CONNOQUENESSING — Final rounds of public input gathering are upon the Butler School District as administrators ponder the future of school compositions and the downtown middle school building.

The district held the sixth of seven meetings on potential school system rethinkings Tuesday evening at Connoquenessing Elementary School. The final meeting is at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Northwest Elementary School.

At the meetings, parents and teachers were asked to weigh in on nine potential rejiggerings of the district, most of which involved shuttering the middle school.

Superintendent Brian White said they haven’t tallied votes and won’t have said results until January.

He wouldn’t point out which options he prefers, but he said he tends to prefer the options that put classroom resources as a top priority over other conveniences, like improved bus routes or nostalgia-filled buildings.

“The quality of instruction in the classroom and the leadership of principals is far more important than any of the physical changes to schools,” White said.

These sessions, according to school board Chairwoman Nina Teff, are meant to shrink the number of options down to a more manageable three or four. Once they’ve figured out the favorites, they’ll look at budgets and viability.

Teff pointed out one trend in feedback she had seen so far.

“I don’t know that there is a big desire to go back to kindergarten through sixth,” Teff said. “People seem to want to keep some kind of middle school concept.”

Indeed, many written comments provided Tuesday seemed to center around the range that should be considered elementary school. Various options consider elementary school ending in grades ranging from third through sixth.

When these sessions began, only six options were on the table. White added three as community members suggested other configurations.

One of the new options, which placed sixth through eighth graders at the Senior High School building, was the only one receiving near universal disdain Tuesday. Many in attendance feared putting sixth graders on the open campus setting. Other options run the gamut of school configurations and divisions.

Jillian McCurdy, a parent of two students at Connoquenessing, said she was interested in seeing the middle school building removed from commission.

“I don’t want them to go to the middle school in town,” McCurdy said.

Age differences and issues with the building were her main concerns.

She wanted to see fifth grade included in elementary schools.

“I think just one more year at the elementary could help,” McCurdy said.

Many attending pointed to one particular sticky note left on the only option which would keep the middle school building in use. It seemed to offer a summation of a common sentiment.

“Middle school is a money pit,” it read.