Research


Scope and Content Note

This series consists of files related to the supervision of district superintendents by the Bureau of Rural Administrative Services (1943-1964) and its successor, the Bureau of School District Organization. These files contain correspondence with district superintendents about school district boundary alterations requested by the superintendents' school district centralization proposals, and superintendents resignations. Also included are memoranda reporting votes at school district meetings, recommending school district boundary alterations or centralizations, and ordering redistricting of superintendencies; petitions from voters requesting annexation or centralization of school districts; and statistical reports of school districts types, staffing, and student population in each county. Also contained are letters submitted with reports, pamphlets, and other materials sent by request to district superintendents. The files from the 1960's frequently contain correspondence relating to boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES) and letters from private citizens referred by the Commissioner's Office to the Bureau for response, mostly related to centralization issues.

Also included at the beginning of the series is the last part of a subseries of the County District Administrative and Supervision Files (B0482), which consists of correspondence, memoranda, and reports relating to such topics as staff meetings, school buildings and grounds, and the White House Conference on Children and Youth. There is a substantial amount of material on the 1945 White House Conference on Rural Education, advocating full education for rural children, modern facilities and curricula, and enhanced vocational education. This subseries is arranged alphabetically by subject, but only files for S-Z are present.