School Board Mulls Decision To End Dance Early After Twerking

CANONSBURG, Pa. (AP) - A western Pennsylvania school board was reviewing the decision to end a booster club-sponsored dance early after a chaperone reported students were doing the sexually suggestive dance known as twerking.

William Merrell, the Peters Township School Board member who chaperoned the Feb. 8 dance, says he's contacted a local Arthur Murray dance studio to see whether students might be taught to dance differently and learn "social graces."

The matter was debated at Tuesday's school board meeting. The Snow Ball dance sponsored by a cheerleaders' booster club, was ended about an hour early.

District spokeswoman Shelly Belcher confirms the dance ended early and says officials were discussing how to prevent similar future problems.

Board member Ron Dunleavy doesn't condone twerking, but questioned Merrell's dance-lesson idea saying he'd be "all for it" - if it raised academic test scores.