Scoutmaster Herbert Wood, left, and Eli Fellabaum, 13, along with the rest of the Scouts from Troop 17 listen to Butler Area School District Superintendent Brian White talk about local government Monday. Zach Petroff/Special to the Eagle 12/04/2023

BUTLER TWP — The Butler Area school board not only selected its newest president and vice president, it also helped a few Boy Scouts earn a merit badge during its meeting Monday, Dec. 4.

“One of the merit badges that students get is their citizenship and community, and one of those requirements is to come to a public officials meeting,” said Troop 16 Scoutmaster Herbert Wood. “We choose a school board meeting so that they can come and see how the school board members interact with each other, how they brought different topics up and how they ran the meetings.”

“It’s great for civic engagement,” superintendent Brian White said. “They asked great questions, everyone was paying attention and were really listening. It was great having him here.”

Monday’s meeting began with the swearing-in of newly elected and re-elected board members. Cecilia Tomko, Jennifer Cummings, Phil Heasley and Jennifer Daniels-Wells all retained their seats. Newly-elected Terry Stivason, who received 6,649 votes in the November election, said he was excited to dig into his new role.

“I’m ready to sit down and get into everything,” Stivason said. “I’m looking forward to the future.’

Terry Stivason and Cecilia Tomko are sworn in at the Butler Area School District board meeting on Monday at Butler Senior High School. Gary Shingleton, right, was elected vice presiden of the board. Zach Petroff/Special to the Eagle 12/04/2023

The board’s first order of business was to elect a new board president and vice president.

Every December, under Pennsylvania law, the school board is required to reorganize its board. The school board elects the board president and vice president to serve for a calendar year.

Al Vavro replaced Jennifer Cummings as president and Gary Shingleton replaced Jennifer Daniels-Wells as vice-president.

Superintendent Brian White, left, and other school board members listen as newly appointed board president Al Vavro, center, speaks at Monday’s school board meeting. Zach Petroff/Special to the Eagle 12/04/2023

The directors voted unanimously to not raise taxes for the 2024-25 fiscal year by more than its index.

The district could raise taxes, but would not exceed a 6.8% tax rate, based on the state index.

“We’re putting a ceiling in place,” White said. “The calculation, if we were to go all the way to the ceiling, which is not what what we’re suggesting, is our total amount we could raise taxes by would be a little over $3 million.”

The school board will vote on the school district’s budget next year.