Board of Education Members

The North Syracuse Central School District Board of Education is made up of nine school district residents whose terms are staggered. School district residents elect board members annually on the third Tuesday of May, when they also vote on the district’s operational budget. Board members are not financially compensated for their service.  There are three seats per year that are open.  Incumbents whose terms expire, must also run for re-election if they wish to remain on the Board of Education. 

In addition to the nine board members, a high school senior is elected annually by their peers to serve a one-year term as a non-voting board member. The student member attends all public board meetings and is allowed to participate in all public discussions and voice their opinions. The student does not attend executive or exempt sessions, which are portions of the meeting in which the law allows board members to privately discuss such matters as proposed, pending or current litigation. District residents must authorize the position every two years during a public vote.

Please remember that members of the Board of Education are not paid to serve and receive no compensation of any kind for serving as a Board of Education member.

Current Board Members

	Mr. Paul Farfaglia, President Term Ends: 6/30/2024 Length of Service - 7 years	Paul Farfaglia was first elected to the Board in 2015 and has served as President of the Board since 2019.     Mr. Farfaglia has lived in the North Syracuse Central School District for 35 years, currently residing in the District in Liverpool with his wife Rosemary. Their daughter, Courtney, is a 2006 graduate of Cicero-North Syracuse High School and 2010 graduate of Niagara University.   Mr. Farfaglia is a retired teacher from the Jordan-Elbridge Central School District. He graduated from Canastota High School and earned degrees from Le Moyne College (BA in Biology with an education minor) and SUNY Oswego (Master in Education/ Biology).  He also currently serves as a Trustee on the Board of the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System.   Mr. Farfaglia is a proud donor and active member of North Syracuse Dollars for Scholars. He currently serves on the North Syracuse Central School District Board of Education Executive, Policy, Audit and Legislative Committees.
	Michael A. Mirizio, Vice President Term Ends: 6/30/2026 Length of service - 11 years	Michael Mirizio e is a life-long resident of the District and graduated from Cicero-North Syracuse High School. Mirizio holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Le Moyne College.  Mr. Mirizio is the Director of Technology for OCM BOCES, the Onondaga Cortland Madison Board of Cooperative Educational Services. He is currently involved with several committees for the North Syracuse Central School District Board of Education, including the Policy, Executive, Audit and Technology Committees. Additionally, he is the founder and executive director of North Syracuse Junior High School’s 4D Productions, a registered 501(c)(3) that operates out of North Syracuse Junior High School, where he works with students on live event production and community service.  He is a supporter of and donor to North Syracuse Dollars for Scholars.
	Robert Crabtree Term Ends: 6/30/2025 Length of Service - 4 years Previous Service - 6 years	Robert Crabtree has served on the NSCSD Board of Education since 2019 and was also a member from 2009-2015. He currently is the President of the Onondaga- Cortland- Madison BOCES School Board representing the North Syracuse Central School District.  Mr. Crabtree chairs the Legislative Committee, and is also a member of the Executive Committee and Facilities Committee. Mr. Crabtree is also a member of the Onondaga County School Boards Association and the New York School Boards Association. In 2017 he received the Onondaga-Madison School Boards Association School Board Member Achievement Award. Retired in June 2007, Mr. Crabtree taught elementary grade levels for 36 years in the North Syracuse Central School District. He also was an elementary math specialist, elementary math/science curriculum writer and test program supervisor.
	Matthew Hermann Term Ends: 6/30/2025 Length of Service - 4 years	Matthew Hermann has served on the NSCSD Board of Education since July, 2019.  He currently serves on the Board’s Legislative and Facilities Committees. Mr. Hermann has lived in the District for the past 57 years and currently resides in North Syracuse with his wife, Carol Guido. Matthew has three adult children, Jordan, Eric and Sean.  Mr. Hermann is employed by OCM BOCES as a Senior Network Administrator. He is part of IaaS Group to maintain cloud services for school districts.  Matthew graduated from Cicero High School, and went to Onondaga Community College where he earned an Associates Degrees in Administration of Justice and Computer Engineering. He also holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Computer/Electronic Engineering from SUNY Polytechnic.
	Beth Kramer Term Ends:  6/30/2024 Length of Service - 2 years	Beth Kramer, Ed.D. has lived in the district for the past 23 years, currently residing in Cicero with her two children, Raychel and Stephen, both graduates of Cicero-North Syracuse High School. Dr. Kramer has been a member of the NSCSD Board of Education since 2021 and also serves on the Board's Policy Committee.  Dr. Kramer is an elementary school principal at Walberta Park in the Westhill Central School District. She graduated from New Hartford High School and went on to earn degrees from Le Moyne College (BA in English Education) and Syracuse University (MS in Special Education) and St. John Fisher (Education Doctorate in Executive Leadership). She also earned a Certificate of Advanced Study in Administration from Syracuse University.  Dr. Kramer is a former softball coach and religious education teacher at Sacred Heart Church of Cicero.
	Joshua Ludden Term Ends:  6/30/2026 Length of Service - Newly elected	Joshua Ludden is a life-long resident of the North Syracuse Central School District and a graduate of Cicero-North Syracuse High School. He has a degree in Political Science and Religious Studies from American University and is currently the First Deputy County Clerk for the Onondaga County Clerk Emily Essi. Joshua currently serves on the NSCSD Policy Committee.
	Xavier Moody-Wusik Term Ends:  6/30/2026 Length of Service - 2 years	Xavier Moody-Wusik has been a resident of the North Syracuse Central School District for the past 14 years and is a graduate of Cicero-North Syracuse High School. He works as a substitute teacher in the Baldwinsville Central School District and is currently enrolled as a student at Le Moyne College, studying history with certification in childhood education and special education.  Xavier currently volunteers as a coach for youth AAU Basketball for Syracuse Hoops and helps run all of the C-NS Basketball camps over the summer and school breaks.
	Amanda Sugrue Term Ends:  6/30/2025 Length of Service - 1 year	Amanda Sugrue has lived in the district for 25 years and has served on the NSCSD Board of Education since July 2022. She is also a member of the Board’s Executive Committee. She resides in Clay with her husband Dennis, a 1993 CNS graduate, daughter Grace, a 2023 CNS graduate and freshman at Syracuse University, and daughter Sophie, CNS class of 2025.   She has volunteered in the district helping with the Fall Play, Spring Musical, NSJH Musical, GRMS Musical, Girls Wrestling ,Girls Swimming and Diving, and in the classroom and library at KWS Bear Road Elementary School.   Mrs. Sugrue graduated from Liverpool High School in 1994 and from Albany College of Pharmacy in 1999. She is a pharmacist at Wegmans, where she has worked at for 32 years.
	Mark Thorne Term Ends:  6/30/2024 Length of Service - 5 years	Mark Thorne has lived in the North Syracuse Central School District for the past 23 years, currently residing in Cicero with his wife Sandra, a teacher in the District, and their daughter Lillian, a junior at Cicero-North Syracuse High School. The Thornes have two older daughters, Lauren and Madeline, both graduates of Cicero-North Syracuse High School. Lauren is currently a senior at Canisius College and Madeline is a freshman at St. Bonaventure University. Mr. Thorne is a web developer with Bloomberg Industry Group where he designs, develops and maintains internal and external websites.  Mr. Thorne graduated from Jamesville-DeWitt High School and holds a BA degree in computer science from SUNY Potsdam. He currently chairs the North Syracuse Central School District Board of Education Policy Committee.
	Thomas Wills, II, Student Ex-Officio Term Ends:  6/30/2024	Thomas Wills, II is the first-ever student member on the NSCSD Board of Education. Click here to read more.

