Wake County school board member Keith Sutton is dissing the way the superintendent search was handled that resulted in the hiring of Anthony Tata.

Sutton said the board's search committee had given the full board the names of three finalists. (He's not naming the other two people, sticking withe board's policy of keeping names confidential.)

Sutton said Tata and another finalist were far superior than the third person.

Wake County residents aren't hesitating to give their feedback on how Wake can save money in the face of next year's budget crunch.

As noted in today's article, Wake had 463 comments as of Dec. 16 to its online suggestion box. Four of the most commonly suggested ideas are going to four-day weeks, charging students to play athletics, encouraging veteran teachers to retire early and cutting administration more.

“If we get a single idea that’s worth considering, it’s been useful,” said school board member Keith Sutton, who had suggested creating the suggestion box. “We need to find out from the public what sacrifices they’re willing to make.”

Should new Wake County Superintendent Anthony Tata continue to appear as a guest on national television news show and be a writer on conservative websites?

As noted in today's article, school board members say that Tata's contract allows him to continue those activities as long as he does it on his own time. Since he's typically in those roles because he's a retired Army brigadier general, he's not supposed to mention he's speaking as Wake's superintendent.

The question, which is splitting along partisan lines on the board, is whether Tata should exercise that right. He's on vacation and didn't indicate to board members one way or the other if he'd continue those activities.

One question today is how much support will Anthony Tata get from the school board in being selected as Wake County's new superintendent.

It's likely Tata will get the support of all the Republican board members. Board vice chairwoman Debra Goldman has broken ranks at times but she's also the head of the search committee that recommended Tata.

Will any of the Democratic board members, who had all opposed efforts to let non-educators hold the job, vote for Tata? And what message will it send if the vote is divided?

UPDATE

The board is back after a 31-minute closed session. Keith Sutton is also not here so seven members are present.

Sutton, in an e-mail message, said he wasn't here because of the lack of ample notice about the meeting. The same reason was given by Anne McLaurin, who has medical duties today, why she couldn't attend.

The meeting was scheduled on Tuesday.

Even though Hill and Morrison voted against Tata, they said they'll throw 100 percent support behind him now that he's superintendent.

Wake County school officials have locked down today the dates and locations for the five public hearings on the 2011-12 student reassignment plan.

Hearings will be held Jan. 10 at Cary High, Jan. 11 at Millbrook High in North Raleigh, Jan. 13 at Heritage High in Wake Forest, Jan. 19 at Southeast Raleigh High and Jan. 20 at Garner High. The hearings will begin at 6 p.m.

The question is whether it's worth it for the public to go. For at least some school board members, the answer is no.

Wake County school board member John Tedesco says he hasn't given up his quest to bring home to Garner High the students who live in town near the school.

Earlier this year, Tedesco had unsuccessfully proposed the reassignment to Garner High of students who live in historic downtown Garner but who now go to Middle Creek High near Apex. You're likely to see a renewed push at today's board work session.

"I'm asking for hundreds of kids who live in the poorest part of Garner to come back home to Garner and I know what those nodes look like," Tedesco said at last week's board meeting. "They look like 80-90 percent African American families and you know what they say to me all the time, 'Mr. Tedesco I just want to go to school across the street.'"

Do the proposed Southeast Raleigh moves from the last Wake County school board student assignment committee meeting conflict with the Oct. 5 directive?

Democratic members of the school board insisted those moves were in conflict with the directive so they shouldn't be considered. On the other hand, the Republican board members insisted those moves were in line with the directive, which cites the new assignment policy and the use of proximity as a principle.

You can expect the issue to be rehashed at today's student reassignment work session.

Wake County school board member Keith Sutton wants the school district to begin setting priorities for things to protect in the face of next year's budget crunch.

Sutton got the process started at last week's finance committee meeting, where he proposed ideas such as protecting pre-K funding, providing enough funding for alternative schools and improving the academic performance for African American male students.

Sutton said he's hoping the full school board will have a similar discussion on the issue.

An online suggestion box is now live for you to provide comments to Wake County school leaders on how to help with next year's budget problems.

Click here for the link to give your suggestions. It's the brainchild of school board member Keith Sutton, chairman of the board's finance committee, as a way to get suggestions from the public.

"Who knows what ideas we’ll get," Sutton said. "We could get some great ideas."

Wake County school board members insist they're being serious when they float ideas such as charging fees for students to play sports, ride the school bus or go off campus for lunch.

As noted in today's article, school board members at Wednesday's finance committee meeting said it's time to talk about the unthinkable to help deal with the budget crunch. Board members who were present Wednesday were preparing for the public backlash.

“These are clearly things – riding the bus and athletics – we expect to be free and provided by our school system,” said school board member Keith Sutton, chairman of the finance committee. “But in a tight time such as is this, is this something worthy of considering? Is this something that the public is willing to pay to save teachers’ jobs?”

UPDATE

Tedesco is also suggesting looking at establishing a formal foundation to get contributions. It's an idea that was also discussed earlier this year by school board member Keith Sutton, chairman of the finance committee.