Another Wake County school board candidate is, for all intents and purposes, dropping out of the race.

Chris Augustine, a candidate in the District 2 field, issued a statement today in which he announces he's going to stop actively campaigning but his name will remain on the Oct. 6 ballot. He cites the difficult budget cuts facing the school district and his belief his ideas won't be heard.

Two other candidates, Ray Martin and Jerry Ballan, also dropped out. But they did so early enough that their names won't be on the ballot. The ballots are in the process of being printed.

As was mentioned in yesterday's post, the Wake Schools Community Alliance had agreed to endorse Debra Goldman even before she filed to run for the school board seat in District 9.

To make it official, the WSCA sent out a press release Tuesday night officially announcing their support of Goldman. The press release touts her support for "stable neighborhood schools in a community model" and "voluntary calendar options for all families."

With Lois Nixon likely to pick up the backing of groups that support current school board policy and Goldman getting the backing of the critics, where will Ray Martin fit in the mix? Additionally, will other candidates file before Friday to make the District 9 race even more congested?

Debra Goldman filed today to run for the District 9 seat on the school board.

In her press release, Goldman says she'll support using only voluntary year-round assignments and "implement sensible assignment policies which keep students close to home." While it's not in the press release, Goldman is being endorsed by the Wake Schools Community Alliance.

"MYR schools in Wake County, like those in hundreds of other school districts, have not succeeded," Goldman says in her press release. "They are expensive, inefficient and cause immeasurable damage to Wake County families. The time has come to end mandatory year round assignment."

UPDATE

Chris Malone was the only other candidate to file today. He's running in District 1 and was previously endorsed by WSCA.

Goldman has a daughter entering Martin Middle School in Raleigh and a son at Cary High School. 

She is a breast cancer survivor who stopped working several years ago after the disease was diagnosed.

Lois Nixon was the only person to file today to run for the school board.

In her press release today for the District 9 seat, Nixon touted her experience as an education and "award-winning community leader." So far, Chapel Hill educator Ray Martin is the only other candidate who has filed, although a third person backed by the Wake Schools Community Alliance hasn't filed yet.

Nixon said her priority "is to focus on improving the achievement of every student — the high achievers, as well as those who struggle with academics, and she wants to engage the community to help all children succeed."

Will the mystery candidate please step forward for the District 9 school board seat?

Joe Ciulla, a member of the steering committee for Wake Schools Community Alliance, said they have agreed on an endorsement for the District 9 seat that includes much of Cary. But he said they're not announcing the endorsement until that person announces his/her candidacy.

This means the endorsement won't be going to Ray Martin, a Chapel Hill teacher, or Lois Nixon, an environmental educator. Both have announced their plans to run for the school board.

Several people filed today for Wake school board, including a person that hasn't been mentioned before on the blog.

John Tedesco, a vice president for Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Triangle, filed to run in the District 2 seat that Horace Tart hopes to retain. Click here for Tedesco's web site.

"Forced busing, forced year-round assignments, redistribution, increased school violence, increased drop-out rates, schools bursting at the seams, and a system growing out of control, are merely the symptoms of our real problem," according to Tedesco's web site. "Shuffling kids to balance out numbers, test scores, and income ONLY waters down the real problems to the point where we can not identify or then solve. We have a SYSTEM and a Board that does not understand their primary responsibility is to put our children, families, & communities 1st."

It's probably appropriate that Rita Rakestraw will officially "kick off" her campaign tonight for the school board at a martial arts academy.

Rakestraw's kickoff event will be at 7 p.m. at Black Belt USA, 300 Black Belt World Drive in Knightdale. She's been campaigning since March but tonight's event coincides with the official start of the candidate filing period on Monday.

Starting at 8:30 a.m. Monday and running through noon on July 17, candidates can officially file with the Wake County Board of Elections for the four school board seats on this year's ballot.

Supporters of the diversity policy may have found their candidate in the District 9 school board race in Cary.

According to the latest edition of the Independent, Lois Nixon has told the weekly that she'll announce her candidacy for the open District 9 seat. Nixon is past president of Environmental Educators of N.C. and former coordinator of the Keep America Beautiful program in Wake County.

According to the Indy, Nixon is also active on the education committee of WakeUP Wake County. That group has been a vocal supporter of the school system.

UPDATE

Included link to this week's Indy article. 

Two early starters have indicated they plan to run for school board this year.

Both men filed paperwork with the Wake County Board of Elections to form candidate committees. They'll have to submit paperwork when the official candidate filing period begins July 3.

Otis Tyrone Lindsey has indicated he'll run for the District 1 seat being vacated by Lori Millberg. Ray E. Martin has filed paperwork for the District 9 seat being vacated by Eleanor Goettee.