BUTLER TWP — The Butler school board Monday night approved a contract with Templeton Advantage, which will help the district conduct a search for its next superintendent.

A proposal for Templeton’s services was one of several proposals provided to the board by acting Superintendent William Pettigrew and discussed at two recent committee meetings, which were open to the public.

The estimated cost of the firm is about $14,000. District officials are hoping to have a new superintendent in place before the start of the next school year. The process of interviewing candidates is expected to take from three to six months.

The board is looking to replace Dr. Dale Lumley, who resigned with the intention to retire from his post Feb. 5. His resignation came shortly after it was made public that water at Summit Township Elementary School had tested for high levels of lead in August and that the district had not notified the public or taken action required by the Department of Environmental Protection.

Several district residents and teachers attended the meeting Monday night to tell the board they opposed the use of a consultant.

Lisa Marron, a district resident and teacher in the district since 2008, asked the board to consider using the services of the Midwestern Intermediate Unit in its search, which offers help to districts with superintendent searches for no charge.

“For a district that is in financial crisis, you do not seem to be making appropriate financial decisions,” she said.

Marron also cited a 2014 study done by the Brown Center on Education Policy at Brookings, which found that school superintendents have very little influence on student achievement in their districts.

District resident Tara Huntsman suggested that the board table the vote so the public could review the search firm proposals, though school board President Nina Teff said that the board wanted to get the search process started as soon as possible.

Board member Neil Convery, who is chairman of the superintendent search committee, said he heard positive feedback from four other districts that have used Templeton for searches.

Hiring a professional firm will help the district get more quality candidates than if it used the intermediate unit or had school board members conduct a search, Convery said.

“It would be important to me as a board member that we are not just creating a job post and collecting resumes, that we actually have someone going out and pursuing and doing an active search to make sure we are being presented with absolutely the best candidates,” he said.

Board members Bill Halle and David Korn voted against the motion, saying it was an unnecessary expense.

“I think it’s fiscally irresponsible,” Korn said.

The board did not use a consultant when it conducted a search and hired Lumley in 2014, instead using a committee of board members.

School board policy no. 302, adopted in 1995, gives guidelines for hiring a superintendent. It states: “It (the board) will be aided in this task by a Board-appointed Community Advisory Committee and/or the services of professional consultants.”