It's going to be an unhappy holiday season for some school district employees.

The school board voted today to lay off eight people whose jobs are at least partially funded by the construction program. Two other vacant positions are being eliminated.

It's the second round of what's expected to be three waves of cuts to construction program management.

Today marks the last day of the Beverley Clark era on the school board.

Clark said the one thing she'll consider to be her biggest legacy will be her advocacy for equity for older schools. As noted in today's article, Clark was a strong proponent of making sure that older schools got renovations to bring them closer to par with new schools.

"There are still schools that are quite old that need to be addressed," Clark said. "But we're closing the gap."

This is not a great time to be involved in the school district's construction program.

As noted in today's article, the school board voted Tuesday to lay off eight employees whose jobs are funded at least in part by the capital improvement program. Wake is also eliminating 14 vacant positions that are also funded by CIP dollars.

"Tough times and tough decisions," said school board chairwoman Rosa Gill before the vote. "We all understand that."

Some school employees are about to get the budget axe due to the recession.

The school board is scheduled to vote today on approving a reduction in force plan for the staff who oversee the construction program. Their jobs are on the line because of the slowdown in construction projects caused by the recession.

The idea is you need fewer of those folks if you have fewer bond-funded construction projects to oversee.

Reductions in force could spread to other employees once the state budget is adopted.

The school board has got a really busy agenda today.

We're not just talking about allowing students to share parking spaces or deciding on the fate of the "Lost Colony."

Today's agenda also includes more discussions on filling magnet and calendar schools, class-size waivers and spending bond money.

It's going to be a tough love kind of meeting today between the school board and county commissioners.

As noted in today's article, County Manager David Cooke said he’ll talk bluntly to school board members as he walks them “step-by-step” through the limitations on borrowing more money in the face of steep declines in tax revenues.

“It gets down to what you can afford given the current realities of the economy,” Cooke said in the article. “It’s not that we like having to make these tough choices, that’s just where we are.”

Staff is recommending delaying the opening of H6 in order to fund the renovations for Wake Forest-Rolesville High School.

Supt. Del Burns said that the Monday infusion of $100 million from the county still leaves the school district short of all that is needed. He said that some projects will be delayed.

Burns said that the Wake Forest-Rolesville High renovations should remain the top priority and be kept on schedule. But that means the other big ticket item, H6, would be put on hold.

So are residents fighting H6 out to preserve the memories of those buried there or are they being opportunistic?

As noted in today's article, it depends on who you ask. Neighbors fighting the school say that H6 should be halted to preserve the possible slave and Native American graves there.

"We as humans, with our innate curiosity of the past, should at least take the time to examine what will be 'forever destroyed' if development moves forward as planned," said Save the Slaves in a press release.

The three-year reassignment plan that the school board is scheduled to vote on this afternoon is looking like a multi-year plan in name only.

County staffers told county commissioners at this weekend's retreat that the money isn't there to fund all the new construction projects unless taxes are raised. So, barring a tax increase, some school or other capital projects could be delayed.

Any delays to the renovations at Wake Forest-Rolesville High or the construction of H6 would cause major changes to the reassignment plan. Both projects are among the biggest items needing cash this year from the county.

Can you imagine a year without reassignment hearings?

It could happen next year. But it's not something that would necessarily be a good thing as far as school leaders are concerned.

A couple of things would have to happen.