BUTLER TWP — Before the Butler School Board can decide whether to close any buildings, it must come to a consensus on which company should do a study and develop a facilities plan.

The board on Monday tabled a vote on picking a company from four finalists interviewed before the meeting.

Board members differed on which company best suited the district’s purpose: consolidating schools to cut costs.

Board President Don Pringle said the firm Thomas & Williamson Program Management of Pittsburgh was the best choice.

He said Thomas & Williamson is the only company that isn’t an architectural firm, so it would not gear the study toward construction options.

Although Thomas & Williamson submitted the highest quote, an amount not to exceed $152,140, Pringle said the district would end up spending more down the road if it hired one of the other firms.

Board member Jim Keffalas disagreed, saying the significant difference in quotes was too large to downplay.

Board member Bill Halle said he also had difficulty supporting the hiring of a firm with the highest cost.

Quotes from the companies started at $33,000.

Halle pointed out Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates of Mechanicsburg in Cumberland County presented a planning process that more fully involved the public.

Superintendent Mike Strutt argued Thomas & Williamson would generate a more thorough report — something district officials would need when confronted by an auditorium full of angry parents upset about school buildings being closed.

“I want to make sure we have as accurate information as possible,” Strutt said.

The board agreed to defer a selection until more information could be obtained from the companies, including possible decreases to the Thomas & Williamson proposal.

The other two companies are the Butler division of Stantec, which is the former Burt Hill, and HHSDR Architects/Engineers of Sharon.

The district’s previous plan to close Center Avenue Elementary School in the coming year was scuttled after McQuistion Elementary School parents objected to having more students at that school.