 

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Board Member Qualifications

• Must be able to read and write (§2102).
• Must be a qualified voter of the district; that is, a citizen of the United States, at least 18 years of age or older, and not adjudged to be incompetent (§§2102, 2012, 2507(7); Elec. Law §5-106(6)).
• Must be and have been a resident (but need not be a taxpayer) of the district for a continuous and uninterrupted period of at least one year immediately before the election (§§2105, 2502(7), (9)(d).
• May not have been removed from any school district office within the preceding year (§2103(2)).
• May not reside with another member of the same school board as a member of the same family(§2103(3).
• May not simultaneously hold another incompatible public office (Matter of Schoch & Betheil, 21 ED Dept. Rep 300 (1981).

Seeking Election to the Board of Education

February 1^st of each year, the District Clerk has Nominating Petition Packets available to all qualified and interested individuals. Individuals and incumbents seeking re-election are required to submit nominating petitions containing at least 2% of the number of voters who voted in the previous annual election of the members boards (May of the previous year’s election vote total.).  Individuals and incumbents seeking re-election wishing to run will also have to submit a photograph and biography to the District Clerk by April 15th.    Forms and deadlines are included in the Nominating Petition Packets.  To request a packet, please contact Jilian Herrera, District Clerk, at 218-2131.

Board of Education Duties and Responsibilities

Board of Education meetings are held at least twice per month and typically more frequently prior to the adoption of the annual District budget in May each year.  Additionally, Board members are asked to serve on various Board committees and interview teams.  The Board of Education is a demanding office carried on in the public eye, using public funds.  The board is primarily a policy-making body and must delegate administration to school staff.  The Board has the responsibility for the entire district, not just one school, age group or philosophy of instruction.  They must meet a range of responsibilities assigned by the New York State Constitution, Education Law and other statutes.  Decision making is the responsibility of the entire board collectively, not by individual board members.