BUTLER TWP — The Butler School District will not hire a new varsity boys basketball coach until late June, Jerry Slamecka, Assistant Superintendent of Personnel and Technology, said Thursday.

The district has received 33 applications for the vacant position. Deadline to apply was May 15.

"We'll still accept late applications up until the time we begin the interview process," Slamecka said. "Our prime goal here is to hire the best candidate we possibly can."

Board members are in the process of screening the applications. No interviews have been scheduled.

The school board has Monday meetings scheduled June 22 and June 29.

"Ideally, we'll have the interviews completed and a decision made in time for one of those meetings," Slamecka said.

Until a coach is hired, Butler's summer basketball activities will be handled by staff members still involved with the program.

"This is a process we don't want to rush because we want to make the right choice," Slamecka said. "It's impossible to determine how many of the candidates will be interviewed at this point."

Some of the applicants are current high school basketball head coaches. Others have been assistants, a couple have collegiate coaching experience, some no coaching experience.

"It's a wide range," Slamecka said. "It usually is.

"The person we hire doesn't necessarily have to be experienced in coaching. We just want the right fit. A perfect example of that is Jonna Burke. When she was hired, she was a young assistant coach at Bethel Park.

"Obviously, Jonna had a tremendous run of success with our girls basketball program here. Then, and now, our job is to hire the right person," he added.

Butler decided to open the varsity boys coaching position at its board meeting April 20. Previous coach Joe Lewandowski was 74-88 with one WPIAL playoff appearance in seven years at the helm.