District 8 covers the southwestern part of Wake County, including parts of Apex, Holly Springs and Fuquay Varina.
14 people were scheduled to be interviewed. The first interview started at 8:30 a.m. The last interview is expected to wrap up by 5:30 p.m.
The candidates all have diverse career backgrounds including education, engineering, technology, design, and pharmaceutical.
The candidate selected will serve in a critical role that will help shape policies for students and staff at the largest school district in the state.
"It takes a lot of work managing 160,000 students over 10,000 staff employees. And so one of the things that is very important to us as we look at new board members is making sure people not only have the love of our students and for public education, but they also have the time," said Wake County School Board Chair, Chris Heagarty.
Inside the interview process, each board member asked each candidate a single question.
Candidates submitted resumes, recommendation letters as part of a complete packet. Heagarty said the interview process is one component of the selection process. A candidate will be selected on Tuesday evening.
"We have eight other board members, and everyone, I'm sure, has their own qualities that they're looking for in a board member. But I think generally we're looking for people who most importantly care about our students, care about our staff, care about our district. You know, it's good if we have people who understand collaboration, can work well with others, who can articulate their viewpoints," explained Heagarty.
Eyewitness News was present during some of the morning interviews where candidates answered questions about budget priorities, working with community stakeholders, and their passion behind the pursuit of this position.
Nihar Shah explained why he was interested in serving on the Wake County School Board.
"Being a county resident for quite a period of time, and father of two high school kids, it's always been, I believe, that the strong schools will bring us to the strong communities," he said.
"Also, my education background, master's in electrical engineering as well as MBA in finance and management, and some of the others. So the situation makes me believe that a strong education will give our tools that our students need for future success in a rapidly changing world," Shah continued.
When Raymond Yeagley, another candidate was asked about budget priorities to meet the needs of students and staff he laid out what he considered priorities.
"There are numerous things that school districts are responsible for from transportation and food and nutrition to extracurriculars, but I think there are two priorities that really stand out. The first one is keeping the students safe. The second one is maximizing the learning opportunities for students and make sure that they are learning," he explained.
Lana Prince was questioned about how she would balance the needs of the constituents of her district with those of the entire district.
"It just comes down to just making sure you're growing with the people's needs," said Prince.
"I live in an area where we built that new school because it's growing incredibly. And so we have to make sure that as they're throwing these new neighborhoods up, that we have a place for the kids to go and that's really, really important. And within that is still making sure you're keeping up with the time. Making sure that kids are exposed to technology," she continued.