Hanson Select Board votes to seek state Inspector General review of school district finances

HANSON -- February 10, 2026, Hanson Select Board authorizes Inspector General referral over regional school district financial management. The board voted unanimously Tuesday to have Chair Laura Hess coordinate with the town of Whitman to pursue a review by the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General into the finances of the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District, whose budget shortfall board members referenced as reaching $4.7 million. The board also voted to direct Town Administrator Lisa Green to file a public records request on the employment status of former superintendent Brian Simon, and approved sending a letter to the school committee calling for improved communication and an end to what members described as inaccurate public attacks on Hanson's budget process. Resident Joe Campbell, who identified himself as a union president in a South Shore school district that went through its own fiscal crisis in FY23, argued an independent OIG review was the only credible path to accountability given the cost and difficulty of a private forensic audit. The board separately appointed Dennis Grow as highway heavy equipment operator effective February 23 and accepted the resignation of veteran department employee Kevin Dykes effective February 20.