OSWEGO COUNTY, NY – Two members of the CiTi Board of Education representing two separate Oswego County school districts have died within one week of each other.
Janice Clark, 83, of Mexico passed away December 29, 2017, and Casey Brouse, 51, of Parish, passed away January 4, 2018.
Clark was an active member of both the Mexico Central School District Board of Education as well as the CiTi Board of Education at the time of her passing.
Clark had been a member of the Mexico Board of Education for a total of 31 years and the CiTi Board of Education for a total of nine years.
Clark’s seat on the Mexico Board of Education would have expired in 2019.
“I have much to say about Janice as she was more than a board member, she was a dear friend,” said Mexico BOE president, James Emery. “I always said that a picture of Janice should appear in Webster’s definition of ‘school board member’ as she was the consummate board member. She rarely missed a board meeting in more than 30 years of service and served on just about every board committee that we have. With her background in finance (principal account clerk and treasurer for the Oswego County BOCES) her knowledge and experience was invaluable to the discussion of the district’s situation, which compared to many New York school districts, is a very enviable one.”
Clark served in many roles within the district and on the board of education including past experiences as president and vice president.
“Janice believed that serving on the board meant more than just attending meetings. She believed that a board member must be visible. In fact, it was her duty! Consequently, she could be seen at just about every type of student/staff event that she could possibly attend. These events were at all levels (primary as well as secondary) and all types (academic, athletic, and cultural). She was truly dedicated! We often referred to the students of the district as “her” students because she was always there for them. She also believed in actions rather than words as she would assume both the leadership roles as vice president and president of the board. She was organized, prepared, very efficient, and held very high standards that she always maintained. These skills, coupled with common sense and a desire that all students receive an equal opportunity to succeed made her a very special board member,” Emery said.
Aside from her commitment to serve the district through the board of education, Clark’s service reached the entire community as Emery noted her contributions through volunteering at her local church, the Care and Share Shop, the senior citizen organization, the Dollars for Scholars chapter, and the sports booster club, even starting a community youth bowling program as she was passionate about the sport.
“Janice loved people. She was always there for you. She was the type of friend that everyone needs in that her concern was always what she could do for you not what you could do for her. Sadly, though her mind was as sharp as ever, her body eventually let her down,” Emery said.
The vacant seat on the Mexico Board of Education will be discussed at the next board meeting scheduled for Thursday (Jan 11.) Board members will decide whether to leave the seat vacant until the 2018 election in May or appoint a replacement to fill the seat until that time.
“Either way, Jan’s seat will be up for election at this May’s election. However, because Jan’s term expires in 2019, the seat will then be up again for election in May 2019,” Emery explained.
The Altmar-Parish-Williamstown school district faced a similar loss less than one week later when Casey Brouse, 51, passed away on January 4, 2018.
Brouse was president of the Altmar-Parish-Williamstown Board of Education as well as a member of the CiTi Board of Education at the time of his passing.
Vice president of the board, Mark Mattison will step into the presidential position on the board.
Mattison, a friend of Brouse for many years, said Brouse’s passing was a devastating loss for the entire school district.
“He was a good friend of mine for many years,” Mattison said. “He was a great person, a great friend, and a great advocate for all students.”
The APW Board of Education will meet Thursday (Jan 11) evening, during which time Mattison will assume the role of president and the board will elect a new vice president.
They will then decide which manner they will resolve the unexpected vacancy given three options: they may either leave the seat vacant until the May 2018 general election, appoint someone to fill the vacancy, or hold a special election.
APW district clerk Sandra Robinson said that given the short timeframe until the general election, to hold a special election “would not be reasonable,” however, the board will consider the remaining options to appoint a new board member or leave the seat vacant before coming to a resolution at the meeting.
Brouse’s seat on the APW Board of Education would have expired in 2019.
Both Brouse and Clark were active members on the CiTi Board of Education, each representing their respective school districts for the county.
CiTi board president John Shelmidine said that the board is still very much so in the grieving process.
“We are really at this time just thinking about what a loss this is and still grieving two folks who were really just irreplaceable, two outstanding advocates for students throughout Oswego County,” Shelmidine said.
He added that he would be meeting with the BOCES superintendent to look at exact options, so at this time there is not a lot of information regarding the vacant seats.
Uniquely, the CiTi Board of Education has nine seats filled from the nine component districts throughout Oswego County.
Possibilities for the vacant seats include reaching out to the component districts affected, Mexico and APW, to discuss whether they would like to nominate a replacement for the district on the CiTi board or to continue with the vacant seats until CiTi’s general election in April.
“We are still in the grieving process, there’s really been no opportunity yet to strategize how we will proceed. I’d really like to meet with our board and from there we will determine where to go from here based on their wishes,” Shelmidine said.
The CiTi Board of Education will meet next Wednesday (Jan 17) to discuss options.
“We have lost two tremendous individuals,” Shelmidine said. “It’s difficult to imagine two more valuable people to the CiTi board. They both represented their districts exceptionally well and they never forgot that they sat on this board ultimately for the students of Oswego County and their districts. In both cases, it was difficult to go to a student centered event, be it a graduation, sporting event, concert, orientation, award ceremony, reception, anything – without their presence. It’s certain, they will never be forgotten.”
Even in their passing, Clark and Brouse continued their ongoing efforts to support education, each requesting donations to an educational fund in lieu of flowers.
Clark’s obituary requested contributions in lieu of flowers to be made in her memory to Mexico Dollars for Scholars P.O. Box 971, Mexico NY 13114, the Mexico Food Pantry P.O. box Mexico, NY 13114 or the Mexico Alumni foundation.
Brouse’s obituary requested contributions in lieu of flowers to be made in Casey’s name to the Brouse House Education Fund. Please make checks to “New York 529 Advisor Guided College Savings Program, check memo Brouse Education” in care of, Lee E. Kalin and Associates, 7085 Manlius Center Road, Suite 2, East Syracuse, NY, 13057.
Discover more from Oswego County Today
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.