Butler schools identify $5.4 million in potential improvements
BUTLER TWP — Butler Area School District hopes to move forward with capital improvements to the tune of $5.4 million in the coming months.
The projects, including infrastructure, safety and energy-saving measures, could be funded by the district’s existing $4.2 million capital fund, grants and — in the case of stadium lighting — sponsorships, superintendent Brian White said at the district school board meeting Monday, Dec. 2.
Big-ticket items include $1.8 million to replace exterior cement asbestos panels at the intermediate school, nearly $1.5 million to install air conditioning in the senior high auditorium and cafeteria, and $578,000 to install LED lighting in parking lots, classrooms and Art Bernardi Stadium.
The projects represent only the most timely and critical district needs from a list that totals approximately $15.9 million, excluding the air conditioning, White said.
The board approved moving forward with the installation of stadium lights at the Monday meeting. Other projects have been approved at earlier dates, but not all of the proposed capital improvements have been approved at this time.
White also announced that the district will receive more than $300,000 in grants to improve student learning, assessment and safety.
These include a $50,000 Moonshot Grant to develop an immersive Main Street learning hub; a second $50,000 Moonshot Grant, in collaboration with Mineola (N.Y.) Public Schools and Baldwin-Whitehall School District to develop merit-based assessments; and a $214,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to improve security and mental health services.
The district solicitor will schedule two appraisals of Butler Middle School at 225 E. North St., paving the way for a sale of the 180,000-square-foot facility.
The board voted on Oct. 14 to direct the district’s solicitor to draft an official agreement to sell the former school for $115,000, but the sale was delayed when another individual expressed late interest in the property. A third interested party has now come forth, White said.
“We’d like to move forward as quickly as possible,” White said, citing the ongoing expense of maintaining the property. In November, Heather Bonzo, the district’s director of finance, estimated the annual utility costs on the building are around $197,000.
The board approved the continuation of Al Vavro as board president and Gary Shingleton as board vice president for 2025.
The board approved three architectural firms to work in an “on-call” capacity: HHSDR Architecture of Pittsburgh, McKinley Architecture of Wexford and Weber Murphy Fox Architecture of Erie.
This story was adjusted Dec. 3, 2024 to reflect that the $5.4 million in projects is potential.
