BUTLER TWP — The Butler School Board gave final approval to its 2017-18 school budget Monday night.

The budget calls for $104.23 million in expenditures and $102.85 million in revenue. It called for the district to use $1.38 million from its fund balance, which will draw it down to about $5.2 million.

The 3.2-mill tax increase, the maximum allowed by law, raises the district's rate from 97.8 to 101 mills. It raises the tax bill for a property assessed at $20,000 from $1,956 to $2,020 — a $64 increase.

The preliminary budget called for staff reductions, including the furlough of 26 full-time and one part-time teaching positions, mainly in the elementary schools.

Since the preliminary budget was adopted last month, district administrators have been working to keep as many affected teachers as possible employed with the district through transfers to vacant positions.

As of Monday, the district was down to four non-tenured teachers who were considered non-renewed, but could still be renewed before the start of the next school year. Teachers can earn tenure after having worked at the school district for three years.

The board Monday night also voted to spend $541,969 over a three-year period with Tyler Technologies to upgrade its student information systems.

The district was using a combination of four different software providers to handle student information, Assistant Superintendent Brian Slamecka said.

Using four different systems has often created problems and frustration for staff, Slamecka said. Two of those systems are being phased out and will become obsolete within the next two school years, he said, so the district had to take some action.

The cost for the 2017-18 school year will be $52,000, while the district will pay $261,000 the following year and $229,000 in the third year.

Once implemented, the annual cost for the new system will be about $100,000 a year, which will be an increase over the current systems, which cost about $60,000 per year, Slamecka said.