Wake County school board members Deborah Prickett and Susan Evans have been engaged in a heated email exchange over how the vote went to lease an office building to use as the ninth-grade center for Panther Creek High.

Evans says the vote was not unanimous but Prickett says it was unanimous. The issue may hinge on whether you're talking about the vote in closed session or the one in open session at Tuesday's board meeting.

The board was briefed on the proposal during the work session.

Is the rest of the nation watching this fall's Wake County school board elections?

As noted in today's article, that's an assertion made by state Rep. Paul Stam, the House Majority Leader, in explaining why he's endorsing school board chairman Ron Margiotta in his re-election bid in District 8.

"I support Ron Margiotta because this election represents a national litmus test in education reform," Stam said in an invitation to a July 14 fundraiser for Margiotta. "From the New York Times to the Washington Post, the Wake County School board elections will be analyzed on a national scale."

You can call this a compromise or a game of chicken, but the school board is only willing to pay a little more than half the $1.4 million cost for road work near Panther Creek High School.

The school board voted 5-4 this afternoon to authorize its leadership to negotiate with Cary to pay up to $750,000 for the road improvements. The inability to work out a deal has blocked the use of 22 modular classrooms on Panther Creek's campus.

"This is not how our funds are supposed to be used," said school board member Beverley Clark, who proposed the $750,000. "Our funds are supposed to be used to build schools."