The latest round of campaign finance reports show that Wake County school board chairman Ron Margiotta and school board hopeful Jim Martin are off to a good financial start.

According to a report filed July 15, Margiotta reported having raised $8,985 in his bid to win re-election in District 8. His biggest donor at $4,000 was Dr. James Fulghum III, a member of the John Locke Foundation board of directors and a frequent contributor to Republican causes.

Margiotta's next largest donors were retired CPA Harry Eberly at $1,745 and lobbyist/former state GOP House member Connie Wilson at $500.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST FOR INFO ON JIM MARTIN'S DONORS

None of the speakers had good things to say Tuesday about the proposed Wake County school board redistricting maps.

As noted in today's article, most of the speakers were critics of the board majority who questioned both the way the new maps were developed and the boundary lines used. Another gripe was about school board members Chris Malone and John Tedesco saying ahead of time they wouldn't support making revisions to the maps.

Jim Martin kicked things off with questions about the changes, particularly in southwestern Wake. He said that area has been "a pawn in annexation discussions" and other issues.

UPDATE

Click here to view the proposed map from Jim Martin.

The legal fight will go on over the lawsuit accusing the Wake County school board majority of violating the state's Open Public Meetings Law.

The plaintiffs filed an appeal Monday over the dismissal of the lawsuit. In a press release, they said they had appealed "fearing a recurrence of unreasonable attendance polices in future board meetings."

“A legal declaration that the Board violated the Open Meetings Act is absolutely meaningful to me and to many other parents in our community,” said Barbara Garlock, one of the plaintiffs, in the press release. “The Board should be held accountable for its pattern of disregard of standards, policies, rules, laws, the spirit of the laws—all of which protect and promote citizen interests.”

Ticking off magnet parents and students may have gotten the Wake County school board majority its first legal challenge.

As noted in today's article, many of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed Thursday are either magnet parents or students. Anther common theme is their opposition to the changes to the diversity policy being backed by the new majority.

For instance, Enloe High School and Ligon Middle School are well represented among the plaintiffs.