A Pittsburgh Schenley High parent today failed to prevent a school board vote on a plan to relocate Schenley students if the school closes.

Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Christine A. Ward told attorneys for Amy S. Moore, whose son would graduate from Schenley in 2010, that she had no legal authority to stop an elected body from doing its job.

"I don't see any great harm if [board members] wanted to postpone their meeting," the judge said, reviewing a motion that had been filed less than an hour beforehand. "I just don't think I have the authority to prevent it from going forward." She denied the motion for an injunction after the plaintiff's lawyer said he could cite no precedent of a common pleas court judge stopping a local school board vote.

Attorney Justin R. Lewis, of the Cook Law Group, Downtown, said if approved by the board, the $3.9 million appropriation to a design firm was "a defacto back-door way to close Schenley" without an opportunity for public comment. The judge denied Mr. Lewis's motion for a temporary injunction to allow for public comment.

Ira Weiss, district solicitor, said the board tonight will consider retaining a design firm to begin construction plans to make room for 550 Schenley students from the international studies/International Baccalaureate magnet at the former Reizenstein Middle School building in Shadyside. Other work would be to renovate Peabody High School in East Liberty to accommodate 175 students in Schenley's robotics technology magnet. The rest of Schenley's 1,100 students would go to renovated space in the former Milliones Middle School building in the Hill District.

Superintendent Mark Roosevelt has proposed closing Schenley at the end of the school year, saying the district cannot afford more than $64 million in renovations to the 91-year-old building.

"If the board decides not to close Schenley, they will still have to fix it," Mr. Weiss said.

More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.