BOCES: To Join or Not to Join

Mamaroneck School Board Weighs Options on Educational Co-op

by Joan R. Simon

(December 8, 2005) When it comes to membership in BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services), the Mamaroneck School District truly stands alone. Among the 35 school districts that make up the Southern Westchester BOCES area, Mamaroneck is the only school district that does not belong.* Nor are there any other hold-outs among the northern Westchester schools or in Putnam or Rockland counties. Statewide only nine out of 704 eligible districts are not component members of this organization that offers a panoply of educational and administrative services.

At their study session on December 6, the School Board heard a presentation by the district’s administration on the pros and cons of joining BOCES – and the first question was: why has Mamaroneck not joined? Not far behind was the second question: would Mamaroneck save or lose money by joining?

Why Has Mamaroneck Not Joined?

The overriding issue is that membership is permanent. By law, once a school district joins BOCES, there is no way of opting out. So the nearly 100% statewide membership in BOCES might not reflect the actual support of the program. Former School Board President Ronda Lustman noted that in the early 90’s the Financial Advisory Committee studied the issue. “There were people at that time who said, if we could get out of it [BOCES], we would,” she said.

The major downside to membership is the requirement to pay an annual administrative fee, regardless of the services a district might choose to use. This cost has been going up in recent years by 7 to 10% annually. Estimates show that it would now cost the Mamaroneck district more to obtain its current services from BOCES as a member than as a non-member.

What Is BOCES?

BOCES is a state-supported cooperative educational service provider of programs in special education and career courses for students. It also offers a daunting array of school services that range from sophisticated managerial and instructional computer services (including financial software and student information data bases) to personnel support (such as online staff recruitment and discount advertising) and curriculum assistance for professional development.

There are BOCES districts throughout the state, each with its own board, superintendent and particular service mix.

Can non-members use BOCES services?

Any district, regardless of its membership status, can take advantage of BOCES offerings. Assistant Superintendent for Operations Dr. Christine Grucci explained that for non-members, such as Mamaroneck, there is an additional administrative fee attached to every service purchased on an “a la carte” basis. “We pay a premium of 11 to 16%,” she said. Superintendent Dr. Paul Fried noted that on a hypothetical special education service costing $30,000, there would be an administrative fee of around $5000. This can add up. In the 2005-06 school year, it is estimated that the special education services purchased by Mamaroneck will cost $214,638 more than if the district were a component member of BOCES and not required to pay the per-service administrative fees.

Mamaroneck also contracts with BOCES for non-special education services, which would be eligible for state aid reimbursement if the district were to become a component member. The remibursement rate varies by region. In Mamaroneck, from 10% to 37% of the BOCES program cost would be reimbursed, though not until the year after the expenditure is made. School Board President Celia Felsher remarked, “It is a way for schools that don’t get a lot of state aid to get more.”

Outweighing the savings from state aid and the elimination of administrative fees on each program purchased, however, is the growing cost of being a member of BOCES. In earlier years membership would have been financially advantageous to the district, but a detailed cost analysis run by Dr. Grucci’s office indicates that Mamaroneck would have incurred an additional $11,000 cost last year had it been a component member of BOCES.

Administrative Services Needed

Whether the district decides to join BOCES or not, there are a number of programs which Dr. Fried and other administrators urged the board to consider purchasing. At the top of the list was the Online Application System (OLAS), which would allow the district to find job applicants. Dr. Fried noted, “It’s a very unique system. It has an invaluable ability to see candidates… especially when you’re recruiting for hard to reach areas like the sciences.” He gave an extreme example: “I’m looking for a candidate who is certified in special education, physics, speaks Spanish, and is willing to coach.” He noted that there would be “less need to advertise” since there is “rarely a candidate that is not part of the online system.” The School Board informally approved signing on for this service immediately.

Other recommended BOCES services include the Human Resources Data System, which compiles all employee information, and Regional Advertising, which uses the same agency that Mamaroneck currently employs, but at discounted prices. Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Rosemarie Coletti was asked why we haven’t used these cost-saving services in the past. Ms. Colletti, who was Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources at BOCES for eight years before coming to Mamaroneck in 2000, replied: “Philosophically, we were not using BOCES services.”

Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum Annie Zimmer, who has recently joined BOCES’ Curriculum Council and is using their Workshop and Staff Developer program, also suggested for future consideration the Student Information System (SASIS), which merges student information with test results on both state and locally-purchased standardized tests. While Mamaroneck has an in-house system, Ms. Zimmer explained that the BOCES program is considerably more sophisticated and user-friendly.

Is More Better?

Scarsdale was cited as a district that did not use many BOCES services and consequently was dissatisfied with its membership. Ms. Felsher noted, “If you don’t use enough services, you won’t break even.” Dr. Fried concurred, “Districts that use more services tend to get back more,” and he cited the additional administrative programs that would be beneficial for the district to have. However, he cautioned against the mindset that says, “Let’s go shopping, things are on sale.”

There was concern from both board and audience members about the quality of BOCES programs in the area of special education, where the largest amount of money is spent. Would there be a tendency, as a BOCES member, to use more services because they are cheaper? Dr. Fried countered, “We are always going to try to keep a child in the district” when we can. However, there were further questions about competing programs outside the district that might be more expensive but better for a particular child than a BOCES offering.

What’s Next?

The board discussed the possibility of inviting a representative from BOCES to make a presentation in the near future. School Board member Cecilia Absher suggested talking to peers in other districts, noting that it would be “useful to know what other districts think -- what services do they like,” what services do they use? In anticipation of exploring the issue further, Dr. Fried offered, “The administration will get some feedback from our counterparts in comparable districts.”

* Yonkers, as one of five large cities in New York State, is not eligible for membership.

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