Public hearing and vote for Falconer Central School District budget and board member election.

Legal Notices 

FALCONER CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT

NOTICE OF ANNUAL SCHOOL DISTRICT PUBLIC HEARING AND VOTE




NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the public hearing for the qualified voters of the Falconer Central School District (“the District”), will be held in the Falconer Middle/High School Media Center on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, at 5:30 P.M., at which time the proposed budget for the 2026-2027 school year will be presented.




TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the annual meeting and vote of the District (“Annual Vote”) will be held on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, from 2:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. in the Falconer Middle/High School gym foyer, 2 East Avenue, Falconer, New York, for the purposes of electing by voting machine one (1) member of the District’s Board of Education (the “Board”),voting on the District’s budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year, and transacting such other business as may be authorized by law.




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 2026-2027 fiscal year for school purposes, specifying the several purposes and the amount for each. The amount for each purpose estimated necessary for payments to Boards of Cooperative Educational Services shall be shown in full, with no deduction of estimated state aid. The amount of state aid provided and its percentage relationship to the total expenditures shall also be shown. Such statement obtained by any resident in the District during the seven days immediately preceding the Budget Hearing except Saturday, Sunday or holiday, at each of the following schoolhouses in which school is maintained, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.: Falconer Middle/High School, Paul B.D. Temple School, and Harvey C. Fenner School and at falconercsd.org.




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 twenty-five (25) qualified voters of the District, or two percent of voters who voted in the previous Annual Vote, whichever is greater, shall state the residence of each signer, and shall state the name and residence of the candidate. Each petition must be filed in the office of the Clerk of the District not later than 5:00 P.M. on April 20, 2026.




TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that an election for members of the Board shall be held to fill one (1) at-large position on the Board resulting from the expiration, on June 30, 2026, of the term of Heather Cardot. The candidate receiving the highest vote total will be elected to a five (5) year term commencing July 1, 2026 and ending on June 30, 2031.




TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the Annual Vote will consist of voting on the following propositions, as well as other such matters as may be lawfully presented at the meeting:




ROPOSITION NO. 1

2026-2027 BUDGET

Shall the following resolution be adopted, to wit:




RESOLVED, that the budget for the Falconer Central School District, Chautauqua County, New York, for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027, as presented by the Board of Education, is hereby approved and adopted and the required funds therefore 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 NO. 2

“CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT, 2026”




Shall the following resolutions be adopted?




RESOLVED, that the Board of Education (the “Board”) of the Falconer Central School District, Chautauqua County, New York (the “District”), is hereby authorized to undertake a proposed “Capital Improvements Project, 2026” consisting of the reconstruction, rehabilitation and renovation, in part, and the construction of improvements and upgrades to various District buildings and facilities and the sites thereof (collectively, the “Project”) to implement various health, safety, accessibility and code compliance measures required by the State Education Department in connection with any significant capital improvements project and various other measures that are generally described in (but are not to be limited by) the project plan that has been prepared by the District (with the assistance of Young + Wright Architectural) and that is available for public inspection in the offices of the District Clerk (the “Project Plan”), such work being anticipated to include, without limitation and to the extent as and where required, the elements that are generally described below. The Project is anticipated to involve mechanical system upgrades at each school and includes equipment such as a chiller plant and piping to cool classrooms and other select spaces, cooling equipment, select unit ventilators, corridor cabinet heaters, and rooftop units. Other improvements may include upgraded electrical service and ceilings at the Middle/High School (“MHS”) and Fenner Elementary School (“FES”), improvements to the MHS and Temple Elementary School (“TES”) generators, new water heaters at both the elementary schools, and new freezers and coolers. Proposed building envelope upgrades include MHS limestone cleaning, and proposed site work improvements include upgrades to playgrounds and sidewalks at both the elementary schools and MHS bus loop reconstruction. If funds are available, alternate work may include various mechanical, electrical, and/or plumbing improvements and classroom and office upgrades at the schools. Additionally, if the budget allows after receiving construction bids, or if other items are identified, additional similar renovations, upgrades, and improvements could be undertaken. All of such work (or so much thereof as can be accomplished within the overall budget for the Project, once the construction bids are received) is to be undertaken at an estimated maximum cost of $23,500,000, and will include the purchase of original furnishings, equipment, machinery, apparatus and pavement restoration required in connection with the purposes for which such buildings, facilities and sites are used, and all ancillary or related work required in connection therewith, and the Board is authorized to expend therefor, including for preliminary costs and costs incidental thereto and in connection with the financing thereof, an amount not to exceed the estimated maximum cost of $23,500,000, provided that the detailed costs of the components of the Project (as generally described in the Project Plan) may be reallocated among such components, or such components may be deleted, revised or supplemented if (1) the Board shall determine that such reallocation, deletion, revision or supplementation is in the best interests of the District and (2) the aggregate amount to be expended for the Project shall not exceed $23,500,000 and (3) no material change shall be made in the overall scope and nature of the Project; and be it further




RESOLVED, that the Board is hereby authorized to expend or apply toward the Project, during the current fiscal year of the District, $3,400,000 from the District’s Capital Improvement Reserve Fund that was established in May of 2022 and $415,000 of available District funds; and be it further




RESOLVED, that a tax is hereby voted to finance the balance of the estimated maximum cost of the Project in an amount not to exceed $19,685,000, such tax to be levied and collected in installments in such years and in such amounts as shall be determined by the Board; and be it further




RESOLVED, that in anticipation of such tax, obligations of the District (including, without limitation, serial bonds, statutory installment bonds, bond anticipation notes, and/or lease-purchase obligations) are hereby authorized to be issued in an aggregate principal amount that is not to exceed $19,685,000, and a tax is hereby voted to pay the interest on such obligations as the same shall become due and payable; and be it further




RESOLVED, that the New York State Building Aid funds that are expected to be received by the District are anticipated to offset a substantial part of the cost of the Project, and such funds shall, to the extent received, be applied to offset and reduce the amount of taxes that are herein authorized to be levied.




AND FURTHER NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that such Proposition No. 2 shall appear on the ballot sheet to be used for voting on such Proposition No. 2 in substantially the following abbreviated form:




PROPOSITION NO. 2

“CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT, 2026”

YES NO




Shall the following resolution be adopted and approved?




RESOLVED, that (a) the Board of Education (the “Board”) of the Falconer Central School District, Chautauqua County, New York (the “District”) is hereby authorized to undertake a “Capital Improvements Project, 2026” (the “Project”) consisting of the reconstruction, rehabilitation and renovation, in pa