But after an extensive search by police they have been found and placed with "appropriate authorities", superintendent Ian Parrot said on Friday.
With this authority, the superintendent said: "We can rectify a catastrophe".
Now, however, Mr. Levy plans to give more authority to superintendents and principals to spend money how they choose, hire whom they want and provide the services that local parents want most.
The local culture authority, the Rome Superintendent of Cultural Heritage, said the work had been slowed down because the contractor that won the bid to perform the work faced liquidity problems and had stopped paying its employees.
Mr. Paterson said the bill "would undermine the authority of the superintendent of State Police to institute policies that will prevent troopers from engaging in conduct that could lead to allegations of impropriety, favoritism and corruption".
Nevertheless, his efforts to trim the Board of Education's bureaucracy, give more authority to district superintendents and principals, and generally to raise the often-sagging morale of the school system have made Mr. Levy a front-runner for the permanent post in the minds of some board members.
The law also created a merit pay system to give better performing teachers higher wages, and gave broader authority to school superintendents to terminate the employment of teachers and restricts the collective bargaining rights of teachers.
Commissioner Mills used his authority to order the superintendent reinstated, and he ruled that the board's emergency meeting had violated both state law and Mr. Williams's contract.
The union opposes a provision that gives regional superintendents the authority to sign off on suspensions.
"This plan gives local district superintendents the authority to make decisions by giving them control of their budget," Mr. Cortines said in proposing the plan last month.
Still, the current system lends itself to stalemate, denying the boards the power to appoint their choices, but denying full and long-term authority to any temporary superintendents the chancellor appoints.
