No one in the Wake County school system is thrilled with the options but by the end of the day there should be a plan in place to deal with short-term overcrowding at Panther Creek High School.

Of the four options on the table, staff will recommend today that the school board approve a plan to install two additional modular units at Panther Creek and three at Green Hope High School. The projected cost is $6,944,600, which includes an assumed offsite budget of $1.5 million.

This option is being recommended over other more expensive options that would call for a standalone ninth-grade center. But while the modulars are cheaper, it means the loss of some athletic fields and mean fewer students would be able to attend the popular Panther Creek.

UPDATE

The school board unanimously approved the staff recommendation to put the modulars at Panther Creek and Green Hope high schools.

What seemed to influence several board members is that Panther Creek Principal Rodney Nelson and Green Hope Principal James Hedrick backed the option.

Click here for the link for today's handout.

The Panther Creek High cheating incident and the school budget proposal dominated much of the discussion today's news conference held by Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata.

Tata said he stands behind how Panther Creek issued short-term suspensions and in-school detentions for the five students who were caught cheating. They were also required to take an alternative exam to see if they knew the material.

Tata was asked how fair it was for Panther Creek to give an alternative exam when some schools would give zeros for cheating. Tata pointed back to the ongoing grading practices review and how principals have autonomy to make decisions within the broad framework of board policy.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST

Who makes the most money in the Wake County school system?

That's one of the questions that the Charlotte Observe looked at as part of a Sunday article on six-figures salaries in Wake and Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools. Wake had 99 employees making at least $100,000 with 60 of them being principals.

This compares to 103 Wake employees with six-figure salaries in 2010, 112 in 2009 and 99 in 2008.

The crowding problem at Panther Creek High School these first few weeks of school has generated a good bit of media coverage.

The combination of rapid growth around the Northwest Cary school and the inability to get 22 modular classrooms set up before classes began has slammed Panther Creek. As was noted last week, students are using the media center and the auditorium until the modulars are installed.

The situation has raised questions about the process Wake uses to install modulars. It's also pointing to how high school students will likely be reassigned in 2009.