SAXONBURG — About 60 people attended a South Butler School Action Committee town hall meeting and 77 watched it on Facebook Live on Tuesday evening.

The committee invited the entire nine-member South Butler School Board to attend and talk with residents about the current teachers' contract impasse.

One board member, George Zacherl, whose wife is a teacher in the district, attended and answered questions from those who assembled for the event in the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Department's social hall.

The agenda listed communications, budget, safety, staffing and priorities as the topics to be discussed.

Zacherl stressed that he was answering questions for himself only, and not for the entire school board.

“I feel my responsibility as a school director is to interact with all stakeholders in the community,” he said.

Regarding communication, Zacherl was asked if the board members talk about becoming more transparent with the community.

“It has not been a prime topic of things we have discussed,” Zacherl replied. “The great majority of other board members are comfortable with one person answering the questions that come in.”

Many complaints arose over the lack of response to emails sent with questions for the board and administration.

Zacherl said each school board should have an email address where residents can ask questions, but that is not the current situation.

He agreed that all emails sent to the school board or Superintendent David Foley should at least be acknowledged.

During the budget discussion, Zacherl said the figures in a financial presentation given by district solicitor and negotiator Tom Breth did not make sense to him.

He said the $4 million Breth said the district has at its disposal of the $9 million in the general fund is the district's rainy day fund.

He said Breth did not take into consideration retirees, staff decreases, or other factors that could affect the amount the district has available to spend on teachers.

Many of the questions surrounded Breth himself. One woman asked why Breth is able to get contracts settled in other districts but not South Butler.

Another asked how the district decides which solicitor to hire or if the job was bid out like other district expenditures.

Zacherl explained that a service contract is not put to bid because there is no way of knowing ahead how many hours the attorney will be used in district work.

He said Breth's law firm, Dillon McCandless King Coulter and Graham, has provided the district's solicitor for many years.

Regarding the stalemate in the teachers contract, which expired in 2014, Zacherl encouraged those in attendance to band together and vocalize their desires to the school board.

Regarding his top priorities, Zacherl did not mince words.

“Getting labor contracts done has to be the top priority,” he said.

He also listed having a safe environment with buildings and grounds in good repair as another priority, along with having a great curriculum and staff.

Zacherl encouraged all in attendance to come to the school board meeting on Wednesday night to share their concerns with the rest of the school board.

After the town hall, coordinator Heather Helsel said she was pleased with the turnout and the civility of those who spoke.

She said she was surprised that so many of the questions surrounded Breth.

“I wasn't expecting that,” she said.

The meeting ended at about 8:45 p.m.

“It was respectful and positive and even though not every question was answered, it was a good way for people to just get their questions out there,” Helsel said.