A hearing officer appointed by the state Department of Education won't conduct a hearing into whether the children of U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum are residents of the Penn Hills School District.

The department had announced that a public hearing would be conducted, but Bethany Yenner, department spokeswoman, yesterday said in an e-mail: "The parties involved have agreed to work together and not go to a hearing. They will work together to submit a joint stipulation of facts and exhibits to the office of general counsel by May 9.''

The Penn Hills School District had been paying the cost to send five of Santorum's children to the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School, which students attend online.

However, Santorum and his wife, Karen, removed their children from the cyber school last fall after questions were raised about their residency. At the time, Santorum said they would home-school their children, which they had done previously.

The Santorums own a Penn Hills home but spend most of their time at a home they own in Virginia.