The Wake County school board announced principals Tuesday for five schools.

Robert James was promoted from assistant principal to principal of East Wake School of Arts, Education and Global Studies in Wendell. James, who has been at East Wake since 2010, will now receive a salary of $70,812.

Eric Fitts was promoted from assistant principal to principal of Brentwood Elementary School in northeast Raleigh, Fitts, who has been at Brentwood since 2011, will now receive a salary of $80,814.

Ken Branch is retiring as principal of Brentwood Elementary School in North Ralegh just a few months after being named the Wake County School System's 2012 Principal of the Year.

Tonight, the school board appointed Teresa Abron, a retired principal, to be Brentwood's interim principal starting Dec. 3 and running through May 31. Board members said they were surprised by Branch's retirement.

In other principal appointments:

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The Wake County school board appointed one principal and three interims principals on Tuesday.

Robert Lewis was hired to be principal of Fox Road Elementary School in North Raleigh with a salary of $106,992. The former longtime Millbrook Elementary School principal has been principal of Ordway Elementary School in Bainbridge Island, Wash., since 2006.

Until Lewis starts, the board reappointed Teresa Abron to stay on as Fox Road's interim principal through the end of June.

UPDATE

Click here for the bio sheets.

The Wake County school board appointed a principal to North Forest Pines Elementary School tonight and made several interim principal appointments.

Syreeta Smith was promoted from assistant principal to principal of North Forest Pines Elementary in Raleigh. She's been at the school since 2007 and will receive a salary of $80,788.24.

As for interim principals:

Three new principals and two interim principals were announced at tonight's Wake County school board meeting.

Barry Richburg was named principal of Conn Elementary School in Raleigh with a salary of $72,386. He's been an assistant principal at Briarcliff Elementary since last year.

Annice Williams was promoted from assistant principal to principal of Poe Elementary School in Raleigh with a salary of $89,521. She had been principal of Barwell Road Elementary until much of the staff was replaced last year when it became part of the Renaissance School program.

Wake County school leaders announced tonight the appointments and transfers of seven permanent and seven interim principals.

Scott Lyons was named principal of Enloe High in Raleigh with a salary of $99,666. He's been principal of Leesville Road High since 2009. He used to be an assistant principal at Enloe.

Christopher McCabe will be principal of Heritage Middle in Wake Forest with a salary of $93,303. He's been principal of North Forest Pines Drive Elementary since 2007.

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The Wake County school board appointed one permanent and five interim principals this evening.

Lisa Whitaker was named principal of Wake Early College of Health and Sciences in Raleigh with a salary of $85,659. She has been an assistant principal at Middle Creek High since 2008.

Gerald Pickett was hired to be interim principal of Enloe High in Raleigh with a salary equivalent to $127,496. He was principal of Fuquay-Varina from 2001 until he retired in 2005.

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The Wake County school board named two new principals tonight and transferred another school leader to a job in Central Office.

Dhedra Lassiter was named principal of the new Rolesville Middle opening in  July with a salary of $98,350. She's been principal of Heritage Middle since 2007.

Elizabeth MacWilliams was named principal of Brassfield Road Elementary with a salary of $68,513. She's been an assistant principal at Davis Drive Elementary since 2009.

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Normally, the Wake County school board approves principal appointments unanimously.

But tonight, the board voted 6-2 on the entire list of administrative appointments presented to them. School board vice chairman John Tedesco and board member Debra Goldman didn't specify which one(s) they opposed.

Here's the list:

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Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo has raised a record total of more than $80,000 in her bid to unseat incumbent Kevin Hill.

New campaign finance reports made public today show that Losurdo had reported raising $82,357 through Oct. 24. The prior record was the $79,500 that conservative businessman Bob Luddy had raised, largely out of his own pocket, in his unsuccessful run for the school board in 1997.

Hill’s new report shows he’s raised $42,748 through Oct 24. While Hill has almost half of Losurdo’s total, outside groups not connected to his campaign have spent tens of thousands of dollars on mailers and television ads attacking Losurdo.

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