The North Syracuse Central School District Board of Education voted March 23 to send two propositions to voters on May 19 — a bus-fleet bond and a library funding increase — while separately retaining an architect and a construction manager to prepare a larger, not-yet-defined capital project ahead of a future referendum. The ballot's vehicle bonding proposition authorizes the district to purchase and finance eight 65-passenger gasoline school buses, two 65-passenger gasoline buses with wheelchair lift and AC, two 65-passenger 100-gallon gasoline buses, two service vans and one wide-area mower, at a total cost not to exceed $2,525,994, to be repaid through a property tax levy under Education Law Section 416. A second proposition, submitted only to voters in the Town of Salina who vote in Election District No. 1, would raise the Salina Free Library's annual appropriation from $524,861 to $536,933. The resolution authorizing both propositions was the only motion of the evening decided by a recorded roll-call vote rather than a voice tally. Mr. Mirizio, Mr. Farfaglia, Mr. Hermann, Ms. McDonald, Mr. Ludden, Ms. Sugrue and Mr. Thorne voted yes; Mr. Shusda abstained; and Mr. Crabtree was recorded absent from the vote. Every other motion that evening was reported as carried with eight yes votes except two: the Personnel A appointments motion, which carried with seven yes votes, and the final motion to adjourn, which also carried with seven yes votes. The minutes give no further explanation for those tallies. Four board seats are up for election on May 19, due to the expiration of terms held by Michael Mirizio, Joshua Ludden, Cheryl McDonald and Michael Shusda. The three candidates with the most votes win three-year terms; the fourth-place finisher gets a one-year term. Nominating petitions, each requiring at least 29 qualified voters' signatures, are due to the District Clerk by 5 p.m. on April 20, 2026. Separately, the board approved two contracts described as "Pre-Referendum Services" for a still-undefined Capital Improvement Project. C&S Engineers, Inc. was retained as construction manager to assist with developing a voter proposition, project scheduling and cost estimating. King + King Architects was retained to provide preliminary design, project planning and bidding-related market analysis. Both resolutions state the Project's scope, schedule and budget are "to be determined," and both motions carried with eight yes votes. King + King is also the architect the district has separately engaged to design the Roxboro Road Middle School Acoustic Panel Installation Project, for which the board declared itself SEQRA lead agency and classified the work as a Type II Action requiring no further environmental review. The board also took action on a personnel matter outside the public record. After an executive session called to review one parental appeal, the board reconvened in open session and voted to amend the Superintendent's decision on that appeal, 8 yes. The minutes do not identify the appeal or describe what the original or amended decision involved. In other personnel action, the board approved hiring Sean Fahey as Director of Data, Accountability and School Improvement at an annual salary of $153,203, replacing Donna Marie Norton, effective May 26, 2026; Superintendent Ward welcomed Fahey earlier in the meeting and congratulated him on the appointment. The board acknowledged the retirements of Carol Strzelecki, School Secretary II, with 17 years of service; Scott Wilson, Custodian II, with 21 years; and Marie Tubolino, Teaching Assistant, with 20 years. The board also approved memoranda of agreement with the NSEA dated March 4, 2026, and with the NSADA dated March 20, 2026; the minutes do not describe what either agreement covers. The board amended and readopted Policy 3281, Access to Buildings, and amended the minutes of its January 12, 2026 meeting to include a memorandum of agreement dated January 9, 2026. No members of the public spoke during the comment period. Business office reports and a list of surplus equipment for disposal, including online auction of marketable items through Auctions International, were also approved.