So which groups got invitations to meet with McPherson & Jacboson, the firm that will hold meetings the next three days to get feedback on the Wake County school superintendent search?

The groups are broadly defined as the "business community, elected officials, parent leaders, African-American community, multicultural community, employee leadership and student leaders."

This list from the school system reveals some interesting names. These are the groups that the school system suggested should receive invites.

It's safe to say that you're not going to see a $2.2 billion Wake County school construction bond referendum on the fall ballot.

School administrators laid out today their construction needs through 2018, which would mean $2.2 billion with most going toward building 32 new schools and 28 major renovation projects. According to the county, that's the equivalent of a 14.68 cent property tax increase, or about $375 more a your on a $250,000 home.

Everybody from school staff to school board members to county commissioners was quick to say that they're not planning on that big a bond.

The Great Schools in Wake Coalition is mobilizing people to show up at Monday's Wake legislative delegation meeting to speak out against the bills that would change school ownership and school board elections.

"Both the Great Schools in Wake coalition and Friends of Dorothea Dix Park have issued alerts asking their members and supporters to show up en masse — and, for the Dix Park crowd, wearing green," writes Bob Geary in this blog post today the liberal Independent Weekly.

GSIW had already mobilized people last month in an unsuccessful bid to persuade the Wake County Board of Commissioners to withdraw their request for the legislation.

GSIW is backing the Wake County school board in opposing legislation that would take away its ownership of schools and change how and when board members are elected.

UPDATE

Due to the large crowd expected, the meeting has been moved to Room 643 of the Legislative Office Building, 300 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh.

See end of post for more info on Great Schools' action alert and an email from the Wake County Democratic Party also urging people to speak out Monday.

There's a different seating order today following last month's dust-up between Wake County school board member Susan Evans and Wake County Commissioner Tony Gurley.

At today's joint meeting, Evans is sitting between school board members Tom Benton and Jim Martin. Gurley is sitting between school board member Kevin Hill and an empty seat set aside for school board member John Tedesco

Evans and Gurley were sitting next to each other at last month's joint meeting. Gurley accused Evans of calling him a jerk while he spoke, which she denies.

So far this morning, they're gotten an overview of the $2.2 billion that Wake County school administrators say is needed in the next few years for school construction. That number will be reduced by school staff to try to get a school bond passed.

The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce's proposal for resolving the fight over school ownership and school board elections appeared to fizzle Wednesday.

As noted in today's article, Joe Bryan, chairman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners, said no Wednesday to the chamber's proposal that both boards work out agreements before the pending state legislation passes.

“It’s a little late in the day for the Chamber and they’re not presenting much,” Bryan said.

The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce announced today it's not supporting the two state Senate bills that would change who owns schools in Wake County and how school board members are elected.

Rather than rely on the bills, the Chamber is calling for the school board and Wake County Board of Commissioners to jointly working together to deal with the issues. They say they hope the pressure from the legislation will cause them to work out something although there's not as much incentive for the commissioners to agree.

They're reviving the 2008 deal in which they're calling for the county to take over ownership, construction and acquisition of schools with the school district retaining siting, design and maintenance. As part of the deal, the commissioners would have to agree to increase school operating funding through a "multi-year predictable, expanding funding stream."

The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce will speak out on recent state Senate bills that would significantly impact the Wake County school system.

According to the Chamber's press release, the group will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. Wednesday at its headquarters to comment on S236, the school ownership bill, and S325, the Wake school board election bill.

"As a longtime, ardent supporter of the Wake County Public School System, the Chamber will deliver its opinion and recommendations regarding recent legislation affecting school system governance," according to the press release.

The Chamber had polled its members on the school ownership idea. The Chamber had backed a proposal in 2008 to turn over ownership and construction of schools to the Wake County Board of Commissioners if that group also agreed to sharply increase school funding.

In case you don't get The Cary News, new Wake County school board member Bill Fletcher is showing why he was picked by the board majority to fill the District 9 vacancy,

In this Q&A in Sunday's edition, Fletcher says its "not a good idea" to turn over construction, ownership and maintenance of schools to the Wake County Board of Commissioners. In terms of the rest of the commissioners' legislative agenda, Fletcher says having four at-large school board seats is "a poor idea" and he's not in favor of using tax dollars to build charter schools.

On student assignment, Fletcher says that "in order to be successful in a diverse society, we need diverse schools." Fletcher also says Cary parents think stability is more important than proximity.

Fletcher said he will be at Caribou Coffee at 109 S.W. Maynard Road in Cary at 2 p.m. Thursday in case anyone wants to drop in and “just have a little chat." That meeting will come right after what could be another tense meeting that morning between the school board and commissioners.

At this point the one group that's more committed to getting a school construction bond referendum on the Oct. 8 ballot is the Wake County Board of Commissioners and not the school board.

This afternoon, the commissioners will vote on adopting their 2013 goals. The education goal is to "work with the Wake County Public School System on a capital program which will be supported by the citizens and voters of Wake County for a scheduled bond referendum in the Fall of 2013."

At the last joint meeting, commissioners were vocal about getting the bond on the fall ballot while several school board members questioned the timing, suggesting that a 2014 bond might be better. You could see more of this discussion on Thursday when both boards hold their next joint meeting on the bond issue.

WakeUP Wake County, the parent group of the Great Schools in Wake Coalition, has also been talking about postponing the school bond to 2014 to try to get a transit sales tax referendum on the ballot this year.

UPDATE

Commissioners approved today the 2013 goals with the bond issue as the top education goal.

Is Senate Bill 325 essentially a second try for Republicans to hold a majority on the Wake County school board?

As noted in today's article, the stated main purpose of the new legislation is to give individual Wake County voters the ability to elect a second school board member. But the bill also lets state Republican lawmakers rewrite the boundaries for Wake's school board districts.

This comes after the redistricting plan approved by the former Republican school board majority in 2011 didn't turn out as some thought that it would in ensuring GOP control of the state's largest school district.