The potential elimination of the Communities in Schools site coordinator positions took center stage at Tuesday's budget public hearing.

As noted in today's article, more than a dozen speakers urged the school board to find a way to fund those positions, which cost Wake $472,446. They told how the CIS program, through the help of the paid coordinators, is making a difference in the lives of at-risk students.

"With the elimination of the CIS coordinator, I honeslty believe these children will be left behind," Marla Turlington, incoming PTA president at Hunter Elementary School, told the board on Tuesday.

We've got new principals tonight for Brier Creek and Sanford Creek elementary schools.

The school board announced that Ve-Lecia Council will take over at Sanford Creek Elementary in Rolesville. She replaces Jamee Lynch, who is now principal of the East Wake School of Integrated Technology.

Council has been principal of Baucom Elementary in Apex since 2005.

UPDATE

Bio sheets now at the end of the post. 

The school board adopted all the 2010-11 school calendars today.

The only change made to the draft calendars was to reverse the order of a pair of traditional-calendar makeup days. Feb. 22 will now be used before Feb. 21, which is President's Day.

The vote on the traditional calendar was 7-1 with Beverley Clark dissenting because she wanted to give the public more time to comment. Other board members said it wasn't necessary to wait considering all the parents, administrators and community members who served on the calendar committee.

Click here for the post that had the various calendars.

Speaking of school board elections, it could get more expensive to run this year.

Staff wants the board to vote today on setting the filing fee for candidates. The current $5 fee could rise to $148

State law says the filing fee can be as low as $5 or up to 1 percent of the annual salary for the office sought. In the school board's case, 1 percent would equal $148.

UPDATE

The board set the filng fee at $75. 

You can officially add Patti Head to the list of incumbents who won't seek re-election this year.

Patti Head announced at Monday's board advisory council meeting that she was not going to seek a third term in order to spend more time with her family. She said today her decision wasn't motivated by the prospect of a tough campaign fight this year.

“There are going to be some tough issues,” Head said. “But I have never backed away from a fight. I would have been willing to run again if my family was committed to serving another four years.”

A potential budget cut could do more harm than good for the school district.

As noted in today's article, Wake school administrators have not recommended funding the 10 Communities in Schools site coordinator positions. It would cost $472,446 to put the positions into the 2009-10 budget.

Located mostly at high-poverty schools, the site coordinators recruit tutor-mentors and provide them assistance. The coordinators also help students with other needs, such as providing them school supplies and eyeglasses and even helping their parents pay the rent.

This is sounding like a broken record but Wake has got another round of class-size waiver requests.

The school board is scheduled to vote Tuesday on requests for waivers for 17 classrooms in nine elementary schools. As in the past, Wake needs state permission to have more than 24 kids in those K-3 classes.

Wake also asked for waivers in January and February. The state has received so many requests from Wake that it hasn't officially responded to the earlier ones yet.

Click here for the new requests.

It is not too soon to think about 2010-11 school calendars.

The school board is scheduled to vote Tuesday on the 2010-11 calendars for traditional-calendar schools, year-round schools, modified-calendar schools and the Wake Early College.

The traditional calendar continues to include the use of some spring break days in 2011 as possible makeup days. Due to complaints about them being used this school year, we'll see if it's discussed by the board tomorrow.

Does homeschooling leave children unprepared for the "real world?"

As noted in today's article, that's the implication you get from Wake District Court Judge Ned Mangum requiring North Raleigh mom Venessa Mills to put her kids in a public school. While he said the kids have "thrived" being homeschooled, he said they'd be well-rounded attending a public school.

(You can hear audio of the hearing at the end of the post.)

"I think that it's great they've been able to spend a couple of years at home with you and do neat activities," Mangum told Mills at last week's court hearing.

Homeschoolers are in an uproar over a Wake judge saying that he plans to order a m North Raleigh mom to stop homeschooling her children to enroll them in public school.

Click here for the online story about Wake District Court Judge Ned Mangum saying Friday that he intends to make Venessa Mills send her kids to public school starting next school year.

It's part of a messy divorce case in which her admittedly adulterous husband claims the mom is in a cult whose homeschooling is socially isolating the children.