BUTLER TWP — Butler Area School District superintendent Brian White said he expects to bring “some form of action” regarding Butler Middle School to a board vote at its Feb. 12 meeting.

White said at a school board meeting Monday that Pittsburgh Gateways recently completed a “due diligence” period evaluating the middle school for use as an economic development space, but a potential tenant backed out from discussions. White said he has a meeting Wednesday with representatives from Pittsburgh Gateways, the Community Development Corporation and Butler County, where the middle school will be the main topic of discussion.

“We don’t need the building and we are paying for the building; we could be out in 30 days,” White said. “Our liability right now is utilities and insurance ... We are not willing to hold on to this for an extended period of time.”

Butler Middle School closed at the end of the 2021-22 school year, and Butler Area School District administrators entered discussions with Pittsburgh Gateways for a potential purchase agreement for the building at a price of $1. The district would make money from property taxes following a purchase. The school district still owns the building, White said.

Discussions about Butler Middle School during the past year-and-a-half have indicated the building could be a space for economic development featuring different storefronts. White said the building may go to auction, however, if no purchase agreement is made soon.

“I know there is a lot of nostalgia for the building for a lot of folks, but it’s a building,” White said. “We serve kids, we serve the community, and every dollar we put into that is something we’re taking away.”

Also at the meeting, the school board voted to send a letter to the U.S. Department of Energy regarding a mandate for the use of amorphous metal cores instead of Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel cores, the latter of which is manufactured at Cleveland Cliffs.

White said the school district was asked by the Butler County Chamber of Commerce to advocate against the mandate, because Cleveland Cliffs is the only domestic facility producing Grain-Oriented Electrical Steel cores, which the letter addresses.

The letter said the mandate would put Cleveland Cliffs in a difficult position, and members of the school board suggested the letter also include information about the jobs the company supports, which could be lost in mandate accommodation.

Board member John Conrad said consumers should drive the products made by manufacturing companies, not government agencies. White said the impact on jobs could sway the Department of Energy’s mandate.

“I heard 1,200 jobs could be lost,” White said. “I could include a line about the number of employees and potential number of families this would affect in the district.”