The Butler School Board’s discussion about possible class cutbacks on Monday served as another reminder of why the district’s current sweetheart, early bird contract was a bad deal over the long run for the district, its students and its taxpayers.

By not having better controlled labor and fringe benefit costs through the pact — the district’s eighth consecutive early bird contract — the district put itself in the position it now finds itself, discussing cost savings that would hurt students’ learning opportunities.

That’s unacceptable.

And, since it’s possible that the district and Butler Area Education Association could begin discussing another early bird contract this year — the current pact expires at the end of the 2013-14 fiscal year — it’s a good time for the board and administration to agree that the mistakes of the past must not be repeated.

On Monday, it was clear that the students’ educational best interests had a strong ally in Superintendent Michael Strutt, who argued against eliminating Latin and Japanese language classes as well as all fourth- and fifth-level language classes.

Board member Bill Halle had suggested such cuts as part of the board’s responsibility to balance the proposed $96.6 million 2013-14 budget. Meanwhile, board member Jim Keffalas suggested cutting the school day to six periods from seven, and Halle and Keffalas advocated moving students to online classes where one teacher could oversee larger classes.

“You’re taking 900 kids and diminishing what they can take,” Strutt said at one point during the discussion.

Strutt also balked at suggesting class cuts prior to the May 1 deadline for teachers to submit intentions to retire. “If you’re asking me to make cuts right now to the instructional program, I’m not doing it,” he said.

The teachers union, which no doubt will again seek above-cost-of-living pay hikes in a new contract, earlier this year refused the reasonable district request that teachers submit retirement intentions by March 15.

The union said it would not do so without a financial incentive, an incentive that the district rightly rejected.

With the current financial challenges Butler and other districts are facing, earlier retirement-notification dates should be part of new contracts negotiated in the future, to facilitate budget planning.

The latest early bird pact, which was negotiated by the school board and teachers union in early 2009, provided teacher raises of 4.38 percent for the 2011-12 fiscal year, 4.54 percent for 2012-13 and 4.52 percent for 2013-14. The contract also kept teachers’ contributions toward their health care coverage much lower than what most workers in the private sector pay.

That overly generous contract was approved amid virtually daily news of job cuts, layoffs and wage freezes in businesses and across industries.

The board members in office at that time called the contract a good deal, but no one anticipated the state budget troubles that have limited subsidy increases to school districts over the past couple of years.

Monday was a further example of the fallout from that irresponsible 2009 contract accord.

Perhaps some class cuts are possible in the future, but the cuts shouldn’t be thrust solely onto the shoulders of ambitious or gifted students who want to make the most of their high school learning experience.

As the board continues 2013-14 budget planning, it must commit itself to not repeating the serious contract errors that, combined with the state Legislature’s irresponsible 2001 pension grab, have been making the board’s budget preparations — and the tax hit on property owners — increasingly difficult.