BUTLER TWP — Seven of the nine members of the Butler School Board attended a special meeting Monday night to discuss the impending search for a new school superintendent.

The superintendent search committee, which includes all the board members and is chaired by Neil Convery, was given proposals for various search consultant options, discussed a tentative time line and decided to meet again later this month.

Several proposals, provided by Acting Superintendent William Pettigrew, ranged in cost from $6,500 to $26,000. They included local and national companies as well as the Pennsylvania School Boards Association and local intermediate unit.

If hired, the search consultant would seek applicants for the position and help the board gather input from residents and other stakeholder groups.

Board members said they would like to have a new superintendent in place by July 1, though that may not be possible.

The search committee will have another special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 16 to further discuss the proposals and reach a decision.

The district is seeking a superintendent to replace Dale Lumley, who resigned from the position last month amid a criminal investigation into the district’s handling of problems with its water system at Summit Township Elementary.

Former assistant superintendent Mary Wolf also recently resigned her position, though the board still needs to decide if she will be replaced or if the district will change its administrative organization.

Read a full report in Tuesday's Butler Eagle.