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Upper St. Clair axes program
Local news, discussion, events and more at YourSouthHills.com
Bobby Kerlik can be reached via e-mail or at 412-391-0927.
The International Baccalaureate Programme, which had come under fire in recent weeks from a newly elected board majority, will come to a close at the end of this school year. However, juniors already enrolled in the IB diploma program will be permitted to finish their studies.
"IB programs clearly violate local control," said board member Daniel Iracki, who made the motion to eliminate the program. "I've heard no convincing factual evidence that IB is a superior program."
Iracki and board members William Sulkowski, Mark Trombetta, David Bluey and Carol Coliane all cited financial concerns and curriculum flaws as reasons to eliminate the program.
Board members Barbara Bolas, Glenn Groninger, Jeffrey Joyce and Angela Petersen voted to keep the program.
The International Baccalaureate Programme is an academically rigorous curriculum that offers students a chance to earn college credits. The program teaches students to look at subjects through an international perspective.
The program was first offered in the 1998-99 school year with 69 students. Today, more than 750 -- about 18 percent of the district's students -- are enrolled in the program.
Some board members said the IB program and the Advance Placement programs are duplicitous.
"IB is essentially a duplication of AP," said Trombetta, explaining that representatives from several colleges told him that IB and Advance Placement credits are equal.
"I believe we can do better," he said. "We can create our own unique curriculum that would set us apart from other schools."
Jackie Cozma, 17, a junior in the IB program, disagreed.
"If they came and visited our classes and gained an understanding of the way we're taught, they'll see that it's not the same as AP," she said. "This decision is not the most educated. More could have been learned with all the facts."
Marcella Lantzman, 41, is upset her children will not have a choice to enroll in the IB program when they are older.
"I'm just disgusted. It's completely obvious the board never researched the program. They considered no input from the community. They came in with their minds made up, but this is just the beginning."
Parents last week discussed the possibility of a lawsuit if the board voted to disband IB.
"It will probably cost the district more now (through litigation)," Lantzman said.
As board members in opposition to IB stated their positions, the crowd in the high school auditorium became boisterous. Board members were met with boos and screams of "We're going to recall you."
The interruptions became so frequent and intense that board president Sulkowski requested police officers present come to the front of the auditorium. Sulkowski also threatened to clear the auditorium if the interruptions did not stop.
Parents and students had been mobilizing to save the program since some board members labeled it anti-American last week. More than 300 people attended a meeting Thursday to organize their opposition and parents and students picketed in front of the district administration offices Friday.
Board members have been bombarded with letters and e-mails urging them to not cut the IB program.
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