On April 8, the Mattapoisett Finance Committee and Select Board sat down with Old Rochester Regional School District Superintendent Michael Nelson and Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Howard Barber. For more than an hour, Barber laid out all the moving parts of the schools’ budgets with PowerPoint presentations and deep dives into what can be a very confusing process.
The bottom line for Mattapoisett taxpayers is this: Mattapoisett’s portion of the two regional schools, the junior and senior high schools, is $6,484,514, and the town’s portion of the two elementary schools, Center and Old Hammondtown, is $8,785,207. The overall school budgets are increased by 6.89%. A letter from Barber and Nelson to Mattapoisett’s treasurer Kristi Costa confirms, “…the budget of the Mattapoisett School District is $8,785,207.”
Finance Committee members were interested in understanding the cost and/or value of ORR’s participation in the School Choice program that allows a specified number of students from outside the tri-towns to attend ORR and from outside Mattapoisett to attend Mattapoisett Schools. Barber said that the town receives $5,000 for reach School Choice student, but given that it costs the school far more to provide an education for some 99 such children, Select Board member Jordan Collyer said there is an unmet delta, one that the town is paying for.
Regarding Mattapoisett students whose educational needs cannot be met in the local schools, Nelson said that the majority of students with special needs can be and are served locally.
For the last several years, the school district has set aside funding in a capital stabilization fund. Mattapoisett’s contribution to that fund is $35,170 for FY26.
In other business, Town Administrator Mike Lorenco said that the upcoming spring Town Meeting will have 33 articles, including a citizen’s petition asking voters whether or not they want to increase the Select Board to five members.
The upcoming elections will include two ballot questions.
Question One – “Shall the Town of Mattapoisett be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half…the amount required to pay for the bond issued in order to pay for road reconstruction for Oakland Street…”
Question Two – “Shall the Town of Mattapoisett be allowed to exempt from the provisions of proposition two and one-half…the amount required to pay the costs of designing, planning, engineering, bidding, constructing, equipping and furnishing the renovation of the Mattapoisett Highway Building…”
Later into the proceedings, the board heard from Barbara Gaspar, who sought Select Board permission for the creation of a 250 Anniversary Committee to celebrate the town. Gaspar said she wishes to bring together interested parties to develop plans. Collyer suggested that she gauge community interest first. Collyer said the details could be developed at a later date and thanked her.
The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Select Board was not announced.
Mattapoisett Select Board and Finance Committee
By Marilou Newell