Local chapters of the NAACP held a rally Sunday evening to encourage voters to head to the polls Tuesday for the Wake County Board of Education runoff election.

John Tedesco, who was just shy of 50 percent in the primary election, will face Cathy Truitt, who at one point backed Tedesco after coming in second during the primary election, but later said she would accept the seat if she won.

A main issue in the race, and the rallying cry for the NAACP on Sunday, was the school system's current socio-economic diversity policy, which buses some students to schools outside their neighborhoods.

The outcome in the runoff election, which is for the District 2 seat, could mean a change in that policy in favor of what's called "community," or "neighborhood" schools.

Some at the rally Sunday said a change in the policy would divide students.

"This right here is segregation in 2009," said Ronald White, president of South Central Wake NAACP.

Some at the rally said changing the policy would hurt low-income students the most.

Tedesco, who attended the rally, said community schools can still maintain diversity.

"Our community is much more diverse than it's ever been before," he said. "Plus having a county-funded system allows us a safety net to ensure there's no unequal schools in any part of our community."

The policy could likely change no matter who wins, since Tedesco and Truitt have both spoken out against the busing policy, and the winner of the race would give community schools advocates a majority on the school board.

Truitt, who issued a statement Saturday saying she would still accept the board seat if she won, would not comment any further.

Local chapters of the NAACP said Sunday they want supporters to show up at school board meetings and demand the current policy remain.