RALEIGH — The Wake County school board agreed to buy land for a new high school Tuesday and pulled out of the N.C. School Boards Association.

The board agreed to pay $4.3 million for about 143 acres at Rolesville and Quarry roads in Rolesville as a site for both a high school and an elementary school. That came after the board majority dropped plans in February to build a high school off Forestville Road near U.S. 401 in northeast Raleigh.

Administrators had warned that switching sites could cost $15 million more and delay the opening of the high school by two years to 2014. The new Rolesville site, tentatively called Rolesville High School, might be ready as soon as 2013.

But it's up to Wake county commissioners to decide whether to approve the site.

Citing $40,000 in savings on dues, the board voted 5-4 not to renew Wake's membership in the N.C. School Boards Association and the National School Boards Association. The board also pulled out of the National School Boards Association's Council of Urban Boards of Education.

By the same 5-4 majority, the school board re-elected Ron Margiotta to be chairman and Debra Goldman to be vice chairwoman. Keith Sutton was unsuccessfully nominated for both positions.

The board also agreed to keep the Tharrington Smith firm as its attorney. Thomas Farr, the attorney hired by the board to conduct an audit of legal services, had recommended hiring an in-house attorney to replace Tharrington Smith.