Wake County school board chairman Ron Margiotta issued a call for help in this fall's elections during last Thursday's Northern Wake Republican Club meeting.

Most of Margiotta's speech focused on the actions initiated by the board since December 2009. But Margiotta closed his speech by pointing to the stakes for this fall's school board elections when he will be running for re-election while also hoping to pick up at least one of the Democratic seats.

"I think it's important that we recognize that the campaign from those that will be out there again will be an attempt to return to the old practices of moving kids around for the sake of socioeconomic diversity," Margiotta said. "And we can not go back to those programs. It's important that we elect candidates that are committed and will stay with their commitments and remain committed and follow through with the programs we've been able to initiate."

Wake County Commissioners are scheduled to vote today on taking over the acquisition of new school sites from the school board.

Based on this handout, it would still be up to the school system to identify target rings for where to look for new school sites. But it would be the county that would take the lead in finding site, in consultation with school staff.

If a potential site is found outside the target rings, it would be brought to the school system promptly for approval before any further county staff action is taken.

The Wake County school system may be paying again for its decision to pack Forest Pines Drive Elementary and North Forest Pines Elementary on the same campus.

At the recommendation of staff, the school board took the unusual step on Tuesday of implementing an enrollment cap during the middle of a school year. The board's action to put a cap on Forest Pines will allow Growth Management to turn away new students this school year from the school's base and send them to either Wakefield or Rolesville elementary schools.

It's the third time that Forest Pines has been capped since the 2008-09 school year.

Republican members of the Wake County school board are aglow about the GOP gaining a majority on the board of commissioners,

As noted in today's article, those school board members say the anticipate better relations with a Republican majority than a Democratic one on the commissioners. GOP school board members had been diplomatically saying before the election it didn't matter which party was in the majority on the board of commissioners.

"We have things we need to get done," said school board chairman Ron Margiotta. "We'll have a better chance of getting it done with people who are willing to listen to us instead of trying to punish us."

The recession is helping the school system find land for a new elementary school in northwest Raleigh.

The school board voted Tuesday to pay $2.54 million for 30.834 acres at the intersection of Baileywick and Strickland roads. Wake is buying the site from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which is the receiver for the parcel.

According to a 2008 Triangle Business Journal article, a subdivision had been planned there. But the bank foreclosed on the Raleigh real estate investment firm that owned the land.

The school board has junked plans to build a new elementary school in the Falls Lake watershed that had been opposed by the City of Raleigh.

As noted in today's North Raleigh News article, the school board voted last month to terminate the contract it had approved in January to pay $2.47 million for 30 acres on the northwest corner of Shooting Club and Creedmoor roads. The district is now looking for an alternative site in the northwest Raleigh area.

The decision was hailed by Raleigh leaders, who had opposed the construction of the school on that site because of concerns about its impact on the environmentally sensitive watershed.

School board member Ron Margiotta has never been a fan of that location, being one of two board members who had opposed buying the land in January. But he said that Raleigh and Wake County either needs to restrict development in the watershed or make it easier to build schoosl there.

You've got a mix of school board politics and catcalling between Rolesville Mayor Frank Eagles and school administrators over the Forest Ridge High School site.

On Monday, District 1 candidate Debbie Vair was planning to present to Wake County Commissioners her alternative to using the Forest Ridge location. But Vair wasn't allowed to make the presentation because Commissioner Betty Lou Ward objected to letting a candidate speak.

Rolesville Mayor Frank Eagles stepped in for Vair and made the presentation for acquiring a site on U.S. 401 near Louisbury Road. It's about a mile or so from the Forest Ridge site on Forestville Road near U.S. 401.

Doubts are being cast on whether a slave cemetery exists on the site of H6, the new high school planned in northeast Wake County.

Neighbors say graves found on the site are from a slave cemetery so building the school would desecrate those who lie there. But a new report done for the school system says "we believe that the cemetery reflects the burial of Euro-American individuals."

The report from the South Carolina-based Chicora Foundation says the cemetery doesn't exhibit characteristics of an African American cemetery.

UPDATE

Go to end of post for link for report. 

Raleigh city leaders are not happy with the school system's proposal to build a new elementary school in the Falls Lake watershed.

As noted in today's North Raleigh News article, Raleigh officials are asking county commissioners not to approve the purchase. Last week, the school board had agreed to offer $2.47 million for 30 acres at the northwest corner of Creedmoor and Shooting Club roads.

"The city administration and previous city councils have been consistent in opposing schools in the watershed," said Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen in today's article.

Northwest Raleigh could get a new elementary school at some point.

The school board voted Tuesday to pay $2,471,700 for 29.96 acres on the northern side of Shooting Club Road and on the western side of Creedmoor Road (NC 50). Click here for info on the parcel.

No opening date is set. Funding would come from the next school construction bond issue or some other means.