BOCES administrator as part-time superintendent ‘ideal’ setup for small upstate school district |
On Board Online • May 27, 2013
By William Miller
Area 5 Director
The challenges of public education often require new approaches to deliver needed servings despite tight resources. A good example is the Owen D. Young Central School District, which has a part-time superintendent.
James Picolla has been serving as the Owen D. Young superintendent since early November 2012 through an intermunicipal cooperative agreement with Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES, where he is human resources director. Picolla works part-time in each of the positions.
Such a setup is rare – if not unprecedented – but it’s working.
“This is the only one I know of,” Herkimer BOCES District Superintendent Mark Vivacqua said. “It’s certainly something for the smaller districts to look at, but it has to line up just right.”
Owen D. Young’s arrangement started to come together when the Board of Education to look into ways to become more fiscally efficient began a few years ago. Board members learned the district was required to have a full-time building principal but not a superintendent, board President Cathy Mayton-Collins said.
Owen D. Young board members then decided to look into sharing a superintendent, but there weren’t any interested school districts available, Vivacqua said.
Meanwhile, Herkimer BOCES was in the process of reorganizing its administrative positions, and Vivacqua had been working with the Owen D. Young board members on some other issues. Vicacqua asked if they would be interested in sharing a BOCES administrator as their part-time superintendent.
Picolla had already been taking a superintendent development program and was training to become a superintendent, so he had the qualifications, Vivacqua said. After Picolla interviewed with the board, he was hired to start in the position.
The shared superintendent is not a BOCES service and is not eligible for aid. Picolla is a BOCES employee, and Owen D. Young has a contract with the BOCES for his services.
Business official also shared
Owen D. Young also shares a school business official. Herkimer BOCES school business official Jodie Rodriguez is a shared employee who serves Owen D. Young as part of the Herkimer BOCES Central Business Office service.
“BOCES employees are managing the central administration of that whole district, but BOCES is not running the district,” Vivacqua said. “When they’re working at Owen D. Young, they take their direction from the Owen D. Young Board of Education – not from BOCES.”
Owen D. Young also is planning to share a Committee on Special Education chairperson with Herkimer BOCES, Vivacqua said.
The overall sharing setup has had a major impact on Owen D. Young, said Mayton-Collins, the school board president.
“Certainly, it helps to lessen the financial impact for our district,” she said.
Time management, delegation key
Having a part-time superintendent in place who is the lead administrator for the district, while full-time Building Principal Brennan Fahey focuses on instruction has worked out very well, Mayton-Collins said.
“We had the need for a part-time position in this particular instance,” she added. “Jim Picolla has totally fit the bill for what we need. We really are so fortunate that these two gentlemen work so well together to cover all of the administrative needs of the district.”
Picolla’s knowledge about BOCES and statewide education issues has benefited the district, Mayton-Collins said. He has integrated himself into the district and the community, and feedback from district residents has been quite positive, she said.
“We’ve been delighted as a board,” she said. “This has really been a wonderful situation.”
Splitting time between being Owen D. Young superintendent and Herkimer BOCES human resources director is challenging, Picolla said, but he’s up to the task.
“It takes a lot of work and a lot of organization,” Picolla said. “It’s the same amount of work at both jobs, but I’m doing it in less time. Time management and delegation are the keys to making it work.”
The arrangement is benefiting the district because the district has been able to advance under part-time leadership and expand its important relationship with Herkimer BOCES, Picolla said.
“I applaud the district for out-of-the-box thinking and the willingness to turn the superintendent position over to a BOCES employee,” he said. “It’s extending the life of the district because of it.”
A model for other schools?
The arrangement has been so effective that it could be seen as an example for other schools to look at, Mayton-Collins said.
“I would highly recommend to other school districts that they look into this type of setup,” she said. “It’s ideal for us.”
Vivacqua’s assistance on many levels with establishing the contract has been very helpful, Mayton-Collins said.
“We’re in unchartered territory,” she said.
Vivacqua said he hasn’t been a big proponent of sharing superintendents between two school districts because of the difficulty of working for two separate school boards with separate policies.
Using a BOCES administrator as a shared superintendent seems to make a little more sense, Vivacqua said.
“It’s helping a small district that didn’t want to merge to find another way to save money,” he said. “As a way for small districts to stay open, this is a solution that could work.”