Supporters of neighborhood schools are not wanted on the Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children's listserv.

Calla Wright, the coalition's president, acknowledged that she recently "banned" from the listserv known supporters of neighborhood schools. This includes people from groups such as Wake CARES and the Wake Schools Community Alliance.

Wright said support for neighborhood schools goes against the diversity policy and providing educational opportunities for all children.

You can add Communities in Schools to the groups now taking shots at the diversity policy with the new school board members set to take office.

Neither the state nor local chapters of the group had publicly complained about the diversity policy before even though many of the students they help are among those directly impacted. But relations have frayed between CIS and Wake, as shown in today's op-ed column by Mike Stephens, chief operating officer of Communities In Schools of North Carolina.

"Busing our students is not the only way - or necessarily the best way - to make sure North Carolina is achieving equality in its public schools," Stephens writes. "We do not have to look farther than the Wake County school system to understand this."

It looks like supporters of the new school board members will step forward to cover the cost of next Tuesday's reception.

The board traditionally holds a brief reception after new members are sworn in. The cost is usually covered by the district. But private citizens have offered to pay the costs this time.

"Parties like these should be paid for by private dollars," said Kristen Stocking, founder of the Wake Schools Community Alliance, whose support helped elect all four new members.

UPDATE

Joe Ciulla said he, Stocking and Sarah Redpath will pay for the reception out of their own pockets. All three are leaders in WSCA.

"We don't want taxpayers and students to pay for this," Ciulla said. "The four new board members campaigned on fiscal responsibility."

If actions have consequences, the consequences for speaking out in favor of the diversity policy could be costly for one local law firm.

It didn't escape the attention of the new school board majority that prominent local attorney Wade Smith was one of the speakers at the Oct. 5 Friends of Diversity press conference. Smith had helped push the 1976 merger through when he was in the General Assembly.

One potential response by the new board majority is to drop the firm that Smith helped found, Tharrington Smith, as the school district's attorney.

UPDATE

Ann Majestic says Smith never agreed to attend the Friends of Diversity press conference and did not attend. His name was on the list of speakers put out by the event's organizer, Keith Sutton.

Smith had talked about the importance of the diversity policy in an article that ran the Sunday before the election.

While it may not be likely, Clay Aiken could actually be prosecuted over voting in last month's school board election.

As noted in today's aricle by Josh Shaffer, the Wake County Board of Elections will hold a hearing on Wake GOP Chairman Claude Pope's challenge of Aiken's voter registration status. Although Pope's press release says they're not seeking punitive action against Aiken, that might not matter.

The Wake Board of Elections will first decide whether Aiken should still be registered to vote in the county. They'll ask Aiken questions such as where his pets spend the night and where he goes to sleep at night.

As of this day can't get odder, new school board member Debra Goldman has been told she can't dress up as Mrs. Claus for tomorrow's Raleigh Christmas Parade.

John Odom, executive director of the the Greater Raleigh Merchants Association, gave the bad news to Goldman today. He told her that it's against their policy for any person other than the official Santa to wear the red Santa suit at the parade.

UPDATE

Click here for today's story. In case you don't already know, I added that Odom was recently elected to the Raleigh City Council.

For those who wondered why we wrote about Clay Aiken's riff on the school board elections, you'll love this news.

The Wake County Republican Party sent a press release this evening saying that GOP Chairman Claude Pope is challenging Aiken's right to remain registered to vote in the county.

Aiken has a home in Chatham County but is registered to vote at his mother's home in North Raleigh. Voter registration records show he voted in last month's school board elections.

Mrs. Claus may be familiar if you look hard enough at tomorrow's Raleigh Christmas Parade.

Newly elected school board member Debra Goldman will reprise her role of Mrs. Claus from last year's parade. You can find her tomorrow, either in person or on TV, escorting Wake Sheriff Donnie Harrison in an effort to promote his Citizen Well-Check program.

Here's the press release Goldman sent this morning:

Could classroom crowding and course offerings get worse in Wake next year?

As noted in today's article, that's something that Wake Supt. Del Burns is hoping to avoid with the $20 million in Central Services cuts that he wans to make for next fiscal year. But he's not ruling out the possibility that more classroom cuts could be needed for next school year.

"We're trying to preserve the services we now have," Burns said.

Wake Supt. Del Burns announced plans today to cut $20 million from the Central Services budget for the upcoming fiscal year

The cuts still have to be identified but would come from areas not based at schools. He's hoping these cuts will reduce the amount that could be cut from school spending.

Burns said he called for the cuts now because Wake is facing $17 million in both additional costs and cuts in funding for next year that have to be addressed.

Click here for the district's press release.

UPDATE

Click here for the online story.