Community - Page 18

School Committee moves to leverage anticipated increases in state aid for the 2025-26 preliminary budget

February 21, 2025
Budget season formally kicked off at the School Committee’s January 30 business meeting with a 2025-26 budget overview presentation and recommendation to set the preliminary budget at $116.1M. This represents a 2.9 percent increase over a base budget that has been reduced by retirement of debt ($1.6M) and removal of $1.7M in allocations used in 2024-25 for unanticipated, non-recurring expenses. The School Committee’s budget guidelines for 2025-26 limit the overall budget increase to 3 percent. Acton’s preliminary assessment is set at $79.8M, a 0.97 percent increase. Boxborough’s preliminary assessment is set at $16.8M, a 5.25 percent increase. Each town’s share…
A tall man stands next to a screen. The screen shows a picture of two astronauts on a space walk. The image is labeled "What's a Nice Jewish Boy Doing in a Place Like This?"

Astronaut lands in Acton

May 16, 2024
What mother doesn’t want her child to grow up to be an astronaut? We learned this on Sunday May 12 (Mother’s Day) at Congregation Beth Elohim when Astronaut Dr. Jeffrey Hoffman presented his documentary Space Torah to an audience of about 50 congregants and community members. Dr. Hoffman…
lilac flowers

Acton observes Mental Health Awareness Month

May 16, 2024
The Town of Acton is sponsoring two programs geared toward parents, community members, and professionals as part of Mental Health Awareness Month. Mental Health Awareness Month — recognized in May — aims to eradicate the stigma surrounding mental illness as well as promote strategies and provide support for…
The AB upper gym is packed with voters for the first night of Town Meeting.

Acton Town Meeting approves school budgets: Articles 7 and 8

May 7, 2024
The Acton-Boxborough Regional School District Assessment and Minuteman Regional Vocational Technical High School District Assessment were both approved at the May 6 town meeting. Article 7 On May 6, Acton Town Meeting overwhelmingly approved Article 7, which permits the Town to fund Acton’s portion of the Acton-Boxborough Regional…
a pie chart with colored segments; the segments are labeled with town department names

Acton Town Meeting: Town Budget articles pass with ease

May 7, 2024
Article 4: Town Operating Budget The Town Operating Budget, as its name suggests, pays the town’s expenses for the upcoming Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. Those expenses include familiar town services such as the Fire Department, Police, and libraries; those services, and their proportions, are shown in the ‘pie’…
The sky with the northern lights in full bloom. The sky is purple and green with a few stars showing.

Did you see the northern lights this weekend?

May 7, 2024
Acton night owls are enjoying a rare view of the aurora borealis, or northern lights, this weekend thanks to a geomagnetic storm resulting from an unusually large sunspot . The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) wrote on their website, “For many people, the aurora is a beautiful…

Other Town Meeting articles

Article 1 – Choose town officers On the first night of Town Meeting, the Town Moderator split choosing town officers into two parts, to ensure that the budget articles were discussed and voted on in a timely manner. Part one included all of the uncontested positions, which was…
Red, white, and blue sign that says Town Meeting starts Monday. The sign is on a grassy area so it can be seen from the road.

Town Manager appreciates contributors to Town Meeting

May 7, 2024
Editor: Town Manager John Mangiaratti responded to questions from the Acton Exchange about Town Meeting 2024 with the following letter: The 2024 Annual Town Meeting had the highest attendance in Acton’s history. The voters approved an operating budget and school assessments supported by additional revenue from an operational…
A cheery flowerbed with a wooden sign that says "Planted and maintained by the Acton Garden Club."

Oval Garden is Dedicated

May 7, 2024
The Oval Garden in front of Town Hall, newly planted by the Acton Garden Club to commemorate the club’s 90th Anniversary, was dedicated on the morning of May 1. The 20’x18’ perennial garden was designed with plantings that will withstand, with little maintenance or watering, the harsh sun,…
A woman with black hair, big pink glasses, and wearing a purple dress holds an award (the Black Excellence on the Hill Award).

Julie Pierce promotes a vibrant Acton

April 30, 2024
Julie Pierce, Acton’s Economic and Community Development Director, was completely surprised and honored when she recently won a “Black Excellence on the Hill” award from the Massachusetts Black and Latino Legislative Caucus. Unbeknownst to her, State Representative Simon Cataldo, who represents parts of Acton, had nominated her for…
Woman with blond hair and glasses.

Interview with Acton’s new Health Director

April 30, 2024
Penelope (Penny) Funaiole has been appointed as Acton’s new Health and Family Services Director, replacing the recently retired Sheryl Ball. Her most recent experience was as the Prevention and Outreach Manager for the City of Medford for eight plus years. Prior to that position, she held the position…
An alcove inside Danny's Place with a rose window and low grey cushions with backs in a circle on the floor.

Danny’s Place: A Haven in Our Midst

April 30, 2024
When Cristina Morales was about to give birth to her second child in Mexico, her husband’s work brought the family to Boston. That was in 2012. They settled in Acton and Morales’s daily running route brought her up Pope Road and down Strawberry Hill Rd. Her children would…
Three dogs playing tug of war with a cloth frisbee.

Dog Park Project Pads Closer to Construction

April 30, 2024
A wonderful thing happened upon Acton’s receipt of a Stanton Foundation Grant in 2021 to design a Dog Park: all the proponents interested in revitalizing the 348, 352 and 362-364 Main Street parcels got together and collaborated. The Dog Park Committee (348 Main), the Senior Park Committee (352…
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