The Pittsburgh Public Schools district is paying a Nashville company to educate 432 students at a new alternative school, but there are only about 250 students in the North Side building.

The district and the school operator, Community Education Partners, had planned to open the school in August with a small number of students and reach the full complement of 432 by January.

That hasn't happened for various reasons, including problems with student discipline and the unexpected resignation of the school's principal in December, officials said.

The district is not entitled to a price break for sending fewer students than expected, and CEP now is charging the district for 432 students, said J. Kaye Cupples, the district's executive director of support services.

But Randle Richardson, CEP's chief executive officer, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette yesterday that he's willing to give the district a discount as a gesture of goodwill.

"If we're going to be a partner, we've got to listen to the needs of the district," said Mr. Richardson, whose company has taken a public relations beating in some cities amid complaints of poor performance.

Dr. Cupples called Mr. Richardson's statement "very good news" and said, "He's right. That's what makes for good partnerships."

The district's five-year contract with CEP calls for paying the company about $28.5 million over five school years.

Under the contract, payment for 2007-08 would total about $4.7 million, less than would be owed in other years, in part because the district planned a phased-in enrollment to get the school off the ground. District Chief of Staff Lisa Fischetti said the district agreed to pay CEP to educate 108 students in September, 216 in October, 324 in November and December and 432 from January through June.

If officials had followed through with that ramp-up, "it would have become a dangerous situation" because that number of students couldn't be managed, Dr. Cupples said. The school, called Clayton Academy, takes students with academic and behavioral problems in grades six through 12.

"These are tough kids," Dr. Cupples said.

Mr. Richardson said the start-up problems are similar to what he's experienced in other cities. He said it takes more than a year for a CEP school to "mature" -- for staff to create a culture and students to adjust to it.

Students are referred to Clayton Academy by principals of their home schools. CEP's goal is to keep the students for as long as one school year, then return them to their home schools so they can graduate on time.

The district brought CEP in amid widespread complaints about discipline in city schools -- a problem said to be hampering overall student achievement rates. Since schools began referring disruptive students to Clayton Academy, the climate in schools districtwide has improved, Dr. Cupples said.

Contrary to initial plans, Dr. Cupples told the school board Wednesday, the district is allowing CEP to take some students who are under court supervision. About 15 such children -- all middle-grade students -- are there now.

In most cases, the children's legal problems began after they arrived at CEP, and officials decided it would be better to keep them there than uproot them, Dr. Cupples said. He said their cases involve offenses like vandalism and noted that the district's adjudicated high school-age students go to The Academy Charter School in the Carrick area.

Board member Theresa Colaizzi asked administrators to provide a report on CEP's performance so far. Dr. Cupples said he would do so, and Mr. Richardson yesterday said CEP would provide the data.

Mr. Richardson said students, on average, have entered Clayton Academy at a fourth-grade reading level and at a slightly lower point in math. He said they've changed schools an average of two or three times in the past 18 months and called instability in their home lives a key barrier to achievement.

On average, he said, students have grown one grade level in reading and two at math during their time at Clayton Academy.

The American Civil Liberties Union last week filed a lawsuit in a Georgia court, alleging educational shortcomings and other constitutional violations at a CEP-run school in Atlanta. Mr. Richardson said the suit was a surprise and a disappointment and included allegations that "one phone call would have disproved."