West Bridgewater School Committee raises athletic fee to $350, elects new officers

WEST BRIDGEWATER -- May 4, 2026, West Bridgewater School Committee reorganizes, raises athletic fees, and grapples with open meeting law complaint. The committee elected Robin Dragonetti as chair, Kara Lazardi as vice chair, and Karen Beach as clerk at its May 4 reorganization meeting, then voted unanimously to raise the per-sport athletic participation fee from $300 to $350 with a family cap of $700, the district's athletics cost center is budgeted to rise 7 percent in FY27, with a total appropriation of $632,000 against roughly $123,000 in annual fee revenue. Student Advisory Committee representative George Barun told the committee students had proposed discounting second-sport fees by half to encourage broader participation. The committee also voted to approve and declassify amended executive session minutes from August 18, 2025 in response to a formal open meeting law complaint filed by a representative of a private organization called Open Meeting Law Enforcer, with an Attorney General attorney now assigned to the case; Dragonetti urged all members to complete one of the AG's open meeting law webinars before year's end. The FY27 school committee budget was confirmed as unanimously approved by both the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee, with Town Meeting consideration set for May 11.