Mars Area High School Principal Anna Saker will take a sabbatical for health reasons for the first semester of the upcoming school year.

Mrs. Saker is facing criminal charges in connection with an altercation with a Mars police officer in May.

Her sabbatical request was unanimously approved Tuesday by the school board. Todd Kolson, one of two assistant principals at the high school, will be acting principal.

Mrs. Saker will receive half pay during her leave, which began yesterday, said Superintendent William Pettigrew.

Mrs. Saker is expected to stand trial on one count each of disorderly conduct and obstructing the administration of law or other governmental functions. Her husband, Nazih, will stand trial on charges of aggravated assault, terroristic threats, simple assault, resisting arrest, two counts of disorderly conduct, speeding and running a stop sign. Police said the altercation occurred after Mars Patrolman Daniel Tressler stopped Mr. Saker's car for speeding.

In other business, the school board heard a presentation from a company that promises a 100 percent return on delinquent school taxes.

Municipal Revenue Service in Erie contracts with a nonprofit group to purchase the outstanding tax notes. The school district will get all the tax money immediately, and the nonprofit would get the money when it is paid by the taxpayer. Municipal Revenue Service receives a commission from the nonprofit.

Mars Area could realize a $500,000 windfall the first year, said Jeff Spalding.

The transactions have been legal in Pennsylvania since 2003, and 26 states require them, he said.

Mr. Spalding told the board that some delinquent taxes take three or four years to be resolved. "We bring you the revenue from your outstanding receivables ... and make that available to the district immediately," he said.

The company is not a delinquent tax collector, he said. That responsibility remains with Butler County, Mr. Spalding said. Municipal Revenue has 26 school and municipal clients, including the Clarion Area School District and the Municipality of Penn Hills, which joined this year, he added.

Jill Swaney, district business manager, said Mars Area has a 99 percent collection rate on taxes.

Also, the school board and Dr. Pettigrew said children caught in a boundary dispute between Adams and Cranberry would be welcome in Mars Area, as long as the district gets the family's taxes or the family pays tuition.

Scott and Sue Ann Clary bought 32 acres in 1998. At the time, the land was in Adams, but was later designated part of Cranberry in a boundary dispute affecting 107 property owners. Scott Clary approached the Mars board last month, asking if the house could be returned to Adams. Their children are in private school but the Clarys want them to attend the Mars Area schools.

Dr. Pettigrew told Mrs. Clary Tuesday that their options are to get Cranberry to release the property or a county judge to redesignate the property in Adams. The school district cannot do anything to help, he said.

"You're not going to have any problems with us," he said. "It's not for us to decide."

The district received a certificate for participating in The Reality Tour, a drug abuse prevention initiative for sixth-graders. The Reality Tour brings actors and sets to portray young people on drugs, and includes scenes from a jail, emergency room and funeral home. Parents and students participate in the funeral scene by offering condolences to the family of the child who died, said Norma Norris, executive director.

"The dramatic scenes are intense, but are not too intense for a 10-year-old," she said.

Ms. Norris said one in four American families has a member struggling with substance abuse and one in five eighth-graders will try marijuana. Inhalants are popular among elementary school students, she said.

Mars Area is one of six school districts to participate in the program. "If we get 17 school districts ... we can show real change in the next five years," Ms. Norris said. "You will have more kids knowing the ultimate consequences."