The Wake County school board meeting is running past 11 p.m. despite an effort to adjourn the meeting.

Pursuant to board policy, board chairman Kevin Hill said he needed a vote to continue the meeting past 11 p.m. He said they need to continue because staff had time-sensitive items.

School board member Debra Goldman then made a motion to adjourn the meeting. That vote took priority but was defeated with only Goldman, Chris Malone and Deborah Prickett supporting adjournment.

With the motion defeated, the board voted to continue with the meeting.

UPDATE

A second motion from Goldman at 11:11 p.m. to adjourn the meeting was also defeated.

A third motion from Goldman at 11:18 p.m. was defeated.

With all business done, the motion passed to adjourn at 11:20 p.m.

Wake County's new middle school math placement policy is getting some major revisions before it's voted on today by the school board.

The revised policy says that "placement criteria must be used when establishing course options for all students." But at the same time, it also removes language from the prior version that had prevented teachers from using professional judgment to place students in lower-level math courses than indicated by EVAAS.

Whether the placement criteria will trump teacher judgment or vice versa remains to be seen. I haven't gotten back a response to the question I posed to the school system on Monday.

UPDATE

Based on the changes since the last version, it's been changed from a second reading to a first reading tonight.

A third Republican member of the Wake County school board has publicly announced a potential run for higher office this year.

In a press release today, school board member Debra Goldman says she will make a decision by the February filing period about her candidacy. She doesn't say what seat she's considering, but odds are it would be for the General Assembly.

“I have been contemplating a run for higher office for quite some time,” said Goldman in the press release. “This recent $750 million tax hike proposal by the governor just doesn’t make sense. Raising taxes isn’t the answer. The real solution is fiscal responsibility, something Raleigh has not seen lately.”

Wake County school board member Debra Goldman says she's taking on the role of board "watchdog."

During last week's board meeting, Goldman, a Republican, repeatedly raised concerns about the way she felt the new Democratic board majority was operating. She accused the board of committing several policy violations and not passing the "smell test" on email discussions.

"You’ve referred to me as the watchdog and I will pick up that mantle and go forward with it," Goldman said during the meeting.

The new Democratic majority on the Wake County school board may adopt a tougher line on handling public records requests.

Members of the former Republican board majority were subject to many public records requests for their personal and school district emails from their critics. Now the Democratic members are finding themselves subject to the same kinds of requests.

People who make requests now get the first 100 pages of copies free. They pay 10 centers for each additional page. But now they may also have to pay for the cost of staff time to handle the requests.

The issue of Michael Alves' unannounced private meeting with the new Democratic members of the Wake County school board won't seem to go away.

The issue was revisited with some heated comments during Tuesday's board meeting. The discussion, more of which is detailed later in the post, shows the continuing wariness between the Republican and Democratic members.

More recently, Terry Stoops, director of education studies for the conservative John Locke Foundation, brought up the issue in a Thursday blog post.

The Republican members of the Wake County school board are not happy that they weren't notified that education consultant Michael Alves was holding a private meeting with the new Democratic board members.

Word about the meeting because public during Tuesday's board work session after GOP board member Debra Goldman asked about the references that the Democratic members were making about having talked with Alves.

"Did I miss a meeting where Mr. Alves came and talked to the board?" Goldman questioned Democratic board chairman Kevin Hill.

UPDATE

CLARIFIED THAT IT'S THE GREATER RALEIGH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE THAT HAS RETAINED ALVES TO HELP WAKE WITH THE PLAN

KEVIN HILL AND JIM MARTIN NOW SAY THAT THE MEETING WITH ALVES TOOK PLACE DEC. 7, THE DAY AFTER THE NEW MEMBERS WERE SWORN IN.

The revamping of the Wake County school board District 8 board advisory council continued tonight with the appointment of three new at-large members.

New District 8 school board member Susan Evans nominated Patty Williams, communications director for the Great Schools in Wake Coalition. Williams is the parent of a student at Athens Drive High.

Evans also nominated Hardin Engelhardt, a magnet parent and former teacher. Like Williams, Engelhardt spoke out at board meetings against the change in the diversity policy.

It doesn't look like there's much doubt that the new Democratic majority on the Wake County school board will restore the standing committees.

But, as noted in today's article, the discussion during Saturday's retreat came with some recriminations. Members of the new majority complained about how they felt things had been governed over the past two years by the ousted Republican majority.

Interestingly enough, things had been relatively smooth heading into that part of the discussion after the discussion on amending the core beliefs.

Speaking of Wake County school board advisory councils, don't be surprised if you see some turnover, especially in District 8.

Hank Dickson submitted his resignation letter last week as District 8 BAC co-chair and representative for Holly Springs High. In the letter to new school board member Susan Evans, Dickson alludes to Evans' involvement with protesters who disrupted school board meetings.

"My appreciation of proper conduct and decorum during open meetings makes my continued service on your BAC very difficult," Dickson, a former Holly Springs Town Councilman, writes in the letter. "I regret that I must submit my resignation for both positions."

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST