The Herkimer-Fulton-Hamilton-Otsego BOCES component school boards have approved the $3,291,726 Herkimer BOCES administrative budget for the 2021-22 school year.
Component district school boards took a vote on whether to approve the BOCES administrative budget and then cast an overall vote as a board. The 10 Herkimer BOCES component school districts conducted votes on the budget, and the 10 boards unanimously approved the budget.
The Herkimer BOCES component school boards also unanimously voted for three Herkimer BOCES Board of Education members. Current members Thomas Shypski, representing Richfield Springs Central School District; Michael Clements, representing Frankfort-Schuyler Central School District, and William Miller, at-large representing Little Falls City School District, were re-elected to three-year terms from July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2024.
Shypski also recently received the Level 4 Board Lifetime Achievement Award from the New York State School Boards Association’s Recognition Program.
NYSSBA’s Recognition Program is designed to acknowledge school board members who strive to continually expand their governance knowledge and skills. It is comprised of four achievement levels, which are reached by accumulating points for participating in various NYSSBA training activities – including statemandated training workshops, board officers’ academy, legal workshops, convention-related events and custom board retreats.
Shypski, who has also served on the Richfield Springs Board of Education since 2004, has been on the Herkimer BOCES Board of Education since 2009 and is currently in his second year as Herkimer BOCES board president. He previously served six years as the Herkimer BOCES board’s vice president.
Shypski has a business management/economics degree from Albany State, worked most of his career in agribusiness on the family Cullen Pumpkin Farm just outside of Richfield and is now retired from his position as water superintendent for the village of Richfield Springs.
Clements, a lifelong resident of Frankfort, has been on the Frankfort-Schuyler Board of Education for the past seven years and is completing his third year on the Herkimer BOCES Board of Education. He is the third generation of his family to live on the family farm, where Red Angus cattle are raised for the local market. He is a member of the Herkimer County Farm Bureau and serves on the bureau’s board as secretary.
Clements also has been a rural carrier with the United States Postal Services since 1984 and joined the National Rural Letter Carriers Association in 1987. He has held several positions and committee memberships through the Postal Service and the union and is currently the assistant district representative for the association’s Albany District, where he handles labor management issues for the more than 1,000 carriers in the district.
Miller, a graduate of Mount Markham Central School District and Herkimer College, has served on the Herkimer BOCES Board of Education since 2002 including three years as board president. He has represented Mount Markham, Owen D. Young and Little Falls on the BOCES board. He also served on the Mount Markham Board of Education from 1993 to 2005 including six years as president. Miller serves on the NYSSBA Board of Directors – including serving as NYSSBA president for two years and currently being in his second year as immediate past president. He also has served as a Federal Relations Network and State Legislative Network representative for NYSSBA Area 5 for several years. He has worked as purchasing manager at Austin Mohawk Co. and has received the Oneida-Madison-Herkimer School Boards Institute Distinguished Service Award.