Today's joint meeting of the school board and county commissioners could get really interesting.

It's the last chance for the commissioners to officially meet with the outgoing school board members, whose terms expire at the end of the month. But the new school board members have also been invited to the joint meeting.

Today marks the end of an era on the school board.

This afternoon will be the final regular board meeting for Eleanor Goettee, Patti Head, Lori Millberg and Horace Tart. You can expect a lot of laudatory statements from groups such as the other board members, administrators and Wake NCAE.

The newly elected school board members are getting their orientation lessons  today.

Today's meeting with staff and some board members is designed to help the former candidates learn how to be new board members when they take office Dec. 1. Along the way, they'll learn about the do's and don'ts of their new positions.

One of the challenges the new board members will face over the next few months is pressure to back off their campaign positions.  While some previous board members have done 180s after taking office, that might be less likely now that the newbies form a majority instead of being in the minority.

How innocent is it that school board chairman Kevin Hill is proposing canceling the Dec. 15 board meeting?

Hill has discussed dropping the second December meeting with current and new board members. He says there's not much going on then that there needs to be a meeting so close to the holidays.

Hill also points out that the board doesn't always meet twice in December.

The Durham Public Schools' board of education plans to talk about individual school improvement plans and Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate classes at their monthly instructional services committee meeting today.

They'll also be discussing contracts for supplemental educational services (SES), or the mandatory extra tutoring supports that must be available for students when schools don't pass federal testing standards.

The meeting will be held at 4:30 p.m. at the school system's headquarters, located at 511 Cleveland St. Committee meetings are open to the public.

The entire agenda for today's meeting can be viewed here.

Orange County Schools will present its annual financial audit report and individual school improvement plans to the board of education tonight.

The board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the school system's headquarters, located at 200 E. King St. in Hillsborough.

This is the board's only meeting this month. View the full agenda for tonight's meeting here.

The outgoing school board delves back into the world of magnet schools and the new Forest Ridge High School today.

During today's facilities committee meeting, board members will talk more about changes to the magnet and year-round selection process, focusing particularly on how the current system has affected Fox Road Elementary. They'll also discuss whether to continue going ahead with construction of Forest Ridge High.

The board is moving forward on both issues even though it's likely the new members will go the other way after taking office Dec. 1.

Today's meeting is open to the public. It begins at 9 a.m. in the board conference room, 3600 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh.

Here are a dozen more letters on the issues in the Wake County
school board race, including one about a Garner group's endorsement of
Cathy Truitt and one about Truitt's spat with school board member Ron
Margiotta over whether she was "vetted" by him.

Find more letters on tomorrow's Other Opinion page and in Sunday Forum on Sunday. Also find some opinion pieces on the main Opinion Shop blog page.

The Orange County Democratic Women hosts the second public forum for school board candidates tonight.

All six candidates will be present at the forum, held in the OWASA Community Room located at 400 Jones Ferry Road in Carrboro. The forum will run from 7:30-9 p.m.

There are six candidates vying for three seats on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools board.

All six candidates for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school board plan to attend the first candidate forum of the season Monday night.

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP plans to pose questions for the candidates on the achievement gap, budgets, retention rates and accountability. There will also be an opportunity for audience members to ask questions.

There are six candidates vying for three seats on the school board.

The forum will be held Monday from 7 - 8:30 p.m. at St. Paul AME Church on 101 N. Merritt Mill Road.