Littleton School Committee Clears Path to Special Town Meeting on $385,000 Shaker Lane Request

LITTLETON -- October 26, 2023, Littleton School Committee backs three special town meeting articles totaling over $5 million in school-related spending. The committee reviewed warrant articles ahead of the November 1 special town meeting, including Article 7, which asks voters for an additional $385,000 to advance the Shaker Lane School OPM and feasibility study after inflation drove costs beyond earlier appropriations. Superintendent Kelly Clinch acknowledged the return trip to town meeting "doesn't sit particularly well," but called the additional funding unavoidable. Article 10 proposes $734,000 in new tennis courts at Littleton High School, split between $400,000 in Community Preservation Act funds and $334,000 in borrowing, replacing courts displaced by a planned senior center construction. On capital infrastructure, Assistant Superintendent Steve Mark warned that bids for a 24-year-old high school rooftop HVAC unit came in above $350,000 against a $270,000 appropriation, and that the district's 10-year plan now projects roughly $11 million in school building investments through fiscal year 2032. The committee also voted unanimously to enter executive session to finalize accretion of BCBA, occupational therapist, and physical therapist positions into Union A.