Braintree School Committee Votes 6-1 to Close Highlands Elementary for 2026-2027

NORWOOD — April 10, 2026 — Braintree School Committee votes 6-1 to close Highlands Elementary and reopen Old South for fall 2026. The committee voted Monday to close Highlands Elementary School — which enrolls approximately 315 students — and relocate its students and staff to Old South building, which would reopen as an elementary school for the 2026-2027 school year. The motion was made by Member Kirsberg and passed 6-1, with Member Fogarty casting the lone dissenting vote. Superintendent McDonald told the committee the district owes an estimated $500,000 to the Massachusetts School Building Authority on the Highlands grant and approximately $250,000 on Old South. Two town councillors, Council President Peter Morin and Councillor Ryan Sterling, appeared during public comment to urge delay, with Morin warning that "the town does not have the money to demolish Highland School — it will sit and decay in my neighborhood." Member Fogarty objected that the two consulting firms advising the district — ERS and Sanborn — had produced capacity estimates for the same buildings that differed by more than 100 students, and that no plan for the Highlands building's reuse had been presented. The vote is the first formal step in Option 2 of the district's facility master plan, which would reduce Braintree's elementary school footprint from six to five sites.