The Butler School Board will see four new faces in December.

The same five candidates lead on both Democrat and Republican primary ballots: Suzie Bradrick-Hammonds, Leland Clark, Jennifer Cummings, Bill Halle and Nina Teff. That means those five candidates will run unopposed in November’s election.

There are five open school board seats, and nine candidates ran for them on Tuesday.

Halle and Don Pringle, a former school board president, are both incumbents. But Pringle didn’t receive enough votes to be on the ballot this fall.

“I had a lot of supporters, but I guess the consolidation was the reason it toppled,” he said Tuesday night. “I have no regrets. None at all. Not one iota.”

Pringle voted this month for school district consolidation, which will close five elementary schools and reconfigure grades at both primary and secondary levels in the next school year.

Bill Halle, who voted against the consolidation plan, will be on the ballot and likely earn a second term on the board.

“I think this new group of people is going to have a much different outlook,” he said. “I think the community has spoken pretty clearly at what they want us to do.”

All candidates aside from Pringle have reservations about the consolidation plan that was approved. Halle said while he’s in favor of district consolidation, he believes the plan that was approved wasn’t the right one.

Bradrick-Hammonds, Cummings and Teff all said they’re pleased to start on the school board in December.

“It’s very exciting. I had hope that the voice of the community has spoken,” Bradrick-Hammonds said, who has two young children, one who is a first-grader at Emily Brittain Elementary and another that will attend kindergarten at Emily Brittain in the fall.

“This is a message and we have to act on it. The people have spoken largely because of the consolidation. This is a vote against consolidation.”

Nina Teff has three children who attend Meridian Elementary, but in the fall, her children will be in three different schools: Connoquenessing Elementary, Butler Middle School and Butler Intermediate High School.

“I look forward to working for the district and helping the district move forward on a few fronts,” she said.

Cummings, who led the vote-getting on both ballots, said it’s important for board members to make thoughtful decisions.

“The consolidation was a big change, but I’m not sure what the purpose was,” she said.

In addition to Pringle, Dan Focht, Arthur Haag and Timmi Longdon also did not receive enough votes to be on November’s ballot. Current school board members Carmen Bianco, Karen Callihan and Jim Keffalas did not run for re-election.

In an e-mail statement Leland Clark said, “I will continue reaching out to the community, the board, the administration, and teachers to build working relationships. ... I will continue attending every board meeting so that by the winter, I will be ready to hit the ground running when seated as a new board member.

“The voters share my vision for a neighborhood elementary school model, not a large, centralized elementary school system. I will continue to push the district to reconsider the direction that they are headed.”