Another round of "Moral Monday" protests are on tap today as the state NAACP continues its weekly protests at the General Assembly.

In a pair of articles Friday, the Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, and Yvonne Brannon, head of the Great Schools in Wake Coalition, cite the 2010 Wake County school board protests as being successful forerunners of the current protests.

In Friday's Associated Press article, Barber says doubters of the effectiveness of the current protests should look to what happened when they fought the student assignment efforts of the former Republican school board majority in Wake.

Is the Wake County school system's new Office of Equity and Diversity needed to address equity issues in the district?

During the budget discussion Tuesday, school board member Tom Benton argued that the new office is needed to bring focus on the "many, many equity issues" in the district. But school board member Deborah Prickett questioned the need for the office, saying it was a "last-minute sort of addition."

The board spent a lot of time at the April 23 budget work session talking about creating the Office of Equity and Diversity. The board directed staff to figure out a way to add it to the budget.

The revised student assignment policy drew some widely differing reaction Tuesday between the Wake County school board majority and minority board member Deborah Prickett.

As noted in today's article, policy supporters praised the revised policy with its balancing of student achievement, stability, proximity and operational efficiency as something "that anybody in this country would be proud of."

But Prickett charged it was a policy aimed at low-income and low-performing students that would move them out of their neighborhoods and wouldn't really help them succeed academically.

Here's a quick recap of today's Wake County school board meeting.

The board voted 7-1 to approve on first reading the revised student assignment policy. Board member Deborah Prickett was the lone dissenter. John Tedesco was absent tonight.

The board also voted, apparently unanimously, to approve a budget request asking for an $8.3 million increase from the county. Prickett questioned creating the Office of Equity and Diversity.

The board also gave initial thumbs up approval to a revised $940 million list of school bond projects. Staff was able to come up with money to fund more renovations, particularly in Garner, by making some cuts, using projected proceeds from sale of school properties and using $43 million in school bonds being issued by the county.

Student assignment, the school budget and the bond issue are among the items the Wake County school board will deal with today.

The board will hold the first of two scheduled votes on this revised student assignment policy that would incorporate as goals minimizing concentrations of low-performing and low-income students at schools.

On a related diversity note, the school board will vote on approving a budget that asks county commissioners for an $8.3 million increase in funding. This request includes $218,000 to create an Office of Equity and Diversity, which could elicit questions from some commissioners.

During the work session, the board will continue to refine the list of projects that would be funded out of this fall's proposed school bond referendum. One thing to see is if board members call for revising the original staff list to cut the number of new schools in order to increase funding on renovation projects.

Former Wake County school board member Patti Head will now have a statewide education role as one of Gov. Pat McCrory's latest appointees.

On Tuesday, McCrory appointed Head to the board of the Public School Forum of North Carolina. It's a not for profit policy think tank which is a partnership of business leaders, education leaders, and government leaders in North Carolina.

Head served as the school board member representing northwest Raleigh from 2001 to 2009, including two stints as chairwoman. During her tenure, the record $970 million school bond issue was passed and she backed controversial proposals such as converting 23 schools to a year-round calendar.

Like McCrory, Head is a Republican. But Head didn't hesitate to oppose the former Republican school board majority. She joined more than 20 other former board members in 2010 in issuing a statement supporting the policy of busing for socioeconomic diversity.

Two articles in today's Chapel Hill News highlight Chapel Hill's shrinking African American population.

In our lead story today, staff writer Tammy Grub reports on work of a new group trying to preserve the character of the historically black Northside community. In 1980, 1,159 black residents called the area home; by 2010, there were just 690.

We have long reported the trend and those who attribute it to student encroachment, gentrification and other causes. To be fair, many of the older residents have died and passed on property to multiple heirs who have chosen to sell. At the same time, some community leaders say black middle class homebuyers moving to the region have chosen to live in other areas, such as Durham, where there is a large, thriving black community and cultural scene.

But an essay by UNC business professor Michael Jacobs on today's editorial page points to another reason for black flight.

Of the 25 largest counties in North Carolina, only two saw declines in their black population in the past decade -- and Orange County saw the biggest drop. The professor, a former U.S. Treasury official, says high taxes, overreliance on property taxes, and high government expenditures have made Orange County unaffordable to people of moderate and less means.

The professor did not mention the rural buffer, the ring around the urban southern part of the county past which water and sewer lines may not go. Critics say the buffer, which has preserved Orange County's rural character, has also artificially constrained housing supply, further driving up costs.

And last night, Carrboro aldermen grappled with their own affordability dilemma as the renovations and new owners of Collins Crossing challenge one of that town's affordable rental communities. The aldermen have formed a task force to look for answers, though the mayor says it is too late to affect what happens at Collins Crossing, the former Abbey Court condominiums.

Orange County's cost of living is the story right now, and for years to come. Work is under way to course correct: infrastructure is coming to the county's economic development districts to lure industry. Chapel Hill and Carrboro are embracing mixed use to help shift the tax base. But it will take more to hold on to and grow Orange County's shrinking racial diversity. The question is whether our leaders and the public that elects them are willing to take it on.

Tell us what you think at editor@newsobserver.com. Let's keep the conversation going.

Is creating an Office of Diversity and Equity something that the Wake County school system should look at exploring?

As noted in today's article, the school board told staff on Tuesday to revise the budget proposal to come up with up to $200,000 to create this new office. Board members say this office, along with the revisions in the student assignment policy to minimize concentrations of low-income and low-performing students at schools and the new equity policy will help promote equity for students.

School board chairman Keith Sutton has been the big backer of creating this new office, which is modeled on one in the Guilford County school system. It's because of Sutton that staff developed a business case for creating the new office even though it wasn't part of the original budget request.

More to come later, but it looks like that diversity is officially back for the Wake County school system as an official goal in student assignment and other areas.

The board told staff today to amend the budget to create an office of diversity and equity to promote diversity and ensure students have equal access to resources. Board members say they want to promote diversity more than just through assignment.

The board is moving toward a May 7 first reading of a revised assignment policy that calls for minimizing high concentrations of low-income students and low-performing students at schools.

The new policy says there will be target ranges. But instead of being in policy, they'd be set by staff when each new assignment plan is developed.

The Wake County school board will deal with a variety of items today, including the school board election bill, student assignment, the budget and the projects that would be funded by the next bond issue.

During the regular meeting, the school board will vote on a resolution supporting the current boundaries that were adopted in 2011. This is in response to Senate Bill 325, which passed the state Senate on Monday.

During the work session, the board will continue discussion on the revisions that will be made to the student assignment policy. The latest draft talks about "minimizing the concentrations of low-performing students at each school" and "minimizing high concentrations of students from low income families at each school."