Two groups that have been critical of the elimination of the diversity policy are also holding three open houses on redistricting of Wake County school board seats.

The League of Women Voters of Wake County and the Great Schools in Wake Coalition are teaming up for forums Monday at Grace AME Zion Church in Raleigh, Tuesday at Eva Perry Library in Apex and April 19 at Cameron Village Library in Raleigh. Click here for a press release that provides more detail.

Speakers for both groups raised concerns about the school board's handling of the redistricting process during Tuesday's meeting.

Could Yevonne Brannon return to the Wake County board of commissioners as the replacement for Stan Norwalk?

Bob Geary is reporting online today in the liberal Independent weekly that Norwalk is stepping down this year as a county commissioner. Geary reports that Norwalk's home is on the market and that he plans to relocate to Kansas to be near one of his daughters as soon as it sells.

Geary is reporting that Norwalk is telling friends and fellow Democrats "that he wants his replacement to be, as he is, a strong voice for the Wake schools." It means being a supporter of the old diversity policy, among other things.

Parents turned out in the hundreds at four meetings last week to oppose the plan, which would have moved roughly 940 of the system’s 7,785 students, or 12 percent, to newly reconfigured K-5 and grade 6-8 schools. Many worried that the decision was being made too fast, with too little information about the potential effects.

Amid some questioning, the Wake County school board adopted today the guidelines that will be used to draw up board districts for the next decade.

The issue that drew the most discussion was whether to include a guideline designed to protect incumbent board members from being redistricted out. The board ultimately agreed to include this provision.

The incumbent guideline was used in 2001 but not in the draft proposal today from attorney Kieran Shanahan.

UPDATE

The school board also passed a resolution from Kevin Hill saying it "commits to develop a redistricting plan through an open, transparent, and inclusive manner."

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST TO LINKS FOR GUIDELINES, TIMELINE AND HILL RESOLUTION

Today's Wake County school board meeting will be long and touch on a variety of topics, including reassignment, bonuses to work at high-poverty schools, redistricting, bell schedules and the magnet review.

The school board will vote today on the last three potential changes to the 2011-12 student reassignment plan, including moving school board member John Tedesco's neighborhood from Creech Road Elementary to Aversboro Elementary. The plan calls for splitting off the part of the node that includes his subdivision to go to Aversboro.

Also as noted in today's article by Thomas Goldsmith, the board will vote on setting aside $950,000 in Race to the Top grant money to provide signing bonuses and merit pay to teachers who will work at the four Renaissance schools: Barwell Road, Brentwood Road, Creech Road and Wilburn elementary schools.

Attorney Kieran Shanahan will help the Wake County school board with redistricting election boundaries.

On a 5-3 vote tonight, the board vote to allow the Shanahan Law Group to receive up to $10,000 more in legal fees. The reason given by the five GOP members was to engage Shanahan as  "counsel for the board" for possible work on redistricting.

The board will meet with Shanahan on Feb. 15 to discuss the redistricting process.

The board also killed Kevin Hill's resolution for the redistricting process and an amendment from vice chairwoman Debra Goldman to have her superintendent search committee be the point group with counsel.

CORRECTION/UPDATE

The vote was 5-3 with Carolyn Morrison joining the Republicans.

The Wake County school board will formally discuss the potentially contentious issue of redistricting at today's meeting.

In a last-minute addition to the agenda, school board member Kevin Hill says he's asking the board to discuss a resolution on providing a "transparent" process for drawing up the new boundaries to be used for the nine school board districts. Hill said he asked for it to be discussed because the school system needs to begin work on redistricting soon.

One question could be who is tasked with drawing up the new boundaries that will be voted on by the board.

Cash Michaels is speculating on why the Wake County school board had a "come to Jesus moment" last week in voting to cooperate with AdvancED in the accreditation review.

In a blog post Sunday, Michaels, the chief editor/reporter of The Carolinian, says the school board decided "a 'no mas' surrender stance was more politically appropriate" following the recent wave of bad national publicity. Michaels is both a harsh critic of the Republican school board majority and an advocate of the old diversity policy.

In his analysis, Michaels links the AdvancED decision with this fall's school board elections and the drawing of new boundaries for board seats. He says it "may be just a tactic to slow things down, cool things off, and try to take the thus far intense focus off the board." 

The X-factor in the year ahead is the role that Wake County school board vice chairwoman Debra Goldman will play in the major decisions facing the district.

As noted in Sunday's article, Goldman's former board allies want to pick up seats in the board elections so they won't need her vote. School board member Chris Malone said that Goldman's recent votes on student assignment have created “unpredictability” on the school board.

“We’re having to deal with unpredictability now," Malone said. "It’s the reality we have to live with. We’re going to work as best we can and work for all parents and families.”

Year two for the Wake County school board members who took office last December could be even more challenging than their first year.

As noted in today's article, the upcoming year has a wide range of big issues for the school board to face that go beyond student assignment. The board will also have to hire a permanent superintendent, adopt new board member districts, work out the details of the next bond issue, deal with the U.S. Department of Education and AdvancED investigations and prepare for the elections.

But the one thing board members on the various factions can agree upon is that the budget crisis will be the top issue over the next year.