State education officials have cleared the way for Onteora’s high-stakes December 10 bond vote on consolidating to a single K–12 campus, rejecting a bid by two district parents to pause the referendum while they challenge the closure of Woodstock Elementary and its polling place.
A November 25 letter from the state Education Department’s appeals coordinator informed the petitioners that Commissioner Betty Rosa would not issue a stay of the vote.
The 748-page petition asks Rosa to invalidate the school board’s October 21 decision to close Woodstock Elementary School, reconfigure Bennett Elementary School, and place two related bond propositions on a December 10 special ballot. The challenge is the latest turn in a consolidation effort that has dominated district politics since trustees first backed a single-campus plan tied to a larger $70.5 million bond that voters rejected in March.
In October, the board approved a scaled-down $26.9 million Proposition 1, titled “To Create a District-Wide K–5 Elementary School,” and a separate $15 million Proposition 2 for additional improvements. If Proposition 1 passes, Bennett would house grades K–5, the middle school would serve grades 6–8 and the high school grades 9–12; if it fails, Bennett would remain K–4 and fifth grade would move into the middle school. The district has promoted the plan as effectively tax-neutral over time, arguing that savings from closing Woodstock by 2028, along with the earlier closures of Phoenicia and West Hurley Elementary, will offset construction costs.
Even without a stay, the petition remains active. If voters approve the bond but the plaintiffs ultimately prevail, Rosa could still overturn the election results and the underlying board actions.
School board candidate and paralegal Daniel Aliberte, who helped assemble the petition, said he was told to expect a ruling on the merits by May. While the attorney representing the petitioners is optimistic, Aliberte said he worries that a “yes” vote could bolster the district’s argument that the case is moot.
“In their reply, they’re going to say, ‘December 10 came and went, the bond passed, people changed their minds and this is all moot. We’re asking you to dismiss this,’ and to be perfectly honest I can see that likelihood,” he said.
He also fears the district will move quickly to act on any voter approval. “If this election is going to go through in two weeks, they’re going to try to get money to start making major changes now — earthworks, like starting deconstruction and construction on buildings — especially knowing that there’s a petition filed,” Aliberte said. “It’s going to make it harder to overturn the call on the field.”
In the run-up to the vote, a group of opponents plans to campaign against Proposition 1. Aliberte said he does not intend to tell people how to vote but will present what he views as the implications of each outcome.
“With this new bond language for Proposition 1, a lot of people who were fighting and resisting are now resigned. And they’re going to vote yes on Prop 1 because they’re terrified that their fifth-grader, their 10-year-olds, are going to be in the same building as 18-year-olds — where there’s potentially drugs, where there’s smoking in the bathroom, where there’s vaping, where there are teenagers who are potentially violent,” he said.
Under Proposition 1, eight new classrooms, an art room, expanded library, office space, a security vestibule and new bathrooms would be added to Bennett Elementary to accommodate a district-wide K–5 population. Proposition 2 would authorize $15 million in additional work, including new windows at Bennett, new high school music rooms and athletic-field improvements, funded entirely from existing capital reserves and not essential to the single-campus plan.
District officials have framed consolidation as a response to sharply declining enrollment and long-term financial pressure, including the possibility of losing millions in state foundation aid. Opponents counter that enrollment could rebound as new families move into the area and warn that closing Woodstock will alter the character of the hamlet and its appeal to prospective residents.
Despite the pending case, Superintendent Victoria McLaren said the district will continue planning toward a single campus. “I am grateful that the commissioner has decided that we do not need to pause our process, and I look forward to working together with the community as we determine the configuration of the central campus through the December vote,” she said.
Opponents of the plan have argued that, based on current kindergarten enrollment, the planned capacity for Bennett — 480 students — will not accommodate the K-5 population, but McLaren noted that 2025 enrollment has already dropped below 1,000.
The petitioners also argue that holding the bond vote only at the high school amounts to voter suppression, noting that the board eliminated the longtime polling place at Woodstock Elementary — the site where voters overwhelmingly rejected the larger bond earlier this year. They contend the change disproportionately burdens voters in the community most affected by the proposed closure.
District leaders have defended the shift to a single polling location, citing longer voting hours from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., better parking and fewer logistical problems than operating multiple sites.
Early mail voting is available by mail by downloading an absentee ballot application at onteora.k12.ny.us/MailBallot or at the central administration office at the middle/high school in Boiceville, Woodstock Elementary School, Bennett Elementary School, West Hurley Library, Woodstock town offices, Woodstock Library, Olive Free Library and the Shokan branch, town of Olive offices, Phoenicia Library, Shandaken Town Offices and Tetta’s Market in Olivebridge. A community presentation is planned for Thursday, Dec. 4 at the middle/high school cafeteria (rescheduled from Dec. 2 due to inclement weather.)
Opponents say the reliance on early mail-in voting remains a barrier because it requires several steps — obtaining and returning an application, waiting for the ballot and then mailing or delivering it back — which they argue is especially burdensome for Woodstock-area residents who previously could vote at their neighborhood school.
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