Research


Scope and Content Note

This series consists primarily of correspondence with boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES). Most of the correspondence is routine letters of transmittal accompanying applications for shared service and contracts, but some also relates to the establishment of the BOCES and requests by the BOCES for approval or alteration of specific shared programs. The files also contain requests by district superintendents of schools for establishment of BOCES, a standard form giving the following information about school districts in the superintendency: town and county; school district type; enrollments K-6 and 7-12; number of teachers; and assessed and true valuation, and tax rate on each.

Occasionally the files contain other items, such as memoranda and reports from Department visits to BOCES and approval of programs, contracts for cooperative educational services, copies of BOCES budgets, and visitation forms completed by Department staff after visiting a BOCES. Also included in the series are administrative records relating to reports by the Bureau on individual BOCES, the development of procedures for establishing BOCES, legislation, administration staffing of BOCES, and compilation of directories. Some of the files focus on the comparative costs and benefits between BOCES and other alternatives, such as vocational education extension boards, as well as the Department's belief that the provision of shared services among small school districts should not be seen as an alternative to school district centralization.