Wake County (N.C.) board picks former district administrator as superintendent

A former administrator in the Wake County (N.C.) school system is returning to the district as superintendent. The Raleigh News & Observer says the Wake County board has hired Jim Merrill as superintendent of the 150,000-student system. He is superintendent of the Virginia Beach (Va.) Public Schools, and he worked in Wake from 1984 to 2000 as a principal and district administrator. Prior to his Virginia Beach tenure, Merrill, 62, was superintendent in the Alamance-Burlington (N.C.) district.