The Butler School Board in an emergency meeting Sunday afternoon accepted the resignation of Superintendent Dale Lumley.

Lumley’s letter of resignation did not give a reason for his departure, though it stated his intention to retire, school board President Nina Teff said.

Teff said that she called the emergency board meeting but declined to comment on why or what specifically happened.

William Pettigrew, who formerly was superintendent of the Mars School District for 26 years, will serve as acting superintendent.

The board released a statement announcing Lumley’s resignation and stating: “the board is looking forward to working with Pettigrew to address a number of important issues facing the district, including the search for a new superintendent.”

At least one board member was fighting for Lumley to be suspended and fired pending a termination hearing.

Bill Halle said that board members in executive session had debated suspending Lumley and also had asked him to resign without full benefits, though they eventually accepted his resignation with full benefits. The vote was six to two: Leland Clark also voted “no” and John Conrad was absent, Halle said.

“I am disgusted,” Halle said. “At some point we have to start, as elected officials, doing what is right, taking a stand for what is right instead of just making a decision based on the path of least legal cost,” he said.

Lumley, the district superintendent since 2014, was under fire from parents and school board members during the district’s ongoing water crisis at Summit elementary.

State police and a private attorney hired by the school board are investigating why the district did not notify the public or create an action plan after the school’s water tested positive for lead and copper in August.

Both Lumley’s resignation and the hiring of Pettigrew will be ratified by a board vote at a future meeting.

Pettigrew, who is a member of the Mars School Board, was hired by the district in January to be the lead on the Summit elementary project team, a group of officials who are working to correct problems with the water system at the Summit school.

“We already had him in place for the Summit water issues and he is a very accomplished superintendent that had worked for many years in the Mars School District, so we asked him to fill in as acting superintendent and he was open to doing that,” Teff said.

Water was shut off to the building’s sinks and water fountains on Jan. 19 and though students did return to the school after portable hand washing sinks had been installed, the board opted to have the students attend school starting today at the vacant Broad Street Elementary School in Butler.

Lumley, a Butler High School graduate and resident of the district, was the South Butler School District superintendent before coming to Butler to replace Mike Strutt. He also had worked in the district for 25 years as an English teacher, assistant principal and principal. He could not be reached for comment.

Five of the nine current school board members were on the board when it hired Lumley.

Pettigrew Sunday said he plans to fill in until the board has identified a permanent replacement.

“I look forward to working with the board and the administration and the teaching staff, students and parents in the Butler Area School District,” he said.

One of his duties as superintendent will be to continue to work with officials to identify and resolve problems with the water system at Summit Elementary.

A community meeting at which officials will update members of the public and take questions about the school is tentatively scheduled for Thursday night, though a time and location have yet to be announced.

Teff said the board still needs to discuss how it will approach conducting a search for the district’s next superintendent.

“We’ve got quite a lot on our plate right now, but ideally what we need to do as a board is talk about what qualities and experience level are we looking for in a superintendent,” she said.

An online petition on change.org posted by Missie Carbin of Summit Township had called for Lumley to resign. The petition got 939 signatures.