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 fi

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