Here are some of the highlights so far from the first group of interviews from Wake County school board applicants for the District 1 vacancy.

David Menaker acknowledged that he was talking himself out of the job by criticizing magnet schools. He said it's "absurd" that you have magnet schools at the elementary school level with all the options for children so young.

Menaker said the district does too much to perpetuate competition among schools, citing magnets as an example, instead of trying to make all schools fundamentally desirable.

The desire to conduct a full-scale national search is apparently what tipped the balance Tuesday in favor of the out-of-state firm that was chosen by the Wake County school board to conduct the superintendent search.

As noted in today's article, school board chairman Keith Sutton said he felt that McPherson & Jacobson could potentially do a better job of recruiting nationally than the N.C. School Boards Association. Sutton also liked how McPherson & Jacobson would solicit community input.

Sutton's concerns blocked his fellow Democrats from picking the School Boards Association, resulting in the deal that led to McPherson being hired after the recess.

The Wake County school board is deadlocked on picking a superintendent search firm.

The board 4-4 to hire McPherson & Jacobson when Democratic chairman Keith Sutton voted with the Republicans. The board then deadlocked 4-4 when Sutton sided with the Republicans and voted no on hiring the N.C. School Boards Association.

Sutton has called for a 10-minute recess. He quipped though it won't take 56 rounds of voting, harkening back to the 2011 vote for vice chair.

UPDATE

The board voted 7-1 to hire McPherson when the other Democrats, except Kevin Hill, flipped their votes.

More to come later, but it looks like the Wake County school board will vote tonight to hire the N.C. School Boards Association to conduct the superintendent search.

Of the four firms who submitted proposals, board members of both parties liked McPherson & Jacobson while Democrats said they liked them and NCSBA. The other two firms were ruled out for various reasons.

But what seems to be the clincher is that while Democratic members say they like both firms, they say the cost differential is too great for them to pick McPherson. NCBSA is offering to do the search for $14,500 plus expenses while McPherson would be $47,000 per expenses.

The Wake County school board will tackle today school facilities utilization and filling the vacancies for superintendent and the District 1 board seat.

During the work session, the board will discuss the superintendent search process with a vote scheduled at the regular meeting on hiring a search firm. Don't be surprised if the Republican board members complain about the process, similar to how Democrats didn't like the process in 2010.

Also during the work session, the board will discuss how it will go forward with filling the board vacancy. You could see the board adopting dates to hold the interviews with the applicants and to have the votes.

Also during the work session, staff will present the 2012-13 facilities utilization report. This report takes more significance this year considering that plans are in progress to have a bond issue on the ballot this fall.

Two years later, the arguments are the same but those who are in control are different as the Wake County school board decides on who will be the next schools superintendent.

As noted in today's article, members of the Democratic board majority say they'd prefer to hire a superintendent with education experience. Republican board members say the search should include looking at non-educators as well, although they can't do much about it being in the minority.

“It’s really going to depend on how much experience they want in the educational field and how much experience in the corporate or military field they can tolerate,” said outgoing Republican board member Chris Malone.

The Wake County school board unanimously voted tonight to name Stephen Gainey the interim superintendent until a permanent hire is made.

Gainey has been acting superintendent since the board majority fired Tony Tata on Sept. 25. Gainey's contract as acting superintendent was set to expire Dec. 31.

Gainey will get paid an additional $5,000 a month in salary, plus $750 a month in travel expenses, starting Jan. 1. This is on top of his $120,000 a year salary as assistant superintendent for human resources. He was getting an additional $3,000 a month in salary and $750 a month in travel expenses as acting superintendent.

School board chairman Keith Sutton said he'll appoint the members of the school board's superintendent search committee in the next seven to 10 days. The goal is to have a permanent superintendent in place by July 1.

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.

Unlike recent Wake County school board chairs, Keith Sutton steps into the job while juggling the duties of having a full-time day job and also being the parent of a school-age child.

As noted in today's article, it's been a long time since a school board chair has had to deal with those situations. Not since Susan Parry, who was chair from 2003 to 2005, has the chair been a K-12 parent at the same time.

It's also been awhile since the chair has had a full-time position. Chairs in recent years have tended to be retirees while Sutton is 42.

Members of the Wake County school board's Democratic majority and the Great Schools in Wake Coalition are offering their perspectives on the search for a new superintendent to the liberal N.C. Policy Watch.

In an article published Thursday, author Lucy Hood says GSIW members want the next superintendent to be a career educator, someone with experience in the classroom. This would come after GSIW had opposed the hiring of former Superintendent Tony Tata, a retired U.S. Army brigadier general.

“No more professional hires from the military, or business,” says GSIW program coordinator Patty Williams in the article. “I’m a business person. I do not believe business people should be running a school district. …. The superintendent needs to be professionally trained and a highly experienced educator.”