can see where they were coming from. I'm sure there were some that had other motives, but to group them all as a whole isn't right either. Have you ever been inside Spring Hill? I've visited there and didn't see any country club. Nor did I feel like the folks there felt that way. Every school in Fayette County and every area in Fayette County will have at least one person who thinks he is better than everyone else. That's life. When we all stop sterotyping people based on a few other's actions, we might just start setting the great examples for our children that we should be. No sterotyping - you can't judge a book by its cover. There are wonderful people everywhere in Fayette County be it at Whitewater Creek, The Woodlands, Virginia Highlands, etc.

Shadow, I probably placed my comment in the wrong place. I wasn't necessarily addressing you. It's just been my feeling through all of this that the E. Fayette kids are seen as the "poor little kids" of the county and not just b/c they have to go to school in an outdated building. I'm new to the area, but honestly, I don't see what the big hoopla is over Lakemont and Lakeview neighborhoods...people act like it's the Buckhead of Fayetteville but all I see are older homes that all probably need a good redecorating (which I do on the side if anyone is interested!). I'm off topic so I'll stop here.

GaGirl, I am championing the kids at East Fayette! My post concerned what a very vocal portion of the city/county can accomplish. I was told by someone that the underlying issue was the parents at Spring Hill were upset because the kids from East Fayette would disrupt the “county club” status quo. They were ready to jump ship and go to Minter if the “kids” were forced to move to Spring Hill. The majority coming from Lakemont / Lakeview. I know we have some of the best students in the state here in the county, and each and everyone deserves the chance of securing a quality education regardless where they live or which pool they swim in. They have become a pawn in the school politics where the FCBOE can be swayed by a few NIMBY’s who are willing to raise a stink. I agree, it’s a rundown neighborhood with old houses worth less today than they did a year ago. I think you can find better areas to work, I’d worry the checks might bounce!

I actually heard the 2nd rep from Spring Hill say to her group (in the redistricting meetings they were broken up into 3 groups) that if the kids from E. Fayette came to her school, she was selling her home & moving!! Heard it with my own ears - so Shadow08 is not making this stuff up!

Be careful who you choose to defend or people like that will come after Timberlake next. Big houses, amenities, people who speak out for their community - sound familiar?

A lot of people on all sides of this debate said things in the last 6 months they regret. Much of it thoughtless and accusatory. It still doesn't mean every family in a 350 home area deserves Shadow08's accusations.

Words matter and in the long run rhetoric like this is a greater threat to property values in all of Fayette Co. than Title I status would ever be for a single school. Fayette is a great community. All of it. We need to come together and stop listening to rabid activists who get their jollies from inciting one group against another.

It sounds like that person, who is threatened by the E.Fayette students, needs to move out further, maybe to Pike or Henry county.

Anyway, there is a socio-economic change going on in several PTC schools as well. For example, Kedron Elementary, known for having the highest test scores, and whitest faces, will soon be receiving the students from the Wynmmeade subdivision. Wynmmeade is notorious for quite a bit of crime, rental homes, etc. I haven't heard any squawking, yet, from the Kedron parents.

Currently, the Wynmmeade kids go to PTC Elementary, where my children attend. PTC Elem. has done a fairly decent job of assimilating students from all socio-economic levels, into the school. Those, like that women who wants to move, who are apprehensive about taking on the E.Fayette students, should visit PTC Elem. and look at the success over there. It is multi-racial and has helped all of the students, at least my kids, realize that the real world is made up of all colors.

------------------------
GOD BLESS THIS MESS

This is a defensive response (I admit it) to the comment supposedly made by the 2nd rep of Spring Hill but I can just about guarantee that not only are my child's test scores higher than her child's, but so is my bank account balance and believe it or not....my kid goes to E. Fayette (insert shocked face here). I've only lived here a year but it is almost comical how uppity some people can be around here. Good grief people, we live in Fayette County, get over yourselves. We all want the best for our kids and the best way to do that is to be involved and know what's going on with them. Quit being so scared of diversity, I promise it won't hurt.

I'm trying to figure out what was meant by these 2 statements blogged lately:

Shadow08 "I think you can find better areas to work, I’d worry the checks might bounce!"

and
Crime Dog "You NAACP types kill me!!!!!!!!"

I hope that you can explain.

I couldn't be there tonight. How long was the standing ovation when you addressed the board with your thoughtful and logical positions?

Sorry I didn't speak, however I have been emailing every board member. I didn't speak since the board wouldn't &/or couldn't respond to the speaker anyway. I have received (shockingly) a response from 1 board member who said that I was in the minority (duh -I could have told them that). It's nice to know that at least in this county the vocal majority rules - whether it's best for the ENTIRE county or not.

Yeah, like the buses wouldn't burn gas in idle waiting to cross Hwy. 85 to get to Spring Hill.

The cost will be minimal for that extra 1-2 miles a day for the 25-30 buses that will serve the E. Fayette students at their BRAND NEW SCHOOL!!!

You're just griping to gripe. Everyone here sees through it. Go away!

It might be 1-2 extra miles for those children living on the south border of East Fayette, but for those living north of 54 it's a long way. Plus they'll have to cross 54. I'm glad that you seem able to afford the extra fuel costs.

Crime Dog beat me to correcting you about the zones. Since you won't let it go - let's talk fuel costs..

Lakemont is 4.3 miles from Minter - 2.5 from Spring Hill. By not sending them to Minter a significant percentage of the school population from that NPU will save fuel by not changing schools.

Buses traveling down 92 will be able to achieve higher speeds with fewer stops and therefore be more fuel efficient. The alternative plan would have dealt with a minimum of 4 additional red lights. If I keep going, I'll eventually save so much you'll get a refund. If you got $$ back I couldn't sleep at night so I'll stop.

If fuel costs are your last argument I am really disappointed. I would have expected a better closer since you've had such a good time inciting discord among the neighborhoods. Time to pick a different fight - try global warming.

What about students who live in areas around Inman? Some of these families were actually excited about opening a brand new school that is much closer to their homes than Minter. Also, what about these 40 children who will be "orphaned"? Now they will have to ask for special permission to attend Minter and provide their own transportation (if thats possible for them)I don't know about Spring Hill but I do know that cars line up at SHM to pick up children as early as 1:45 or so. Now it will just be more car riders...

No one going to east Fayette is north of 54! Those kiddies go to Fayetteville Primary and Intermediate schools.

It will be an extra 1-2 miles for EVERYBODY at East Fayette going to Inman, but I'm sure they'll be glad to have a brand new school to replace their aged, decrepit, stuck in the 50s building.

So, people who live by the ace hardware...all go to Hood? If that's the case than I apologize, but I have been told that they go to E. Fayette since it's right across the street and it would just be logical. Oh, but wait!! I must be wrong! Logic certainly doesn't apply!!

Just going now to put butter and sugar on my words so that they taste better as I eat them.

Yep, all those kids who live by Ace attend Hood Ave. & Fayette Intermediate.

To illustrate: we have friends who live on Gwinnett Street, which is right across from the exit drive of East Fayette Elem. Years ago, when they attended East Fayette, they would walk to the school for Family Reading Night, band concerts, etc., because they were so close and parking was a major pain on such a small campus for school-wide events.

After yet another redistricting of elementary schools, it was determined by the FCBOE that everyone living NORTH of Hwy. 54 (no matter how close to East Fayette Elem.) would travel across town to Hood & FIS.

I looked at the map - You were right about homes north of 54...my words sure tasted good!