The first meeting of the Wake County school board's new student assignment committee has now been set for Thursday.

School board member John Tedesco, the committee chairman, said the meeting will focus on looking at a handful of node changes for the 2010-11 school year. This includes requests from Brier Creek families to be reassigned to the new Mills Park Middle School and to stay at Panther Creek High.

The meeting will take place as the final community members of the committee are being finalized. The membership so far represents a diverse mix of people, some of whom will be well known on the blog.

 SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST FOR FINAL TWO COMMITTEE MEMBERS

CORRECTION: I HAD THE WRONG SUE KING LISTED. SEE INFO AT END OF POST.

School board candidate Cathy Truitt burned through a good chunk of her campaign money before the runoff.

This campaign report Truitt filed today showed that she had $621.39 left as of Oct. 19. She's spent most of the $19,425.31 she's raised so far.

The NAACP, the Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children and the Wake Voter Coalition are urging churches and "supporters of diversity" to fight the return to neighborhood schools.

In a Tuesday press release, the three groups warn that the new school board majority "will jeopardize our children's educational opportunities" and that Southeast Raleigh schools will "not have quality resources" as neighborhood schools.

The press release says that Debra Goldman's support for extending electives in Cary and Apex could eliminate magnet programs. They also blast the idea of a KIPP Academy in Southeast Raleigh, which has been favorably mentioned by John Tedesco and Chris Malone, as being "another segregated school" that won't provide equal education for students.

How Cathy Truitt went from saying that John Tedesco would resegregate the school system to now endorsing him is an interesting story.

As noted in today's article, Truitt said she changed her mind after speaking with Tedesco on Tuesday night. But Tedesco says he didn't tell her anything different from what he has said during the campaign.

Let's go back in time to Monday.

UPDATED POST

Cathy Truitt fired bullets at the new school board members, the Wake County Republican Party and the Wake Schools Community Alliance as she announced her decision to concede the District 2 race.

Truitt warned that the new board majority will move toward resegregated schools by cutting magnet programs and sending students to "pure neighborhood schools." She said the public needs to speak out now to get the board to back off from making the quick changes she said they're planning.

"I don't think people want the school system to be blown up," Truitt said at her press conference. "If people get involved now, they can have an impact."

School board candidate Cathy Truitt is revising her account of being asked if she'd support firing Supt. Del Burns.

Truitt had said on WPTF on Sept. 24 that school board member Ron Margiotta had asked her in a vetting interview if she'd support a motion to fire Burns. Truitt said Wednesday that she was asked that question but she's not sure if Margiotta was the questioner.

Truitt said that at several candidate vetting interviews she was asked the same question. The question was whether she would support firing Asst. Supt. Chuck Dulaney.

School board candidate Cathy Truitt is using her ample warchest to make another pitch in new ads running in weekly newspapers in Garner and Fuquay-Varina.

In this ad appearing this week in Fuquay-Varna and Garner, Truitt calls herself "the clear choice for Wake school board." The ad also says she's the only candidate who "has an independent voice without a hidden agenda."

The ad talks about how she will "oppose forced reassignment," "aggressively pursue a balanced approach to community schools and expanded magnet program options" and "bring better socio-economic balance to District 2 schools."

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST 

The 30-day pre-election campaign finance reports for Wake school board candidates are trickling in.

Candidates who intend to spend more than $3,000 have to have their report postmarked by today. As of this morning, five reports were in at the Wake Board of Elections.

The most interesting reports tell who is backing incumbent Horace Tart and challenger Cathy Truitt in the District 2 race. John Tedesco's report hadn't been in as of this morning.