WHITMAN – The town will be financing a new Middle School after the debt exclusion ballot question to allow the borrowing of the $135 million for the project, minus the $59,159,000 MSBA reimbursement was passed by a narrow margin at the ballot box Saturday, Nov. 4.
The vote couldn’t have been much closer.
With 1,843 – or 16 percent – of the town’s 11,569 voters casting ballots, the question passed by 168 votes, with 1,005 voting yes to 837 voting no. The closest margin in the four town precincts was in Precinct 4 with 19 votes deciding for a new WMS, and the most decisive margin was in Precinct 3 with 64 votes making the difference. There was one provisional ballot cast, as well.
After proponents of the school project had kept a wary eye on the total number of votes cast throughout the day, they expressed nervous optimism, saying it would take 2,000 votes cast townwide for them to have any confidence in winning the day.
Applause and a loud cheer greeted Town Clerk Dawn Varley’s reading of Precinct 4’s results, however.
The School Committee was posted for a meeting Wednesday, Nov. 8 to review the next steps in the building process. The Whitman Middle School Building Committee was slated to hold such a meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
“We did it, we finally did it!” exulted School Committee member David Forth, who was among several members of both that panel and the Building Committee, along with a few school and town officials and some school project advocates who had gathered in the Town Hall lobby to hear the results. “It’s not just one vote, it’s a vote for our future and it’s going to impact us for generations to come and I’m glad we have it.
It had been a nervous day for project proponents.
“It’s a nerve-wracking feeling,” he said about waiting for the polls to close. “You never know, even with a simple yes or no vote – and it’s not just a yes or no, it’s a huge impact for our community, for our future, providing these kids with the services they need to be able to have a better lifestyle … not be deprived of the services they need to be successful because of their socio-economic status.”
Building Committee Chair Fred Small, also a School Committee member, was more subdued. He had earlier spoken of an elderly resident who had called him in tears about her fears of losing her home because of the property tax impact of the project.
“I do realize that there are many happy people and some that are upset,” he said later. “This is democracy in action. While there may be some that will see financial hardship please contact the Senior Center, the Assessor’s Office, or for that matter, myself or any of our elected officials. There may be a solution, or a way of helping that you are unaware of.”
But, he stressed, at the end of the day, the people did speak.
“We have a school,” he said. “We desperately need a new middle school. The majority of our town voted for this project. It is time to support the Town’s decision and get 1,000-percent behind this project.”
The added that the Building Committee would be meeting Tuesday.
“The committee will discuss the next steps, but I believe we’re going to go into a timing of design,” he said.
The bid documents will be drawn up after the design phase concludes.
“After bid documents, we go out to bid,” he said. “That’ll be our next big milestone [and we’ll] see how the numbers come back for that. We need to have a project that’s going to be on-budget, obviously.”
He said that he had handicapped the vote outcome earlier in the day that it could have taken at least 2,000 voters turning out to be enough to pass the project.
“It’s the will of the town,” he said. “It’s the will of the people.”
Assistant Superintendent of Schools George Ferro was said he was still absorbing what had just happened, adding that he had not yet calculated the vote margin.
“I’m just happy that the people of Whitman voted … it’s a great process,” he said. “I think everybody had the ability to learn, see and do and they chose what’s best for themselves. I think it’s a great day, not only for the citizens, but for the students now and in the future.”
Select Board member Justin Evans, who succeeded former Select Board Chair Randy LaMattina on the Building Committee, said the vote result was very exciting.
“It bodes very well for Whitman to have a new facility for Whitman Middle that can house students in a clean environment with an auditorium built in, which is something I was really interested in,” Evans said. “To have [a grade range of] five to eight, matching Hanson, matching some of the best practices in the community, it’s a very exciting day.”
Finance Committee member and WMS Building Committee Vice Chair Kathleen Ottina said the close vote showed how hard proponents worked to convince the voters to support the school project.
“But this has been a community-builder,” she said. “This has given us a corps of political activists who will become more informed about the town issues and show up and make their voices heard.”
Evans said he wasn’t sure the project would win in every precinct as it did.
“It’s a community effort,” Ottina said. “I’ve met people that I’ve never met before. … It’s a tide-changer for the town of Whitman, I think.”
School Committee member Dawn Byers was overcome with the emotion of the moment for a few seconds when asked for her view of the outcome.
“This is a game-changer for the town, the community,” she finally said. “I’m so proud of every family and citizen who came out to vote and I thank them for their support.”
She also expressed gratitude to the residents who were informed, came out to attend meetings and participated in the project process since it began in 2019.
“[I thank] parents who worked hard to communicate and to get information out there so citizens understood the importance of this building project,” she said.