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Finances on seniors’ minds

FORESTVILLE — Preparing graduating seniors for “the real world,” is not a task that the Forestville Central School board of education takes lightly. Each year between January and March, two or three board members meet with one graduating senior at a time for an exit interview to hear about their educational experience and understand what concerns they face as they graduate. According to Superintendent Renee Garrett, a recent board of education meeting revealed that managing personal finances was foremost on graduating seniors’ minds.

“Students are pretty honest in these interviews,” Garrett explained. “They know they’re on their way out and have nothing to lose.” Garrett said that seniors’ comments included a range of topics, including the usual requests for certain lunch menu items, but the most common theme was that students wished to feel more prepared to handle money matters. Skills like balancing a checkbook, understanding credit scores and managing debt are expected of adults, explained Garrett, yet students aren’t necessarily prepared to handle these upon graduation.

“Young adults like them are really easy targets for credit card solicitations, and of course, many of them are faced with student loans,” Garrett explained. She said board members have shared their own experiences with students, including the advantages of paying on student loan interest while still in school and being mindful of hard credit inquiries, which often accompany applications for housing.

Board President Carol Woodward suggested that the school bring in guest speakers to discuss these issues with students before graduation. Suggested speakers include a representative from Evans Bank as well as a judge to talk to students about the legal implications of poor financial management. Board member Michelle Merritt plans to meet with the high school principal and the school guidance counselor to create stand-alone seminars or incorporate financial management information in classes.

The mission statement of the board says, “We exist to equip every student with tools to experience their greatest potential and lead them to become lifelong learners.” To that end, the school board plans to incorporate personal finance seminars and/or speakers for the coming school year so that students can gain a better understanding of the most important math they may ever use: personal finance.

Garrett is looking forward to welcoming everyone back for the new year, which begins on Sept. 4 for teachers and Sept. 5 for students. The next board of education meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 6 at 5 p.m. in the high school library.

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