Jimmy Williams, the former East Wake head football coach, has joined the football coaching staff at Leesville Road.

Southeast Raleigh, Harnett Central remain Nos. 1 and 2

East Wake cracks the top 15 in Drew Pasteur's area computer rankings.

Changes are looming for how students will be selected to fill Wake County's magnet schools.

Asst. Supt. Chuck Dulaney told board members on Tuesday that his staff will be working on a formal board policy on magnet schools. This would help formalize the year-to-year guidelines that his staff develops.

One of the goals of the new board policy would be to try to address how some non-magnet schools are being negatively impacted by magnet schools. In other words, you could see changes that make it harder for some students to get into the magnet program.

UPDATE: LINKS AT END OF POST NOW WORKING 

One of East Wake High's small schools is getting a new principal.

Today, the school board appointed Ericka Lucas to be the new principal of the East Wake School of Arts, Education & Global Studies. Lucas will receive a salary of $93,802.

Lucas is currently an assistant principal at Wake Forest-Rolesville High and replaces Martha McCaskill.

No other principal changes were made today.

UPDATE

Click here for Lucas' bio sheet. 

Does East Wake High School's future lie in it becoming a magnet school?

That's a question that will be studied at today's student achievement committee meeting. School board member Lori Millberg, whose district includes East Wake, has floated the idea of keeping the school operating as four small schools under the magnet program.

As a magnet school, East Wake High would be able to draw students from across the county. But perhaps more importantly, it might lure back families who are choosing to attend Enloe High or other high schools.

I'll post in more detail later, but here's a quick rundown of today's school board meeting.

The school board voted to lay off eight employees who help oversee the construction program. It's the first of what's expected to be several layoffs in that area.

Staff recommended delaying a decision on East Wake High's small schools until December 2010 or January 2011 to allow audits to be conducted. No decision was made by the board.

The board continued to debate whether to apply for a federal grant that would allow it to expand the number of high-poverty schools that could offer merit pay. Staff warned it could lead to funding and equity issues.

How much time should East Wake High be given to see if splitting it into four small schools is working out?

As noted in today's article, some are urging giving the school at least a few more years. But school board members are considering whether to pull the plug once a grant runs out at the end of the 2009-10 school year.

East Wake High's first small school began in 2005. The next began in 2006. The last two opened in 2007.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST

A very vocal group of East Wake High teachers, parents and students are lobbying hard to save the school's small school theme.

As noted in today's article, a large contingent from East Wake High argued that they should be given more time to continue operating the campus as four small schools. The school board is contemplating discontinuing the program after the end of the 2009-10 school year and returning East Wake to a traditional comprehensive high school.

Supporters of the small schools told the school board a change would be a big mistake.

It looks like Wake will clean up a board/staff disconnect that limited how much high school students could carpool to school.

As noted in today's article, staff is revising high school parking guidelines to drop the wording that students can't share campus parking spaces. School board member Patti Head will ask her colleagues today to sign off on the revisions.

The changes became needed because the school board's efforts to encourage student carpooling hit a snag this school year.