Upper St. Clair district officials have established protocol for replacing Daniel Iracki, who resigned from the school board Aug. 11 with more than a year left to his term.

Superintendent Patrick O'Toole said candidates must submit their applications to the district office by noon next Thursday.

Public interviews will be conducted at the high school on Sept. 9, with more interviews the following day, if necessary.

The matter will be put to vote by the school board on Sept. 10. If a quorum is not met, the new member can be appointed by the Allegheny County courts.

Last December, when board member David Bluey resigned and a similar protocol was followed, the public interviews were taped and broadcast via the USC cable network.

There was brief argument at the school board meeting Monday when several members deemed it important that the broadcast run for two weeks, as it did last time.

But board President Angela Petersen pointed out that in December, there was at least a week between the interviews and the vote, which will not be the case this time.

In the end, it was agreed to re-run the interviews for several weeks.

Of more concern, at least to some members, was avoiding a "done deal" in the selection.

"My biggest fear is hand-[picking] people to run," said director William Sulkowski. "I don't want this to be 'pre-determined.' "

Carol Coliane, in tribute to her former colleague, Dr. Iracki, said he brought "a fresh perspective" to the table.

Before the meeting, former board president Mark Trombetta spoke during residents' comments about Dr. Iracki, calling him "a man of great ethical makeup."

In other business, the board approved hiring Aramark as commissioning agent for LEED certification for its middle schools renovation project.

There was also the matter of approving bus stops for the school year, which began Tuesday. In the past, school board members didn't always have a list of the stops, which gave Mrs. Coliane reason to request one before voting on approval.

Several board members agreed, and a copy of the stops was passed around.

Barbara Bolas noted that in past years, the superintendent was charged by the board to assure that all policies and state regulations had been met, then the board would vote to approve.

"Sometimes, with the trivial and the minutiae, we have to trust the superintendent on his recommendation," Dr. Sulkowski said.

The stops list was eventually approved. But, as board member Louis Piconi noted: "It's not [always] a matter of trust when you're on a board, it's a matter of [legality]."