The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics on Tuesday reversed itself and asked a D.C. Superior Court judge to invalidate a referendum on Mayor Adrian Fenty’s school takeover plan.

In another twist to the ongoing saga of who controls the D.C. Public Schools, the elections board filed a motion with Judge Lynn Leibovitz that takes Fenty’s side, asking the judge to declare the ballot issue — one it approved last month — “an improper subject for referendum.” The decision likely ends any hope for critics of the mayor’s takeover to put the question to the people.