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Published Saturday, September 06, 2008 in Local

West Central set to merge with technical school in LaGrange

By News Staff

The Times-Herald

West Central Technical College and West Georgia Technical College will merge -- under a proposal authorized by the state board that oversees technical schools.

West Central offers classes at Central Educational Center in Newnan and has proposed building a campus in Coweta. The school -- formerly known as Carroll Technical Institute -- has campuses in Carrollton, Waco and Douglasville.

West Georgia Technical College has its main campus in LaGrange and also offers classes in Franklin, Greenville, Luthersville, Manchester and West Point.

Morris News Service reported Friday that the board of the Technical College System of Georgia has authorized the consolidation of as many as 14 schools. The mergers are part of an effort to trim spending in the face of the state budget crisis.

While the department's goal is to carry out each of the consolidations, the plans are not final, spokesman Mike Light told Morris late Friday.

No campuses will be closed, and all the savings would come from administrative cuts. While some positions would be eliminated, employees will not lose their jobs. They will instead be re-assigned, Light said.

In addition to the West Central-West Georgia merger, Griffin Technical College in Griffin and Flint River Technical College in Thomaston are also on the list. Other schools slated to be combined are:

* Swainsboro Technical and Southeastern Technical in Vidalia.

* Valdosta Technical and East Central Technical in Fitzgerald.

* Northwestern Technical in Rock Spring and Coosa Valley Technical in Rome.

* Appalachian Technical in Jasper and North Georgia Technical in Clarkesville.

* Chattahoochee Technical in Marietta and North Metro Technical in Acworth.

The merger of Chattahoochee and North Metro is already underway, Light said. There are 33 schools in the technical college system.

Efforts by The Times-Herald to contact Light; Ben Chambers, public relations specialist at WCTC; Dawn Cook, West Central's vice president of institutional advancement; and Dr. Skip Sullivan, WCTC president; on Friday afternoon were not successful.