The Wake County school board named two new principals tonight and transferred another school leader to a job in Central Office.

Dhedra Lassiter was named principal of the new Rolesville Middle opening in  July with a salary of $98,350. She's been principal of Heritage Middle since 2007.

Elizabeth MacWilliams was named principal of Brassfield Road Elementary with a salary of $68,513. She's been an assistant principal at Davis Drive Elementary since 2009.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST FOR BIO SHEETS

Normally, the Wake County school board approves principal appointments unanimously.

But tonight, the board voted 6-2 on the entire list of administrative appointments presented to them. School board vice chairman John Tedesco and board member Debra Goldman didn't specify which one(s) they opposed.

Here's the list:

SEE END OF POST FOR BIO SHEETS

The Wake County school board moved one high school principal to Central Office this evening and transferred another principal to a different school.

John Williams, the principal of Middle Creek High School in Cary, was appointed senior director for high school education. The job became open after Ruth Steidinger switched to being senior director for middle school education.

Williams opened Middle Creek in 2001 and will leave the school on Nov. 1. Thomas Dixon will serve as interim principal at Middle Creek, Dixon, the former longtime principal of Apex High School, will receive a salary that's equivalent to $131,580 a year.

There's some good news and bad news for parents about potential changes in the Wake County student assignment plan.

Staff is recommending today that North Ridge Elementary now feed into Sanderson High instead of Millbrook High. Staff says there's capacity at both schools and it will free up more magnet seats at Millbrook, create more seats for students who live near that school and still give proximity priority to some North Ridge families who want Millbrook to Sanderson.

Staff said they can't recommend the proposal from parents to do a 40-40 split for both high schools or sunset current North Ridge students because it would set a precedent they'd feel would have to be offered to families at other schools as well. They said offering a mix of base assignments with a choice plan got Charlotte-Mecklenburg in trouble.

UPDATE

The assignment plan was approved as recommended by staff with no changes.

Most of the 28 speakers at Thursday's public hearing wanted the Wake County school board to make changes and/or delay a vote on adoption of the new student assignment plan.

As noted in today's article, several speakers referenced Tuesday's election results that brought in three new school board members and could result in a new Democratic majority taking office Dec. 6. Speakers asked for a delay until November or December.

"If the board is willing to wait one month until after we see what the results of the next election are, Mr. Hill’s seat, I believe that the board will begin to come together in a much more dignified way and that the decision that is made will reflect the will of the entire community and not just a narrow majority," said the Rev. Tom Rhodes.

It's the self-described "principled principal" running against three challengers who all think they can do a better job of representing District 3 on the Wake County school board.

As noted in today's article, school board member Kevin Hill is emphasizing his education background in his re-election bid. With the departure of Carolyn Morrison in December, Hill says he would potentially be the only board member left with experience as a teacher and principal.

"As a Board of Education, it's important to have some perspectives from an educator with both my experience as a teacher and principal," Hill said.

Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata said today that the new student assignment plan is ready for adoption on Oct. 18, and delaying it would only hurt parents and students as they try to implement it for next school year.

Also during today's press conference, Tata repeatedly pointed to how the student assignment task force has spent seven months on developing the new plan. He compared it to how the magnet school program was approved by the board in 1982 only three months after presentation by staff.

On feeder patterns, Tata said he's looking at more adjustments, citing the concerns raised this week by Jeffreys Grove Elementary parents. In response to a question about Brassfield Elementary, he pointed to how parents would have priority if they wanted to go to their closest secondary school. He said he expected to be able to honor those requests in the lottery.

Click here for the online story. I'll go into more detail.

UPDATE

Click here for a handout from today's press conference listing the 12 highlights of the new proposal.

The Wake County school board filled two top-level jobs and a principal's vacancy tonight.

Christine Mulder was hired for the newly renamed position of chief of family and public engagement. The job was previously called chief of communications but is being revamped as part of Superintendent Tony Tata's shakeup of his leadership team.

Her predecessor, Michael Evans, resigned last month.

UPDATE

Mulder's salary is $132,500. Baker's salary is $120,000.

Wake County school officials announced today that an additional meeting on the student assignment plan has been scheduled for Monday at Millbrook High School.

No reason was given for the Millbrook meeting. But the revised feeder patterns released on Monday made a pretty substantial change to Millbrook's feeder pattern.

Before Monday, staff had proposed that Douglas, Fox Road, Joyner, Millbrook and North Ridge elementary schools feed into Millbrook High.

But following parental complaints, the base students from Douglas and Joyner were dropped from the recommendation. Staff replaced them by adding Baileywick and Brassfield elementary schools to the feeder pattern.

How has the Wake County school system determined if a school is "healthy?"

David Holdzkom, assistant superintendent for evaluation and research, gave the school board's economically disadvantaged student performance task force a rundown on Thursday as he presented Wake's 2009-10 Healthy Schools Report.

The repot looks at academic performance, school populations, facilities, technology, climate, resources, staffing and programs at individual schools. The report is a carryover from the old days of the socioeconomic diversity policy.

UPDATE

For those who are having problems viewing the PDF links I put up, the ED task force has now posted them on its website. Click here to view the Healthy School Report. Click here to view the report with the staffing data.