James N. Baldwin
District Superintendent, Questar III
James N. Baldwin has served since 2002 as the district
superintendent of Questar III, the Board of Cooperative Educational
Services (BOCES) for Rensselaer, Columbia and parts of Greene
counties. As district superintendent, he is the chief executive
officer of the educational cooperative, which employs 550 and serves
23 component school districts with approximately 40,000 K-12
students. Mr. Baldwin is responsible for the overall administration,
operation and financial planning of the organization. Additionally,
he serves as the representative of New York State's Commissioner of
Education to the school districts in Questar III's supervisory
district.
Mr. Baldwin's distinguished career in public service spans 25 years.
He served as executive deputy secretary of state for the State of
New York from 1983 to 1995, where he was the chief operating officer
of the Department of State, overseeing programmatic, administrative
and legal functions. Previously, he was counsel to the New York
State Assembly. He has also served as deputy corporation counsel for
the City of Troy. Prior to his appointment as district
superintendent, Mr. Baldwin was school attorney and then chief
operating officer for Questar III. He was an elected member of the
East Greenbush Central School District Board of Education from 1996
to 2002.
Mr. Baldwin earned a juris doctor degree from Albany Law School, a
doctorate in education administration at the Teachers College at
Columbia University and a bachelor's degree from Union College.
Charles S. Dedrick
District Superintendent, Capital Region BOCES
Charles S. Dedrick is the district superintendent of Capital Region
BOCES, the Board of Cooperative Educational Services for Albany,
Schenectady, Schoharie and southern Saratoga counties. As district
superintendent, he is the chief executive officer of the educational
cooperative, which employs 1,200 and serves 23 component school
districts with approximately 85,000 K-12 students. In his duties,
Mr. Dedrick is responsible for the overall administration, operation
and financial planning of the organization.
Prior to being selected for that post in 2008, he served as
Superintendent of the Cohoes City School District for nine years and
as an adjunct faculty member at the College of Saint Rose in the
School of Education for two years. Having climbed the education
career ladder, Mr. Dedrick previously served as superintendent of
schools and business manager of the Green Island Union Free Schools
after starting his career as a social studies teacher.
Mr. Dedrick has a Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership
from Russell Sage Graduate School; 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.
He is a member of the New York State District Superintendents'
Testing, Reporting and Information Technology Committee, as well as
a faculty member of the New York State Council of School
Superintendents' Academy and was the recipient of the New York State
Council of School Superintendents’ 2008 "Appreciation Award" for
service to the Council. He is also the recipient of the 2004
Character Education Award as the Outstanding School District
Administrator in the Capital Region.
Along with his wife, Martha, Mr. Dedrick has four children in high
school and college.
