We'll find out today whether any additional people have stepped forward to apply for the District 1 vacancy on the Wake County school board.

Wendy Ford has been the only person to apply for the seat, now vacated by Chris Malone, before the holidays. School officials say they don't know who's applied over the holidays since the district's offices have been closed since Dec. 24.

But with Central Office reopened, we should find out who emailed their applications in and who submitted their paperwork in the mail. The application deadline is Friday.

UPDATE

As of mid-Wednesday afternoon, no new applications have come in for the vacancy.

A former longtime upstate New York school board member on Wednesday became the first person to apply for the upcoming vacancy on the Wake County school board.

Wendy Ford of Wake Forest says her 19 years on the school board of the Churchville-Chili Central School District will provide valuable experience in Wake. She’s hoping to fill the District 1 seat that covers Wake Forest, Rolesville and much of Eastern Wake. Chris Malone will vacate the post Dec. 31 to take the seat in the state House he won in November.

“I am a firm believer in the power of establishing meaningful relationships within the community and on the Board in order to accomplish great things together,” Ford says in her application. “As a Board member, I would be visible in Eastern Wake’s schools, town halls and community institutions.”

Wake County school board member Chris Malone has his swan song from the board this week before moving over to the state House to take his new seat.

During Tuesday's board meeting, Malone looked back at his tenure on the board, gave some advice to his colleagues and thanked them and staff for their help. He also acknowledged the members of the audience who've often come to the meetings in the past three years to criticize his positions.

"It’s been three good and, I think, largely productive years, tumultuous years," Malone said. "If you remember when I first got on the board, during my very initial speech during swearing in, I said that we’d live in interesting times. And I think this time that I’ve spent on the board has been very interesting."

Keith Sutton was channeling Matthew McConaughey from the "We Are Marshall" movie when he gave his speech Tuesday on being the new Wake County school board chairman.

Sutton said that the school system's "reputation has been a bit tarnished" in the last few "tumultuous" years and that the board "must accept responsibility for our part." He said it's the board's job to restore Wake's "luster" and "regain the trust of this community."

Sutton urged his board colleagues to "provide the kind of exemplary leadership that is expected of us by this community" for "we are Wake County."

The Wake County school board is now officially accepting applications to fill the District 1 board seat that Chris Malone will be vacating Dec. 31 when he joins the state House.

Applicants must live in District 1, which covers Wake Forest, Rolesville, Wendell, Zebulon and part of Knightdale. Click here for a link off the state Board of Elections website to see if you're eligible.

The person chosen by the school board would finish out Malone’s term, which runs through November 2013.

The Wake County school board will take care of some housekeeping issues today.

The board will vote on the 2013-14 student assignment plan so that staff can begin work on the more comprehensive 2014-15 plan. After today's vote, the choice plan will end.

The board will vote on naming an interim superintendent to finish out the rest of the school year as Stephen Gainey's contract as temporary superintendent only runs through Dec. 31. The board will move to get the superintendent search going.

The board will also vote on advertising for applicants to the District 1 school board seat that Chris Malone will vacate Dec. 31. The board will discuss what questions it wants applicants to answer.

The search for a successor to outgoing Wake County school board member Chris Malone is expected to start Tuesday.

New school board chairman Keith Sutton said the board will discuss Tuesday the process involved in filling a vacancy. Malone has announced he will resign Dec. 31 to take the seat he won the state House of Representatives.

Sutton said the board may decide Tuesday to begin advertising before the holidays for people to apply. But Sutton said they wouldn't actually start the process of reviewing the applicants and making the selection until after Malone leaves.

Keith Sutton was elected the new chairman of the Wake County school board on Tuesday afternoon.

Sutton was elected 5-4 with all the Democrats voting for him and all the Republicans voting for Deborah Prickett. Sutton replaces Kevin Hill, who decided not to seek another one-year term as board chairman.

Christine Kushner was also elected today as the new board vice chair, taking the position that Sutton held the past year. Democrats voted for Kushner and the Republicans voted for Prickett.

Student assignment, early release days and the election of a new chair are among the things that the Wake County school board will deal with today.

During the work session, the board will discuss potential changes to the 2013-14 assignment plan. You could hear discussion on, among other things, letting the Durant Trails families keep Durant Road elementary and middle schools as their year-round options.

Also during the work session, the board will discuss whether to hold the six early release days per student in the 2013-14 school year on Fridays or to move them to Wednesdays.

After the work session, the board will hold its organizational meeting to elect a chair and vice chair. It's expected that Keith Sutton will be elected chairman.

The start of the Keith Sutton era as Wake County school board chairman is expected to begin Tuesday.

The board will hold an organizational meeting on Tuesday to select a chair and vice chair for the next year. Sutton, the board's vice chairman, said that Kevin Hill has told him he won't seek another term as board chairman.

While Sutton won't outright say he's running for chairman, it's pretty clear if you read between the lines.

SEE UPDATE AT END OF POST