Ann Denlinger, president of the Wake Education Partnership, is giving a thank-you message as she retires from the position later this month.

In an e-mail message today to WEP supporters, Denlinger said the group "re-examined its mission, purpose and goals" during her tenure. She said that "our mission has not wavered and the review has left us more focused and relevant than ever before."

Denlinger is also asking people to donate to the WEP in next Wednesday's Money Drop fundraiser.

Will the tense relationship between the Wake County school board majority and the Wake Education Partnership become more relaxed now?

As noted in today's article, members of the board majority are saying that the hiring of Steve Parrott to be the WEP's new president is a good sign. The traditionally good relationship between the board and the WEP has been strained over the elimination of the diversity policy.

“Our relationship hasn’t recently been the best,” said school board chairman Ron Margiotta. “It’s been strained. Hopefully we have someone now who will look at all the facts and not blindly support the past practices that were in place.”

The Wake Education Partnership has turned to a businessman to be the group's next president.

It was announced today that Steve Parrott, a former telecommunications executive who now runs an investment company, will replace Ann Denlinger as the WEP's president. Denlinger is retiring from the position.

While Denlinger was a retired educator, Parrott had climbed the ladder at Sprint, and later Embarq, from the late 1970s to 2009. Earlier this year, Parrott formed Summerset Investment Group, a residential real estate investment and property management company focused on the Raleigh and Wilmington markets.

UPDATE

Click here for the WEP press release.

The Wake Education Partnership is looking to raise some money to support its programs.

The WEP sent out a press release Wednesday announcing that it will hold its first 24-hour "Money Drop" fundraiser on Sept. 22. The group's goal is to have 200 people donate online that day.

Prizes will be offered throughout the day at key points and email updates will be offered to keep donors up to date.

Controlled choice and at least a rough map of what the new community assignment zones could look like will be on today's Wake County student assignment committee agenda.

Today's meeting will include what's being billed as a "review of various geographic assignment area possibilities." Much of the talk will likely revolve around maps of potential zones being presented by staff.

Growth & Planning were asked by the committee to use as a starting point the high school feeder patterns. From there, they'd see what middle schools feed into the high schools and what elementary schools feed into those middle schools.

The Wake Education Partnership and the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce are bringing to Raleigh an education consultant who has specialized in drawing up student assignment plans using controlled choice to achieve diversity.

In a media advisory today, the WEP and the Chamber said that Michael Alves will visit with local business leaders and elected officials later this month. John Tedesco, chairman of the school board's student assignment committee, has offered Alves the opportunity to speak at the July 27 committee meeting.

Alves was mentioned in the WEP's April Topic Review on how Wake could still achieve some level of balance in its new community-based student assignment model.

Here's a recap of today's Wake County superintendent search committee meeting.

The committee agreed to keep the list of applicants confidential until they come up with a list of finalists. The committee also allowed the search firm of Heidrick & Struggles to begin advertising for the position with a Sept. 1 application deadline.

The ad, which will have a preliminary job description, will go out before public and private meetings are held with groups about what characteristics are desired in the next superintendent. Among the groups getting a private meeting with Heidrick is the Civitas Institute, the conservative group recently named a provider of board training by the board majority.

UPDATED TO INCLUDE OTHER GROUPS GETTING PRIVATE MEETINGS

UPDATED TO INCLUDE THAT GREAT SCHOOLS IN WAKE IS A 501(C)3 NON-PROFIT

How much of the acrimony over the move to community based schools in Wake County is because of a lack of communication by the school board?

As noted in today's article, the Raleigh City Council passed a resolution in April expressing concern about the move to community based schools and asked for information on how the demographics at area schools would be impacted. Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker expressed irritation at Monday's East Raleigh CAC meeting about not having gotten a response to the request.

"They didn't feel they had to respond to us," Meeker said. "A city of 45 percent of the students expressing concern about what they're doing and they didn't bother to send a letter back to us."

The Wake Education Partnership is offering its assessment of this week's colorful Wake County school board meeting.

In this week's issue of In Context, the WEP's e-newsletter, the group noted Thursday the series of 5-4 board votes during the meeting. The WEP says the votes show "any fledgling efforts at compromise between majority and minority members of the school board appeared to fall apart this week."

You had the 5-4 votes over reelection of Ron Margiotta to be chairman and Debra Goldman to be vice chairwoman.

The Wake Education Partnership is warning that the current economic climate could limit the new Wake County's school board majority's plans to change student assignment.

In this month's Topic Review that was released this morning, the WEP notes how the continued economic recession is forcing the school system to make budget cuts. The WEP says that "the current school board is forced to live with the financial realities and community expectations that have shaped past budget decisions."

"This is not to suggest the current board is handcuffed from making changes that can greatly affect many families," the WEP writes. "But taken as a whole, the financial realities facing Wake County will severely constrain the board's flexibility. It's a difficult time to be adding choices without removing services that are already offered."