By Dan Hust
MONTICELLO — December 7, 2010 — Monticello Schools Supt. Pat Michel confirmed yesterday that he’s been offered the superintendency of an upstate BOCES.
“I’m honored,” he remarked to the Democrat. “At the same time, I love this school district, and I feel bad on that end.”
Michel was one of 10 candidates and ultimately two finalists for the top job at the Hamilton-Fulton-Montgomery BOCES in Johnstown, competing against that facility’s current second-in-command, Lorraine Hohenforst.
The BOCES’ board has yet to formally vote on the appointment – having postponed the originally scheduled Dec. 1 decision to Dec. 16 – but it has offered Michel the position, according to Interim Supt. Mark Vivacqua.
Michel said the offer was made last week, and he considered it for a few days before accepting.
Though the job likely will pay less than his current $170,000 salary at Monticello, Michel said it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
“There are only 37 BOCES in the state, so this [kind of position] doesn’t open up very often,” he explained.
The salary is being negotiated, though the contract is set by law at three years. Should the board approve him as expected, Michel will start on February 7, 2011.
He’ll replace the late Geoffrey Davis, who died after 14 years at the helm of a BOCES serving 15 school districts from the Mohawk Valley to the Adirondacks.
Michel hasn’t yet submitted his resignation letter to Monticello and said his wife and daughter, who is a ninth-grader in Monticello, will remain in the area till the end of the school year, then likely move to be with him upstate.
While excited about the opportunities to expand his career and work directly with the state Education Department, Michel admitted he’ll miss the district in which he’s spent the last six years, becoming involved in the Boys and Girls Club, YMCA, Boy Scouts, even currently serving as the Partnership for Economic Development Board’s vice chairman.
“I deeply appreciate the kindness and support this community has shown me over the past six years,” he remarked. “This is a great place with good people.”