Three OCM BOCES Students Place in State SkillsUSA Competition

Alexandra Puglisi

The New York State SkillsUSA competition, “Champions at Work,” recently took place at the New York State Fairgrounds. More than 2,000 Career and Technical Education (CTE) students from across New York State, including many from the OCM BOCES Henry Campus in Syracuse and McEvoy Educational Campus in Cortland, came together to compete in performance and written contests in areas such as culinary arts, cosmetology, construction and welding.

Three students from OCM BOCES earned medals in their individual competitions. Those students are:
Ryan McArdell (1st place in Automotive Refinishing) – Ryan is a senior OCM BOCES Automotive Collision Technology student from the Baldwinsville Central School District. By placing first, Ryan qualifies to compete in the National SkillsUSA competition.

Alexandra (Alex) Puglisi (2nd place in Commercial Baking) – Alex is a senior OCM BOCES Pastry Arts student from the Fayetteville-Manlius Central School District.

Christian Seyerle (3rd place in Criminal Justice) – Christian is a senior OCM BOCES Criminal Justice student from the Marathon Central School District.

SkillsUSA is a national organization serving high school and college students preparing for careers in technical and service occupations. The organization provides quality educational experiences for students in leadership, teamwork, citizenship and character development. SkillsUSA offers annual regional, state and national competitions through which CTE students vie against each other for the competition’s top honors, scholarships and prizes of tools for their trades.
Other students from OCM BOCES that competed in the New York State SkillsUSA competition are:

Anthony Allen, junior Culinary Arts student from the DeRuyter Central School District;

Richard Allen, senior Automotive Technology student from the North Syracuse Central School District;

Tim Bachner, senior Culinary Arts student from the North Syracuse Central School District;

Christine Beckhusen, junior Pastry Arts student from the North Syracuse Central School District;

Maya Bey, junior Cosmetology student from the Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District;

Shawn Bocyck, senior Laboratory Technology student from the Baldwinsville Central School District;

Nicole Bulles, senior Medical Professions student from the North Syracuse Central School District;

William (Buddy) Chasteen, junior Culinary Arts student from the Solvay Union Free School District;

Lacey Crane, junior Culinary Arts student from the Cincinnatus Central School District;

Ashley Dening, senior Graphic Communications student from the West Genesee Central School District;

Tyler Dennison, senior Automotive Technology student from the Cortland Enlarged City School District;

Kaitie Duguid, senior Laboratory Technology student from the Liverpool Central School District;

Mackenzie Edinger, senior Graphic Communications student from the Tully Central School District;

Sam Hall, senior Culinary Arts student from the Cortland Enlarged City School District;

Jessica Hosner, senior Culinary Arts student from the North Syracuse Central School District;

Megan Howard, junior Health Occupations Technology student from the Cortland Enlarged City School District;

Nikki Hunter, senior Early Childhood Education student from the West Genesee Central School District;

Shaun Lamphear, senior Medical Professions student from the Chittenango Central School District;

Sam Martin, senior Culinary Arts student from the North Syracuse Central School District;

Samantha McMahon, senior Graphic Communications Technology student from the Marathon Central School District;

Darian Meggesto, senior Medical Professions student from the West Genesee Central School District;

Alexa Mentel, junior Pastry Arts student from the Liverpool Central School District;

Brian Metzger, senior Pastry Arts student from the Liverpool Central School District;

Nick Nolan, senior Automotive Technology student from the Baldwinsville Central School District;

Darien Ostrander, junior Culinary Arts student from the Cortland Enlarged City School District;

Michelle Price, senior Culinary Arts student from the North Syracuse Central School District;

Kaia Reynolds, junior Automotive Technology student from the Baldwinsville Central School District;

Danaysia Rucker, junior Cosmetology student from the North Syracuse Central School District;

David VanSlyke, senior Computer Technology student from the Baldwinsville Central School District; and

Carlie Willson, junior Cosmetology student from the Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District.

