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Charles S. Dedrick Named Capital Region BOCES District
Superintendent
Albany – At a special meeting on April 9,
the Capital Region Board of Cooperative Educational
Services (BOCES) Board of Education appointed Charles S.
Dedrick to the position of district superintendent of
Capital Region BOCES. Dedrick, an experienced educator
who has been school superintendent of the Cohoes City
School District for the last nine years, will begin his
new position on June 9, 2008.
“When I think of the great educational leaders who came
before me in this position and the outstanding
reputation of Capital Region BOCES, I am truly honored
to have been chosen as the next leader of this
organization,” said Dedrick.
Since Dr. Barbara Nagler retired as district
superintendent in April 2007, Questar III BOCES District
Superintendent Dr. James N. Baldwin has been serving as
interim district superintendent with Dr. Gerald Carozza
as chief operating officer.
As
district superintendent, Dedrick will have a dual set of
responsibilities. He will serve as the Chief Executive
Officer of BOCES as well as the regional representative
of the Commissioner of Education. As CEO, Dedrick will
oversee all efforts of the BOCES. In this role, he will
administer and supervise area-wide educational services
provided at the request of component school districts.
As a representative of the State Education Department,
Dedrick will be responsible for providing leadership to
all of the school districts of Albany, Schenectady,
Schoharie and part of Saratoga Counties, often helping
to interpret and implement New York State Education
laws, as well as the rules, regulations and initiatives
of the Board of Regents and the Commissioner of
Education.
Under Dedrick’s direction over the past nine years,
Cohoes City Schools have made significant gains. The
following are just a few: recognition by New York State
as a “High Achieving, Gap Closing District”; Cohoes
Middle School was removed from the “School in Need of
Improvement” list; ELA and math scores improved
substantially; a full-day Universal Pre-Kindergarten
Program; an award-winning character education program;
and joint programs with the University at Albany,
Russell Sage College, the College of Saint Rose and
Hudson Valley Community College. Dedrick also presented
eight consecutive school budgets and four building
projects that were approved by district residents.
Prior to his superintendent position in Cohoes, Dedrick
worked for the Green Island School District. Before
rising to the job of superintendent, he was principal
and social studies teacher in the district. As
superintendent and business manager of the Green Island
School District for three of the nine years he worked
there, Dedrick successfully dealt with the major
reduction in Property Tax Assessment with the Closing of
the Ford Motor Company Plant; established the first Free
and Reduced Meal Program in the district; and presented
successful school and building project budgets.
Dedrick is currently working toward a Doctorate of
Education in Educational Leadership from Russell Sage
Graduate School. He has earned master’s degrees in
Educational Administration and Policy Studies and in
Developmental Reading from the State University at
Albany; a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from
Excelsior College; and completed The Superintendents’
Academy and Post-Graduate Superintendents’ Academy
through the New York State Council of School
Superintendents. Dedrick has served on the Capital
Region BOCES District Superintendent’s Advisory Cabinet
since 1999 and is co-chairperson of the Capital
Region-Questar III Superintendents’ Legislative
Committee. In his “spare time,” Dedrick is a frequent
speaker and facilitator at education conferences,
adjunct faculty member at the College of Saint Rose, and
serves on the Board of Directors of the Cohoes Chamber
of Commerce, the Rotary Club of Cohoes, and the Academy
for Character Education at Russell Sage College.
Dedrick said he was attracted to Capital Region BOCES
because of the organization’s focus on educating
students while at the same time being highly
entrepreneurial. “That is the aspect of BOCES that is so
often overlooked but I will enjoy a great deal,” said
Dedrick. “I am looking forward to working with school
districts to ensure their needs are met by BOCES and the
State Education Department. There will be a lot of
personal satisfaction in meeting the needs of 80,000+
students in our region.”
Dedrick stresses, “Long term, when someone has a
question about education, I want them to pick up the
phone and call Capital Region BOCES for the answer.”
The
appointment of Dedrick comes nearly two years after Dr.
Nagler announced her retirement. While the State
Education Department conducted an extensive study of
Capital Region BOCES to look at possibly reorganizing
its component districts, the BOCES Board was eager to
begin the process and met with component school
districts and BOCES staff.
“We
wanted our BOCES and component school communities to
have input into the characteristics of the next district
superintendent and what our next leader should address,”
said Lynne Lenhardt, president of the BOCES Board of
Education.
In
September 2007, State Education Commissioner Richard
Mills concluded that Capital Region BOCES’ structure
would remain as is. The BOCES Board then officially
began the search for its next district superintendent.
The Board reviewed all applicant files for the position
and narrowed the first round interviews to four
semi-finalists. Interview committees representing
faculty, staff, parents and school superintendents
interviewed the semi-finalists and provided their
feedback to the Board. The Board selected two finalists
to interview with Commissioner Mills. After hearing the
Commissioner’s approval of both finalists, the BOCES
Board interviewed them a final time and Dedrick emerged
as the successful candidate.
The
Board unanimously supported Chuck Dedrick as district
superintendent. “Chuck is very knowledgeable about the
operations of Capital Region BOCES,” said Lenhardt. “He
works with the directors and other component district
school superintendents on BOCES committees and works
directly with BOCES staff to integrate BOCES programs
and services into his district at Cohoes.”
Lenhardt said Dedrick’s “forward thinking” philosophy,
leadership skills, experience, support of BOCES Career
and Technical Education programs and Tech Valley High
School (a joint initiative of Capital Region and Questar
III BOCES), and demonstrated successes were evident to
the BOCES Board. “Chuck is a great ‘fit’ for Capital
Region BOCES. We are confident that he will lead and
move Capital Region BOCES forward in preparing students
in the 21st century.”
Dedrick has signed a three-year contract that will pay
him $162,762 a year.
Dedrick and his wife, Martha, have four children –
Kaylee, age 20, Steven, age 19, Will, age 15, and Anna,
age 13.
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