Three months after a Homewood group proposed turning Pittsburgh Westinghouse High School into a sports-science magnet, residents still are wrestling with the right programs and grade configuration for the school.

About 40 people turned out last night for a third community meeting on Westinghouse's future -- part of a citywide overhaul of high schools. While the proposal for a sports-science magnet remains on the table, residents also expressed interest in programs centering on math and science, auto mechanics, health careers and college preparation.

"There are bits and pieces of ideas," said Derrick Lopez, the Pittsburgh Public Schools' executive director of secondary schools.

Now, the work falls to a committee of about 24 people. Participants last night had the opportunity to make nominations, but Superintendent Mark Roosevelt will appoint committee members.

The committee will vet the sports-magnet proposal and other ideas, then present recommendations at the next community meeting, scheduled for April 16, according to a timeline provided last night. The recommendations then would go to Mr. Roosevelt and the school board.

A decision could be complicated by crime and other neighborhood problems, which some parents believe would prevent a Westinghouse magnet from drawing students from across the city.

The sports-science proposal, unveiled in October by a group led by John Wallace, associate professor of social work at the University of Pittsburgh, called for converting Westinghouse into a school for grades six through 12. That configuration, which the district has begun using at schools in other parts of the city, continued to draw resistance from the Westinghouse community last night.

"I'd rather home-school my child than send him to a 6-12 school," Kelly Howze, a parent of three students at Pittsburgh Lincoln K-8, said.

Turning Westinghouse into a 6-12 school would mean changes for the school's feeders, Lincoln and Pittsburgh Faison PreK-8 in Homewood.

Echoing comments she made in October, Lincoln Principal Regina Holley said neither she nor parents of her students favor a 6-12 school.

She said some students have begun leaving Lincoln because of uncertainty about its future. Dr. Holley didn't provide a number, and Mr. Lopez said he believed Lincoln's enrollment has been stable this school year.

As at other district schools, Westinghouse's enrollment is in a long decline, dropping from 385 students in 2007-08 to 335 this school year. The school has space for about 1,000 students.

Though Westinghouse Principal Shemeca Crenshaw was lauded for improvements last school year, the school has a reputation for academic problems. Dr. Holley said most of her eighth-graders go to other high schools.

Saying the district is moving too fast with a Westinghouse plan, Dr. Holley called for the district to survey parents for their thoughts about schools in Homewood and surrounding neighborhoods. Instead of determining how to best meet student needs, she said, the district seems to be focused on finding a way to repopulate Westinghouse with students.

The high-school improvement work is proceeding on multiple fronts.

A site-selection committee appointed by Mr. Roosevelt last month recommended that the district house its new International Baccalaureate school at the Pittsburgh Peabody High School building in East Liberty.

It wasn't clear what would happen to Peabody High, a neighborhood school like Westinghouse is now. But some parents are wondering whether magnets at Peabody and Westinghouse would leave a large swath of the city without a neighborhood high school.