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TEWKSBURY — The first consequences seem to be arriving for the remaining cities and towns out of compliance with the MBTA Communities law after Tewksbury Public Schools was informed it not be receiving certain state grant funding in fiscal 2026 as a result of the town’s noncompliance.
A little more than a dozen towns remain out of compliance with the MBTA Communities law, which compels 177 communities in eastern Massachusetts to create zoning that would allow the creation of multifamily housing by right.
Tewksbury is among the communities who remain out of compliance after Town Meeting voted overwhelmingly to reject the proposed zoning in town in 2024. An effort to bring the measure back to Town Meeting in 2025 was blocked by the Planning Board.
In the Dec. 17 Tewksbury School Committee meeting, Superintendent of Schools Brenda Theriault-Regan said the district was recently notified it was “currently ineligible for certain educational grant funding due to the town of Tewksbury’s noncompliance with the MBTA Communities Act.”
That funding includes an Early College planning grant for $50,000, an Early College designation funding grant for $250,000 over five years, a time-out practices implementation grant for $50,000, which Theriault-Regan said was meant to support the district with resources to help it comply with new Department of Elementary and Secondary Education regulations on “seclusion and restorative practices.”
“DESE also shared with us that Tewksbury Public Schools’ participation in current 2026 state-funded grants and future grants remains at risk until the town remediates this compliance issue,” said Theriault-Regan.
The superintendent referenced how earlier this month Gov. Maura Healey’s administration said Wachusett Regional High School and South Shore Vocational Technical “were mistakenly informed that they were not eligible for Credit for Life grant awards,” as reported by the Boston Herald. A spokesperson for the state Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation told The Herald the mistake had been corrected, and those districts were eligible for that grant.
“That was the only grant the article referenced, so we are very much concerned that our students could lose out on the programs and resources we depend on through grant funding, especially for factors outside the School Department’s control,” said Theriault-Regan. “But the article I referenced certainly gave us hope that maybe the state leaders and legislators will look at educational grant funding differently moving forward, aside from the MBTA Community Act compliance.”
Theriault-Regan said the district was committed to working with town and state officials to “see if we can resolve this barrier and secure essential resources for our students.”
In a phone call Tuesday, Tewksbury Select Board Chair Mark Kratman, a consistent critic of the MBTA Communities law, said there has been little communication from the state to the school district when it comes to grant funding eligibility.
“When the schools try to reach out, they are not getting a clear answer … When they are applying for grants, we are getting crickets,” said Kratman.
“Grants are nothing more than taxpayer dollars that have been given to the State House, and they are supposed to be fairly distributed to all the cities and towns,” Kratman continued. “We are sending our money there, and with that they are supposed to govern, they are not supposed to dictate.”
In Greater Lowell, Tewksbury is joined by Dracut and Wilmington in still being out of compliance with MBTA Communities. In addition to the loss in state grant funding, towns out of compliance with the law have been threatened with the imposition of a special master that would impose a version of the zoning without input from the town.
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Peter Currier
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