It seems to be a question of when and not if the General Assembly will pass the bill letting the Wake County Board of Commissioners take control of school construction away from the school board.

State House Speaker Pro Tem Paul Stam said Senate Bill 236 is very much alive this session. In its current form it lets commissioners in nine counties take over all facets of school construction.

The bill was referred to the House Rules, Calendar and Operations Committee which as of late has been holding announced meetings at the desk of the committee chair. This means the bill could get pop up on relatively short notice on the House floor.

If the House approves a version different from the one the Senate adopted last month, it's likely the Senate would just concur with the revisions.

In theory, the new Wake County school board election districts should give the edge to Republicans.

As noted in today's article, historical voting trends among the nine new districts show that five of them have typically voted Republican. It's not a surprise considering the lines were written up by staffers for Republican legislators.

Click here to view the map for the seven districts. Click here to view the voter registration data for the districts that was given to legislators.

Would changing the Wake County school board election districts result in the defeat of the pending $810 million school construction bond referendum?

As noted in today's article, it was brought up as a reason to urge State House members to not vote for Senate Bill 325. It didn't work. But how serious should the warning be taken?

Republicans had touted how voters would be able to now vote for two school board members under the bill. But state Rep. Darren Jackson, a Democrat representing Knightdale, complained how the new lines means his part of the county won't be electing anyone because they won't have the sway of more populous areas.

For the fourth day in a row, the vote on the Wake County school board election bill has been postponed in the state House.

House Speaker Pro Temp Paul Stam asked that the vote be moved to Monday's calendar because several members of the Wake delegation couldn't make it to today's rare Friday session.

Bills have to be approved on second and third readings. Typically the third reading is a formality and occurs right after second reading. But some controversial bills result in objection to third reading, pushing that vote to the following day.

House Speaker Thom Tillis said there will be full debate Monday night on Senate Bill 325 for adoption on second reading. He warned though that if there's an objection to third reading that he'll convene a midnight session to get third reading done to free up Tuesday's session for budget matters.

In what's become a familiar tune, the state House did not take up action today on the Wake County school board election bill.

State House Speaker Pro Tem Paul Stam said that the House ran out of time for Senate Bill 325 on today's calendar. But Stam said that it will be on Friday's calendar and he expects a vote then.

Several amendments have been proposed to the version of the Wake County school board election bill that will be voted on this afternoon.

The ones that will likely pass are from House Speaker Pro Tem Paul Stam, including one that would revise the boundary lines for the districts even further. He's moving around several of the voter election districts.

The amendments from Democrats aren't likely to go anywhere. For instance, Rep. Rosa Glll would convert the two regional seats into true countywide at-large seats. It's unclear what would happen with the other board seats.

UPDATE

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST

Does it matter whether Wake County school board members are elected by a plurality or a majority of the votes?

As noted in today's article, the revised version of Senate Bill 325 approved by the state House Elections Committee on Wednesday does away with the requirement that Wake school board candidates need a majority to win.

Instead, you'd only need a plurality to join the school board.

It looks like the Wake County school board should be prepared to see the General Assembly pass the legislative changes requested by county commissioners.

As noted in today's article, State Rep. Paul Stam of Apex, House Speaker pro tempore, said Wednesday he expects the GOP-led legislature to pass this year new laws that would allow Wake County commissioners to take over ownership of schools and to require that some Wake school board seats be elected on a countywide basis.

Stam also said he’s expecting a bill to pass this year that would allow all counties to help charter schools build their facilities.

Former Wake County school board chairman Ron Margiotta raised nearly $65,000 in his unsuccessful re-election bid last fall.

In his year-end report filed Monday, Margiotta reported raising $64,902.72 and spending $61,006.11 during the hard-fought District 8 battle. The Republican incumbent outspent his Democratic opponent, Susan Evans, who raised $43,386.53 and spent $39.077.16.

But the gap narrows to nearly even and could possibly in the end be in Evans' favor when you throw in all the outside money that was spent to topple Margiotta from what was thought to be a safe seat in Southwest Wake.

Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo raised nearly $100,000 in her unsuccessful campaign bid.

In her final campaign report filed Monday, Losurdo reported raising $99,207.29 and spending $98,207.83 It was a record amount for a Wake school board race.

The Republican outspent her main District 3 opponent, Democrat Kevin Hill, who raised $68,598 and spent $54,322. But the numbers look to be more in Hill's favor when you factor in the outside spending.