BUTLER TWP — The Butler School Board Tuesday night rescinded the sales agreement for Broad Street Elementary School and created a new committee to evaluate the impact of the recent consolidation.

Soon after the new board members took the oath of office, those two items were added to the meeting's agenda.

The sale reversal follows the consolidation vote in May to close five of the 11 elementary schools.

Center Avenue, which was closed, was reopened as an alternative and special needs school. The other four schools, Broad Street, Meridian, Oakland and Clearfield, remain closed.

Board member Bill Halle made the motion Tuesday to rescind the sale agreement approved by the previous board to sell Broad Street to the Arc of Butler County for $475,007. That nonprofit agency wants to use the building as a school for workshops and training for clients with disabilities.

Halle, who filed a lawsuit against the district to stop the sale of the school, wants to see additional public discussion about potential buyers, stressing the long-term needs of the school district and the community. Halle gave a number of reasons for delaying the sale of the building, including the need for a review of the consolidation.

“In the revenue position we are in, it would make sense to look at other offers,” he said, stressing that a for-profit buyer would allow the property to be put back on the tax rolls, which he said may be better for the district, the city and the county.

The district received a bid from J.M. Beatty Furniture at $530,000 for the Broad Street building. That would allow the taxing of the property.

District solicitor Tom King reminded the board that the sales agreement with the Arc included a provision that the new board could reverse that decision.

The motion passed by a 6-2 vote. Board members Leland Clark, Conrad, Jennifer Cummings, Halle, Suzie Hammonds-Bradrick and Nina Teff voted for the reversal while Neil Convery and Alvin Vavro voted against it.

Under the previous sale agreement, a hearing was scheduled for Dec. 22 before county Judge S. Michael Yeager to rule on the sale of the building to the Arc. But that hearing will be canceled because of the board's action to rescind the sale, King said.

For Convery, the issue is not one that can be boiled down to a for-profit versus a nonprofit buyer debate, he said, expressing concern that delaying a decision on selling the building would cost the district by losing bidders.

“I would be fearful that we would be taking for granted the offers,” Convery said.

For Cummings, the newly elected board vice president, the sale of the Broad Street building needs to be postponed until a review of the consolidation indicates the building will not be needed in the future.

“I want to be sure that we don't need Broad Street before we sell Broad Street,” she said, stressing that a review would “ensure that we are free to sell those buildings.”

Teff, the newly elected board president, said the sale of schools is a major decision that needs to be evaluated.

“You knew that half of us were against this,” Teff told Convery during the meeting. “This is a big deal. It warrants taking some time to look at.”

Though Vavro and Convery opposed the sale reversal, they both voted in favor of the review, leading to a unanimous decision. Vavro voiced specific interest in serving on the new consolidation review committee but defended the need for the consolidation.

Committee members will be appointed by Teff based on board members' interest, which may be decided at the board meeting on Monday.

Once members are appointed to the committee, they will decide what criteria to look at during the review, Cummings said, tossing out student attendance and class size as two measures to consider. The dates of when the review committee will meet likely will be set Monday.

While voting to reverse the sale and to begin an after-the-fact review committee, Halle and Cummings were adamant they do not want to lose potential buyers.

An interim report from the new committee is expected at the end of January, including a recommendation on future action regarding the Broad Street building.

For Hammonds-Bradrick, the decision to delay the sale is simply “the pause button” option while the board evaluates the effects of consolidation.

Another offer for the Broad Street building came from the Center for Community Resources at $150,000. The district had two appraisals for each of the four closed schools with Broad Street's average appraisal at $456,500.

The Meridian building had a bid from Michael D. Wright at $425,000 and another from Ken McDonald and Brent Thomas at $350,000. The Meridian's average appraised value is $530,000.

The Oakland building has been bid on by Woodbine Oaks at $363,600, while its average appraisal is $362,500.

The Clearfield building, appraised at an average of $236,000, has not received any bids yet.

BUTLER TWP — Two newly elected members of the Butler School Board now lead the board.Members elected on Nov. 3 took their seats Tuesday night at the board’s reorganization.Nina Teff was elected as board president and Jennifer Cummings was elected vice president.The other two new members are Suzie Hammonds-Bradrick and Leland Clark. They join re-elected incumbent Bill Halle.Others on the board are John Conrad, Alvin Vavro, David Korn and Neil Convery.