School board appoints Marine to open seat
BUTLER TWP — The Butler Area School District school board Monday appointed Regenold Griffin, a Marine Corps veteran from Butler, to fill a seat left vacant by the resignation of Tom Harrison in a term that will last through 2023.
Prior to the appointment, board members invited eight candidates interested in the position to be interviewed at the meeting. District Superintendent Brian White said the district received nine applications.
Griffin, who ran for the Butler School Board in 2021, said he applied for the seat to help children who are in need that can be helped through the school district.
“I know firsthand that every lunch bag doesn’t mean there is a lunch in it,” he said. “If there is a child they can point me to that needs help, if there is an organization that needs assistance ... that work will be done.”
Griffin also said he has published a book and runs a nonprofit organization.
Each applicant gave a five-minute speech to the board. Board President Al Vavro said the speeches made the board’s choice “very difficult.”
Board members nominated applicants for vote before each member was called on to voice their pick. The winning candidate had to have five votes to be selected for the seat. This process went on for three rounds with no candidate earning five votes.
The board then ranked its top applicants for the position, which narrowed the selection to two. Griffin earned five votes once the field was narrowed.
Board member Nina Teff asked that the people who applied and interviewed for the seat stay involved with the district.
“Please be willing to volunteer in another capacity,” she said.
Harrison resigned from the board effective June 30 after obtaining a new job in Clarion County. The board had 30 days to fill his seat on its own.
The board members previously discussed what they were looking for in a prospective member, with Vavro saying he would like to appoint someone who was involved in the community and had a background in education.
Griffin took the oath of office following the meeting. White said he will lead Griffin through some training before he sits in on the next board meeting.
White gave the board an update on a potential plan for Butler Middle School, which closed at the end of the 2021-22 school year.
He said Butler County has developed a relationship with Pittsburgh Gateways Corporation, a nonprofit organization that specializes in building rehabilitation and development.
White said he invited representatives from Pittsburgh Gateways to the board’s Aug. 8 meeting to discuss the building’s possibilities.
White said he and other community officials don’t want the prominent downtown building to fall into disrepair and become dilapidated.
“I’m hoping at that time we are presented with a letter of intent,” White said. “What they would like to do is have a due diligence time period to essentially to start talking more formally with the people they are working with to build potential leases to help finance the building renovations.”
School board members will tour the closed middle school Tuesday afternoon, and administrators are organizing an open house for the school that will be announced on the district web site.