Congratulations to all OCM BOCES students for a job well done!

For more information about OCM BOCES Career and Technical Education Programs, contact Robert Leslie at 315/431-8407.

OCM BOCES Students Compete in State SkillsUSA Competition

The New York State SkillsUSA competition, “Champions at Work,” took place on Thursday, April 26 and Friday, April 27 at the New York State Fairgrounds.


SkillsUSA is a national organization serving high school and college students preparing for careers in technical and service occupations. The organization provides quality educational experiences for students in leadership, teamwork, citizenship and character development. SkillsUSA offers annual regional, state and national competitions through which CTE students vie against each other for the competition’s top honors, scholarships and prizes of tools for their trades.

For more information about OCM BOCES Career and Technical Education Programs, contact Robert Leslie at 315/431-8407.

OCM BOCES Responds to State Comptroller’s Report on the Cost-Effectiveness of BOCES Non-Instructional Services

On April 20, the Office of New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli released a report on the findings of their audit of the Cost-Effectiveness of Non-Instructional Services for New York State Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES). The Comptroller’s audit included four BOCES in Central New York – Onondaga-Cortland-Madison (OCM BOCES), Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery, Delaware-Chenango-Madison-Otsego, and Oneida-Herkimer-Madison.

While the Comptroller’s audit found “that BOCES’ costs for non-instructional services are generally higher than the costs districts would pay if they performed the services themselves,” it is clear that the audit does not tell the whole story regarding the cost-effectiveness to districts. In many cases, the services that were compared were not the same as the services that were received by the districts through BOCES. In other cases, the comparison of cost-effectiveness did not take into account the overall cost of the services to the district and the savings received.

In one instance cited by the Comptroller’s audit of a program costing more, the district actually saved money. When looking at the participation of the Cortland Enlarged City School District in the BOCES Food Service Management Program, the Comptroller indicated that the district’s participation cost them $27,000 more through BOCES. However, prior to joining the service, the Cortland Enlarged City School District was incurring a deficit in their food service programs of approximately $70,000 in 2008-09 and $19,000 in 2009-10, that was reduced through the use of the service. In 2010-11, the service had a $4,564 profit. The Comptroller’s audit does not take this deficit into account and instead cites the difference in cost of just the salaries and benefits.

Cortland Enlarged City School District Superintendent Laurence Spring said, “Prior to utilizing the OCM BOCES Food Management Service, our District was operating a program that was running a significant deficit which was costing our taxpayers money. Through our participation in the OCM BOCES service, we were able to reduce the burden on our taxpayers and are more efficiently providing a cafeteria program to our students by sharing with other school districts.”

OCM BOCES District Superintendent Jessica F. Cohen said, “Despite the audit’s findings, we firmly believe that the BOCES approach to the development of services is cost-effective, saves taxpayer dollars before BOCES aid, and is consistent with the needs of our component school districts. It is disheartening that in this time when districts need to be exploring consolidation as a way of doing business, this report may discourage the very thing that should be happening.”

The Comptroller’s audit cites two additional instances where OCM BOCES non-instructional services resulted in higher costs to districts serviced. In both instances, the cost comparisons were made using different types and varied levels of services.

OCM BOCES Board of Education President V. Ann Wright also commented on the Comptroller’s report, “The goal of the Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES is to offer high quality programs and services to school districts. We believe that there is significant evidence that this is done in a cost-effective manner before aid. We will continue to review our programs to ensure that they are provided to districts both effectively and cost-efficiently.”

Spring Recess is April 9-13

Reminder: The OCM BOCES Spring Recess is from April 9-13.

In September, the Onondaga Cortland Madison BOCES Board of Education approved changing the April break to April 9-13 due to the state’s last-minute scheduling of the English Language Arts assessment during the same week as the originally scheduled Spring Recess.

To view the 2011-2012 OCM BOCES school calendar, go to http://www.ocmboces.org/tfiles/folder1051/2011-2012%20School%20Calendar.pdf