Proponents of keeping Woodstock Elementary School open will make their case once more on Sept. 30, when the Onteora Central School District Board of Education meets at the Woodstock Elementary School at 6 p.m. The board is expected to vote that night on a resolution to formally close the school.

Leaders of the community group Keep Woodstock Alive (KWA) say the move defies the will of voters, who in May rejected a $70 million capital spending plan to consolidate schools on the Boiceville campus. That plan was defeated 1,398 to 1,164. The group argues that closing Woodstock Elementary ignores community opposition, financial risks, and the school’s central role in town life.

“We’ve been asking for more information on why closing is necessary, but the district hasn’t given us answers,” said Tansy Michaud, a KWA member and parent of a young child who would attend the school.

“Instead of responding with solutions, the public is being ignored,” added Ed McGeady, who has two children at the school. Another parent, Meg Brenner, said bluntly: “The school board has blindsided the community.”

Among the group’s chief concerns:

• The board is acting too quickly after the failed May proposition without fully exploring alternatives.
  
• Closing the school disregards Woodstock Elementary’s economic and community role.
  
• The district risks overextending itself financially amid looming state and federal funding cuts.
  
• Students from Woodstock could face bus rides up to 60% longer to the Boiceville campus.
  

KWA leaders say their immediate goal is to buy at least five more years while demographic trends, environmental standards, and evolving student needs become clearer.

In 2023, the school board passed a resolution supporting a move “toward a unified central campus by 2028,” but it did not explicitly call for closing Woodstock.

“We (the 2023 board) should have said Woodstock will close by 2028. Had that been the language, we would have been working on design by now,” said Board President Cindy Bishop at last week’s meeting.

During the Sept. 16 board discussion, Bishop urged her fellow board members to reach a consensus on what should be the priority items covered in a new capital budget referendum that could go to the voters in December.  Both Bishop and board vice president Rick Knutsen said the fiscal landscape tied to education spending is changing rapidly.

“We all need to realize that our enrollment in Onteora continues to decrease. Our priorities have to be the most important use of taxpayer funds and we need to have the trust of taxpayers. The future financially is so uncertain,” Bishop said.

According to Bishop, priority one is getting a bond passed and “making sure the community understands that this is our role as a school board and that we have to move to a central campus.”

At least two members of the current board, Clark Goodrich and Caroline Jerome, have questioned the value of passing a Woodstock-closing resolution.

Scott Widmeyer is co-founder of The Overlook. He can be reached at scott@theoverlooknews.com.