The Butler Area School District board may soon settle a class-action lawsuit related to lead found in the school’s water in 2017.

Solicitor Tom Breth said at Monday’s school board meeting that the school district will pay a $250,000 settlement in the Stark v. BASD lawsuit. School Board President Al Vavro said the cost of the settlement will be covered by the district’s insurance carrier.

The lawsuit alleged that school administrators, including the district’s former superintendent and assistant superintendent, knew of dangerously high copper and lead levels in Summit Elementary’s water supply, ignored them and neglected to warn students and staff or fix the problem. The district’s former superintendent and assistant superintendent were dismissed from the suit in January 2021.

District superintendent Brian White said the board’s approval Monday does not mean the suit is officially settled, but that the board agrees with Butler County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Yeager’s proposal for the settlement.

Breth said he does not foresee any obstacles in closing the settlement from this point.

White also told the school board that new claims against the district regarding Summit Elementary would fall outside the statute of limitations.