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BOCES has designed Business Office Support Services to
save districts time and money. By using Business Office
Support Services, district staff are free to perform
other functions while BOCES staff handle school business operations and management in the areas
of:
Energy Management
This service operates as a
regional shared service designed to reduce energy
consumption in school districts through a comprehensive
energy conservation program. Energy usage is monitored
using specialized software which utilizes international
protocols for Energy Savings measurements. The cost of
energy continues to be a major budgetary component with
all school districts. This energy conservation program
is specifically designed to aggregate small to medium
sized districts together to share energy conservation
elements. The objective of the service is to create a
culture of energy conservation within each district in
order to reduce energy consumption and save dollars.
BOCES personnel will work
with local school districts to develop consumption zones
groups of local school districts which are in close
proximity to one another. BOCES will purchase the
software and manage the zones.
Cooperative Bidding
The cooperative bidding service handles:
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Preparing bid proposals
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Developing standard specifications for common items
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Gathering the quantity estimates, prepare legal
notices, and award bids
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Talking with vendors regarding problems and complaints
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Coordinating the process with a users group
Currently the service does cooperative bids for
cafeteria food and supplies two times per year, and bids
for ice cream, bread and bread products, snacks and
chips and sports beverages annually. We are open to
responding to other district bidding needs as well.
Data Collection
Through the data collection service, districts of
similar size and geographic location will be provided
with comparative data to assist in the preparation of
their annual budget and collective bargaining. Data will
be collected in the areas of:
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Staffing by
employee groupalary data for each employee group
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Benefit
information including health insurance, vacation
time, leave time,personal days, etc.
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Demographic data
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Budget /
Financial data
Data will be collected on an annual basis during the
months of September and October and entered into excel
spreadsheets. A person with background and experience
in school district budgeting and negotiations processes
will supervise the collection of data.
Service:
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Collect data as
noted above on annual basis during the months of
September and October.
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Review of data
for accuracy, consistency and completeness.
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Follow up calls
to districts when there appears to be a discrepancy
in the data in order to verify the accuracy of data
collected.
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Organize data by
category (i.e. staffing data) on excel spreadsheets
and provide supporting detail where required.
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Conduct meetings
in November with groups of similar districts to
review the data collected and provide data
interpretation where needed.
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Provide data in
December in spreadsheet format to participating
districts.
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Assist districts
with data interpretation.
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Meet annually
with a steering committee of superintendents,
business officials and human resource administrators
to discuss the data to be collected as well as it
use.
GASB 45
This service will assist districts with establishing the
required actuarial valuation of other post employment
benefits.
Management Studies
Studies of business office operations and other areas of
school operations will be provided to assist in the
efficient and effective use of resources.
If
districts have business needs other than the ones
currently provided, please contact Bruce Bonacquist at
the contact information above.
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Business Office
Support Services