Hanson Select Board Sets June 25 Special Town Meeting on School Funding Gap

HANSON -- June 10, 2025, Hanson Select Board calls June 25 special town meeting to close a $262,669 school assessment gap. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to open, populate, and close a one-article special town meeting warrant seeking to transfer free cash to make up the difference between the $15,512,362 assessed to Hanson at the May annual town meeting and the $15,075,318 assessment the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District school committee approved June 4 after the town's override ballot question failed. Town Administrator Lisa Green warned that without the appropriation before July 1, the district faces a Chapter 112 budget representing roughly $3.37 million in cuts and as many as 32 layoffs. Free cash currently stands at $987,000 and would fall to approximately $685,000 after the transfer. Superintendent Jeff Szymaniak, attending the meeting, told the board he was "giving my opinion based upon what I know now" that the school committee is unlikely to reduce the assessment further if the article fails. The board also accepted a superior court dismissal of its MBTA Communities Act lawsuit and directed staff to arrange a legal consultation before the town falls out of compliance on July 14.