JACKSON TWP — The Seneca Valley School Board may delay its vote on the Evans City Elementary and Middle schools for another month although the item is on the voting agenda for the Nov. 13 meeting.

Jim Nickel, school board president, said he was not ready to vote Monday night, and wasn't sure if he'd be ready to make a decision next week either.

“Not that I want to keep kicking the can down the road … but if we don't feel collectively we're ready to make this decision, we will wait,” Nickel said.

The board initially was scheduled to vote in September on an architect to design the new or remodeled Evans City kindergarten through grade six school building. That vote was deferred for a month to give the board members more time to deliberate.

The vote again was put on the agenda for the October voting meeting, but delayed after several board members were absent.

Nickel said at the board meeting Monday that it seemed the board was building a consensus around CannonDesign and Crabtree Rohrbaugh & Associates, but he had concerns about CannonDesign after some recent changes in the company.

Nickel said several employees at CannonDesign's Pittsburgh office left the company recently to work at Stantec, a Butler-based firm that also interviewed for the job.

“Seeing a handful of people leave the office in Pittsburgh, it gives me pause,” he said.

Architecture firms CannonDesign, Crabtree Rohrbaugh & Associates, Architectural Innovations and Stantec presented information and answered questions from the school board over two nights in August about heading up the design for the possible Evans City school project.

The board discussed the four firms at its Sept. 11 work session and again at the Oct. 2 session.

The architect chosen will explore various options for the school that was built in 1939. This could include remodeling the school or building a new facility in Evans City or at a site on Ehrman Road.

Nickel said he also had scheduled a meeting this week with the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, CannonDesign's design partner for the project, to get more information from them.

Eric DiTullio, board vice president, echoed Nickel's opinion not to rush the decision — especially with changes with the companies since they were interviewed several months ago.

“Whether we do it at the next meeting or next month or in January … as long as we do the right thing, that's the most important thing for all of us,” DiTullio said.

Nickel reiterated his commitment to do what needs to be done in Evans City

“It's something we need to address,” he said. “We're going to do it. We're going to do it in the way we think is the right way to do it.”