Is it odd for a nearly all-white student band to be performing jazz music?

Wake County school board member Jim Martin alluded to that situation on Tuesday as he joined other board members in congratulating the more than 800 Wake County students who participated in last week's 30th Annual Pieces of Gold show.

Martin said students who participate in the arts are more likely to do well academically. But then Martin said he had "to make an observation and give us a challenge" about the lack of minority participation last week.

One thing that became clear on Tuesday is that Wake County families really like 8:30 a.m. start times, especially those whose kids go to elementary schools that start at 9:15 a.m.

As noted in today's article, the school board approved Tuesday this revised 2013-14 school bell schedules for each school. A common theme voiced by board members and the public is the concerns families have with continuing to start most elementary schools after 9 a.m.

Wake operates a two- and three-tier bus system in different parts of the district. This means the majority of buses run two or three routes in the morning and afternoon to save money.

Should the Wake County school system spend as much as $90 million in the next school construction bond issue on technology?

At Wednesday's school board facilities committee meeting, staff outlined proposals for $54 million to establish a "classroom baseline" and $36 million in network systems. Click h here for the network needs.

A lot of the discussion was around the classroom technology piece, where the goal in the next bond is to reach a ratio of one device (laptop, iPad or tablet) for every three students. This would involve 50,000 devices for $25 million.

Is Senate Bill 325 essentially a second try for Republicans to hold a majority on the Wake County school board?

As noted in today's article, the stated main purpose of the new legislation is to give individual Wake County voters the ability to elect a second school board member. But the bill also lets state Republican lawmakers rewrite the boundaries for Wake's school board districts.

This comes after the redistricting plan approved by the former Republican school board majority in 2011 didn't turn out as some thought that it would in ensuring GOP control of the state's largest school district.

Is S325 the final version of what will be passed legislatively for changes in Wake County school board elections?

As noted in today's article, the bill would only let voters pick two of nine board seats instead of the five out of nine requested by Wake County Commissioners. Voters would pick the one for their district and in the half-county district they'd now also be located in.

But the bill, which was filed Wednesday on the last day for local bills in the Senate, could be revised before things are done.

UPDATE

Census records show that the bill would put John Tedesco in the same district as Tom Benton and Kevin Hill. This means District 1 would include parts of Garner, Zebulon and the watershed area in Northeast Wake

The issue of Wake County school security will continue to be on the agenda as the district's task force on school safety holds its first meeting this afternoon.

The group, chaired by Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison and retired Raleigh Police Capt. Al White, is supposed to review Wake school safety policies to come up with recommended changes. The meeting, starting at 4:30 p.m. at Crossroad II, 110 Corning Road in Cary, is open to the public.

Security was also an issue for Wake County school board members during Wednesday's facilities committee meeting.

Should the Wake County school board release to the public the names of the finalists for school superintendent?

As noted in today's article, the board will hold off until closer to May 8 to make the decision on what to do with the names of the finalists. That date will coincide with when they'll pick the semi-finalists.

The question is what to do when the board whittles it down to two or three finalists by the end of May.

The level of distrust between members of the Wake County school board's Democratic majority and Superintendent Tony Tata during his final month on the job was high.

As noted in today's article, the release this week of more than 3,400 pages of emails from Aug. 1 through Sept. 25 showed repeated board allegations that staff was trying to undermine them. Democratic board members also tried to distance themselves from the bus problems and the complaints about the release of the draft student assignment plan.

“I hate to seem suspicious, but at this time I am left with little other than to conclude that some on staff are trying to undermine the Board by creating mass confusion in the community,” school board member Jim Martin wrote in a Sept. 22 reply to Ellen Nightingale on the draft plan. “This is unacceptable.”

Will the Wake County school board's decision Tuesday to back a statewide resolution opposing transferring school ownership to county commissioners be a good or bad thing?

As noted in today's article, Republican school board members tried to talk their colleagues out of voting on the resolution Tuesday. But members of the Democratic board majority insisted they needed to respond to what's now become a statewide issue since the Wake County Board of Commissioners made the request.

“This is not the best way to deal with these situations," said Democratic board member Jim Martin. "But we’re not in the best situation. This is an issue that should have been discussed between our two boards. It shouldn’t be going to the legislature.”

The Wake County school board passed the voluntary desegregation resolution it needs as part of it federal magnet grant application, but in the process it led to a discussion about achievement at magnets and the programming options at non-magnets.

At the last meeting on Feb. 5, the board considered this voluntary desegregation resolution. Approval was required as part of the $10 million in federal magnet dollars Wake will request to start up three new magnets and to revamp the themes at two schools.

School board member Deborah Prickett came to the discussion with a long list of notes to raise her concerns about approving the resolution.