The vacancy sign is now officially out in District 4 and Venita Peyton is hoping to get the nod.
Now that Rosa Gill is officially a state legislator, the school board has begun taking applicants for her position through noon on July 20. Click here for info on the selection process.
Peyton announced on her blog that she's applying for the seat.
CORRECTION: Changed the deadline to apply to July 20.
The game of guessing who wants to replace Rosa Gill on the school board is well underway.
Board members say they've been contacted by people interested in filling the soon-to-be vacant slot. As noted in a previous post, the board agreed Tuesday on the procedures that will be used to appoint a successor.
Two people whom Gill had indicated are interested in the job — PTA volunteer Jonica Rowland and retired principal Alice Garrett — were at Tuesday's board meeting. Garrett was there in her role as education chairwoman of the Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association to present Gill a silver bowl.
The love was flowing Tuesday for Rosa Gill at her last meeting as a school board member.
Gill was bestowed with awards and words of praise. Gill received several standing ovations from the audience.
A resolution passed by the board praised Gill for being a "dedicated member of the Wake County Board of Education, committed to a thoughtful process, willing to address difficult issues by involving and listening to others and unfailingly focused on the success of every child."
The clock will soon start for people to formally submit their names for consideration for Rosa Gill's seat on the school board.
As noted in today's article, the board agreed Tuesday to seek applications from the public through noon on July 20. The application window will begin once Gill's resignation becomes official, which is expected to take place by Thursday.
The board went through a lengthy review of the process. The upshot of it is that you shouldn't expect a guaranteed interview from the board.
The school board had a pretty busy day today.
The board elected Kevin Hill as the new chairman and agreed on a procedure for soliciting applicants to fill Rosa Gill's seat.
The board trimmed $3.3 million out of the budget after getting less than requested from commissioners.
CORRECTED LINK FOR BELL SCHEDULE STORY
The school board has just unanimously selected Kevin Hill to be the new chairman.
Horace Tart has been unanimously selected as the new vice chairman.
The board also agreed to take applications from the public for Gill's pending vacancy on the board. People will have until noon on July 20 to submit applications to the district. The goal is to appoint a replacement in August.
Rosa Gill, the soon-to-be newest member of the General Assembly, says she'll be a strong advocate for education.
Gill doesn't expect she'll be seated in time for next week's budget discussions in the state House. But she plans to make her voice heard when the final votes are taken later this session on the budget.
"Maybe I can persuade them not to cut as much from schools," said Gill, who is currently chairwoman of the Wake County school board. "I'm going to be an advocate for education when I get there."
Some folks have already indicated interest in filling Rosa Gill's seat on the school board.
Gill said at least four people have talked with her about the position. She said they'd all bring unique qualities to the board.
Gill said the potential candidates include Lillian Lee, the retired principal of Rolesville Elementary School; Alice Garrett, a retired administrator and former principal of Carroll Middle School; Jonica Rowland, an active PTA volunteer; and the Rev. Johnny Darden, who mentors at-risk students.
The school board will soon have to determine a procedure for naming a replacement for Rosa Gill, who was tapped by the leadership of the Wake County Democratic Party to fill a vacancy in the state House.
Board policy is rather brief on the process. The policy just says that the board needs to pick a replacement who is from that person's voting district to fill out the rest of the term.
But the board could go with the process that was used in 2001 when the last time a vacancy opened up.
The executive committee of the Wake County Democratic Party has named Rosa Gill to fill the state House seat being vacated by Dan Blue.
Gill narrowly defeated Bernard Allen Jr. this evening, picking up 21 votes, one more than needed. Gov. Bev Perdue still needs to appoint Gill but under state law she has to take the Democratic Party's choice because Blue is from that party.
The school board will now have to pick a replacement for Gill's District 4 seat, which covers Southeast Raleigh. The other eight members will appoint a replacement to finish out Gill's term, which expires November 2011.
