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McNeal became associate superintendent for instructional services in 1992, a position that made him Superintendent Jim Surratt's right-hand man.

When Surratt left in 2000, McNeal was such a popular choice that the board waived the requirement that the superintendent have a doctorate in education.

He has been called a driving force behind the board's 1998 adoption of the goal of having 95 percent of third- through eighth-graders pass state tests by 2003. Wake didn't make the goal, but scores rose sharply and came close at 91 percent.

Scores on state tests have gone flat in recent years as Wake has attracted more low-income and non-English-speaking students but are still much higher than the state average. Wake's average SAT score is at a record high.

McNeal pushed for the new goal of having 95 percent of third- through 12th-graders passing state tests by 2008 and showing high academic growth.

Ups and downs

The high mark of McNeal's tenure came last year when he was named the national superintendent of the year by the American Association of School Administrators.

But the past year has been rockier for McNeal and the district.

McNeal has had to answer questions about how school system transportation employees and managers of a parts supplier could fraudulently bill taxpayers for at least $3.8 million. The school board has hired an outside auditor to review the situation.

McNeal has been questioned about his friendship with Vern Hatley, the former transportation director who pleaded guilty last month to fraud charges in the case. McNeal has said he did not know that Hatley, who lived across the street from him in North Raleigh, had committed any wrongdoing.

Wake District Attorney Colon Willoughby has said there's no evidence anyone in the school system outside the transportation department was criminally involved.

McNeal denied that the fraud case had anything to do with his retirement. He pointed out that he's been the longest-serving superintendent in Wake since the merger with the Raleigh schools in 1976. McNeal will have served the school district as superintendent for six years at the time of his retirement.

"You don't want to stay too long," McNeal said.

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