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Welcome back!
It was a week full of chatter about school calendars, yet residents still have no sense of where Sudbury’s two school districts will net out. Will they add holidays “no school” days, default back to State and Federal, or keep everything the same? Will the districts align calendars, or move in opposite directions?
But that’s not all that happened this week. Not even close. It’s another mammoth edition!
Here’s what we have for you this week:
How to Vote in Dec. 16 Special Town Election
Community Preservation Committee Hears First Round of Project Presentations
L-S Committee Expresses Preference To Add Holidays To Calendar
SPS Committee Expresses Unofficial Preference For State and Federal Holidays Only
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: SPS Gets MSBA Approval for Roofs
Sherman’s Bridge Gets Design Changes Following Public Input
Much Needed Rain
Misinformation On Chapter 70 Swirls Through Sudbury… Again
End of An Era: Select Board Closes Out Eversource Litigation Funds
Sudbury Foundation Unleashes $155,000 In Emergency Funds to Combat Local Hunger
Select Board Seeks Interim School Committee Member Following Resignation
Events!
Opinion
Nine Articles on Warrant For Dec. 1 Town Meeting
Let’s get into it!
How to Vote in Dec. 16 Special Town Election
NEWS
By The League of Women Voters of Sudbury
The Select Board has called a special town meeting for Monday, Dec. 1, which will be followed by a special town election set for Tuesday, Dec. 16, at Fairbank Community Center. The election will be held regardless of the outcome of the vote at the Dec. 1 town meeting.
The Dec. 1 town meeting, at 7 p.m. in the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School auditorium, will vote on two articles covering funding for replacement and repair of the roof systems at Haynes and Nixon elementary schools. Seven additional warrant articles were submitted by the Nov. 3 deadline and were accepted by the Select Board. The warrant is posted here.
Community Preservation Committee Hears First Round of Project Presentations
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
The Community Preservation Committee (CPC) met on Wednesday, November 5 to hear from project applicants for four of the applications for this cycle, including:
SMILE Playground
Amenities on the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail
Sudbury Housing Trust Allocation
RHSO Membership Fee
It was a largely uneventful meeting, and the committee members appeared to be broadly satisfied with the answers provided by the presenters. Here’s the running summary:
L-S Committee Expresses Preference To Add Holidays To Calendar
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
Following a lengthy discussion of calendar options on November 5, the Lincoln-Sudbury (L-S) Regional High School School Committee appears to have settled on a direction for changes to their school calendar.
The committee largely agreed that they would prefer to add holidays, including Eid and Diwali, to the school calendar. It remains undecided which holidays will be added, and some could be added by way of adjustments to early release days. But the committee had clear consensus that they would be attempting to add holidays, and would not be cutting longstanding holidays in an effort to slim down to State and Federal holidays only.
That puts L-S on a different trajectory than the Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) School Committee, which earlier in the week expressed a preference for reverting back to State and Federal holidays only.
SPS Committee Expresses Unofficial Preference For State and Federal Holidays Only
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
During the Monday, November 3 meeting of the Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) School Committee, three of the four members of the committee voiced a preference for the district to adopt a calendar that recognized State and Federal holidays only.
There was no formal vote, and no final decisions have been made. However, Vice Chair Jessica McCready, and members Betsy Sues and Nicole Burnard clearly stated a preference for following State and Federal holidays only. They cited the challenges of including all holiday requests across religious and cultural observances, concerns about processes for handling future requests, and voiced a desire not to put the committee in the position of picking and choosing which days to add to the calendar.
If the committee were to change future district calendars to reflect State and Federal holidays only, existing Jewish holidays, including Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, would no longer be “no school” days on the SPS calendar. Good Friday would also be eliminated as a “no school” day. Christmas is the only religious holiday in both the State and Federal sets of official holidays.
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: SPS Gets MSBA Approval for Roofs
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) has given approval for two school roof projects in Sudbury. Inclusion in the MSBA Accelerated Repair program sets Sudbury up for millions in reimbursements from the MSBA… assuming voters at an upcoming Special Town Meeting and special election approve the projects.
The two roof projects are for General John Nixon Elementary School and the Josiah Haynes Elementary School. The Nixon project has an estimated cost of $4,064,845 according to draft warrant articles in the latest SPS packet. The Haynes project has an estimated cost of $7,821,563 according to the same packet. (Page 64)
The estimated MSBA reimbursement for Nixon is $1,596,082 and it’s $2,983,235 for Haynes. That’s a total of $4,579,317 in State money for a combined roof project estimated at nearly $12,000,000, and it could go higher depending on some variables outlined in the MSBA letter.
Sherman’s Bridge Gets Design Changes Following Public Input
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
Say goodbye to the proposed asphalt surface on Sherman’s Bridge. In an FAQ document published by the Sudbury Department of Public Works, it was stated unequivocally that “Asphalt on the bridge is no longer being proposed.”
