The March 15 vote was requested by Penn Square Partners, the group developing the hotel.

Some board members are concerned about being pressured into making a crucial decision before they have enough information to assess the impact on the district.

Backers of the proposed Penn Square hotel and convention center are asking the district to accept an agreement providing a yearly payment in lieu of property taxes on the hotel. Without the agreement, the project could collapse because it would not qualify for state funding.

Penn Square Partners requested the board vote by the end of March because of the way the state funding approval process is structured, Nevin Cooley, head of the partnership, said.

As part of its proposed financing, Penn Square Partners is seeking a TIF, or tax incremental financing district, from the state. Without the TIF, the project won't be eligible for $22 million in state funding.

The deadline for applying to the state for the TIF is April 30.

Cooley said the county and school district must make their decisions by the end of March so the city has enough time to create the TIF district.

Some board members, however, are suspicious of the motives behind the request to move the date of the vote, which the board originally set as April 19.

"It's feeling a little like a high-pressure sales pitch," board member Michael Winterstein said.

The board wanted to vote in April so its members could receive more detailed information about the project and have enough time to mull it over before making a decision, board member Richard Hull said.

"We face being rushed into this, and that doesn't give me a whole lot of confidence to vote 'yes,'" Hull said.

Cooley said project backers would not have enough time to secure funding if the board voted in April.

"We have to abide by the deadlines the state has set," he said. "This is not a pressure tactic. It's simply abiding by the realities of that deadline."

Winterstein said he has other reasons to be hesitant about approving the project.

The school board has seen neither detailed financial data nor a formal convention center/hotel project proposal - information Winterstein said he needs time to absorb and analyze before the vote.

Board members have requested Penn Square Partners send them data such as economic feasibility projections and a breakdown of project costs, which Winterstein said have yet to arrive.

The partnership is scheduled to make an in-depth presentation at the March 15 meeting, but Winterstein said that won't leave the board with enough time to digest the facts.

Cooley said much of what the board is requesting will be available at today's meeting of the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Lancaster, where project backers will discuss the project.

The Redevelopment Authority will be asked to endorse the TIF proposal and recommend the city approve it.

Hull said more facts about the project will make or break Penn Square Partners' case.

"If they don't give me something that tells me this is a sound investment and something the school district has to do because it makes financial sense, I'm not going to put children's education on the line," he said. "If the vote were today, I'd vote 'no.'"

School board president Pat Dixon, however, said the earlier vote might be beneficial for the district because it would allow the staff to focus on other issues.

"We've got a full plate, and putting this behind us is a good thing," she said.

Board members have been deluged with e-mails and phone calls urging them to vote against the project, members said.

"I think we've heard that message loud and clear," Dixon said.

The feedback doesn't mean Dixon has made up her mind, however.

"I'm just going to wait," she said. "I think we owe it to the public to listen to them, and also we owe it to Penn Square Partners to listen to their side of it. Then we will make a decision on the 15th."

The March 15 meeting begins at 7 p.m. at McCaskey High School. The public forum on the project will be held at 6 p.m. March 10 at Hand Middle School.