SINCLAIRVILLE — While Cassadaga Valley Central School like most other schools in the area share sports with other school districts, two decisions to share other types of services with other schools is said to be a first.

Recently, Cassadaga Valley entered into an agreement with Pine Valley Central School to share a transportation supervisor, and a separate agreement with Clymer Central School for an Occupational Therapist.

“We look to do what we can to save money and the Board of Education looks for ways to save tax dollars,” Board of Education President Aaron Richner said. “Our transportation supervisor retired and we ended up sharing the position with another district. These agreements usually come from necessity.”

Richner added that the transportation supervisor position was a necessity for them, and that the Occupational Therapist was a necessity for Clymer, as they needed someone to fill the position. He said all schools involved are “extremely happy” with the agreements. For the transportation supervisor the agreement will go for one year and be renewed on a yearly basis.

Richner said these agreements are the first time the school has shared services with other schools that were not sports teams.

“This is the first time we have shared services like this between two districts in Cassadaga Valley,” Richner said. “The only other services we share are sports teams, but looking to the future I think schools will have to share services more often because of a decreasing population. This way we won’t decrease the services we offer to our students.”

While nothing else has come to the board in regards to shared services besides these two agreements, Richner said the board is always open to others. He said sharing services is important for schools to do, especially to help offer any needed services for their students.

“It’s all about the kids and getting them the best possible experience they can at school,” Richner said. “If we can’t find a certified person to fill a needed position we will see if other districts have one that is maybe not full time or that they are willing to share. We want to give our students all of the opportunities we possibly can.”

Overall, Richner said the Board of Education and Cassadaga Valley Central School are always looking to do their best for their community and their students.

“We’re always looking to do our best for the taxpayers in the district and if looking to share services with other districts is what’s needed to do that then that’s what we’ll do,” Richner said.