Whitman Voters Back $125.9 Million School Borrowing, Reject Naming Petition

WHITMAN -- January 12, 2026, Whitman Special Town Meeting authorizes $125.9 million in borrowing for new middle school, defeating a naming petition in the same session. The January 12 meeting, attended by 147 voters, unanimously approved shifting the Whitman Middle School project debt from the unrated Whitman-Hanson Regional School District to the town's own Moody's Aa3 credit rating, a move Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter said was needed because the district's bond rating was withdrawn after delayed audits stemming from a data breach left it unable to borrow competitively. The district's $30 million bond anticipation note comes due March 18. Voters also unanimously ratified three-year collective bargaining agreements for the Whitman Fire Union Local 1769 and the Whitman Police Union Local 494, covering July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2028, with the fire contract drawing $37,000.02 from free cash and the police contract drawing $35,026.66; annual police cost-of-living adjustments are 2.5 percent each year. Finance Committee Chair Mike Warner said the panel voted 8-0 in favor of the police contract. A citizen's petition to name the new school at 100 Corthell Avenue the Frederick M. Small Middle School was defeated on a voice vote after sharp floor debate over Small's record on diversity issues and whether non-educators should have schools named in their honor.