How significant, if at all, is it that the gap has narrowed between the Wake County school system's graduation rate and the state average?

It was one of the points of contention during Tuesday's school board retreat as the board reviewed this draft strategic plan. Superintendent Tony Tata talked about how pg. 6 shows the state's graduation rate has risen since 2006 while it's dropped in Wake.

"That’s an alarming trend there where we are flat or marginally decreasing while the state is steadily increasing," Tata told the board.

Jim Huge was mistaken when he said he wasn't trying to make Tuesday's Wake County school board retreat a counseling session.

As noted in today's article, school board members traded heated words with each and with Superintendent Tony Tata. In turn, the superintendent didn't hold back either in his feeling that some board members were trying to undercut staff.

In the end, board members agreed to meet one-one-one with Tata to start things anew. Whether those meetings and the two-hour discussion Tuesday helps remains to be seen.

Is the key to meeting downtown Raleigh's school capacity needs to look to its past?

As noted in today's article, the Wake County school system is in preliminary talks about reacquiring and reopening the Thompson School and Crosby-Garfield School. Both schools, located in Southeast Raleigh near downtown, were declared surplus and turned over to the county a long time ago.

Wake County Schools Superintendent Tony Tata said the new student assignment plan showed that they need to increase school capacity in and near downtown Raleigh.

What responsibility does the Wake County school system have in providing transportation to preassigned rising sixth- and ninth-graders who don't have bus service this fall?

As noted in today's article, the school board voted to direct staff to, when possible, modify existing bus routes to accommodate students or to offer them a spot at a school on their proximity list that would give them transportation.

But that motion stops short of guaranteeing bus service to their feeder school. And that motion only extends to students who are receiving bus service this year and would lose it this fall, not transfer students who now don't get bus service.

During today's news conference, Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata announced a new online survey on the magnet school program and pointed to an uptick in home sales to dispute allegations that the student assignment plan is driving people away.

Starting with magnet schools, click here to take a survey that will run through June 1. Wake will use the feedback from the survey as part of the review of the magnet school program.

Tata said part of the review is looking at whether the objectives of the magnet school program should be revised, including making student achievement one of the components. He said the achievement gaps in magnet schools are "pretty stark."

Having a gifted and talented magnet theme can help students vying for state and national academic titles.

As noted in today's article, a team from Carnage Middle School won first place at the state level and will now represent North Carolina in the National History Day contest. They produced a documentary on the state's former eugenics program.

The Wake County magnet students got time to work on the project because Carnage offers a wide range of electives, including for academic competitions. One such elective is for students to participate in National History Day.

Another Carnage group finished in third place in the junior documentary category, one spot shy of making it to the national competition. They interviewed Superintendent Tony Tata for their documentary on what's happened since Brown vs. Board of Education, including whether Wake could resegregate following the end of the diversity policy.

Should the Wake County school system guarantee bus service to all students who choose to stay on their current feeder pattern?

It's an issue in the new student assignment that the school board has been wrestling with for the past several months. The discussion got personal at times last week with board member Jim Martin, the most outspoken proponent of providing the bus service, taking shots from board members Debra Goldman and Deborah Prickett.

For now, staff is continuing to review what bus service can be provided.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST

The Panther Creek High cheating incident and the school budget proposal dominated much of the discussion today's news conference held by Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata.

Tata said he stands behind how Panther Creek issued short-term suspensions and in-school detentions for the five students who were caught cheating. They were also required to take an alternative exam to see if they knew the material.

Tata was asked how fair it was for Panther Creek to give an alternative exam when some schools would give zeros for cheating. Tata pointed back to the ongoing grading practices review and how principals have autonomy to make decisions within the broad framework of board policy.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST

Will the Wake County school board require changes in the way school resource officers operate in order for them to continue to patrol the district's high schools and middle schools?

The school board will vote today on these contracts with Raleigh and Cary to provide school resource officers for the 2012-13 school year. The vote comes amid lobbying efforts by several advocacy organizations to get the school system to cut back on the role of SROs, from what they're armed with to what interaction they can have with students on discipline issues.

In an email Monday to school board members, Jason Langberg of Advocates for Children Services wrote that approving the contracts "without more careful consideration of the >issue of SROs in WCPSS would be irresponsible, undemocratic, and arguably, a violation of multiple Board policies."

UPDATE/CORRECTION

Click here to view the email sent to board members on Monday. Corrected post to say letter from N.C. Juvenile Defender.

The school board voted 5-4 to table the Cary SRO contract. it went along party lines with the Democrats voting yes and the Republicans voting against tabling.

The board also voted to table the Raleigh SRO contract.

Is 190 extra teaching months of employment enough to deal with sharply underenrolled Wake County schools this fall?

The issue came up during last week's school budget discussion when school board member Jim Martin asked how staff determined which schools would get new STEM and Global Schools programs for this fall.

Martin said that the new student assignment plan is projected to result in 33 elementary schools being below 60 percent of their projected kindergarten capacity. Based on the data, Martin asked why some schools that were less underenrolled got the new programs.