A new group of Wake County school board representatives was sworn in Dec. 1, replacing the former majority of members, and has quickly begun to make changes to current policies.

The new board members

            The new chairman of Wake County’s school board is Ron Margiotta. Debra Goldman, Chris Malone, John Tedesco and Deborah Prickett were also elected to the school board, creating a 5-4 ratio of new members to old members.

            “People have been upset over the choices that the school board has been making, so with new people in charge, there can be some changes for the better,” said Victoria Duncan, sophomore.

            During their first meeting Dec. 1, the new board majority added several items to the agenda without advance notice. This drew complaints from teachers and the board’s minority.

            “To me this is a process that is very new to the school board, where essentially half the members are not privy to information prior to the meeting,” said former chairman Kevin Hill.

The board’s goals

            The newly elected board members have already begun to change school policies, outvoting the other members. After meeting for seven hours, they eliminated so-called “Wacky Wednesdays,” the controversial policy ending school an hour earlier on Wednesdays. This change will take place with the start of the next school year.

            The board also has its eye on Wake County’s diversity policy, which assigns students of different economic levels to each school to avoid school segregation. Margiotta has always been a critic of it.

            “It’s not possible to go to 100 percent neighborhood schools because of where schools are located and capacity. But certainly, more thought can be made to have students go to school closer to where they live,” said Margiotta.

            Wake County has been recognized in the past by the Council of Urban Boards of Education for its diversity efforts.

            “I value attending a school as diverse as Athens. It reflects the real world and I appreciate that,” said Cammie Delforge, junior.

            In addition, Margiotta wishes to end mandatory year round schools. He plans to make sure that three new schools opening next year will either follow the traditional calendar or function voluntarily as year-round schools.

The county’s reaction

            There have been mixed emotions regarding the new school board majority, which became clear during the board’s first meeting with the new members. When the diversity policy was addressed, the proposal for changing it was not handed out to the public for review. This angered many of the people attending the meeting.

            “What you [the school board] did tonight was irresponsible. You added items…your board members have not even looked at,” said Rhonda Curtright, a representative of a parent group in favor of the diversity policy.

            Margiotta threatened to disallow public comment after loud applause broke out following this.

            “The next four years, as they say, will be interesting times,” said Malone.