KANSAS CITY, KAN. ? The Piper school board on Tuesday publicly reaffirmed its controversial decision to make a science teacher change the grades of students she had failed for plagiarizing a class project.

The seven board members also agreed to pay fines for violating the state’s open meetings law. In return, Wyandotte County Dist. Atty. Nick Tomasic will drop his civil action against the board.

The rural district about 20 miles west of Kansas City, Mo., has been in turmoil since late January, when it was revealed that the board, in a closed-door meeting on Dec. 11, reversed Piper High School teacher Christine Pelton’s decision to give 28 students zeros on a biology project.

Pelton had suspected plagiarism after discovering that many papers contained identical material. She resigned rather than change the students’ grades.

On Tuesday, in front of more than 100 people, including Pelton, the board voted 6-0, with one abstention, not to change that decision.

Board member James Swanson said that when the board voted on the issue in December, he was more concerned about giving the 28 students an appeal process to challenge Pelton’s decision. He said he also was concerned that the grading controversy occurred so close to end of the semester.

“I in no means ever questioned the teacher’s grading. … My discussion was more so how to salvage the class,” Swanson said.

Leigh Vader abstained, saying she believed in standing behind the school district’s teachers.

To settle the civil action filed by Tomasic, each board member will pay a $250 fine, and the entire board will pay $1,238 in court costs. The board said its closed meeting was a “technical and unintentional violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act.”

The board also promised to form a committee to develop an age-appropriate policy to help students understand and avoid plagiarizing.