Butler Area School District on Monday approved a correction to its school year in the wake of busing software malfunctions.

The district also may be looking to a new flexible schedule to make that happen.

Board members unanimously approved a revised school year calendar that will account for the two days missed due to bus route software complications.

“We have to make those up,” said Superintendent Brian White.

White said the cause of the software malfunction still is unknown. He said the administration also acknowledges the concerns of parents who have not been fully informed.

“We'll find more stability and more progress as we move forward,” White said. “I know there's frustration with what's going on. But there's also a spirit of trying to get things done. Even when I left to come to this board meeting, staff was still present trying to get things done.”

The solution for now will be to make Veterans Day (Nov. 11) a full Act-80 Day, which would mean no school for students, but teachers would report for an in-service day.

White said the teachers could use this day as an opportunity for parent-teacher meetings.

The second day will be Nov. 22, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, which will change to a regular school day.

White said one or both of these days could be a good opportunity to use or test out the state's new Flexible Instructional Day program.

Pending state and school board approval, schools could send some form of scholastic instruction to students in the event of a snow day or unexpected closure, among other possibilities.

The school board unanimously approved to send an application to the Pennsylvania Department of Education for permission to execute flexible days for the next four years.

White said the district could experiment with these days throughout next year as it sees fit. He also addressed some concerns about accessibility with the board.

“Many of our students have technology, but some of them don't,” White said.

One idea was having some teachers reachable by Google phone, which would allow students to use a landline to call and ask questions.

“We're going to try the nontechnological approach to establish a baseline for those who don't,” White said.

He said the flexible days are something the schools can try to see how they would be best used, if at all.

“It's not perfect. It's not like having a kid in a classroom,” White said.