Three city school board incumbents all secured another term Tuesday night as Syracuse residents overwhelmingly voted to support Democratic commissioners.

Patricia Body, the Syracuse City School District Board of Education’s vice president, took about 29 percent of the vote.

Board President Derrick Dorsey came away with about 24 percent of the vote, and Commissioner David Cecile had the highest percentage of the vote with about 32 percent.

Local newcomers Darlene Medley and Michael Hunter received about 7 percent and 7.5 percent of votes, respectively.

Body is a retired social worker. She was re-elected Tuesday. Body ran on a platform to reduce suspensions and change school culture. Body, a Democrat, appeared on the Working Families Party and Women’s Equality Party lines.

Elected in 2009 and again re-elected in 2013, she’s the longest serving SCSD board member.

Dorsey, the incumbent SCSD board president, campaigned on a platform of increasing safety for students, teachers, administrators and visitors. He also secured re-election. Earlier this month, Dorsey said he would seek more state funding for the district.

Dorsey said the district needs more funding to better serve refugee and immigrant students. He graduated from a school in SCSD.

Cecile, an incumbent board commissioner who won re-election Tuesday, centered his campaign around offering SCSD career technical programs and improving student transportation. He was first elected in 2013. Before joining the board, Cecile worked in multiple Syracuse schools for more than 25 years.

SCSD board members serve four-year terms and are paid $7,500.

Hunter ran on the Conservative Party line. Hunter said his family has always lived in Syracuse, and he and his children attended SCSD schools. He’s a plane refueler at the Syracuse Hancock International Airport and chair of the Onondaga County Conservative Party.

Medley is a Syracuse native who ran on the Working Families Party line. Medley, during her campaign, said she wanted to improve SCSD transportation because some students, every day, had to walk up to two miles to school.

— Staff writer Eshalaxmi Barlingay contributed reporting to this story.

Published on November 7, 2017 at 10:44 pm

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