Mashpee Select Board recommends $11.5 million school HVAC borrowing for town vote

MASHPEE — March 23, 2026 — Mashpee Select Board ratified eight labor contracts and recommended an $11.5 million school HVAC borrowing for the May 9 Annual Town Meeting. Meeting Monday in the McCoy Meeting Room, the board voted unanimously in each case, approving contract funding articles totaling more than $757,000 for units including firefighters, police, dispatchers, and public works employees. The $11.5 million Quashnet Intermediate School project, which requires a Proposition 2 1/2 debt exclusion ballot question, drew the longest deliberation: board members pushed staff to expand the warrant's explanatory language to make clear that $750,000 of the project covers fire suppression upgrades required by building code, not simply air conditioning. The board chair cited research linking 90-degree classroom temperatures to declining test scores during May standardized testing, noting that "test results weigh heavy in the evaluation of our schools and of kids." The board also added Article 16 — authorizing leasing of the former police station at 19 Frank E. Hicks Drive for solar generation for up to 30 years — contingent on bond counsel clearing a treasurer's concern.