As a member of the Morrisville Town Council, I often get questions about the Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) ranging from reassignment issues to school bus stop safety concerns.  I enjoy keeping neighborhoods aware of the changes being proposed by WCPSS and working with parents in search for stability in their child’s education.

Being involved with local schools is an important aspect of serving on the Town Council.  My first “official” duty after being elected in 2005 was judging an art contest at Morrisville Elementary.  I’ve also judged a spelling contest at Chesterbrook Academy in Cary, which was much more difficult that I thought (did you know that there isn’t an “e” in potato?)  More recently, I was invited by the Green Hope High School (GHHS) chapter of the National Honor Society to speak at their induction ceremony, and I attended the first ever open house at the Thales Academy in Apex.  Also, during the Fall 2008 semester, I became engaged with the Business Alliance program at GHHS, and I would recommend touching base with the career development coordinator at your local Middle or High school.  It is a great program.

When the issue concerning whether to elect a portion of our Wake County School Board members on an at-large basis came up, I advocated for adding the concept to the Morrisville legislative agenda.  In April 2008, I sent a press release to Cary Politics and to WakeEd blog which outlined my approach on this and other education issues brought up by Take Our Schools Back and other organizations interested in quality education in Wake County.  In particular, shifting the responsibility of maintaining school facilities and buildings from WCPSS to the Wake County Commissioners is an idea I backed. 

After the Town Council meeting, T. Keung Hui from the News and Observer posted more on the WakeEd blog and detailed the final outcome.  While I’m glad the Morrisville Town Council backed lifting the cap on charter schools, I think we could have done more.  In particular, I could not support giving taxing authority to the Wake County School board without having a majority of school board members being elected at-large for a couple of election cycles.  Parents need more say than one out of nine School Board members.

I’d be interested in your thoughts on the education issue.  Send me an email at tom@votemurry.com.