When the new majority on the Wake County school board came to power last year, one of the first official acts by new Chairman Ron Margiotta and his freshly elected allies, all opponents of the diversity policy and mandatory year-round schools, was to hire attorney Thomas Farr. He was to review the board's various legal arrangements, including its long-standing representation by the Raleigh firm of Tharrington Smith.
There also was a sense that the board might want Farr to help put its ducks in a row in defending itself against any legal action brought by the NAACP, which sees discrimination in abandonment of the diversity policy.
But Farr's charge seems now to include - just about everything. No word on whether he's handy when it comes to kitchen sinks, but he might want to get out the wrenches.
Farr, an expert on redistricting and employment law, has long-standing ties to the Republican Party, which also backed the winning quartet of candidates last fall. Fellow attorneys of different political persuasions speak highly of him.
Farr has of late been quite active in service to the board - witness the $6,000 bill for January reflecting his $250 per hour rate applied to interviewing education and community leaders about changes in schools. He has queried the system's staff (including asking for information available on its Web site). Farr says he'll present a report with the results of his review.
Farr's fees are capped at $50,000 for his audit of legal services, and at another $25,000 for other legal advice he might provide. The elected board majority has leeway in spending the public's money for services, but it made an interesting choice here considering that it has in its long-time employ legal counsel with broad experience in education matters.
Also interesting is the range of Farr's task. How did it go from reviewing legal arrangements to what appears now to be an overview of the entire workings of the school system? The board's majority owes the taxpayers an explanation for that.
