Norman Manning went to join a picket line. He got more than a sign to hoist. He found himself running for the school board.

Charles Harris, newly minted Iraqi veteran, returned in one piece from the conflagration. And what does he do but volunteer for something only slightly less hazardous: Waco school board.

Both are admitted novices about the jobs they seek. But both have strong opinions about one thing in particular: the closing of G.L. Wiley Middle School.

In two contested races the sound of the doors shutting at the East Waco school will be heard May 9 when voters elect trustees.

It particularly will be a factor when Place 1 incumbent Sammy Smith, who ardently supported closing Wiley, goes up against Manning.

It also will be a factor in the at-large race in which incumbent Pat Atkins is challenged by Harris and Waco banker Todd Moore.

The Smith-Manning race is particularly interesting because it puts in voters’ hands the question: Who was served by closing Wiley?

Smith said he was responding to the concerns of constituents about busing middle schoolers from the West Avenue Elementary attendance area to Wiley. They should have been going to Brazos Middle School as they are today, he said.

WISD officials at the time justified the busing because Wiley was bleeding students, partly to nearby magnet middle school G.W. Carver Academy.

What makes the Place 1 race intriguing is that Smith’s district also includes East Waco and homes that fed Wiley. Manning, who lives just off Elm Street, says that in voting to close the school, Smith was ignoring those constituents.

Manning, a truck driver and veteran, says the Wiley issue was the “catalyst for everything” in his challenge to Smith. He decided to run after joining protesters including County Commissioner Lester Gibson outside WISD headquarters over the Wiley matter.

The same connection no doubt factors into the at-large candidacy of Harris, who works for Gibson as a field inspector. Other than Wiley, his other big issue is what he sees as inequality in the offerings of respective schools, the fact that Waco High offers more fine arts opportunities than University High where his daughter attends.

Having a three-way race for Atkins’ at-large post makes for intriguing possibilities, with no runoff.

Moore said he supports the actions of the district regarding G.L. Wiley, and other initiatives like grade reconfiguration promoted by the administration.

While Atkins was at the forefront in supporting the closing of Wiley, he waved the yellow flag last year when the administration sought to reconfigure all middle schools and it was talking about closing at least two elementary schools. Atkins said that the district needed a long-range plan and more public buy-in before taking such a dramatic step.

The newly approved restructuring of Lake Air and Tennyson middle schools into cohorts of grades 5-6 and 7-8, respectively, is a more incremental approach to what the administration proposed district-wide last year.

Yes, dozens of complex issues present themselves. But some issues linger and elicit more commotion. G.L. Wiley has been closed since August, but the matter itself will not be closed at least until the second weekend of May.

John Young’s column appears Thursday and Sunday. E-mail: jyoung@wacotrib.com.