Liverpool School Board Spends 87 Minutes Behind Closed Doors, Then Splits 8-1 to Deny a Student's Suspension Appeal
The Liverpool Board of Education passed seven routine items unanimously in the first hour of its March 31 meeting, then spent 87 minutes in executive session on a student's suspension appeal, the superintendent search and tenure recommendations. The board emerged to deny the appeal 8-1 — the only non-unanimous vote of the night.
New York State flag flying in Baldwinsville — photo:
Quintin Soloviev
(BY 4.0)
▶Key Actions & Decisions
●• Approved minutes from the March 24 regular meeting and the March 25 capital project referendum. Motion carried 7-0.
●• Approved a Budget Amendment as presented and acknowledged receipt of the January 2025 Treasurer's Report. Motion carried 7-0 each.
●• Approved surplus items and the remaining Routine Business items as submitted. Motion carried 7-0 each.
●• Recognized Liverpool High School for a POOLS Award.
●• Approved revisions to Policy 7554 and the deletion of Policy 7556. Motion carried 7-0 each.
●• Approved creation of the APISA - Asian and Pacific Islander Student Association Club. Motion carried 7-0.
●• Modified the 2024-2025 School Calendar and adopted the 2025-2026 School Calendar. Motion carried 7-0 each.
●• Entered executive session at 6:51 p.m. for a disciplinary appeal, the Superintendent Search and tenure recommendations; returned to public session at 8:18 p.m., an 87-minute closed session.
●• Denied the appeal of "Student #1's" long-term suspension and directed Interim Superintendent Brian Nolan to notify the parent/guardian. Motion carried 8-1, with Stacey Chilbert casting the lone Nay.
●• Adjourned at 8:19 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.
The Liverpool Board of Education cleared almost its entire public agenda in under an hour on March 31, approving seven items — two sets of meeting minutes, a budget amendment, the January Treasurer's Report, surplus items and a round of policy and calendar changes — without a single dissenting vote. Then the board went behind closed doors for longer than it had spent in public, and came back with the only split vote of the night.
The seven members present — Nicholas Blaney, Kimberly Martin, Jecenia Bresett, Stacey Chilbert, John Solazzo, Kimberly Melnik and Matthew Jones — opened the meeting at 6 p.m. with Interim Superintendent Brian Nolan and other district staff on hand. They moved through routine business at a steady clip: minutes from the March 24 meeting and the March 25 capital project referendum, a budget amendment, the January Treasurer's Report, and a batch of surplus-item disposals, each carried 7-0. The board also recognized Liverpool High School for a POOLS Award, then approved revisions to Policy 7554, deleted Policy 7556, chartered a new APISA - Asian and Pacific Islander Student Association Club, adjusted the 2024-2025 school calendar and adopted the 2025-2026 calendar, all by the same unanimous margin.
At 6:51 p.m., about 51 minutes after the meeting began, the board entered executive session "for a disciplinary appeal to the Board of Education of a long-term suspension resulting from a Superintendent Hearing for a particular student," according to the minutes, along with discussion of the ongoing superintendent search and tenure recommendations. The board did not return to public session until 8:18 p.m. — an 87-minute closed-door stretch nearly twice as long as everything else the board had done that night combined.
When members reconvened, the roll of those voting included two names that had not appeared among those present at 6 p.m.: Daniel McKeever and Hailey Downs joined the vote to return to public session and remained through the rest of the meeting.
One minute later, the board took up the only contested item of the night: whether to grant the appeal of "Student #1's" long-term suspension. The minutes do not detail the underlying discipline beyond identifying it as a Superintendent's Hearing outcome. The board voted 8-1 to deny the appeal, with the resolution directing Nolan to notify the student's parent or guardian of the decision. Chilbert cast the lone dissenting vote; the minutes do not record her reasoning. The board then adjourned at 8:19 p.m., one minute later, on a unanimous vote.
The board set its next two meetings for April 7 and April 21, both at 6 p.m. at the District Office.
This article was drafted by AI (claude-sonnet-agent) from the official meeting transcript and reviewed by a human editor.
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●• Approved the March 31, 2025 minutes and a slate of routine business — personnel actions, gifts and grants, surplus items — by consent, 9-0
●• Recognized Dana Ziegler as a SAANYS Outstanding Educator
●• Authorized a revision to Proposition #2 for the annual meeting notice and ballot — Motion Carried, 9-0
●• Approved a tax settlement with Harbor Pearl DHM LLC — Motion Carried, 9-0
●• Approved a tax settlement, by roll call vote, with Ranalli Generations LLC v. Town of Clay — Motion Carried, 9-0
●• Authorized, by roll call vote, an expenditure for an appraisal in the case of Birch Properties and 4800 Bear Road, LLC v. Town of Clay — Motion Carried, 9-0
●• Appointed seven Election Inspectors — Rosa Whaley, Barbara Osborne, Susan Graves-Horner, Maria Knapp, Amy Morton, Michelle Clark and Julie Carlesco — for the 2024-2025 school year, at their contractual rate — Motion Carried, 9-0
●• Heard public comments from four residents on gender dysphoria and transgender matters, wifi/cell phone use, support for a neighboring district, the budget-curriculum connection and the Liverpool Public Library
●• Entered executive session at 8:28 p.m. to discuss a student residency determination, tenure recommendations and collective bargaining under the Taylor Law; returned to public session at 10:30 p.m. — Motion Carried, 9-0
●• Adjourned at 10:31 p.m., roughly four and a half hours after convening at 6 p.m.
