Walpole School Committee Votes 6-0 for June 16 Early Release Amid World Cup Traffic Fears

WALPOLE — April 2, 2026 — Walpole School Committee votes 6-0 to make June 16 a half-day districtwide due to World Cup traffic. The unanimous vote at the April 2 meeting came after Superintendent Dr. Stephen Bouchard described severe disruptions on March 27, when a FIFA World Cup event at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough backed up Route 1, Route 27, Elm Street, and surrounding roads, leaving a special education bus nearly 45 minutes late and requiring a police escort for another. Officials said the June 16 match — Iraq vs. Norway — is expected to draw a sold-out crowd with parking lots opening at 2 p.m., well before typical dismissal. Police Chief Kellehar committed to increased patrols near downtown and the "big Y" intersection. The committee also unanimously approved an eighth-grade trip to Canopy Lake in Salem on June 11 at $80 per student, passed a $1,131,657 budget transfer, and received a detailed school counseling presentation from department head Jen Dolan, who reported a current counselor-to-student ratio of 165 to 1, down from roughly 285 to 1 when she joined the district in 2001.