BUTLER TWP — Butler School District administrators are planning changes to Butler Intermediate High School and Center Avenue Community School for next year.

Superintendent Brian White has been leading a long-term strategic planning process with district staff, parents, students and other volunteers. The school board in November adopted a strategic framework that includes nine beliefs, a mission statement, six objectives and five strategies.

While the plan will not be done until later this spring, White at Monday night's school board meeting made a presentation on several changes that the district officials are working on.

In a letter addressed to the Butler School District community, White lists three themes that have emerged in the planning process: high expectations for all students, a strong academic focus in elementary school with a focus on reading and the community wants to be proud of its schools and recognized for innovation and excellence.

Principal Steven Dobransky and the staff at the intermediate high school have been working on plans to reconfigure the layout of the building into “learning communities.” The school has 1,600 students in grades 7, 8 and 9.

The bell schedule will not change, but students in the school will be divided into small groups in the same grade and will have all core academic classes in the same area of the building.

District officials are also working on a tentative plan to relocate its administrative offices into the building's “teacher's center” area and vacate the Harriger Educational Services Building.

The district is also working toward creating new alternative education options at Center Avenue Community School that would blend classroom learning with cyber school.

This year the district has 50 students in its alternative program, which is designed for students at risk of not completing their high school education, according to the school's website. The program helps students learn behavioral skills and return to the traditional school, or graduate and enter the workforce.

The goal of the blended programs is to get students back into a regular school program quickly, instead of having them attend the Center Avenue school every day, White said.

White also said he would like to address elementary class sizes.

“There is an inequity between our elementaries and class size. We need to take a look at who goes to what school and we need to look at grade configurations,” White said.

According to numbers provided by the district, Connoquenessing Township Elementary School is projected to have three sections of second grade students next year with a class size of 16. Meanwhile, Summit Township Elementary School is projected to have two sections of second grade with 23 students each and McQuistion Elementary School is expected to have three sections of second grade with an average class size of 20.67 students.

School Board President Nina Teff, responding to White's proposals, said the big changes for the district are reason for excitement.

“I think the staff is really dedicated to the kids,” she said.

White's presentation, titled “Setting the Stage for Our Strategic Plan and Beyond,” can be found on the district's website.