The $70.5 million plan called for upgrades to Onteora’s main campus in Boiceville, which houses Bennett Elementary and the middle and high schools. It also included plans to build more classrooms at Bennett to accommodate students from Woodstock Elementary. The Board first voted in 2023 to consolidate Woodstock Elementary and Phoenicia Elementary with Bennett, but while Phoenicia Elementary adhered to a specific closing timeline, Woodstock’s was left more open-ended.
Board President Cindy Bishop and Vice President Rick Knutsen say the open-ended timeline may have led voters to believe they could save Woodstock Elementary by rejecting the capital plan in May — which they did, by a margin of more than 200 votes. Tuesday’s resolution, if passed, would set the record straight: Woodstock Elementary is closing in 2028, capital plan or not.
“In Woodstock there are a lot of strong feelings and upset at the idea of losing their elementary school," Knutsen explains. "I live in Woodstock, I am very sad about it. And so [Woodstock residents] felt like voting down the bond was a way that they could stop the central campus plan. That’s part of why we’re doing this resolution, because we want to divorce — it’s really not the community’s burden. I really think of this as a burden of making a really difficult choice for the community. And it’s one that by school governance design falls to the Board of Education, not the people.”
The Board has cited declining enrollment and a broader trend toward consolidation in its plans. Onteora is not alone: more than 40 schools have closed across the Hudson Valley since 1999, according to Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress. From 2014 to 2024, Onteora’s student body shrunk by more than 20 percent. Opponents argue enrollment has stabilized, however, with an increase in the number of kindergartners projected over the next few years.
There’s also finances to think about. Knutsen says changes to New York’s Foundation Aid formula could slash Onteora’s aid by about $7.3 million — and that’s before cuts at the federal level.
“We expect a challenging budget season for schools over the next couple years because of that," he adds. "It’s really elsewhere in the state budget that it’s gonna hit, but Albany is gonna have to figure out how to absorb that hit.”
Faedra Dagirmanjian, a mother of two from Olivebridge, says she’s all for consolidation, even though it meant moving her daughter to Bennett from Phoenicia Elementary. She says having students in one building allows for greater classroom equity, and gives students better access to resources and to one another.
“For example, for the kids with IEPs and around some of the special education services — if all the students are in one place, they can do full-day co-teach, which will allow kids to stay in the integrated classroom and not need to be pulled out," she says. "That will likely not impact our kids directly — but it does, because then there’s a more diverse peer group in the classroom, too.”
Proponents of the consolidation say it will also allow Onteora to offer more after-school programs.
Parents with the group “Keep Woodstock Alive,” however, say closing Woodstock Elementary would negatively impact the district and the broader Woodstock community. Tansy Michaud says she moved to Woodstock hoping to one day enroll her two-year-old daughter there.
“We truly believe that if you take Woodstock Elementary and close it, it will gut the most populous area of the entire district," says Michaud.
Chloe Leader, who has a first-grader at Woodstock, says moving to Bennett would mean larger class sizes and a longer commute to school. Like other parents who spoke with WAMC, she also maintains the enrollment at Woodstock Elementary is healthy. The latest state data shows Woodstock had 150 students from Kindergarten through Grade 3 in 2023, but parents say that number is higher now that it hosts up to Grade 5.
Leader says if enrollment at Woodstock was truly in free-fall, then Onteora wouldn’t need to build additional classrooms to fit them in Bennett.
“I just think it’s very hypocritical to have those two countering points," says Leader.
“If that were the case, wouldn’t it be more prudent to for us to wait until the number of elementary school students dwindled to the point where we could all fit into Bennett?” asks Michaud.
While Knutsen says Tuesday’s resolution would separate the closure from the larger capital plan, parents with “Keep Woodstock Alive” see them as very intertwined, because the money to expand Bennett is included in that plan. The Board is currently working on a smaller version of the capital plan to put before voters in December. If it fails again, Knutsen warns Woodstock Elementary will still close — the district will just move fifth graders to Onteora Middle School to make room at Bennett.
Ben Umanov, a member of “Keep Woodstock Alive” and husband of Board member Emily Mitchell-Marell, says lumping the centralization into the broader capital plan was always a political move — and one opponents are likely to keep fighting.
“It’s grouping in popular projects with one that’s very controversial in order to try and get people, almost to guilt people, into voting for this plan that is very controversial and, with many people, very unpopular," he says. "And it’s why Prop 2 failed in May. They should already be working on new athletic fields. They should already have worked on new science classrooms. But instead, these projects that our kids deserve are being held hostage by this very controversial plan.”
It’s unclear how all members of the Board will vote on tonight’s resolution. At least two members questioned the need for it at the Board’s last meeting on September 16.
Bishop says it’s not that she wants to close Woodstock Elementary, but she feels it’s the best decision for taxpayers and students.
“As difficult as it is for the folks who live in Woodstock and near that elementary school, which also includes West Hurley — it’s a building, and the students and the teachers will be moving to another building. It’ll still be a wonderful program and a wonderful district," says Bishop. "It will work as a means of bringing the communities together instead of keeping them separated, and we’re really excited about that part.”
Tuesday’s meeting starts at 6 p.m. at Woodstock Elementary.
