Ben Fleisher remembers debates over school consolidation when he was a student at Onteora High School. Now 46 and raising children of his own in the district, the acupuncturist and Olive resident said this week’s failed vote to centralize students at a single campus in Boiceville reflects a deeper community rupture.
“The community owes it to itself to address this in a way that it hasn’t,” said Fleisher, a member of Onteora Parents Engaged Now, a group opposed to closing Woodstock Elementary School. That would mean “unearthing what this conflict is about, getting us up to the present, and having a social justice conversation.”
It’s a conciliatory thought in a debate that split neighbor from neighbor in the runup to Tuesday’s vote. While the Onteora Central School District may put a revised plan on the ballot as soon as November, the outcome revealed a stark divide between those who argue that consolidation is necessary and those who say keeping Woodstock Elementary open will sustain community spirit and attract young families.
“It is disappointing but not devastating,” said school board president Cindy Bishop. “We’re still going to move in the right direction.”
In the end, the results weren’t close: 1,398 voted against the proposal, compared to 1,164 in favor—a margin of about 10%. At the Woodstock polling site, voters overwhelmingly rejected it, 1,039 to 366. At Bennett Elementary, the other polling location, supporters outnumbered opponents, 798 to 359.
That split wasn’t surprising. Bennett stood to benefit under the district’s plan for upgrades that would have added classrooms and sports fields, among other long-overdue fixes, in preparation for an influx of students due to consolidation. While Woodstock is already set to be closed in 2028, under a 2023 vote, residents such as the Onteora parents’ group hope that the tide of resistance will force the district to reconsider.
And reconsidering is very much on the district’s mind, especially after opponents seized on the price tag and the fact that it would need to borrow $50.5 million over 20 years to pay for renovating Bennett. School officials, putting a brave face on the failure, also plan to review results from exit polls conducted Tuesday.
“It’s not unusual for a capital project proposition to fail on the first time it goes to a community, especially in this community,” said Superintendent Victoria McLaren. “We have not asked for a bond in decades. And so this is a process, and we’re dedicated to doing what’s right for our students.”
A new vote won’t happen soon. Lawyers told the school board that it must wait at least 45 days before holding another vote.
“Potentially, it could go back on in November if we were ready,” Bishop said. “But we have to see what that means and what we have to do to get ready.”
Also at play are broader population trends across Ulster County and the Hudson Valley. Shrinking enrollment, rising housing costs, and falling birthrates have contributed to school closures from Rosendale to Phoenicia. Since 2004, Onteora’s enrollment has dropped by more than half across its 300-square-mile district, which serves roughly 45,000 residents in Shandaken, Olive, Woodstock, West Hurley, and parts of Marbletown and Lexington. Across the region, enrollment has declined by nearly 50,000 students since its 2003 peak, with 46 schools closing since 1999, according to state data and the nonprofit Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress.
It’s also unclear how the Woodstock Elementary School, a one-story building dating to 1950, could be repurposed should it eventually be closed. West Hurley Elementary is only now being redeveloped into condominiums, after years of delays. The Woodstock school sits astride the main entrance to the town, at the intersection of Mill Hill Road and Route 375, a position so prominent that any proposed redevelopment will draw intense scrutiny.
For now, district leaders say they’ll listen, reflect, and will aim to return with a plan that they hope will earn broader support.
“A possibility may be to take a look at the proposition as it’s currently written and see if we can make some adjustments, and some of it may be the exit poll information,” said Rory Smith, who along with Jenny Jared was one of two pro-consolidation candidates elected to the school board this week; the third candidate was anti-consolidation. “I was hopeful that it was going to pass, personally. I thought it was the right direction for the district and a great opportunity for the kids.”
Amy Wu is a reporter covering Woodstock and Saugerties. Send correspondence to amy@theoverlooknews.com.
Alec D.B. McCabe is a contributing writer and editor. Send correspondence to reporting@theoverlooknews.com.
