Construction crews have erected part of the frame of a planned gymnasium at Butler Senior High School, which is set to be completed by next school year. Eddie Trizzino/Butler Eagle

BUTLER TWP — Construction on Butler Area Senior High School is expected to pick up momentum once students are out of school for summer break.

The Butler Area School District school board heard Monday from John Pappas, project manager for Eckles Construction, regarding the addition of a new wing of classrooms and auxiliary gym to the high school building, which will allow ninth grade to move into the facility next school year.

Pappas said construction crews soon will begin receiving supplies such as steel, which will help mitigate the weather’s effect on the building process.

"If weather holds out within the next two weeks, we should be weather-tight on the main portion of the auxiliary gymnasium," he said. “With all the walls being built, once we get the steel up and all the rooms are defined, we can really start working within the space.”

At a previous meeting of the school board, district superintendent Brian White said administrators were considering buying or renting modular classrooms to house students should the building not be completed in time, but there was no further discussion of this option Monday.

White said the district will continue paying for utilities at Butler Middle School even after it closes so that it doesn't fall into disrepair while administrators decide its fate.

The school board also heard a budget update for the 2022-23 school year from White, who said the district does not plan to raise taxes this year.

White said the district's budget will be contingent upon the education allocation in the state's budget, which will be reviewed in coming weeks. One proposed state budget includes an increase of about 3% to the education budget, while another proposal includes an increase of about 10%.

White used the 3% increase figure in his budget update, and said that administrators opted to not make cuts.

"I could make a lot of Draconian cuts to make the budget numbers look really good, but it wouldn’t serve our kids," he said. “We’re making some tough choices in the budget already, but you can see we prioritized our classrooms and are actually adding a couple of elementary teachers.”

White also said the school reorganizations will allow custodial staff, where the district has open positions, to be condensed into fewer schools.

Additionally, White said the district will save money thanks to building consolidation and closing the middle school.

White also said the district is keeping a close eye on its Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund money, which he anticipates being out of the budget equation by September 2024.

The budget will be up for review at a later meeting of the board.

"The things we choose to spend money on are because they're good for the kids," White said.