The document summarized the most noteworthy changes to the plans:
Much Needed Rain
FEATURES
By John Palmieri
Our weather here in Sudbury started very warm for the month and cooled some as the month progressed. We had four days of 80 degrees or more and only dipped below freezing for 2 days. To date, no extended hard freeze has occurred. The good news is that we returned to much needed normal, to even slightly above normal, precipitation values. Notable details include:
Monthly Rainfall: 4.75 inches
Year to Date: 35.93 inches
Year to Date 2024: 37.78 inches
Year to Date 2023: 52.37 inches
High Temp for the Month: 84 degrees
Low Temp for the Month : 29 degrees
The last 2 years has brought very little snow for November and December. In the short term temperatures are expected to continue on the mild side with no hard freezes — but it is November!
Misinformation On Chapter 70 Swirls Through Sudbury… Again
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
Former elected officials from the Sudbury Public Schools (SPS) School Committee and the Goodnow Library Trustees have taken to local social media to spread falsehoods about how the Town of Sudbury handles Chapter 70 State aid for Sudbury Public Schools. Their allegation largely amounts to a claim that SPS doesn’t get all of its State aid from the Town of Sudbury each year, but there’s no basis offered for that claim.
The misinformation was thoroughly debunked by the Sudbury Finance Committee at a Special Town Meeting in 2023. During that Special Town Meeting SPS put forward an article to increase their operating budget in the middle of a fiscal year, using false claims that higher-than-estimated Chapter 70 aid would not go to the schools otherwise. (See the Finance Committee explanation at 2:26:50)
End of An Era: Select Board Closes Out Eversource Litigation Funds
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
On Tuesday, November 4, the Sudbury Select Board voted to close out remaining Eversource litigation funds to free cash. The vote was 4-0, with member Dan Carty recusing for the discussion and vote.
As the Sudbury section of the Mass Central Rail Trail is nearly complete, the vote effectively turns the page from an era when the Town was actively trying to block the Eversource transmission line portion of the project. That work was completed before the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) took over to construct the paved surface of the trail and various amenities on top of the buried transmission line.
Sudbury Foundation Unleashes $155,000 In Emergency Funds to Combat Local Hunger
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
The Sudbury Foundation has rapidly mobilized to support local communities facing heightened food insecurity, announcing an emergency funding initiative of $155,000 on Tuesday, November 5, 2025.
The critical funds are being distributed immediately to 17 local hunger relief organizations across the region. This action comes in direct response to a significant challenge: a recent SNAP funding cut triggered by the ongoing federal government shutdown.
Select Board Seeks Interim School Committee Member Following Resignation
NEWS
By Kevin LaHaise
The Sudbury Select Board has announced it is seeking a resident to fill a temporary vacancy on the Sudbury Public Schools School Committee created by the recent resignation of Mandy Sim.
The individual appointed will serve as an interim member until the seat can be officially filled by election at the next Town Election on March 30, 2026. Since elected members are sworn in at the conclusion of the Annual Town Meeting in May 2025, the temporary appointment will bridge the gap until the newly elected member takes office.
Interested residents are encouraged to submit an Appointment Application form by 12:00 PM on Wednesday, December 3, 2025. Candidates are also strongly advised to include a resume with their application.
Events!
Opinion
Parting Thoughts
It’s rough out there, folks.
Yesterday a report characterized this October as the worst October for job losses in more than 20 years.
Food insecurity is suddenly a escalating nationwide crisis. Here in our neck of the woods the Sudbury Community Food Pantry and the Sudbury Foundation have taken urgent action. But there’s no end in sight.
As cold weather settles in throughout the region, officials are warning about a spike in home heating costs this winter. The costs last winter were already called a “crisis.”
Actually, the cost of everything is going through the roof.
It’s hard not feel a dark sense of pessimism when the jobs are disappearing, the costs of basic necessities are climbing, and community members are going hungry.
Post-apocalyptic fiction probably isn’t the best reading material during tough times. Nevertheless, Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” comes to mind. Not so much for the plot, but for a couple of McCarthy gems. The first line that came to mind captures that sense of being in a bad situation but lacking any viable alternatives:
“Nobody wants to be here and nobody wants to leave.”
But that’s not the line that really stands out in this moment. As dark and depressing as that book is, McCarthy didn’t leave us without hope:
"Then they set out along the blacktop in the gunmetal light, shuffling through the ash, each the other’s world entire."
Out of context, one could take that to mean family, or friends, or perhaps… community. Tough times ultimately call for togetherness of one sort or another.
And to that point… the HOPEsudbury auction opened up today. Their work is the work of community and compassion. They focus on helping members of the community who are in need. As their site says “The auction is HOPEsudbury's biggest fundraising event and the money raised enables us to support community members who are struggling.”
It’s a chance to do some good, at a time when a little good goes a long way.
Onward!