Following complaints from parents about behavior problems at Butler Area School District, administrators are preparing an after-school intervention program for violators.

Superintendent Brian White told several concerned parents at Monday’s school board meeting, that the program would stem the increase in fights and drug incidents at Butler Senior High and Butler Intermediate High schools this year.

He said Tuesday that the intervention program, to be rolled out at the high school and helmed by its co-principals, would stop the relatively small number of students with numerous offenses from hurting other students.

White said students referred to the intervention program by the board will attend classes only from 3 to 5 p.m. and would stay in the program for an extended period.

“It will include academic and counseling support to put them in a position where they can improve,” he said. “It's not a short-term placement; it's intended for a semester or the school year. You will be removed from the school because you aren’t able to behave in an educational environment.”

Senior high school co-principal John Wyllie said at Monday’s meeting that 34 of the school’s 2,003 students have six or more referrals for rule violations so far this school year. Parents lamented that well-behaved students are being bullied and intimidated by the students who are doing most of the violations. They also said school administrators were not doing enough to stop the bad behavior.

White said he and the district’s administrators agreed with parents who said there is a behavior problem in schools.

“We just can't tolerate that behavior,” White said. “If you have a major offense, you'll go to a school board hearing, and the board will decide if the program is the appropriate place or not.”

Parents also took issue Monday with cellphone use at schools. Butler Senior High School co-principal Jason Huffman said many of the altercations at the school start off campus, online, and they escalate when students see one another in person.

White said cellphone use is permitted per district policy only in cafeterias and hallways. Administrators have heard different positions from parents regarding cellphone use in schools.

“Cellphones are disruptive,” White said. “Some parents say don’t allow them, others say they want their kids to have them in case of emergency.”

The school board will also discuss the naloxone policy that the district has in place. White told attendees at Monday’s meeting that the current policy is not to have any naloxone at schools, so they don’t attract outsiders in search of the medicine.

At the end of the meeting, one of the board members asked that to be placed on the agenda, White said.