Select boards review recall-warrant language for regional school committee seats

Lakeville and Freetown select boards discussed draft warrant language on Nov. 3 intended to allow recall petitions for regional school committee members, with both boards urging further legal review and clarification before any vote.

Select board members said they were unclear about a provision that appears to require signatures equal to at least 10% of registered voters for each precinct of each member town; members noted the practical burden this could create and asked town clerks and counsel to clarify how the percentage is to be calculated and certified. One board member described the language as mirroring Athol‑Royalston precedent and said the towns have sought "mirror language" so both towns adopt identical wording.

Officials also raised two procedural concerns for counsel to address: the draft requires affidavits and petitions to be certified within a five‑day window, which municipal clerks said may be impractical in a two‑town process; and the draft named the school committee secretary as the official to receive affidavits, creating a possible conflict if that officer is the subject of a petition. Town counsel suggested designating an independent official, such as the superintendent, to accept documents in order to avoid conflicts.

Select board members agreed to keep the matter on a future agenda and to work through town administrators and counsel to produce a clarified warrant article for consideration at the next town-meeting cycle. No formal vote to place a warrant article was taken at the Nov. 3 meeting.