Faced with citizen pressure and a lawsuit, the Upper St. Clair school board voted last night to reinstate the district's International Baccalaureate program for at least two years.

	John Heller, Post-Gazette Third-graders, from left, Elliana Ondrejko, Carson Mafrice and Abbey Ciancio -- students in Upper St. Clair's International Baccalaureate program -- read a statement last night asking the school board to keep the program. Click photo for larger image.

The board voted 7-2, with members Carol Coliane and Dr. Daniel Iracki dissenting. Both were among the five board members who voted to eliminate the program in February.

The agreement reinstates the program for the next two school years, through the end of the 2007-2008 school year. Funding will come from a combination of $45,000 raised by families of the students and $85,000 guaranteed by Gov. Ed Rendell to the district, board members said. Additional money will be needed, the board president said.

At a special meeting last night, board members reluctantly reversed their previous decision to eliminate the program, ostensibly because of its cost. More than 200 parents and students crowded into the meeting to watch the vote and voice their opinions on the program and the board's decision.

Board President Dr. William M. Sulkowski said a lawsuit filed by backers of the program had already cost the district nearly $200,000 and could have ended up costing $500,000.

"This agreement does not imply that the board's Feb. 20 decision was erroneous," he said. "This lawsuit was about trying to overturn an election. If the special interests of this community are unwilling to accept the change for which the people of Upper St. Clair voted, costs will continue to rise unchecked, taxes will continue to rise and our property values will decline."

At the heart of the lawsuit were comments made by Dr. Iracki, head of the board's curriculum committee, that the program went against "Judeo-Christian" values. Other school board members said the program was cut because of budget problems.

"The lawsuit created a huge division in the community," said Julian Neiser, the lawyer representing school board members. "It was better for everybody involved to stop the lawsuit and reinstate the program and conduct a detailed analysis so we could move on."

All of the board members said they were subjected to personal attacks, as were their families.

Under the agreement approved last night, any proposed elimination of the program after the 2007-2008 school year will be subject to a curriculum review study of up to nine months and subsequent board vote.

The district also can modify the program or its administration during the next two years.

About 650 Upper St. Clair students take IB classes, which are coordinated through the International Baccalaureate Organization, based in Switzerland. The district began offering a high school IB program in 1998 and within the last few years had expanded it to include grades one through 12.

School officials had said the high school students already enrolled in the two-year Diploma Programme would be able to finish their studies next year, but everyone else would be done with IB classes at the end of this school year.

John Heller, Post-Gazette Carson Mafrice, a third-grader in Upper St. Clair's IB program, waits with her mother for the outcome of last night's vote. Click photo for larger image.

With the settlement, all students now enrolled will able to complete their work as planned now, officials said.

The Upper St. Clair School District is the only one in the area to offer IB at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Schenley High School and Vincentian Academy-Duquesne University offer the high school program and the Quaker Valley School District offers the middle school program.

Board members who voted to cut the program said the reason was its price tag, which ranged from $85,000 to nearly $200,000, depending on whose figures were used.

"This was all political rhetoric," said Vladimir Savinov, a resident whose son has a IB program diploma. "We had to get this reinstated and we did and it's a win, but it is a small win. We were working against extremists and they are determined that we were not going to win."