Butler school directors ruled out one of four school reconfigurations Monday night, opting to send the remaining three on for a community panel's consideration.

The school board and Superintendent Brian White are gathering various community members for a roughly 40-person committee that will begin meeting this fall.

For the last year, officials have been considering options for a restructuring of the district. Most options would close the district's downtown middle school building, as its upkeep costs worry administrators who tend the budget.

Monday night, White showed the board recent survey results on the four options under consideration.

The first keeps the district as it is with six elementaries, one middle school, one intermediate and one senior high.

The second keeps six elementaries, but has two middle schools in addition to the intermediate and senior high.

The third has seven elementaries, a middle school with sixth through eighth grades and a high school with ninth through 12th grades.

The fourth has seven elementaries, one intermediate with fifth through eighth grades and a senior high with ninth through 12th grades.

In surveys of parents, employees and community members, the second option was the clear loser.

From there, results grew less clear. As School Director Al Vavro noted, sample sizes on the survey were well below scientific results, but it appeared parents favored the third option significantly more, while school employees favored the fourth.

The board intended to select two options to send on to the committee for its consideration, but instead opted for all except the second.

Directors Gary Shingleton and John Conrad said they would support sending on just the latter two options, effectively removing the middle school remaining open from the list of possibilities. Other directors, such as Mary Waggoner, disagreed.

“I don't see why we can't look at (the first option) with new information,” Waggoner said. “Otherwise, the decision is being made here tonight.”

Once meeting, the committee will have a tour of the middle school building led by architects who previously prepared a report on its shortcomings for the district.

Naming rights

The board approved granting naming rights to Butler Health System for the football field at Art Bernardi Stadium. The field will now be named “Butler Health System Field.” The stadium retains its name.

The hospital group will pay $10,000 a year for five years for the rights. It's in charge of installing signs indicating the new name, so the timeline is in BHS' hands.

The money goes to the Golden Tornado Scholastic Foundation's corporate fund, a fund built from similar corporate sponsorships that is commonly used for athletic purposes, unlike other focuses of the foundation.

After the board voted, the contract still needs to be signed.

Enrollment

White presented tentative enrollment figures for the school year that show the district's population slightly up after recent decreases.

This school year, enrollment is at 6,531 students, compared to 6,462 last year.

“But on a 20-year basis, we're down,” White said. “I don't think this is a surprise to anyone.”

Phishing

Out of concerns about the cost, as compared to other needs, the board chose not to vote on bids for anti-phishing software.

Every bid received cost over $10,000.

The software would send targeted, sophisticated phishing emails to staff members, and then flag them for training videos if they fell for the attempts.