Third time’s a charm (??) for the Guilford County Board of Education, which may have finally filled the District 1 seat:

The board voted 7-2 in favor of Keith McCullough’s appointment at a special called meeting Tuesday night. Vice Chairman Amos Quick and board member Deena Hayes-Greene voted for another candidate, Chevella Wilson. Board member Ed Price was absent.

“This is not a popularity contest. This is about making change in our community,” McCullough told the crowd, which included many of his former classmates, earlier in the meeting.

McCullough, 47, then gave his address and phone number to the crowd.

But the most interesting part of the meeting came toward the end, when “some in the audience also seemed surprised to learn” that the board will change structure next, going from 11 to nine members and becoming—gasp—partisan.

That’s your informed electorate for you. And when an audience member asked the board what they could do “help you guys out,” board member Jeff Belton replied “vote out Trudy Wade and the Republican majority in Raleigh.”

Got news for Mr. Belton — if people are just now finding out about the change in the school board, then I’ll bet when it happens nobody’s going to notice anything different. Does that make it right? That’s in the eye of the beholder.