By GABE JORDAN

gabe.jordan@gaflnews.com

CORDELE — Crisp County’s Board of Education took preliminary steps Tuesday toward keeping the current millage rate in place for the 2008-09 fiscal year.

The board unanimously approved, with an abstention from Scott Forehand, advertising a projected $34,688,126 budget that will reflect no changes in the millage rate, even though the current financial picture is less than sunny.

Donna Beavers, the school district’s finance officer, told board members that Crisp County’s property tax digest is on the upswing due to recent new home construction in the area. But she also cautioned that sales of several existing homes resulted in negative reassessments to the tune of some $300,000.

What that means, she explained, is some houses in Crisp County sold last year for less than the value appraised by county assessors.

The board’s actions on Tuesday do not guarantee there will be no change in the millage rate, but they do indicate the likelihood an increase will not be necessary. Forehand said after the meeting he abstained from the vote because he is in favor of reducing the millage rate in the future.

In other business, the board agreed 3-1 on the positioning of a new elementary school planned for construction near the crossing of Old Hatley Road over I-75. The general location has already been approved, but Tuesday the board needed to determine the specific position where the school will be built on the site so that paving and sewage and drainage planning can move forward.

Board member Lydia Adkins objected to the positioning eventually adopted by the board over concerns about the planned construction’s proximity to wetlands on the property.

In other business, school board members:

• Learned that a hearing in federal court in Albany that was originally scheduled for Tuesday was postponed until July 8. The hearing stems from a lawsuit filed against the school district to stop the practice of accepting students from Dooly County into the system.

• Accepted the resignation of Daphne Nicki Johnson from Southwestern Elementary.

• Approved the hiring of three teachers at the high school. Jenna M. Stanford will teach in the science department and Shena Nicole Williams and Sally E. Fletcher will both work in special education.

• Addressed some minor housekeeping issues involved in ongoing renovations at the high school.