Brian White’s academic career takes a step up next month when he becomes superintendent of Butler School District.

Butler is about 40 percent larger than the district White has led since 2010, Chartiers Valley in suburban south Pittsburgh, in terms of budget (Butler’s 2017-18 budget is $104.1 million; CV’s is $62.9 million) and enrollment (7,739 students in Butler; 3,400 in CV).

The Butler School Board voted Wednesday night to hire White as its next superintendent, succeeding Dale Lumley who resigned Feb. 5 amid a crisis surrounding unsafe well water at Summit Elementary School.

Lumley and other district administrators were subsequently investigated for their roles in the district’s untimely response to test results that showed high concentrations of lead and copper in the Summit water as early as August 2016. A criminal investigation into Lumley was still ongoing as of this week, Butler County District Attorney Richard Goldinger confirmed.

We’re confident that Butler is getting a valuable administrator, judging from what the people in Chartiers Valley say about him.

“His tireless efforts have taken our district to new heights and he will be missed,” Chartiers Valley board President Tony Mazzarini Jr. wrote about White in a letter posted Thursday on the district’s website. “We wish him much success in his new leadership role. The School Board has confidence that his parting will not stop the momentum that has been created.”

And a Chartiers Valley resident since 1988, University of Pittsburgh professor Amron El-Jaroudi, offered this assessment in an E-mail exchange with the Butler Eagle: “I believe the Butler School District is getting more than its money’s worth in Dr. White. He is tireless, innovative, smart, and wise. He was transformative at Chartiers Valley and I have no doubt he will be the same at Butler. (Full disclosure: if you can’t already tell, I am a big fan of his. He leaves a big void behind.)”

Some sectors of social media are humming about the pay rate White will receive: $182,000 the first year, increasing 2 percent annually to $200,942 in the fifth year. That’s also a step up, but not that significant. Chartiers Valley was paying White $156,831 a year.

It will be money well spent if, as Butler school board member Al Vavro said, “In my opinion we have identified a visionary leader.”

The alternative — a not-so-visionary one — has proved costly: School buildings shut down two years ago in a consolidation have sold at a fraction of their appraised values; miscommunication with a school bus contractor that kept outdated chassis in service and prompted threats of litigation; and the water crisis that still has Summit school out of commission, the district caught up in red ink and ongoing claims of liability.

Hours of legal fees and consultant work continue to stack up. The issues don’t fade that easily. They are like 800-pound gorillas — and as Carnegie-Mellon professor Randy Pausch famously wrote, when you have an 800-pound gorilla in the room, introduce it.

Through the coming period of transition, we urge the school board to maintain the air of sensitivity it has demonstrated so capably over the previous eight difficult months. Common sense and emotion sometimes make a volatile mix: in this case, common sense justifies a salary level that emotion struggles to comprehend, while skepticism borne of recent crises will continue to temper the enthusiasm inspired by common sense.

With patience and perseverance, good will prevail.

We welcome Brian White to the helm of Butler School District. We encourage him to engage us completely and transparently in his navigation.

May you earn your keep, Dr. White. More important, may you earn the public’s trust, our confidence and our willingness to follow your vision.