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Board approves multiple athletic cooperatives, ratifies transportation union pact and ELA adoption
Summary
At its May 11 meeting, the Marcellus board approved cooperative athletic agreements for hockey, swimming/diving, girls wrestling and varsity wrestling partnerships, ratified a four-year transportation union agreement, and adopted Benchmark Advance as the K–5 ELA program under a seven-year contract (~$375,239).
The Marcellus Central School District Board of Education conducted a series of routine but consequential business votes after the budget hearing on May 11, 2026.
Athletics: The board approved inter-district cooperative agreements for a number of sports for the 2026–27 school year: a boys ice-hockey combination with Syracuse City School District; a girls swimming and diving combination with Skaneateles Central School District (transcribed in the record as 'Skinny Atlas'); a girls-wrestling combination with West Genesee Central School District; and a varsity-wrestling combination with Onondaga Central School District. Board members said the consolidations respond to declining participation in some sports and expand opportunities for students.
Labor contract: The board ratified the tentative agreement with the Marcellus Transportation Employees Union covering July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2030. The board recorded the ratification motion and carried the vote; the transcript records the board’s approval but does not record detailed wage or step information in the public minutes.
Curriculum adoption: The board approved adoption of Benchmark Advance as the K–5 English language arts curriculum (Benchmark Education Company) under a seven-year agreement at an approximate total cost of $375,239 to be paid in five installments. Supporters on the board and district staff said the selection followed teacher-led pilots and alignment work on the district’s science-of-reading initiatives.
Other business: The board also extended a tax-collection agreement with the Town of Onondaga for 2027–28, approved routine personnel items (including summer-rate establishment), approved a consent agenda (including disposal of old textbooks to make room for the new ELA materials), and accepted a $10,000 donation for the DMS auditorium sound-and-lighting control booth.
Votes recorded: For each listed motion the transcript records a motion, second, and that the measure 'carried.' The public record provided does not include a roll-call tally in each case; where specific vote tallies or contract terms were not read into the record, the minutes list the outcome as 'carried' or 'ratified.'
