Transparency... Is there a reason why the proposed budget is not posted online (on one of the Schools' websites)? Uploading a pdf is technically quite easy. Giving all stakeholders (i.e. taxpayers) the ability to review its detail might actually prompt some input and participation. Additionally, how about some recaps or summaries of where money has been saved; seems all we ever hear about is what is going up. I am certain there must be savings or cuts within each budget. View Comment

Agree; would be interesting to see what the total costs for the travel costs reimbursements were and have those dollars moved out of the budget. We'll never reduce budgets unless we start work on each line item. View Comment

Certainly, security and gun control are major factors in addressing the problem, but let's see the same attention and energies applied to the issue of mental health. Are we really doing everything we can to identify and reach out to students, individuals and families dealing with mental health issues? What active programs do we have that connect families with programs and professionals? Where do families begin? Where do communities begin? Do they exist, how many people even know about them? What conversations and supports are taking place? It is a lonely, complicated road for many families (emotionally, financially, socially). Removing the stigmas that come with 'needing help' is one of the first steps. Additionally, budget cuts (on a local, state and federal level) to any mental health program should be off the table until this national issue is solved. View Comment

45 cent increase just because it's allowed under Prop 2 1/2... Sounds like a rather lame explanation. Where and why is that additional money needed? 10% tax increase IS painful and will hurt the majority of homeowners. View Comment

And when do the tax bills come out showing the full impact to the taxpayers? View Comment

Some towns/schools have specific time periods when parents can drop off/pick up students to streamline the traffic and not have it interfere with bus activity. View Comment

I agree with you - their arrogance and wasteful spending of taxpayer's money is disgraceful. Their own pockets may be deep and allow for frivolous spending; mine does not. View Comment

Who has close to $100k to spend on cosmetic changes? Oh wait... the same people that do not care about the 'average' taxpayer. I suggest that those that don't like the way it looks donate their own money and not spend mine in such ridiculous manner! View Comment

Please tell me that we did not have to pay for this video to be made?!! There is nothing in it that is specific to Grafton's "education, infrastructure, civic engagement, entertainment and real estate" as Mr. McInerney states. How does it educate and promote Grafton when the majority of pictures are not even of Grafton? With the exception of a few 'inserts', this could be almost any average hometown in America. View Comment

Yes, it would be helpful to know how the assessment and student allotment per town are calculated. Is this information available on our town pages or a BVT website? Grafton = 105 students @ $11,145 each Northbridge = 140 students @ 7,211 each Millbury = 63 students @ 10,998 each View Comment

I am in complete agreement. My walking takes me by the MSES building and I will often pull weeds that are growing close to the building and/or through the sidewalk pavement. I do not understand why the grounds are allowed to look so abandoned. If it is not part of someone's 'paid' responsibilities, then how about the School Department working to get volunteers from the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Honor Society, Garden Club, Parent Groups, Teacher Groups, etc to build some pride and ownership of 'their' buildings. Similiarly, the same is happening in front of the old Town Hall - One Grafton Common. The planting area in front of the beautiful new, granite entrance is becoming overgrown with weeds and grass among the flowers and shrubs. Curb appeal, maintaining what we have invested in and pride in our overall community contribute to making Grafton the town we all want to live in. View Comment

Thank you to all who had the vision, energy and perserverance to see this project from start to finish. It is so nice to drive by and, I am sure, even nicer to enjoy when there (which I hope to do often in the future). View Comment

If the building was built to the approved specs, we should leave it alone and allow the town to recoup/use the unspent funds elsewhere. The design was approved by all parties beforehand and should have been addressed prior to final approvals/contracting. We are fortunate to be getting a state-of-the-art school AND be under budget. Let's be smart and not greedy; use those savings in another needed area. View Comment

I agree - it's the gauge (thickness) of the plastic bags that is the issue. Having bags of the same gauge with or without the drawstring will still rip when the homeowner tries to remove a full bag from the trash can. What is the thickness (mil) of the current bags, are thicker bags available (at what cost)? Did we ever look into the use of tags/stickers instead of bags. Advantages of stickers include lower cost over buying bags, can be used on different size bags that homeowners use, can also be used on larger, bulky items that don't fit into the bags. View Comment

1.7 Million to spend and we can't think of a better way than this? If you believe that giving students individual iPADS equates to them learning 24/7, then I have a bridge that I would like to show you. View Comment

Didn't we already appropriate $168k for most of the issues? Why are we not fixing what was previously identified and approved by the voters in town? I understand that those items would be addressed *if* a larger expansion is approved, but that is not in the immediate horizon, so we should spend what we've approved and eliminate the threat of fine NOW. View Comment

Just wondering... what is the student capacity for the 5 existing schools that we currently use; are we going to 'need' expansions to either of those facilities? Also, what, if any, changes are needed to the current Middle School and current Elementary School to accommodate the younger students (i.e. sinks, toilets, classroom and/or cafeteria furniture)? View Comment

No... What part of the "No" vote do the Board of Trustees not understand? What different information and/or criteria are they taking into the MBLC meeting to represent what Grafton really needs and wants? Seems like they are chasing after the money without any re-defined plans. View Comment

What is the status of the full-day kindergarten proposal? Hopefully that has been taken off the table as well. View Comment

Tax Bill? And when will the new bills be sent out so we can see what the impact of the valuation changes are? View Comment