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.

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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.