Athol-Royalston School Committee Elects Newman Vice Chair, Joins Meta Lawsuit

School Committee · Meeting of September 16, 2026

Athol-Royalston School Committee elects Bobby Newman vice chair, signs onto Meta lawsuit. The committee unanimously agreed to join a multistate lawsuit against Meta over social media's alleged mental-health harms to students, pending legal counsel Russell's review of the contract and a future executive-session briefing from the law firm, which is taking a 25 percent contingency fee. Business Manager Nancy reported the district closed fiscal 2026 with $34,267,954 in expenditures against a roughly $34.8 million budget, returning $524,139 to the Excess and Deficiency fund.

The committee also approved $1,332,925.73 in year-end account reclassifications and referred a fuel-efficient vehicle policy, tied to a $165,000 Green Communities HVAC grant, to its Policy Subcommittee. "It could be right up there as one of the best nights this town's had in a while," member Mitch Groski said of a proposed ACEs 10th-anniversary open house. New member Bill Chasen, also chair of the Select Board, was welcomed to the committee.

In the full story:

• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report — 2,884 words

Source: the School Committee meeting of September 16, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.