How does the idea of closing school for one day sound as a way to help school employees take off the 10 hours required under Gov. Bev Perdue's furlough order?

That idea was proposed at today's school board meeting by Jennifer Lanane, president of Wake NCAE. She argued that school employees won't find the time any other way to take off the 10 hours.

Lanane asked the school board to back the group's call for closing school for one day. There was no immediate reaction from the school board.

UPDATE

The school board passed a resolution asking the state to let them shorten the school year by a day.

Here's a bit more discussion on how the Lost Colony deal came to an end at Tuesday's committee of the whole meeting.

Heading into the meeting, it looked like some school board members were all set to continue the relationship with Granville County schools to pay the $1,443 per student tuition for the Lost Colony students.

But things changed when the school board found out that bus service was already being provided to the Lost Colony area. This means service wouldn't have to be added if Wake kept the 51 students now going to Granville.

Here are some quick updates from today's committee of the whole meeting.

The school board agreed to make the Graduation Project optional for the Class of 2010. Students who voluntarily complete the project will be able to wear a cord at graduation and receive a notation on their transcript.

But the board asked staff to draft it up so that it would be a graduation requirement in 2011 even if the state delays implementation again.

What should the school board do with the "Lost Colony" students who live in northern Wake near Granville County?

As noted in today's piece by Ruth Sheehan, the Wake school board will weigh whether to continue paying tuition to send those students to school in Granville County. It's a decision that could cost Wake around $70,000 a year.

Due to their proximity to Granville, Wake has paid tuition for these kids to go there for school since 1931.