Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo has raised a record total of more than $80,000 in her bid to unseat incumbent Kevin Hill.

New campaign finance reports made public today show that Losurdo had reported raising $82,357 through Oct. 24. The prior record was the $79,500 that conservative businessman Bob Luddy had raised, largely out of his own pocket, in his unsuccessful run for the school board in 1997.

Hill’s new report shows he’s raised $42,748 through Oct 24. While Hill has almost half of Losurdo’s total, outside groups not connected to his campaign have spent tens of thousands of dollars on mailers and television ads attacking Losurdo.

SEE END OF POST FOR REACTIONS FROM BOTH CAMPAIGNS

Based on the number of Leesville people who view the blog, you'll probably be interested in this new development.

This evening, the school board tapped Leesville Road High Principal Stephen Gainey to be the new assistant superintendent for human resources. He replaces Maurice Boswell, who is retiring.

No date has been set yet when Gainey will start his new job. Gainey has been Leesville Road High's principal since 2004. 

It looks like the poor economy is benefitting the school district on the hiring front.

Maurice Boswell, assistant superintendent for human resources, said today that they only have 21.5 teaching vacancies, much less than normal for this time of year. He said it's been easier this year recruiting the more than 950 new teachers hired for this school year.

If the vacancies aren't filled soon, Boswell said they'll head to Florida with employment contracts in hand. Several big Florida districts such as Broward, Dade and Orange counties have been laying off teachers due to declining enrollment.

Yesterday, Don Haydon, chief facilities and operations officer, said they only have 20 bus driver vacancies. They normally have around 80 openings this time of year.