OBSERVER Photo by Braden Carmen The Forestville Superintendent Dr. John O’Connor is pictured at a recent Board of Education meeting.

FORESTVILLE — A slightly excessive fund balance was all that counted against the Forestville Central School District in its 2023-2024 audit report. The District received a “clean audit” in its report from Chris Zera of R.A. Mercer at its Board of Education meeting for the month of November. The audit report was later accepted by the Board.

Total revenue for the 2023-2024 year increased by over $600,000, which is mostly thanks to an increase in State aid. Instruction costs of the District – such as salaries and contractual costs – were the largest expense in 2023-2024 at over $10 million.

The District maintains an unexpended fund balance of approximately 6%, which is still above the State’s recommendations, but even that figure is closer to being in line with the guidelines than it has been in recent years. Part of the reason for that is the allocation of $2.2 million of reserve funds as part of a capital project totaling $11,875,000 with no additional tax impact to District residents. The project was approved by voters in May, with the District now planning aspects of the project, including locker rooms and entryways.

The District has also recently engaged in conversations with Pine Valley and Cassadaga Valley school districts regarding regionalization, a concept that has been pushed by New York State through its Regionalization Initiative.

“I want to be clear, it’s not talking about districts merging per se, it’s talking about districts trying to expand their opportunities,” Superintendent Dr. John O’Connor said.

Forestville already combines several sports programs with other schools, most often Silver Creek. At the recent meeting, shared programs for Unified Bowling and Unified Basketball were approved, with Silver Creek as the host school for both programs. A tuition agreement with Pine Valley was also approved through June 30, 2025.

The District also held the first readings of policies regarding artificial intelligence; timeout and physical restraints; and absentee, military, and early mail ballots; as well as privacy and security for student, teacher, and principal data.

Two floater monitor aides were approved at the recent meeting, Carrie Ann Mueller and Elizabeth Smith. Mueller’s appointment was retroactive to Nov. 4, at 7 hours per day, while Smith’s position will be for 4 hours per day. One floater monitor aide, Genevieve VanZile, resigned on Oct. 25.

Smith was also among 10 substitutes approved by the Board at the meeting, but the District is still looking for more help. The District is distributing a flyer with a direct link to the substitute application process in hopes of attracting more applicants.

The next meeting of the Forestville Board of Education is Thursday, Dec. 12 at 5:30 p.m.