Pam Edwards, who Saturday threatened to resign from the Beaufort County school board, will stay on to continue opposing the Dale-area high school plan, she said Monday.

The Hilton Head Island representative said during a weekend school board retreat that she was frustrated by the school district's poor planning and community relations, and even wrote in a Sunday morning e-mail to fellow board members that the school board was "the laughing stock of this county."

Later Sunday, however, Edwards backed off, saying she isn't willing to give up her fight against the district building the controversial school.

"I just realized that if I left the Board of Ed now, I would take with me my vote and until the issue on the (north-area high school) is resolved, I can't give that vote away," she wrote in an e-mail to constituents and concerned residents Sunday night. "So for now I am staying ..."

Part of a referendum approved by voters in 2000, the proposed $28.7 million high school has been a major source of controversy for district and county officials for more than two years as district staffers have fought to push building plans through a lengthy approval process.

The school board has not been unified in its support of the Dale-area school, with board members Earl Campbell, Margie Jenkins, Dale Friedman, Laura Bush and Ron Speaks supporting the plan and Edwards, Richard Tritschler, Rick Caporale, David Chase and Stu Rodman against it. Member Michael Rivers said he supports the high school, though in November he voted against a resolution to maintain the board's option on the school site.

On Monday, Edwards said she would support the high school if the district could prove there was a need for it and that it would serve a demographically diverse population.

"We have to be realistic about the facilities we build and be very sure that what we build is what we need to build," she said. "Because we have to get the money to open the doors whether it's to serve one child or a thousand."

The five-year board member said she had spoken with Beaufort County Council members last February to discuss how to stop plans for the school and explore alternatives for improving transportation for students in the Sheldon area.

The school board has been unwilling to explore increasing the number of buses for students north of the Whale Branch, she said.

Edwards said she doesn't regret her decision to go to County Council but realizes she has "burned bridges" with some board members she has had good relationships with in the past.

"I am going to have to develop a pretty thick skin if I'm going to get through the next two years," she said.

Friedman, who was elected board chairwoman Friday after a number of deadlocked votes, said she doesn't expect the board will have reason to vote on the high school issue until it's made its way through the legal system.

The district filed an appeal in Circuit Court last month to overturn a county zoning board's denial of a planned high school in the Dale Community Preservation District.

"I would hope that (Edwards) would be objective about the issues and not stay on over a single issue," said Friedman, who has offered reserved support for the school.

Tension on the school board over differences on issues like the high school can be healthy and productive, Caporale said.

"It only gets unhealthy when it gets down to mean-spirited attacks on people," he said.

Campbell, the outgoing board chairman and a leading proponent of the high school plan, said he's willing to work with Edwards and hopes she stays on the board.

"I don't like to see anybody resign from the board unless they have to," he said. "I'm going to work with her to make sure we achieve some of the things we set out to do."

Another reason for keeping her seat was to avoid the cost of holding an election for her replacement, Edwards said. (Her term expires in two years.)

A special election for a local office can cost about $2,000 and must be paid for by the school district, said Agnes Garvin, the county's director of elections and voter registration.