To no one's surprise, the leadership of the Wake County Republican Party is endorsing Deborah Prickett in the District 7 school board race.

There wasn't much doubt about the GOP's choice at this point considering that Karen Simon, the other candidate in District 7, is a Democrat. While Prickett isn't a Republican, she is at least an unaffiliated voter.

This is the second go-around in District 7 for the GOP. The GOP had previously endorsed fellow Republican Jerry Ballan before he had dropped out of the race.

Another Wake County school board candidate is, for all intents and purposes, dropping out of the race.

Chris Augustine, a candidate in the District 2 field, issued a statement today in which he announces he's going to stop actively campaigning but his name will remain on the Oct. 6 ballot. He cites the difficult budget cuts facing the school district and his belief his ideas won't be heard.

Two other candidates, Ray Martin and Jerry Ballan, also dropped out. But they did so early enough that their names won't be on the ballot. The ballots are in the process of being printed.

Take Wake Schools Back and Wake Schools Community Alliance are on the same page when it comes to endorsements for school board candidates.

Both groups are backing Chris Malone in District 1, John Tedesco in District 2, Deborah Prickett in District 7 and Debra Goldman in District 9. Take Wake Schools Back announced its endorsements today while WSCA made them before the filing period ended last month.

The one crack in the unified opposition will likely be closed up next week when the leadership of the Wake County Republican Party revises its endorsements.

Former Wake County school board candidate Jerry Ballan may have had more than sufficient reason to drop out of the race.

Ballan was among a list of Florida businessmen who received immunity in exchange for agreeing to testify in 1991 against the operators of a bordello. While Ballan's name appeared on the bordello's client list, his secretary told a newspaper reporter in 1991 that Ballan had simply mailed his business card to the prostitute.

Ballan denied the prostitution case was the reason he dropped out of the school board race. He told reporter Ray Martin that the reason was his wife's health issues.

School board candidate Jerry Ballan has an interesting take on the year-round school issue, especially the conversion of schools like the ones on the Leesville campus.

Ballan used the Iraq War to draw an analogy to the current debate about what to do with year-round schools. A short form version was used in today's North Raleigh News article to lay out the views of Ballan and Karen Simon on year-round schools.

As previously reported, Deborah Prickett, the other District 7 candidate, has called the conversions a mistake and says they should be reversed. It helps explain why she's been endorsed by the Wake Schools Community Alliance and Concerned and Committed Leesville Parents.

Wake Democrats and Republicans are getting into the act for this fall's school board races.

Wake County Republican Party Chairman Claude Pope fired the first shot in April when he announced the GOP "will vigorously support School Board candidates who actively support the concept of neighborhood schools."

The Wake County Democratic Party is gearing up as well now to back candidates who would largely preserve current school board policies.

CORRECTION

Changed Prickett's voter status to unaffiliated from independent.

The District 7 race is getting more crowded with Jerry Ballan the lone candidate to file today for the school board.

Ballan, a securities principal/certified financial planner, became the third candidate in District 7. It looks like Ballan is positioning himself between Deborah Prickett, a board critic. and Karen Simon, a supporter of school policies.

"I'm not pro-SES (socioeconomic status) but we have to find a way to work around it to find something better," Ballan said. "You can't throw the baby out with the bath water on the first day."