Committee Defers Morocco Rebuild Vote to Fall

School Committee · Meeting of April 9, 2026

WINCHESTER — The Winchester School Committee voted 3-2 to delay a Massachusetts School Building Authority feasibility-funding request for a new Morocco Elementary School until the fall town meeting. Chair Tim Matthews and member Mr. Belair voted no; members Hopcroft, Mignarji and Balinese voted yes.

The vote followed emotional public comment over a since-rescinded plan to move Morocco's kindergarten and first-grade classes to Lynch School, which Select Board Chair Anthea Brady said she learned about "via a screenshot of a text," calling it "embarrassing." Superintendent Dr. Hackett apologized for the communication breakdown and said the district must still cut roughly $3.1 million to $3.3 million, about 5 percent, from its fiscal 2027 budget, eliminating elementary math specialists and central office positions while sparing the high school. Morocco will keep two sections each of kindergarten and first grade, with new registrants capped on a wait list.

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Source: the School Committee meeting of April 9, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.