Knightdale — The Knightdale Town Council became the fourth town to oppose at-large elections of the Wake County School Board.

The school board is currently composed of nine districts whose representatives come from each of the districts. Residents in those districts elect a representative from their district.

In at-large elections, nine representatives are selected from candidates running county-wide.

Town Council voted unanimously to oppose the at-large elections, saying they promoted a “Raleigh-centric” board.

The towns of Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Garner and Rolesville have endorsed at-large elections. Zebulon, Wendell and Wake Forest have opposed them.

“The outlying areas get left out,” said Mayor Russell Killen, calling for program equity in an area with more students with free and reduced lunches.

He said schools perform better when there is a balanced mix of students.

He also said having board members responsive to the needs of those in their district was the “best chance” of getting magnet schools and other things eastern Wake County needs.

Killen said proponents of at-large districts were pushing neighborhood schools. He said neighborhood schools would not work in eastern Wake County.

Some parents in Cary protested this year students with free and reduced lunches assigned to their schools to equalize the mix.

“I graduated from Zebulon High School with 77 people,” said Councilman Jeff Eddins. “There’s nothing wrong with being a small school. .. “a school with 2,000 student and 10 trailers isn’t necessarily the answer.”

In an interview Tuesday Eddins said he supported the at-large elections, but believed in neighborhood schools.

“I do think neighborhood schools sometimes get a bad wrap, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with smaller schools and smaller class sizes,” said Eddins.

With smaller class sizes, Eddins said students get individualized instruction.