BUTLER TWP — Despite earlier concerns about overcrowding resulting from consolidation in the Butler School District, every building is now below its capacity, a review committee announced Tuesday night.

Capacity measures were part of the districtwide data presented to the After-Action Review Committee, an ad hoc committee of the school board that is studying the impact of the district’s May 2015 consolidation.

The capacity of each building was calculated by Thomas and Williamson Program Management of Pittsburgh.

The intermediate high school, which houses seventh to ninth grade, has space for 2,120 students, and its enrollment is 1,569, said Brian Slamecka, assistant superintendent of secondary education.

At the high school for 10th through 12th grade, there are 1,670 students, he said. This building has a capacity of 1,767.

Next school year, there are 1,725 students projected to be at the high school, according to data that Slamecka presented.

Although this number is close to the 1,767 limit, that capacity estimate does not account for changes planned for the next school year, Slamecka said. There are three computer labs at the high school that may be turned into classrooms, he told the committee.

The middle school for fifth and sixth graders can accommodate 1,710 students, compared to 1,020 there this school year, according to Mary Wolf, assistant superintendent of elementary education.

In addition, all elementary schools were under the capacity limit, ranging from 66 percent to 81 percent full, Wolf said.

“We do have room in the district if we were to see some growth,” said board member Bill Halle.

Consolidation closed five elementary schools of the district’s 11, with Center Avenue’s school reopening as an alternative education and emotional support school. All elementaries became kindergarten through fourth grade while fifth and sixth grades moved to Butler Middle School, formerly the junior high.

Class sizes at the elementary levels mostly decreased on average, Wolf said, while fourth and sixth grade classes did see slight increases in the average size.

“We accomplished what we set out to do: bring down class size in primary grades, K through three,” Wolf told the committee.

First through sixth grades all had decreases in the number of class sections as well, saving the district money on staffing, said board member Leland Clark.

The number of kindergarten sections did not change, with 27 total classes in the district.

All grade levels have little variation in student attendance from the first quarter of the 2015-16 school year compared to the first quarter of 2014-15, according to Superintendent Dale Lumley. He stressed that attendance percents at each building are in the mid- to high 90s.

Board member Suzie Bradrick requested that the administration provide more specific data on attendance, such as comparing the attendance of students who previously attended closed schools to the rest of their new school’s attendance. This way, the board may have a better idea of how those who switched schools were affected, she said.

Committee Chairman Jennifer Cummings agreed, saying that the average attendance data may hide specific trends applicable only to reassigned students.

Lumley also told the committee that discipline issues, including both suspensions and detentions, have remained consistent after the consolidation.

Programming for at-risk students has seen an increase in attendance to 94 percent in the first quarter this school year, up from 77 percent in the first quarter of 2014-15.

In addition, these students have seen a significant decrease in discipline problems, Lumley said. In the first quarter of 2014-15, there were 61 suspensions and detentions in the program compared to 18 for the first quarter of this school year, he said.

This may be an effect of that programming switching from an evening program to an all-day program at the Center Avenue Community School, said Al Vavro, committee vice chairman.

Through the creation of Center Avenue, which is for at-risk students as well as those with alternative education or emotional support needs, the district also was able to save money, according to Deborah Brandstetter, director of business services.

Projected estimates indicated the consolidation would save more than $3.1 million for the 2015-16 school year, according to Brandstetter. So far, district expenditures have decreased $591,000 and employment costs have decreased roughly $1.6 million, she said.

Because students who attend Center Avenue do not have to go to programs outside of the district, there are about $1.3 million in savings, which helped fund the lower cost of staffing an in-district program.

In addition, the Center Avenue school expects increased out-of-district enrollment next year, which will generate more tuition revenue for the district, compared to the $72,500 in out-of-district tuition revenue this year, Brandstetter said.

The committee still expects a presentation on transportation data, including costs and actual bus trip times to see if student transportation time has changed.

The next meeting for the committee has not been set, but Cummings anticipates a mid-February date.

At the Feb. 8 school board meeting, the members also may discuss proceeding with the sale of the four closed elementary schools: Broad Street, Clearfield, Meridian and Oakland.