Lakeville Select Board and Finance Committee reject recommending school stabilization draw

Select Board · Meeting of July 21, 2026

Lakeville's Select Board and Finance Committee both voted unanimously against recommending that the town draw $1,353,284 from its general stabilization fund to cover a contested Freetown-Lakeville Regional School District assessment, sending an unendorsed warrant to a special town meeting set for Monday, July 27, at Apponequet Regional High School at 6:30 p.m. Town Administrator Andrew Sokol and Finance Director Mike Ellis presented a sources-and-uses analysis projecting a $3.4 million structural deficit in fiscal 2028 and a $5.2 million gap in fiscal 2029 if the stabilization draw proceeds, warning that the town's free cash position has been depleted by two consecutive years of state cherry sheet shortfalls totaling more than $1 million. The Finance Committee voted 4-0 and the Select Board voted 5-0 not to recommend Article 1.

Select Board member Chris Polanka stated the board's consensus bluntly: "I do not believe in using a credit card to pay our mortgage." If no article passes July 27, the unresolved assessment could ultimately trigger intervention by the state education commissioner, who could set the assessment amount unilaterally as early as December 1.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,870 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of July 21, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.