Much of today's Wake County Commissioners meeting will be focused on school issues.

Commissioners will vote on an amendment that will give them until Dec. 5 to work out the construction details for the new career and technical education high school. Instead of a lease-purchase, the plan being considered now is to outright purchase the former Coca-Cola bottling facility on South Wilmington Street.

Commissioners will also have second readings on purchasing the former YWCA building for a school site and reallocating money for renovations for the two single-sex leadership academies. Commissioners raised issues at the last meeting.

You've also got the 2012 State of the County Address, where school issues will likely be an element. You could hear talk about school funding and the school bond issue.

It may be a tough sell for the Wake County school system to get county commissioners to approve funding for the single-sex leadership academies and the purchase of the former YWCA building.

As noted in today's article by Thomas Goldsmith, Republican commissioners wanted more details before approving use of $1.657 million to renovate the former Thompson School as the site of the Wake Young Men’s Leadership Academy. There were also questions about using $2.9 million to renovate buildings at the Gov. Morehead School for use by the Young Women’s Leadership Academy.

But there seemed to be an especially heavy dose of skepticism about spending $1.1 million to buy the former YWCA building on Hargett Street.

The former YWCA of the Greater Triangle building in downtown Raleigh could become a Wake County school.

The school board voted tonight to offer $1 million to the bankruptcy trustee to buy the building on East Hargett Street. The YWCA of the Greater Triangle closed Feb. 29 amid mounting financial woes.

No decision has been made on what would be housed there. But since it's across the street from the Thompson School building that will house the Wake Young Men's Leadership Academy, one option could be to use it for expansion space.

The purchase is still subject to a land appraisal and the approval of the county commissioners.

Various liberal groups that supported the old socioeconomic diversity policy are hoping to keep the now-defunct YWCA of the Greater Triangle's work alive when it comes to "education justice" in the Wake County school system.

The N.C. Justice Center is hosting a "Wake County Education Justice Organizing Meeting" on Saturday. Topics will include discussion of the impact of the new student assignment plan and a review of "latest inequity data using 2011-12 achievement data and discipline data."

According to this handout, they'll talk about carrying on the YWCA's education programs like Study Circles and the Wake Help initiative. They'll also discuss supporting this summer's Wake Youth Organizing Institute, which is "training, supporting, and developing the next generation of activists, organizers, and social change leaders in North Carolina."   

The summer program trains young people how "to stop racism & school re-segregation, challenge the school to prison pipeline, and make schools safe for LBGTQ youth." The first institute in 2010 led to the creation of N.C. HEAT.

Will the Wake County school board require changes in the way school resource officers operate in order for them to continue to patrol the district's high schools and middle schools?

The school board will vote today on these contracts with Raleigh and Cary to provide school resource officers for the 2012-13 school year. The vote comes amid lobbying efforts by several advocacy organizations to get the school system to cut back on the role of SROs, from what they're armed with to what interaction they can have with students on discipline issues.

In an email Monday to school board members, Jason Langberg of Advocates for Children Services wrote that approving the contracts "without more careful consideration of the >issue of SROs in WCPSS would be irresponsible, undemocratic, and arguably, a violation of multiple Board policies."

UPDATE/CORRECTION

Click here to view the email sent to board members on Monday. Corrected post to say letter from N.C. Juvenile Defender.

The school board voted 5-4 to table the Cary SRO contract. it went along party lines with the Democrats voting yes and the Republicans voting against tabling.

The board also voted to table the Raleigh SRO contract.

As you guys may have seen in today's article by Martha Quillin and Amanda James, the YWCA of the Greater Triangle abruptly closed Wednesday because of budget woes.

The YWCA was known for various social service programs. But those involved in the Wake County school diversity fight also know the group as having played an active role in that issue in the past two years.

The YWCA was involved with groups such as N.C. HEAT and the Wake Youth Organizing Institute. It sponsored marches protesting the end of the diversity policy. It worked with federal investigators probing the school system.

The YWCA criticized the single-sex leadership academies. It honored Yevonne Brannon.

A coalition of liberal groups is urging the Wake County school system to halt plans to open a pair of single-sex leadership academies next year.

In this memorandum sent Thursday to Wake Superintendent Tony Tata and school board members, the groups argue that approval of the academies was rushed through without enough input or review. The groups also oppose having single-sex schools and the requirement that students at the academies participate in the Junior ROTC program.

“Instead of spending precious funds on the proposed single-sex academies, spend them on improving and expanding alternative educational programs for struggling students,” says the memo.

The memo was signed by the Great Schools in Wake Coalition, Advocates for Children’s Services, the YWCA of the Greater Triangle, the Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children, the North Carolina chapter of the ACLU and CHOICES — a group that’s criticized JROTC programs.

Yevonne Brannon, chairwoman of the Great Schools in Wake Coalition, was inducted last week into the YWCA of the Greater Triangle's 2011 Class of the Academy of Women.

Brannon was inducted in the government category, which the YWCA says is for civil service or public policy that enhances the quality of life for area residents. The bio from the YWCA says that "Yevonne courageously works for social justice in our community as chair of the WakeUP Wake County organization’s Great Schools in Wake coalition."

"She is considered the foremost spokesperson on the importance of diversity in relation to student assignment," according to the YWCA. "Great Schools in Wake has partnered on numerous initiatives with the YWCA to advocate for the constitutional rights of children across the county so that they, regardless of income, race, ethnicity, or residence, have the highest quality education possible. She has developed many of her closest friendships through her advocacy work."

Wake County school board member Keith Sutton has raised nearly $24,000 in his bid to retain the District 4 seat.

A new campaign report filed this week shows Sutton had raised $23,872 as of Sept. 26 with $15,386.04 on hand. Venita Peyton's new report isn't up yet but she was at under $1,000 raised at the end of August.

The largest donors for Sutton in the new report are the $2,000 from Capitol Broadcasting CEO Jim Goodmon and $500 from Wake Citizens for Good Government.

Wake County school board member Keith Sutton took some heat Thursday night on his position on the math placement policy from a person who's normally one of his supporters.

During the District 4 candidate forum, Bridgette Burge of the YWCA of the Greater Triangle criticized Sutton for wanting to use a higher that 70 percent EVAAS probability of success for placing students in  Algebra I in eighth-grade. This came after Cash Michaels of The Carolinian asked Sutton "to give clarity" on why board majority was being "political" in trying to pass the new math policy and saying teachers systemwide excluded qualified minority students.

"You know I love you both," Burge said to Sutton and Michaels. "I'm on a different side around this on placement. We're gong to bicker about 5 percent here and there when kids of color and low-income kids have been pushed out and not given the chance to go into the high-achieving classes just because they're kids of color and because they're low-income kids?