On a Night of Unanimous Votes, Liverpool's School Board Did Its Real Business Behind Closed Doors
The Liverpool Board of Education passed every item on its March 24, 2025 agenda without a single recorded dissent, but the nearly four-hour meeting turned on matters kept out of public view — a closed-door session on union bargaining and tenure, a resignation identified only by employee number, and a labor agreement ratified within a minute of returning to open session.
Willow Bay overview, Onondaga Lake Park — photo:
Andre Carrotflower
(BY-SA 4.0)
▶Key Actions & Decisions
●• 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.
The Liverpool Board of Education met for nearly four hours on March 24, 2025, opening at 6 p.m. and not adjourning until 9:50 p.m. Almost none of that time produced a recorded disagreement: every item that came to a vote that night passed 8-0, with all eight board members — Nicholas Blaney, Kimberly Martin, Jecenia Bresett, Daniel McKeever, Stacey Chilbert, John Solazzo, Kimberly Melnik and Matthew Jones — voting aye each time.
What consumed much of the evening, according to the minutes, happened out of public view. Late in the meeting, the board moved into executive session to discuss matters connected to collective bargaining under Article 14 of the Civil Service Law, along with tenure recommendations. Members returned to open session at 9:49 p.m. — one minute before the meeting adjourned — and used that final minute of public business to approve the MOA between the district and Unite-HERE Local 150.
Sandwiched among the night's other actions was a resignation recorded not by name but by number. The board 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 same employee. The minutes give no further detail about the employee's role or the reason for the departure.
Before the closed-door session, the board worked through a long stack of routine business in a single block vote — approving minutes from two prior meetings, personnel actions, special education placements, surplus items, gifts and grants, and a budget amendment. It also completed second readings on two policy changes, approving revisions to Policy 7554 and the deletion of Policy 7556, and separately approved revisions to Policy 5661.
Two other items reflect the board's near-term calendar. Members approved, by roll call vote, a SEQRA Type II Determination for the 2025-2026 Capital Outlay Project as prepared by counsel, and appointed Kara Young, Maria Knapp, Catherine Morabito and Melinda Mayer as election inspectors for the 2024-2025 school year at their contractual rate — appointments arriving three days before the district's March 27 Special District Meeting and Vote, also announced at the session. The board tabled the proposed 2025-2026 school calendar for further discussion; the minutes do not say when it will return to the agenda.
The board also voted to dissolve four Liverpool High School clubs it described as inactive — Academic Decathlon, Bass Club, National Junior Honor Society and Student Ambassadors Club — moving whatever funds remained in each club's student activity account into the Liverpool High School Student Council's account.
During public comment, three residents addressed the board. Kerry Coleman-Herrick spoke about teacher appreciation, Chick Quattrini spoke about the status of a claim that the minutes do not further describe, and Lenny Ciricillo spoke about the Liverpool girls' basketball program. Earlier in the meeting, Willow Field Elementary School received a POOLS Award; the minutes record no other detail about the recognition.
The board's next regular meeting is scheduled for March 31, 2025.
This article was drafted by AI (claude-sonnet-agent) from the official meeting transcript and reviewed by a human editor.
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Related Board of Education (Liverpool) Meetings
Liverpool School Board Spends 87 Minutes Behind Closed Doors, Then Splits 8-1 to Deny a Student's Suspension Appeal
●• 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.
Liverpool School Board's Budget Workshop Ends With an Hour-Plus Behind Closed Doors on Litigation
●• 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.
●• 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.
Liverpool School Board Approves $98,959,922 Building Bond and Five-Year Union Deal, All by Unanimous Vote
●• 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.
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