Jim Merrill started the job last Thursday, but he was officially sworn in just before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
He takes over for Tony Tata, who was fired last fall. Merrill is Wake County's third superintendent in as many years and is now running the state's largest school district.
Meanwhile, the board voted to name a new school Apex Friendship High School. Some people felt the name Friendship was inappropriate and too politically correct. Others thought it was a proper representation of the close-knit community.
The school board is also considering moving more than $1 million in reserve funds to support a bus driver initiative. The district has seen a shortage of drivers in the last few years and the board approved a measure in the hopes of sustaining bus drivers with a plan that would give them bonuses.
Merrill served as superintendent of the Virginia Beach City Public Schools, the third largest school division in Virginia, since 2006. Prior to that, he served six years as superintendent of the Alamance-Burlington School System.
Previously, Merrill spent 16 years in the Wake County Public School System, last serving as Associate Superintendent for Administration and Finance. He began his career in 1973 as an English teacher.
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