Scott Payne, district superintendent and chief executive officer of Cattaraugus-Allegany-Erie-Wyomig BOCES, will be the keynote speaker for St. Bonaventure University’s School of Education Spring Forum from 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 16.

The focus of Payne’s talk will be “Diversity in Rural Spaces.” All are welcome to join the Zoom forum at https://sbu.zoom.us/j/91719594517.

Payne’s talk is the first in SBU’s two-part Spring Forum series focused on rural education. Alyssa Ratledge, a postsecondary education researcher at MDRC, will speak April 20.

CA BOCES partners with its 22 component school districts to meet the educational needs of students ages birth to adult in the region. CA BOCES encompasses 2,159 square miles and is one of the area’s largest employers. School districts vary in size from rural, single-campus K-12 settings to small city school districts with enrollments ranging from approximately 300 to 2,600.

Payne previously served as superintendent of Pine Valley Central School in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties. He also served as the director of Student and Staff Learning at Alden Central School, director of Instruction and Student Services and director of Student Services at Akron Central School and director of Special Education and Pupil Personnel Services for the Amherst school district.

Before becoming an administrator, Payne served as the CSE Chairperson and was a special education teacher at Amherst as well as with Erie 1 BOCES and Buffalo Public Schools.          

Payne has served five districts as a central office administrator over the past 26 years in the areas of curriculum, instruction and special education. Much of his work has centered around sustained professional development regarding instructional coaching, personalized learning, instructional practices, and clinical supervision.              

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About the University: The nation’s first Franciscan university, St. Bonaventure University is a community committed to transforming the lives of our students inside and outside the classroom, inspiring in them a lifelong commitment to service and citizenship. St. Bonaventure was named the #5 regional university value in the North in U.S. News and World Report’s 2022 college rankings edition.