Lawyers involved in a class action complaint over lead levels at Summit Elementary School came before a judge for public arguments for the first time Tuesday.

Those arguments were brief, but their content foreshadows a long process ahead as the parent plaintiffs hope to gather necessary evidence and rack up a significantly larger list of similar families and school staff members interested in joining the suit.

The families of four students sued the district, believing their children were negatively affected by water issues in the school.

The lawsuit alleges that school administrators knew of dangerously high copper and lead levels and ignored them, neglecting to warn students and staff or fix the problem. The parents involved are Kristy Kromer, Melissa Kline, Tanya Cloutier and Donna Hope.

Brenden Lupetin is representing the families.

The lawyers appeared before Common Pleas Judge Michael Yeager for two purposes. One was not disputed by any parties involved: The case is going to involve compiling a massive amount of records, so the Butler Area School District's solicitor, Tom King, asked that a special discovery master be appointed, allowing for more-expedient collection than usual.

“This case involves at least 200 students, plus close to 20 or 25 teachers, and then custodians,” King said.

The discovery process, he contended, would involve medical records, bills for blood tests paid by the district, cognitive ability testing and a variety of other documentation. At least some parents involved, he contended, will likely want to contest the collection of their children's private records, further complicating the situation.

The matter for debate was who would pay the bill for the discovery master. King argued for an even split between the plaintiffs and defendants.

Lupetin argued for a proportional split of the bill. His clients are seeking a class action certification and, therefore, acting as a single entity, he said.

“We are seeking to be a singular, representative class,” Lupetin said.

The defendants, on the other hand, are four distinct entities with different legal representation. The school district is named in the suit, as are former superintendent Dale Lumley, former superintendent Mary Wolf and former maintenance supervisor Glenn Terwilliger.

Yeager decided to appoint Douglas Linn, a Cranberry Township attorney with relevant experience, to serve as the discovery master.

The bill will be split five ways, he said, with the four defendants each paying a share and the plaintiffs covering only one-fifth of the bill.

The alarming water test results at Summit Elementary occurred in 2016 and 2017. The three people named as defendants all resigned in 2017.