Public hearing and vote for Depew Union Free School District budget and board elections.

ERIE COUNTY

LEGAL NOTICE





DEPEW UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT

NOTICE OF ANNUAL SCHOOL DISTRICT PUBLIC HEARING AND VOTE




NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the annual meeting and election (“Annual Meeting and Election”) of the Depew Union Free School District, Erie County, New York (the “District”), will be held on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 from 12:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. in the Depew High School Gymnasium located at 5201 Transit Road, Depew, New York, for the purposes of: (i) voting on the District’s budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year; (ii) voting on a proposition authorizing the expenditure from the Vehicle and Equipment Reserve Fund to purchase school buses and related equipment for use in the District’s transportation program; (iii) voting on a proposition authorizing the establishment of a capital reserve; (iv) electing three (3) members of the Board of Education (the “Board”); and (v) transacting such other business as may be authorized by law.

TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that a public hearing for the voters of the District will be held on Tuesday, May 12, 2026, at 6:30 P.M. in the Cafeteria at Depew High School, 5201 Transit Road, Depew, New York for the presentation of the District’s proposed budget for the 2026-2027 school year.

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. Such statement will be available, upon request, to District residents between the hours of 8:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M., during the fourteen (14) days immediately preceding the Annual Meeting and Election (beginning May 5, 2026), excluding Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, as well as on the day of the Annual Meeting and Election. Such statement may be obtained by any District resident at each school building in the District and in the District Office located at 5201 Transit Road, Depew, New York.

TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the election of members of the Board shall be held to fill three (3) positions on the Board. The candidates receiving the first and second highest number of votes, respectively, shall each be elected to three-year terms beginning July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2029. The candidate receiving the third highest number of votes shall be elected to the remainder of a term beginning May 20, 2026 through June 30, 2028.

TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that all candidates for the office of a Member of the Board of Education shall be nominated by petition. Each petition shall be directed to the District Clerk, shall be signed by at least twenty-five (25) qualified voters of the District, shall state the name and residence of the candidate and the name and residence of each signor. Petitions must be filed in the office of the District Clerk, 5201 Transit Road, Depew, New York (the “District Clerk’s Office”) between the hours of 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. no later than the 30th day preceding the Annual Meeting and Election (Monday, April 20, 2026).

TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the qualified voters of the District shall be entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting and Election. A qualified voter is one who is (1) a citizen of the United States of America, (2) eighteen (18) years of age or older, and (3) resident within the Depew Union Free School District for a period of thirty (30) days preceding the Annual Meeting and Election. The District may require all persons offering to vote at the budget vote and election to provide one form of proof of residency pursuant to Education Law 2018-c. Such form may include a driver’s license, a non-driver identification card, a utility bill, or a voter registration card. Upon offer of proof of residency, the District may also require all persons offering to vote to provide their signature, printed name and address.

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

PROPOSITION NO. 1

2026-2027 BUDGET

Shall the following resolution be adopted?

RESOLVED, that the budget for the Depew Union Free School District (the “District”), Erie County, New York 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 therefore are hereby appropriated and the necessary real property taxes required shall be raised by a tax on the taxable property in said District to be levied and collected as required by law.

PROPOSITION NO. 2

PURCHASE OF SCHOOL BUSES AND RELATED EQUIPMENT

(UTILIZING MONIES ALREADY ON HAND IN THE DISTRICT’S VEHICLE AND EQUIPMENT RESERVE FUND)

Shall the following resolution be adopted?

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education of Depew Union Free School District (the “District”) be, and it hereby is, authorized to purchase school buses and related equipment at a maximum estimated cost of $1,032,345 for use in the transportation program of the District, utilizing $1,032,345 from funds currently on hand in the District’s “Vehicle and Equipment Reserve Fund, 2016” that was established by the voters of the District in May of 2016.

PROPOSITION NO. 3

ESTABLISHMENT OF CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS RESERVE FUND, 2026

Shall the following resolution be adopted?

RESOLVED, that the Board of Education (the “Board”) of the Depew Union Free School District (the “District”) is hereby authorized to establish a capital improvements reserve fund pursuant to Section 3651 of the Education Law of the State of New York (the “Fund”); that the Fund shall be known as the “Capital Improvements Reserve Fund, 2026” of the District; that the Fund shall be established for the purpose of financing, in whole or in part, the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, expansion, renovation, alteration, and improvement of buildings, facilities, sites, and real property by the District, or the District’s share of the cost of any capital improvements project undertaken by a Board of Cooperative Educational Services (“BOCES”) of which the District is (or may become) a component district, including, in all cases, the acquisition of necessary furnishings, equipment, machinery, and apparatus; that the ultimate amount of the Fund shall be not greater than $15,000,000 (plus interest earned thereon); that the probable term of the Fund shall be not longer than fifteen (15) years; and that the permissible sources from which the Board is authorized to appropriate monies to the Fund from time to time shall be (A) amounts applied thereto from budgetary appropriations of the District; (B) unappropriated fund balance of the District as directed by the Board; (C) State aid received as reimbursement for expenditures by the District in connection with District capital improvements (whether or not such expenditures were financed in whole or in part from the Fund); (D) the proceeds from the sale of unneeded real or personal property owned by the District, if permitted by law and if so directed by the Board; (E) one or more other reserve funds of the District; and/or (F) such other sources as the Board or the voters of the District may direct from time to time, all as may be permitted by law.




TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that optical scanning voting machines will be used to record the vote on the budget, on all propositions, and the election of Board members.

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 and Election 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 District Clerk’s Office.

TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that qualified voters may obtain applications for early mail ballots or absentee ballots at the District Clerk’s Office, Monday through Friday, except holidays, between the hours of 8:00 A.M. and 3:30 P.M. Completed applications must be received by the District Clerk at least seven (7) days before the Annual Meeting and Election (May 12, 2026) if the ballot is to be mailed to the voter, or no later than the day before the Annual Meeting and Election (May 18, 2026) if the ballot is to be issued to the voter in person. Completed absentee ballots and completed early mail ballots must be received in the District Clerk’s Office no later than 5:00 P.M., on May 19, 2026.

TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that military voters, as defined by New York State Education Law §2018-d, who are qualified voters of the Dist