The atmosphere at Phoenicia Elementary last Saturday was festive, with face painting, cotton-candy, bounce houses and even a small circus. Those who didn’t know the reason for the event might think it was just an end-of-school-year party.
But this was the last time such a celebration will happen, and almost certainly the last time the sounds of children will echo through the hallways.
The June 8 event was a farewell party after 60 years of the school educating the community.
Citing steadily declining enrollment, the Onteora School Board voted to close Phoenicia Elementary as part of a reconfiguration to relocate at a single campus in Boiceville.
“We basically came to this bittersweet sadness of closing the school,” explained Phoenicia Elementary PTA president Christina Signore. “We wanted to celebrate 60 years and wanted to come together and on a positive note and offer the community and retirees and alumni an opportunity to say a proper goodbye.”
It was a time reunite for one last walkthrough together in a positive note, she said. “We fought a good fight, but now we’re ready to gracefully spread our wings.”
Nobody was losing their job. The majority of teachers and staff who didn’t choose to retire are moving to Bennett Elementary, and some are going to Woodstock, Signore said. Staff would be “bringing parts of Phoenicia with us”
In the 2024-25 school year, Woodstock will house kindergarten through fourth grade while Bennett Elementary will host kindergarten through the fifth grade. The year after, Woodstock and Bennett will both contain kindergarten through the fifth grade.
The goal is to close Woodstock Elementary by 2028 and expand Bennett to make it the sole K-5 school in the district. That will require the passage of a bond issue by district voters.
District officials contend that a single K-12 campus will offer a better, more cost-efficient educational arrangement. Opponents, including the Onteora Parents Engaged Now (OPEN), say the plan is based on insufficient data and inadequate research.
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