Research


Scope and Content Note

This series consists of correspondence and other documents of district superintendents and boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES) relating to their administration of school district reorganization, building programs, and special issues in education. The Education Department has responsibility for supervision of all educational institutions in the state, for allocating state and federal financial aid to schools, and for providing and coordinating vocational rehabilitation services. In this series files for district superintendents have green or yellow tabs; files for BOCES districts usually have orange tabs. Occasionally the dates on the tabs are inaccurate because later material is included.

Files for district superintendents contain correspondence and memoranda concerning plans and proposals for school district reorganization, with much information on school programs and facilities and on local support for and opposition to reorganization. The files also contain correspondence about building aid requested by schools recommended for reorganization under the "Master Plan for School District Reorganization in New York State" (Albany, 1947; revised 1958). Other documents found in the files are certificates of apportionment of building aid; reports on votes on school district reorganization proposals; copies of orders by the Commissioner of Education appointing district superintendents and redrawing supervisory district boundaries; and some correspondence with superintendents concerning controversial issues such as sex education and anti-war protests in schools.

Files for BOCES districts contain correspondence, reports, and other documents concerning construction and operation of BOCES vocational education centers; and scattered copies of BOCES budgets and annual reports. There are a few special studies, such as one on the education of children of migrant farm workers in Wayne County, and another on the proposed consolidation of BOCES districts in St. Lawrence County.

One cubic foot contains files for each retiring district superintendent during the period ca. 1965-1975. Contents of the files vary, but many contain correspondence concerning the retirement, the benefits due, a copy of the superintendent's personnel card which gives a summary of educational employment, copies of orders of appointment, with related correspondence, and testimonial programs and news clippings.

There are several maps found throughout the series. One distinct group consists of annotated topographic print copies of selected Wayne County industrial sites chosen by industrial development groups and the Department of Commerce and included in a report. They reflect selection factors such as transportation facilities and access, topography, surface water supplies, drainage conditions, and facilities for the establishment of sewage disposal systems. Other maps are present in appendices giving community analyses (such as housing conditions and location of "blighted areas") for reports on unified school districts. There are a few hand drawn area maps for proposed district reorganization, some showing town and district lines, percentages of students by race, and/or numbers of enrollments. There are also a few maps accompanying exploratory proposals for BOCES construction projects or consultant reports on other school building needs. Generally, the presence of title, legend, scale, and preparer information varies; the maps range in size from 22 x 28 cm to 81 x 81 cm.