Same Three-Member Bloc Opposes Every Contested Vote at Liverpool Board's Jan. 17 Special Meeting
At a Jan. 17 special meeting, Liverpool's Board of Education split 5-3 on nearly every contested question — including whether to even enter executive session — with the same three members dissenting each time, while a proposal to hire a superintendent search firm was never brought to a vote at all.
Willow Bay overview, Onondaga Lake Park — photo:
Andre Carrotflower
(BY-SA 4.0)
▶Key Actions & Decisions
●• Board's first motion to enter executive session, to discuss matters that could lead to the appointment or dismissal of "persons/corporations," failed 4-3, with one of eight members present not recorded voting either way
●• An identical second motion to enter executive session followed immediately and passed 5-3; Hayley Downs, Stacey Chilbert and Daniel McKeever voted no both times
●• Board returned to open session at 7:07 PM by unanimous 8-0 vote
●• Board considered a resolution, presented on the floor, on using hallway space for student and teacher recognition tied to the POOL Awards
●• A secondary motion to table that resolution passed 6-2, with Nicholas Blaney and Jecenia Bresett opposed to tabling it
●• A motion to appoint Hazard, Young & Attea Associates as the district's superintendent search consultants was never made; the minutes state "No motion made"
●• Board voted 5-3 to appoint Cerio Law Offices, PLLC as outside special counsel for an unspecified legal matter, with Downs, Chilbert and McKeever again dissenting
●• Meeting adjourned 8-0 at 7:18 PM, about 78 minutes after it began
At a special meeting that lasted just 78 minutes on Jan. 17, Liverpool's Board of Education split the same way, 5-3, on nearly every contested vote it took — including on the threshold question of whether to go behind closed doors at all.
The board's first attempt to enter executive session, to discuss matters that could lead to the appointment or dismissal of unnamed "persons/corporations," failed 4-3, with one of the eight members present not recorded on either side of the vote. A second, identical motion followed immediately and passed 5-3. In both votes, Hayley Downs, Stacey Chilbert and Daniel McKeever voted no.
Back in open session at 7:07 p.m., the board took up a resolution, offered from the floor, on using hallway space for student and teacher recognition tied to the POOL Awards. It then voted 6-2 to table the resolution, with Nicholas Blaney and Jecenia Bresett opposed to tabling. A separate item — appointing Hazard, Young & Attea Associates as the district's superintendent search consultants — never reached a vote; the minutes simply note "No motion made."
The board's final action, appointing Cerio Law Offices, PLLC as outside special counsel for an unspecified legal matter, passed 5-3, with Downs, Chilbert and McKeever again the dissenters. The meeting adjourned unanimously at 7:18 p.m. The minutes do not identify the legal matter, nor the "persons/corporations" referenced in the earlier executive-session motion.
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Coverage of the Board of Education (Liverpool) meeting on 2025-01-17,
Town of Clay, NY.
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Related Board of Education (Liverpool) Meetings
Liverpool School Board's Only Split Vote: Whether to Discuss 'An Investigation' Behind Closed Doors
●• Voted 7-1 (Stacey Chilbert dissenting) to enter executive session "to obtain an update from legal counsel regarding an investigation and to discuss the superintendent search process" — the meeting's only non-unanimous vote
●• Returned to open session afterward, 8-0, with Chilbert voting yes
●• Appointed Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates as the district's Superintendent Search Consultant "as a result of the RFP" — 8-0
●• Approved nine Routine Business items — including minutes from Jan. 6 and Jan. 13, creation of eight 1.0 FTE Cook I positions, personnel actions, special education and preschool special education committee recommendations, a budget amendment and a surplus item — each 8-0
●• Appointed Andy Lalonde, Esq., Director of Labor Relations at OCM BOCES, as lead negotiator for ULFA successor contracts — 8-0
●• Accepted gifts and grants — 7-0 with Jecenia Bresett abstaining
●• Approved a settlement agreement in the matter of "910012931 v Liverpool Central School District" — 8-0
●• Heard public comments from Katherine Roberts on accountability and taxpayer bills for legal fees, from Lenny Ciricillo on the Board, and from Brian Christopher, who spoke "in support of unity and healing"
●• Recognized Morgan Road Middle School with a POOLS Award; meeting adjourned at 8:56 p.m. after opening at 6 p.m.
