Old Mill and Annapolis high schools may become Anne Arundel County's first magnet schools, if school board members endorse the superintendent's plan to establish the International Baccalaureate program at those campuses.

During a school board retreat yesterday, Superintendent Eric J. Smith told board members that the schools were logical choices to house the program of rigorous coursework because of their location and capacity to absorb more students.

Old Mill, in Millersville, would serve students living in the northern parts of the county; Annapolis would serve those from the south. In addition, an elementary and middle school from each feeder system would offer pupils a pre-IB program, Smith said.

The IB program, part of Smith's vision of increased opportunities for advanced students, exists in four other Maryland school systems. Its diploma is recognized by many colleges as equivalent to a year's worth of college work.

"I'm very confident there are students in our school system who would benefit from having that available," Smith told the board at the retreat at the Arlington Echo Outdoor Recreation Center on the Severn River.

Implementing the program will be a lengthy process. Officials don't expect to award the first IB diplomas until the spring of 2007. Between now and then, school board members are expected to weigh in on a variety of curriculum and policy changes surrounding the program's implementation.

At yesterday's meeting, board members already had a host of questions and comments on the proposal. Paul Rudolph worried that IB programs in a couple of magnet schools would "bleed off" good students from other high schools.

Smith told Rudolph that the program would foster competition and drive more students in all schools to take challenging classes.

Student board member Ashley Nathanson was concerned about teacher qualifications for IB classes. The Arundel High senior said pupils from several schools have complained to her about the abilities of their instructors in Advanced Placement courses, currently the county's most rigorous offerings.

Associate Superintendent Kenneth P. Lawson acknowledged that teachers would need more training to lead IB classes. "We've got a lot of training and retraining to do."

During the retreat, board members also discussed the controversy over the superintendent's plan to move all middle and high schools to four-period schedules. In recent weeks, more than 100 teachers, parents and students have testified at hearings on the issue, most criticizing the proposal.

Board Vice President Carlesa Finney told Smith that not everyone in the community believes in his goal of closing the achievement gap among students by imposing uniformity on schools.

"Our community has a belief system that is contrary to what is here," she said, gesturing at the meeting room. She and several other board members suggested developing a vision statement to show the public a unified front.