Ross MacPherson, a 14-year Plympton resident with two children at Dennett School, was unanimously appointed to the Plympton School Committee on Nov. 5, filling a vacancy that arose when a member joined the Finance Committee. MacPherson will serve until the May 2026 town election.
The appointment followed a two-step process across two town boards. On Oct. 27, the School Committee unanimously voted to recommend MacPherson to the Board of Selectmen, which formally approved the appointment nine days later.
School Committee Chair Jason Fraser explained that the vacancy arose when a member joined the Finance Committee. According to Fraser state law prohibits anyone from serving simultaneously on the Finance Committee and another committee subject to its budgetary oversight.
“The Board of Selectmen had asked me to strongly consider appointing someone for the remainder of the term, which would end in May,” Fraser said. “If said candidate wants to continue after that point, they would have to pull papers and run as a normal election.”
After the committee advertised the opening, MacPherson was the only resident to step forward. He brings extensive community service experience, including nine and a half years on the Public Safety Building Committee and a recent stint on the Town Properties Committee. He has run Plympton’s Cub Scout program for four years and now oversees both Cub Scouts and the Boy Scout troop.
“Service is a big part of my kind of core ethos, and my wife has said I get two things, and since I left Town Properties, I have an opening for one more thing,” MacPherson told the committee. “So, I’m happy to fill this as long as needed.”
Fraser praised the family support behind MacPherson’s candidacy, noting the importance of balancing volunteer service with work and family commitments.
The appointment comes as the district faces significant budget pressures. During the same Oct. 27 meeting, Fraser delivered a stark warning about insufficient federal and state funding forcing difficult local decisions.
“There’s not a single house in Plympton that has not seen cost go up year over year at two and a half percent, and I’m sorry to say it to the voters of Plympton, two and a half percent is not going to be able to provide enough dollars for the school to maintain the level services,” he said. “So we’re going to have a very local decision to make in May.”
Fraser criticized federal officials for allowing nutritional assistance to potentially expire, calling it “absolutely unacceptable” that vulnerable residents might struggle to put food on the table. He noted uncertainty around Title funding and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act funding, which he said remains historically underfunded at 14% despite a statutory requirement of 40%.
He expressed frustration with state-level progress on the Chapter 70 school funding formula, noting that more than 220 Massachusetts communities received only minimal aid last year—up to $150 per student—insufficient to meet inflationary pressures.
“This is going to be a locally controlled situation where we will present options to the voters of Plympton, and Plympton is going to have to decide where its values lie,” Fraser said. “Do the values lie in funding [and] providing a high quality education experience to our students, or are we going to have to face what cuts may have to be made here?”
In other business, the School Committee approved a memorandum of understanding with the Plympton Police Department for the school resource officer program and discussed a $12,000 capital request for phone system replacement needed by Jan. 2027. Superintendent Jill Proulx reported the regionalization study with Collins Center is underway, with a final report expected in 18 months.
At the Nov. 5 Board of Selectmen meeting, Town Administrator Liz Dennehy reported progress exploring Office 365 and Microsoft Copilot as a potential alternative to expensive permitting software.
The solution, suggested by a Town Properties Committee member, could eliminate the need for permitting software estimated at $60,000. Rehoboth pays $25 per user per month—$300 annually—for Office 365 with Copilot. With fewer than 200 potential users, Plympton’s annual cost would be substantially less than the permitting software option.
Dennehy is investigating whether board and committee members with town email addresses would count as users, which would affect total costs. She’s also checking for municipal discounts and exploring whether the town’s Community Compact grant could be repurposed for the solution.
Carver declined to implement the system due to cost, Dennehy said. She’s also seeking quotes from smaller-scale permitting software companies for comparison.
Dennehy also reported expanded community support for residents facing food insecurity following SNAP benefit cuts.
The Council on Aging expanded food pantry hours at the townhouse to Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., with evening hours planned. Library Director Mike Slawson created a miniature food pantry at the library with pantry staples and will assist with fundraising and donations.
The Congregational Church announced a free spaghetti supper for the entire community on Friday, Nov. 8 at 5 p.m., initiated in response to SNAP benefit cuts affecting 182 Plympton residents.
“The original reason we started the whole process was because of the SNAP benefits being cut short,” Arthur Bloomquist said. “Unfortunately, there’s no way for us to find out who those recipients are… So what we did instead is to have it available to the whole town.”
The church is seeking volunteers and will evaluate whether to make the dinner recurring based on turnout.