Liverpool Board Resolution Fails Despite 4-2 Vote in Its Favor; Two-Hour Special Meeting Otherwise Unrecorded
●• Six of eight board members were present when the meeting opened at 6:01 PM: Nicholas Blaney, Jecenia Bresett, Kimberly Martin, Kimberly Melnik, Matthew Jones and John Solazzo
●• A resolution was presented from the floor to display photographs and descriptions of past superintendents and selected staff on the District Offices boardroom wall above the administrative cabinet area; motion by Jecenia Bresett, second by Kimberly Melnik
●• A secondary motion to postpone the vote to the board's next meeting failed 2-4, with only Kimberly Martin and John Solazzo in favor
●• The board then voted on the resolution itself, 4-2 (Blaney, Bresett, Melnik and Matthew Jones in favor; Martin and Solazzo opposed) — but the minutes record the "Final Resolution" as "Motion failed"
●• Board voted 6-0 to enter executive session; no purpose for the closed session is stated in the minutes
●• Board voted 6-0 to return to open session; no further action is recorded before adjournment
●• Meeting adjourned 6-0 at 8:15 PM, two hours and 14 minutes after it began
●• Approved the Dec. 16, 2024 meeting minutes, personnel actions, Committee on Preschool Special Education recommendations, Committee on Special Education recommendations, acceptance of gifts and grants, and surplus items, all as part of the Routine Business block, 8-0.
●• Approved new Earth Science textbooks as presented, 8-0.
●• Approved changing Food Service Helper II positions to Cook I positions, 8-0.
●• Approved a resolution to participate in the RIC ONE Operations Center (ROC), 8-0.
●• Voted to enter Executive Session, 8-0.
●• Denied Student #1's appeal of a disciplinary decision, with modification, 7-1 -- Stacey Chilbert cast the only dissenting vote recorded at the meeting.
●• Recognized Elmcrest Elementary School with a POOLS Award.
●• Adjourned at 9:48 p.m., roughly three hours and 44 minutes after the 6:04 p.m. call to order.
Behind Liverpool School Board's Unanimous Votes, Three Quiet Abstentions and a Closed-Door Investigation
●• Approved minutes from four prior sessions — the Jan. 17 special meeting, the Jan. 21 public hearing, the Jan. 21 regular meeting and the Jan. 28 special meeting — each 9-0.
●• Approved Committee on Preschool Special Education and Committee on Special Education placement recommendations, a surplus-items list and routine business items — all 9-0.
●• Recognized Soule Road Elementary School with a POOLS Award.
●• Adopted increased income limits for partial property tax exemptions for senior citizens and persons with disabilities — 9-0 roll call.
●• Adopted partial property tax exemptions for Volunteer Firefighters and Ambulance Workers — 9-0 roll call.
●• Adopted partial property tax exemptions for Veterans — 8-0 roll call, Hayley Downs abstaining.
●• Authorized a Special District Meeting for March 27, 2025 — 9-0 roll call.
●• Created a 1.0 FTE Clerk II position — 7-0, Jecenia Bresett and Kimberly Melnik abstaining.
●• Acknowledged receipt of the November 2024 Treasurer's Report (9-0) and approved personnel actions as submitted (8-0, Stacey Chilbert abstaining).
●• Entered executive session to confer with district counsel on an ongoing investigation, with the district's audit firm on confidential information that could lead to investigating particular persons, and on a potential appointment of a person or corporation, then returned to open session and adjourned — all 9-0.
Liverpool School Board Upholds Three Student Suspensions in One Night, and a Dissent Fades by the Third
●• Board opened the meeting at 6:00 PM by immediately entering executive session for legal advice from District Counsel and the BOCES Superintendent, returning to open session at 6:59 PM, 9-0
●• Approved a slate of routine business items — Dec. 2 minutes, personnel actions, preschool special education and special education placements, a budget amendment, a budget transfer, the October Treasurer's Report, surplus items, and gifts and grants — each 9-0
●• Heard a board training session from Ms. Kate Reid of Bond Schoeneck & King, PLLC, and a Capital Project Update from Mr. Ben Maslona of Fiscal Advisors & Marketing, Inc.; also discussed Earth Science textbooks, a Food Services Helper II title change to Cook I, and a current budget update, with no votes recorded on any of these items
●• Mr. Dennis Hepler addressed the board during public communications on custodial staffing
●• Approved LHS new course recommendations and re-approved salary adjustments for non-affiliated personnel retroactive to July 1, 2024, both 9-0
●• Approved a motion to request and release an RFP for a Benefit Management Consultant, 9-0
●• Entered a second executive session to discuss a personnel appointment, a tenure recommendation, and three student disciplinary appeals from Superintendent Hearings
●• Denied Student #1's long-term suspension appeal with modification and abeyance, 8-1, with Stacey Chilbert opposed
●• Denied Student #2's long-term suspension appeal with modification and abeyance, 8-1, with Stacey Chilbert opposed
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