Southbridge’s elected School Committee has entered the third and final phase of its state-approved governance plan, giving members a more active role in finance, curriculum and other district work.
What Southbridge still does not have is a date for the state to return full control of its schools.
School Committee Chair Brittany Davis presented the Phase 3 plan to the Town Council on August 24. The same meeting included a public update on the unresolved firefighter contract and divided votes involving Crystal Street construction and new solar and battery-storage regulations.
This report is based on the official August 24 Town Council recording and the amended meeting agenda. Approved minutes had not been posted when this article was prepared.
The biggest takeaways
Phase 3 is the final stage of the School Committee’s governance-development plan, but completing it will not automatically end state receivership.
No date or specific deadline has been set for returning the schools to local control.
The firefighters’ union remained without a new contract after 415 days, according to both the union’s public statement and the Town Manager.
The Council unanimously approved rules for using an additional $50,000 in locally funded senior rent assistance.
A $41,719.78 Crystal Street change order passed 6-2 after a lengthy debate over whether the added work should have been anticipated.
The Council authorized $79,300 for Mill Street bridge land and easement costs, with the larger bridge project expected to use state and federal transportation funding.
Proposed solar and battery-storage rules advanced 5-2, but were only referred to the September 16 public hearing—not adopted.
Table of Contents
Phase 3 begins, but local control has no deadline
Massachusetts placed Southbridge Public Schools in receivership in January 2016 after designating the district chronically underperforming. Under receivership, the state-appointed receiver holds powers normally exercised by both the superintendent and School Committee.
The School Committee’s governance plan is intended to rebuild members’ knowledge and demonstrate that the elected committee can again perform its full responsibilities.
Davis described the three phases this way:
Phase 1: Building relationships among committee members, the Town Council, superintendent or receiver and state education officials. The committee also adopted operating norms.
Phase 2: Additional training on parliamentary procedure, the Open Meeting Law, policy, superintendent evaluations and collective bargaining. Student representatives also returned to the committee.
Phase 3: Putting the training into practice through active subcommittees and hands-on participation in district work.
Phase 3 includes Finance, Curriculum and Negotiations subcommittees. The receiver will continue to lead collective bargaining, although School Committee members will be able to participate.
Davis said the state education commissioner approved Phase 3 without amendments.
Councilors welcomed the progress but repeatedly returned to the question residents have asked for years: When will Southbridge regain control of its schools?
Davis said there is still no official date.
She described Phase 3 as the final phase of the local governance plan and said the chair and vice chair would continue seeking quarterly meetings with the commissioner to demonstrate the committee’s progress and capacity.
What the state looks for before ending receivership
Entering the final governance phase is significant, but it is not the same as ending receivership.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the commissioner considers whether a district has:
Made the academic and other progress required under its turnaround plan.
Developed the capacity to continue improving after state control ends.
The School Committee may also petition the commissioner to remove the chronically underperforming designation.
That means the state will evaluate more than whether the committee completed its training. Student performance, district operations, finances, leadership stability and the committee’s demonstrated ability to govern may all affect the eventual decision.
Southbridge’s turnaround plan was renewed for another three years in November 2022. The state continues to list Southbridge among its current chronically underperforming districts.
The practical update for residents is therefore mixed: Southbridge has reached the final phase of its local governance plan, but the state has made no commitment about when receivership will end.
Firefighter contract remains unresolved
The August 24 meeting also brought a rare public discussion of the town’s contract negotiations with Southbridge firefighters.
Town Manager John Jovan responded to a union social-media post saying firefighters had worked without a new contract for 415 days. Jovan acknowledged that the number was accurate but said the parties’ bargaining agreement limits what either side should discuss publicly.
He said negotiations were ongoing and that he was working toward an agreement that would be fair to employees while remaining financially responsible to taxpayers and consistent with the town’s other labor agreements.
Jovan also pushed back on the union’s statement that firefighters were being disrespected by their employer. He cited the town’s approximately $29 million new fire station and roughly $310,000 in self-contained breathing apparatus equipment as examples of community support for the department.
$50,000 approved for senior rent assistance
The Council voted 8-0 to use an additional $50,000 in locally raised funds for the Senior Tenant Program.
The program previously used federal Community Development Block Grant money. Staff said approximately $97,000 of the original $100,000 had been spent, assisting an estimated 30 or more residents from approximately 45 applications.
The new $50,000 is town money previously authorized through free cash—not another federal grant. The Council approved using generally the same program terms while increasing the permitted income-to-debt ratio from 2.5 to 3, potentially allowing several more residents to qualify.
Staff clarified that the current guidelines generally require applicants to:
Be at least 65 years old.
Meet the program’s income requirements.
Show a rent increase of at least 25% within the previous 18 months.
Use the benefit for rent paid directly to the landlord.
The current program generally provides up to three months of assistance on a one-time basis. Because the new money is locally controlled, the Council could revisit those rules later.
Residents interested in applying should confirm the full eligibility rules with the town’s Economic Development and Planning Office.
Solar and battery rules advance to September hearing
Proposed zoning changes for solar facilities and battery energy storage systems advanced on a 5-2 vote.
The vote did not adopt the regulations. It formally referred them to the Planning Board and added them to the joint Town Council–Planning Board public hearing scheduled for September 16.
Planning staff said the drafts are based largely on Massachusetts model bylaws and are intended to bring Southbridge into compliance with the state’s new consolidated energy-permitting system.
Under that system, local boards may still review qualifying projects, but the various permits would be processed through one consolidated application. Larger facilities above state thresholds would be reviewed by the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board rather than decided entirely at the local level.
Councilors and residents raised questions about how much local authority Southbridge will retain. Town officials said the state’s 2024 climate law placed limits on how municipalities can regulate energy projects and requires communities to comply with the new permitting standards beginning October 1.
The referral passed 5-2 after officials emphasized that the Council was only sending the drafts to a public hearing.
The September 16 hearing will also include the previously reported temporary data-center moratorium. Neither the energy bylaws nor the data-center moratorium is currently in effect.
What happens next
Tuesday, September 1: State primary voting at the Southbridge Community Center.
Monday, September 14, at 7 p.m.: Next scheduled regular Town Council meeting.
Wednesday, September 16, at 6 p.m.: Joint Town Council–Planning Board hearing on the solar regulations, battery-storage regulations and proposed data-center moratorium in the MacKinnon Council Chambers. View the official hearing notice.
Thursday, September 17: Town Hall will close at 2:30 p.m. for mandatory staff training on the Open Meeting Law and Public Records Law. A separate training for municipal boards and commissions is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Saturday, September 26, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Household hazardous-waste collection at the DPW.
For the schools, the key next step is less definite. The School Committee plans to implement its Phase 3 responsibilities and continue requesting quarterly progress meetings with state education officials. No receivership exit date has been announced.
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