On a Night of Unanimous Votes, Liverpool's School Board Did Its Real Business Behind Closed Doors
●• Approved the March 10 regular meeting minutes, the March 17 budget workshop minutes and the March 17 public hearing minutes as submitted — Motion Carried, 8-0.
●• Approved personnel actions, preschool and school-age special education placements, surplus items, gifts and grants, and a budget amendment as part of a single block of routine business — Motion Carried, 8-0.
●• Approved second readings of revisions to Policy 7554 and the deletion of Policy 7556 — Motion Carried, 8-0 on each.
●• Approved revisions to Policy 5661 — Motion Carried, 8-0.
●• Tabled the proposed 2025-2026 school calendar for further discussion; no vote was recorded.
●• Approved the Annual Meeting Resolution by roll call vote — Motion Carried, 8-0.
●• Appointed Kara Young, Maria Knapp, Catherine Morabito and Melinda Mayer as Election Inspectors for the 2024-2025 school year at their contractual rate — Motion Carried, 8-0.
●• Approved, by roll call vote, a SEQRA Type II Determination for the 2025-2026 Capital Outlay Project as prepared by counsel — Motion Carried, 8-0.
●• Accepted the resignation of an employee identified in the minutes only as Employee 07031, effective April 4, 2025, and approved a separation agreement with that employee — Motion Carried, 8-0.
●• Voted to dissolve four inactive Liverpool High School clubs — Academic Decathlon, Bass Club, National Junior Honor Society and Student Ambassadors Club — and transfer remaining student activity funds to the Student Council account — Motion Carried, 8-0.
●• Entered executive session on matters connected to collective bargaining under Article 14 of the Civil Service Law and tenure recommendations; returned to open session at 9:49 p.m. and approved the MOA between the district and Unite-HERE Local 150 — Motion Carried, 8-0.
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●• Approved the routine business block — April 7 minutes, personnel actions, preschool and special education placements, gifts and grants, and surplus items — in a single vote. Aye 8, Nay 0.
●• Approved the proposed 2025-2026 Liverpool Central School District budget as presented. Aye 8, Nay 0.
●• Adopted the annual budget and Real Property Tax Report Card by roll-call vote. Aye 8, Nay 0.
●• Authorized a bond resolution for the renovation and improvement of certain school district buildings and facilities not to exceed $98,959,922, including the issuance of $13,525,000 in serial bonds. Aye 8, Nay 0.
●• Approved the 2025-2026 OCM BOCES Final Request for Services contract authorization. Aye 8, Nay 0.
●• Cast the board's ballot on the 2025-2026 BOCES budget and on the annual election of BOCES board members. Aye 8, Nay 0 (both).
●• Accepted the recommendation to award Mechanical Commissioning Services to M/E Engineering. Aye 8, Nay 0.
●• Entered executive session at 7:14 p.m. to discuss SEIU collective bargaining strategy and to meet with Superintendent Search Consultants on candidates to interview; briefly returned to open session at 7:37 p.m. before re-entering executive session one minute later, at 7:38 p.m.
●• Approved the 2025-2030 SEIU Collective Bargaining Agreement after returning to open session. Aye 8, Nay 0.
●• Set a May 8 budget public hearing and a June 2 regular meeting; adjourned at 9:28 p.m., roughly three and a half hours after the 6:03 p.m. start.
●• Directed an employee discussed in executive session to undergo an examination by Dr. Richard Ciccione under Section 913 of the New York Education Law — 8-0
●• Executive session covered interviewing a job candidate, a matter that may lead to employee discipline, and details of a potential superintendent's contract — 8-0
●• Created a 1.0 FTE Network Administrator position, part of a bundled Routine Business resolution — 7-0 with 1 abstention (Jecenia Bresett)
●• Approved personnel actions, special education and preschool special education placements, surplus items, and budget amendment and transfer resolutions, all under the same Routine Business motion — 7-0 with 1 abstention (Bresett) each time
●• Acknowledged second reading of revisions to Policy 5661, first reading of revisions to Policy 7554, and first reading of a proposal to rescind Policy 7556 — 8-0 each
●• Approved a baseball trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C. — 8-0
●• Authorized the 2025-2026 Madison-Oneida BOCES Final Request for Services contract — 8-0
●• Accepted gifts and grants presented to the district — 7-0 with 1 abstention (Bresett)
●• Heard public comments from Michael and Josephine Murphy on an "LHS Incident and District Response" and from Camryn Chaffee on implementing a Reality Check after-school program
●• Recognized Donlin Drive Elementary School with a POOLS Award; meeting adjourned at 9:19 p.m.
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