North Syracuse Board Adds 27 Teaching Assistant Posts, Cuts 12, and Casts Its Only Split Vote on a Data-Privacy Deal

Key Actions & Decisions

• ◆ Created 27.0 FTE Teaching Assistant positions (2.0 at ARE, 6.0 at CE, 5.0 at LRE, 1.0 at GRMS, 13.0 at RRMS) and abolished 12.0 FTE Teaching Assistant positions (1.0 at RRE, 6.0 at SRE, 5.0 at NSJH), all effective July 1, 2026, per a resolution citing enrollment data, staffing and student needs and stating it is necessary "for instructional reasons."
• ◆ Abolished a separate 1.0 FTE Associate Principal position at SRE, effective July 1, 2026, also "for instructional reasons."
• ◆ Created a new co-curricular position, NorthStar Network Broadcasting Coach, effective July 1, 2026.
• ◆ Approved contracts with Toth's Sports for a CNS gymnasium sound system ($31,843.00), Gillette Road scoreboards ($189,535.00), and a Lakeshore Road message display ($103,395.00), after review by King & King Architects and Watchdog Building Partners.
• ◆ Authorized use of Data Privacy Agreements negotiated by the OCM BOCES RIC ONE Risk Operations Center for 2026-2027; this motion carried with six yes votes, one board member abstaining -- the only vote of the meeting not recorded as unanimous. A related "Initial AS-7" resolution on the same Risk Operations Center carried unanimously, seven yes votes.
• ◆ Approved 2026-2027 Universal Pre-Kindergarten contracts with Head Start (PEACE, Inc.), Bright Path, Northminster Early Childhood Center, and YMCA of Central New York (North Area YMCA).
• ◆ Readopted Policy 3410, renamed from the Code of Conduct Policy to the District Standards of Conduct and Care, following Policy Committee review on June 9.
• ◆ Accepted a $500 stipend gift to Roxboro Road Middle School, awarded after the school was randomly selected for the New York State Department of Health's Youth Tobacco Survey.
• ◆ Approved a memorandum of agreement between the district and the North Syracuse Education Association dated June 10, 2026.
• ◆ Superintendent Dr. Terry Ward thanked Assembly member Pam Hunter for securing $200,000 and Assembly member Al Stirpe for securing $520,000 in state budget funding for the district.