Groveland Select Board Orders Pentucket to Use State Enrollment Data for Town Assessments

GROVELAND — June 8, 2026 — Groveland Select Board votes to challenge Pentucket Regional School District's enrollment billing methodology. The board voted 5-0 Monday to authorize its chair to co-sign a joint letter with the chairs of Merrimac and West Newbury demanding that Pentucket use its own state-reported October 1 DESE enrollment figures when calculating member-town assessments — a methodology the district's regional agreement already requires but that Pentucket has reportedly not followed for as long as a decade. Select Board Member Kathy Castronova, who led the investigation alongside Town Administrator Rebecca Boucher, said the Pentucket assessment represents more than 60 percent of Groveland's annual budget, that a prior enrollment totaling error cost the town money and was only partially corrected saving roughly $150,000, and that without a verifiable data source "we have no way to check our assessment." The board also approved $147,400 in fiscal year 2026 budget transfers across six departments, including $54,000 to cover police overtime and part-time staffing due to ongoing officer vacancies, and voted unanimously to accept resignations from two Finance Board members, James Scanlon and Bill O'Neill.