Legal Notices
NOTICE OF THE ANNUAL MEETING AND ELECTION OF THE OLEAN CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Annual Meeting and Vote (the “Annual Meeting”) of the Olean City School District, Cattaraugus County, New York (the “District”) will be held on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, from 7:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M. at the Olean Intermediate Middle School, Music Suite, 401 Wayne Street, Olean, New York, to vote by machine, for the purposes of: (i) electing two (2) members of the District’s Board of Education (the “Board”); (ii) voting on the proposed budget of the District for the 2026-2027 fiscal year; (iii) increase and extend a vehicle capital reserve fund; and (iv) transacting such other business as may be authorized by law.
TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that a public hearing for the qualified voters of the District on the 2026-2027 budget and expenditure of funds will be held on May 5, 2026, commencing at 6:00 p.m. in the Olean Intermediate Middle School, LGI Room, 401 Wayne Street, Olean, New York.
TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that the election of members of the Board will be held to fill two (2) at-large positions on the Board. The election of members of the Board of Education will be held to fill two (2) at-large positions on the Board, created by the expiration of the term of Mary Hirsch-Schena and the term of Julio Fuentes. The two candidates who receive the most votes will each serve a (5) five-year term commencing on July 1, 2026, and expiring on June 30, 2031.
TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that all candidates for the office of member of the Board shall be nominated by petition. Each petition shall be directed to the Clerk of the District, shall be signed by at least one hundred (100) qualified voters of the District, shall state the residence of each signer, shall state the name and residence of the candidate, and shall be filed in the Office of the Clerk of the District, located at 410 West Sullivan Street, Olean, New York 14760, between the hours of 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. not later than Wednesday, April 29, 2026. Nominating petitions may be obtained by contacting the office of the District Clerk at (716) 375-8018.
TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the qualified voters of the District shall be entitled to vote at said Annual Meeting. A qualified voter is one who is (1) a citizen of the United States of America, (2) eighteen (18) years of age or older, (3) resident within the District for a period of thirty (30) days next preceding the Annual Meeting and (4) not otherwise disqualified from voting in school district elections.
TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that voting to be conducted at the Annual Meeting will consist of voting on the following propositions, and on such other propositions as may be authorized by law and the rules of the Board.
PROPOSITION # 1
2026-27 Basic Budget
Shall the following resolution be adopted?
RESOLVED that the budget for the Olean City School District (the “District”) for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027, as presented by the Board of Education of the District, is hereby approved and adopted and the required funds therefor are hereby appropriated and the necessary real property taxes required shall be raised by a tax on the taxable property in the District to be levied and collected as required by law.
PROPOSITION # 2 INCREASE AND EXTENSION OF THE VEHICLE PURCHASE RESERVE FUND
Shall the following resolution be adopted?
RESOLVED, that the Board of Education (the “Board”) of the Olean City School District (the “District’) is hereby authorized to increase the ultimate amount and extend the term of the District’s 2022 Vehicle Purchase Reserve Fund that was established in May of 2022 (the “Fund”), in order to increase the ultimate amount of the Fund from $2,000,000 to $10,000,000 and to increase the probable term of the Fund by an additional ten (10) years, in order to allow the District to continue to manage its bus/vehicle purchases for the District’s transportation program as in the past.
TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that pursuant to a rule adopted by the Board under §§2035 and 2008 of the Education Law, any referenda or propositions to amend the budget, or otherwise to be submitted for voting at the Annual Meeting must comply with the Board’s adopted rules set forth in District Policy 1650. However, the Board will not entertain any petition to place before the voters any proposition the purpose of which is not within the powers of the voters to determine, or any proposition which fails to include a specific appropriation where the proposition requires the expenditure of monies. Printed copies of the policy are available at the office of the District Clerk located in the District Office, 410 West Sullivan Street, Olean, New York, 14760.
TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that an optical scanning voting machine will be used to record the vote on the budget, the establishment of a capital reserve fund, the election of members of the Board and any other propositions presented. Pursuant to District Policy, the Board has adopted Rules for the Use of Voting Machines, printed copies of which, are available for general distribution at the office of the District Clerk located in the District Office, 410 West Sullivan Street, Olean, New York, 14760.
TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that applications for absentee and early mail ballots for the Annual Meeting and Vote may be obtained between 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, at the Office of the District Clerk located in the District Office, 410 West Sullivan Street, Olean, New York, 14760. Completed applications must be received by the District Clerk at least seven (7) days before the Annual Meeting, if the ballot is to be mailed to the voter, or the day before the Annual Meeting, if the ballot is to be issued personally to the voter at the office of the District Clerk. A list of all persons to whom absentee ballots and early mail ballots have been issued will be available in the office of the District Clerk on each of the five days prior to the Annual Meeting, except Sundays, and such list will also be posted at the polling place for the Annual Meeting. Any qualified voter may challenge the acceptance of an absentee or early mail voter’s ballot of any person on such list, by making his or her challenge and the reasons therefore known to an Election Inspector before the close of the polls.
TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, to be eligible to vote at the Annual Meeting and Vote, residents of the District must be properly registered. A person is properly registered if the person has registered for general election purposes or has registered for school election purposes during the four calendar years prior to the year in which the voter register(s) is being prepared. Alternatively, if such voters have a New York State Driver’s license, they may register to vote electronically through the Department of Motor Vehicles website. All other persons who wish to vote must present themselves for personal registration.
TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that the Board of Registration will meet on April 30, 2026, between the hours of 1:00 and 5:00 P.M. for the preparation of registers of qualified voters. The register will be filed in the office of the District Clerk immediately upon completion and shall be available, upon request, to qualified voters within this District during the hours of 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. from May 13, 2026 to May 19, 2026, exclusive of Sundays, at the office of the District Clerk and at the polling place on the day of the Annual Meeting. Any qualified voter may, upon examination of the registers file a challenge of the qualifications as a voter of any person whose name appears on such registers by filling out blanks, under oath, furnished by the Board.
TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that military voters who are qualified voters of the District but are not currently registered to vote may apply for a military ballot by requesting and returning a military ballot application to the District Clerk by no later than 5:00 P.M. on May 4, 2026. Eligible military voters may designate their preference for receiving their application by mail, facsimile transmission, or electronic mail. If no designation is indicated, the military voter application and ballot will be transmitted by mail. Irrespective of the preferred method of transmission designated by a military voter, a military voter’s original military ballot application and military ballot must be returned by mail or in person to the office of the District Clerk and the ballot received no later than 5:00 PM on May 19, 2026, to be canvassed and counted.
TAKE FURTHER NOTICE, that the Board will have prepared and completed a detailed statement in writing of the amount of money which will be required during the ensuing 2026-27 fiscal year for school purposes, specifying the several purposes and the amount for each. Such statement will be available, upon request, to residents within the District during the hours of 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. from May 5, 2026 to May 19, 2026, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, at each of the public schoolhouses of the District as well as at the Olean Public Library.
Dated: March 10, 2026
BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION,
Olean City School District
City of Olean, County of Cattaraugus
Jacqueline Reed, District Clerk
410 West Sullivan Street
Olean, New York 14760
Notice will be published in The Times Herald on April 4, 2026, April 14, 2026, May 5, 2026, and May 12, 2026.
