Truit says she'll serve if elected to school board

Truitt faces off with John Tedesco in a runoff next Tuesday.

"If I am elected in the runoff race, I will serve the people of Wake County as a member of the school board," Truitt said.

In the Oct. 6 elections, Truitt garnered 24 percent of the vote, and Tedesco took 49 percent, short of the majority required to avoid a runoff. Truitt quickly requested a runoff, but later conceded the race.

However, she never officially withdrew, and the State Board of Election ruled that Wake County had to go through with the runoff. If Truitt won the runoff and did not accept the position, the school board would appoint someone else.

Truitt said Saturday that outcome would be unacceptable.

"The voters should be heard next week," Truitt said. "If I am elected, there will be no delay."

Tedesco said Thursday that he isn't taking anything for granted and has continued campaigning.

"There's a lot of people who think the election is over," Tedesco said. "You have to vote. You need to vote one more time."

"We're not taking anything lightly. We've been knocking on doors all week, and we will be knocking on doors until Tuesday morning," he continued.

At stake in the race is the school system's student assignment policy that promotes socioeconomic diversity, where students are bussed to schools across the county to achieve a balanced makeup of students.

Tedesco and three other school board candidates have indicated they would be willing to change the policy in favor of neighborhood schools. One other sitting member of the board also supports a change.

Tedesco would give that faction a majority position on the nine-member board.