New Wake School Board Takes Over

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Dave DeWitt reports that the Wake School Board is now in the hands of a Democratic majority.

Five members of the Wake County School Board were sworn in last night. The board majority is now in the hands of Democrats, after two years of Republican control.

Two years ago, when Republicans took control of the Board, they immediately removed the board chair and moved quickly to eliminate the so-called diversity policy that assigned students.

The man they removed as chair was Democrat Kevin Hill. Last night, he got a measure of redemption, when he was voted back into the chair’s spot.

The Democrats then voted out Republican John Tedesco as vice-chairman, replacing him with Democrat Keith Sutton.

Democrats say they don’t plan to undo the new choice-based student assignment plan developed by Superintendent Tony Tata. But battles over how that plan is tweaked and implemented are likely to be intense.