Wenham Select Board Tells Working Group to Pursue School Capital Cost Split

WENHAM -- September 23, 2025, Wenham Select Board directs school agreement working group to explore separating capital costs by town after Cutler School vote fails. The board reached consensus Tuesday on adding capital cost separation to its negotiating agenda for the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District agreement, a shift prompted by the mid-September defeat of the Cutler School renovation project in a district-wide election. Finance Committee member Finn Sprague put the stakes plainly, estimating ADA compliance and deferred maintenance at each of the district's three elementary schools at roughly $50 million per building. Select Board member Gary Cheesman argued the moment demanded action: "If we don't do it now, we won't be able to do it for another decade or so until another negotiation." The board also received a Bartholomew investment portfolio update showing the town's new prudent trust fund, opened April 21, 2025 with a $5,070,327 transfer, has posted a 14.89 percent time-weighted return since inception and an OPEB account return of 10.93 percent for the fiscal year; and voted 4 to 0 to authorize an October 18 opening day celebration for the newly renovated West Wenham Park.