Olean City School District board meeting, Aug 11, 2026
1 h 00 min
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What happened
What happened at this meeting
Olean school board approves YMCA child care partnership, board goals and safety plan 53:54
- A speaker at public comment raised questions about a recent decision to approve a new assistant principal position while teaching positions are being reduced. 7:46
- Catharine Young gave a board report that reviewed goals the board set at a retreat, including a positive culture, consistent enforcement of the code of conduct, data-driven decision-making, reducing absenteeism and reducing screen time for elementary students. 16:42
- A district staff member presented on a summer program and said 203 children, including the teens, took part. 27:09
- The board approved its goals, the Districtwide Safety Plan and a tax pledge and collection agreement for the Olean Library capital project. 54:38
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Item by item (15)
- Opening and agenda 3:53
- Catharine Young called the meeting to order, opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and called for a motion to approve the agenda. 3:53
- Introduction of new employee 6:33
- Public comment on staffing 7:16
- Catharine Young said no one had signed up for public comment but that a short presentation would be given. 7:16
- A speaker at public comment asked how the decision to approve a new assistant principal position was reached while the district is losing teaching positions, and cited a lost resource teacher, fewer art teachers and a possible loss of an orchestra position. 7:46
- The speaker said teachers want to be part of the conversation and to work with the board. 7:46
- Board report recognitions 11:46
- Kevin Stevens said they coached a 9 and 10-year-old All-Star team of 14 players, 13 of them district students, that won the district. 12:29
- Kevin Stevens said it was the first such win in over 10 years, though the exact number could not be recalled. 14:51
- Catharine Young thanked those who worked on the summer STAR program production of Seussical Jr. 14:58
- Board goals from retreat 16:42
- Catharine Young said the board is concerned about improving enrollment figures and cutting absenteeism and wants to better engage parents, families and the community. 16:42
- Catharine Young said the board prioritized creating and supporting a positive culture, consistent enforcement of the code of conduct and enriching learning for all students. 17:15
- Catharine Young said the board wants to look at reading practices from other states and to reduce screen time, especially for elementary students. 23:03
- Summer program and staff report 26:02
- A district staff member said the summer program runs 20 days from 8 to noon for grades pre-K through 7 and that the district had 4 summer youth program helpers last year and 11 this year. 27:59
- The staff member said 203 children participated, including the teens. 39:59
- A district staff member said school starts September 8th and that faculty and staff will take part in 3 days of professional development the week of September 1st. 42:28
- Advocacy liaison and goals discussion 43:11
- Operations committee report 44:45
- Mary Fay said the YMCA grant renewal was not approved and that a fee-based program will be offered at Eastview and Washington West, which the committee agreed to propose to the board. 46:53
- Mary Fay said the committee will propose a policy on entitlement to attend school that continues education for students age 17 unless the student is employed full-time. 48:21
- Mary Fay said the library tax money collected by the district must now go to the dormitory authority over the next 4 years because of the library's capital project. 49:23
- Consent agenda 50:44
- Annual appointment 51:04
- Surplus bid and transportation contracts 51:35
- Catharine Young said a July 21st, 2026 award of a surplus Series 3650 Bobcat listed an incorrect amount due to a typographical error that needed correcting. 51:35
- The board also took up transportation contracts for services for students with disabilities. 52:25
- Catharine Young announced that the motions on the surplus equipment bid correction and the transportation contracts carried. 52:25
- University clinical placement agreement 52:25
- YMCA after-school child care partnership 53:54
- Goals, safety plan and library agreement 54:29
- The board took up the 26-27 Board of Education goals and the 26-27 Districtwide Safety Plan reviewed during a public hearing earlier that night. 54:30
- The board then took up a tax pledge and collection agreement for the Olean Library capital project. 55:09
- Catharine Young announced that the motions on the board goals, the Districtwide Safety Plan and the library agreement carried. 54:38
- Volunteer, personnel and meeting schedule 55:39
- The board took up a volunteer application to assist with sporting events and a personnel consent agenda. 55:39
- Catharine Young said Audit and Finance would meet August 20th at 4 PM and the board would meet August 25th at 6:30 PM, and a staff member later said the Audit and Finance date is being changed. 56:32
- Mary Fay asked to move the September 21st operations committee meeting from 4:30 to 4 o'clock. 57:23
- Catharine Young announced that the motions on the volunteer application and the personnel agenda carried. 56:03
Written by software from the meeting's transcript and checked sentence by sentence against it.
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Video: posted by the district as “OCSD Board Meeting 8/11/2026”