Debbie Vair of Rolesville has jumped into what promises to be a hot contest for the District 1 seat on the Wake County School Board now held by Lori Millberg, who will not seek re-election.
            Vair’s decision to run means there are three active candidates for the seat representing the district that sweeps across the eastern side of Wake County and includes Wake Forest, Knightdale, Wendell and Zebulon.
            The other two candidates are Chris Malone, a former Wake Forest town commissioner, and Rita Rakestraw, who organized a grassroots group to keep a Wal-Mart out of Knightdale.
            Vair is the membership and promotions director for the Granite Falls Swim and Athletic Club opening this month across from Sanford Creek Elementary School in Rolesville, and she has been active with the Rolesville Education Committee. She was also part of the group trying to block the construction of Forest Ridge High School on Forestville Road where she and other neighbors found a slave cemetery. The new school’s construction is on hold because of the economic conditions. Vair is on Facebook – click on the opening page with no picture to get to her site with a picture – and said this week her website will be online next week
            With four of the nine school board seats on the Oct. 6 ballot, the present board policy of school diversity is at stake and the most hotly contested topic even before candidate filing begins July 6.
            Malone has been endorsed by the Wake Schools Community Alliance, a group that wants to see children go to neighborhood schools.
            Vair says that sending children to schools a distance from their homes deters parental involvement in the PTA and school activities. She says parents should know the school path their children will follow when they enter kindergarten – which elementary, which middle school – to give continuity and neighborhood cohesiveness.
            Rakestraw wants to maintain the 30-year diversity policy, balancing the percentages of low-income students among schools, and says it is the foundation for students’ academic success, including a higher graduation rate than the state average, 79.3 percent versus 69.5.
            Vair is on Facebook – click on the opening page with no picture to get to her site with a picture – and said this week her website will be online next week.
            Malone said his website will be tweaked throughout the month as he adds concepts and ideas to his agenda, but you can find it at www.MaloneforSchoolboard.com. He is also on Twitter – ID is ChrisMalone3 – and on Facebook, and he will be doing some videos later.
            Rakestraw’s website is www.ritaforboard.com  and she is holding a campaign kick-off ice cream party tomorrow night, July 2 from 7 to 8, in Knightdale.
            A fourth possible candidate, Otis Lindsey of Raleigh, filed to form a campaign committee in November but has not made any announcements or returned telephone calls.
            The Gazette will keep abreast of the three candidates and any others that file through July – the filing period is from Tuesday, July 6, until noon Friday, July 17. With an election on Oct. 6, the Gazette plans coverage during the last part of August and through September.