Update Posted January 7, 2008:
The elementary boundary maps finalized on 12-17-07 have now been posted to our website.  You may access them here.

Update Posted November 27, 2007:
The Fayette County School System will hold a public hearing on December 3 to gather input from the community regarding the proposed boundary changes for elementary schools.  The hearing will take place in the McIntosh High School auditorium. Doors will open at 6 p.m. with the hearing beginning at 7 p.m.  Residents wishing to speak will need to sign up to do so the night of the meeting. Signup sheets will be taken up promptly at 7 p.m. 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.

 

Update Posted December 6, 2007:

These files are very large.  For the best viewing experiencing, download the documents
to your local machine, then print out to view.

Link to PowerPoint Presentation
from Monday, December 3, 2007's
Board Meeting at McIntosh High School
(download to your local machine to view at your convenience)

Update Posted December 3, 2007:

 

Update Posted October 30, 2007: 
Click Here to read additional information about the Boundary Redistricting Process

 

Update Posted October 25, 2007:

A meeting of the Community Advisory Committee was held on October 22, 2007.  Click the link below for more information:

Meeting Minutes
Handout

 

Update Posted October 18, 2007:

A meeting of the Community Advisory Committee was held on October 11, 2007.  Click the link below for more information:

Meeting Minutes

 

Update Posted October 8, 2007:

A meeting of the Community Advisory Committee was held on October 4, 2007.  Click the link below for more information:

Meeting Minutes

 

Update Posted October 4, 2007:

A meeting of the Community Advisory Committee was held on September 27, 2007.  Click the links below for more information:

Meeting Minutes
Handouts

Update Posted October 1, 2007:

A meeting of the Community Advisory Committee was held on September 20, 2007.  Click the link below for more information:

Meeting Minutes
Mr. Rast's Response to 9-20-07 Meeting

 

Update Posted September 18, 2007:

A meeting of the Community Advisory Committee was held on September 13, 2007.  Click the link below for more information:

Meeting Minutes

Update Posted September 12, 2007:

A meeting of the Community Advisory Committee was held on September 6, 2007.  Click the links below for more information:

Meeting Minutes
Handouts

Update Posted September 5, 2007:

A meeting of the Community Advisory Committee was held on August 20, 2007.  Click the links below for more information:

Meeting Minutes
Handouts

 

Update Posted August 30, 2007:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT
Melinda Berry-Dreisbach, Public Relations
770-460-3535, ext. 122

Clarification to Articles in The Citizen
Regarding Elementary Boundary Redistricting

August 22, 07 – “New School Zones to be Drawn in Secret,” –stated that the voluntary citizen advisory committee, whose job is to come up with a proposed elementary redistricting map to present to the Fayette County Board of Education for consideration, will redraw the lines in secret without the press or public present. The reporter failed to mention the reasons school officials cited for restricting the meetings to committee members. These reasons were stated to the public and press during a boundary meeting on August 16.

First, the data being used by the committee may change from meeting to meeting as additional information is gathered. Any data released to the public in the early meeting stages of the committee most likely will not reflect the data that will be used to create a proposed boundary map. In order to avoid misinformation being disseminated to the public, committee members agreed to meet as a committee only. The second reason for this type of meeting was to allow committee members the privacy to speak openly and honestly about their views on how the boundary lines should be drawn. The intent was never to “hide” information from the public but to allow the process to unfold in a positive, productive manner before unveiling the proposed boundaries to the board and superintendent at a series of public workshops. 

In the third paragraph of the article, the reporter states, “Sweat told the committee, which features one member from each school, to use the side door on the school board building to enter the meeting.” Again, the reporter failed to mention that Sweat (Sam Sweat, assistant superintendent of operations) told the committee to use the side door because the next meeting would be held in Room 2, which is next to the side door. Instructing the committee to use the side door was for their convenience and not an attempt to enter the building unnoticed as implied in the article.

At the end of the article, the reporter mentions that committee members will update parents at each school about what is being discussed. This is an important part of this process. The intent is to be as transparent as possible so that the public understands the decisions the committee members make and the data that supports those decisions.

When seeking accurate information about the boundary process, the public is encouraged to talk to the boundary representative at the school or schools in their community or visit the elementary boundary redistricting page on the FCBOE website.

August 29, 07 – “Schools Open Up Meetings to Redraw Elem. Lines,” – states that “After a threat of an open meetings lawsuit from The Citizen, the Fayette County School System has decided that Thursday night’s meeting of the redistricting committee will be a public meeting.”

On August 22, 07, Public Information Specialist Melinda Berry-Dreisbach received the following email from John Thompson:

On Aug 22, 2007, at 1:46 PM, John Thompson wrote:

Melinda,

We have just had our afternoon staff meeting. Cal wanted me to tell you that he expects we will be able to attend next Thursday's meeting about the boundaries. Our legal sources are telling us this is an open meeting, and not allowing the press to attend would constitute an open meetings violation. Cal also wants all the documentation the consultant supplies to the committee as soon as it is disseminated. Failure to do so, in his words, would result in a lawsuit against the school system by The Citizen.

John Thompson

Sam Sweat consulted with legal counsel Phil Hartley and was told that the closed meetings were not a violation of the Sunshine Law because the committee was not appointed by the Fayette County Board of Education. The committee is made up of volunteers selected at each individual school. Although the school system had no legal obligation to do so, the decision was made to open the meetings to the public after Sam Sweat consulted with the committee to see if they were fine with the media and public observing their actions.

On August 27, 07, Melinda Berry-Dreisbach sent the following email to John Thompson:

John:

As per our legal counsel, the boundary committee meetings do not fall under the Sunshine Law for open meetings since neither the Fayette County Board of Education nor the superintendent appointed the committee nor would be present at redistricting discussions. The reason for restricting the meeting to committee members was so to create a forum where they would feel comfortable to speak openly and honestly.

We understand that redistricting is a sensitive issue for the community and we want the process to be as transparent as possible. Sam Sweat checked with some of our citizen committee members and they are fine with the media observing the meetings. Any materials disseminated to the committee are subject to Open Records Law and will be made available to the public.

Melinda Berry-Dreisbach
Public Relations
Fayette County Schools
 

Boundary representatives will inform parents at each school about the actions of the boundary committee following each meeting. When seeking accurate information about the boundary process, the public is encouraged to talk to the boundary representative at the school or schools in their community or visit the elementary boundary redistricting page on the FCBOE website.

* * *

Update Posted August 24, 2007

Comprehensive Planning Process Article by consultant Kelley Carey (Adobe PDF Format)

Update Posted August 13, 2007

There will be a boundary committee meeting August 16 (Thursday), 7 p.m., in the boardroom of the Fayette County Board of Education. Kelley Carey, our boundary consultant, will present data that has been collected during the individual school audits and will instruct the committee on the next steps of the boundary process.

 

Planning Process	Enrollment Totals

Click the link below for a map showing all elementary students in the county for school year 2006-2007 and the current elementary attendance zones:

Map

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