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Reported by us | Swansea

Swansea Town Meeting approves $88.3 million borrowing for a new Case Junior High

The vote at the Venus de Milo was the first of two local approvals the $149.7 million project needs. A Proposition 2 1/2 debt exemption, Question 10, follows on the Nov. 3 ballot.

By the SC360 Town Hall Desk | Published Oct. 22, 2026 | Last verified Oct. 22, 2026, 5:06 a.m. ET

SWANSEA Swansea Town Meeting voters approved borrowing $88.3 million for a new Joseph Case Junior High School on Monday night, the first of two local votes the project needs, WSAR reported. The vote was 743 to 217, well past the two-thirds majority the appropriation required.

The special Town Meeting at the Venus de Milo banquet hall also approved, by a voice vote, an article using Community Preservation money for a conservation restriction on about 33.7 acres of Stony Creek Farm at 1210 Wilbur Ave., an animal refuge open to the public. The Advisory and Finance Committee had recommended the school article 8-1 with one abstention and did not recommend the farm article, 3-5.

"It's a good thing for the town," Town Administrator Mitch Ruscitti said after the school vote, WSAR reported. The new junior high, the most expensive project in the town's history, would move students from a building that dates to 1927 and the 1950s into a school of about 114,707 square feet for 510 students in grades 6 through 8, on the Joseph Case High School campus at 70 School St. The project is budgeted at $149,723,734, with $61,444,746 expected from the Massachusetts School Building Authority, leaving a town share of $88,278,988. Construction is projected at about $117 million; the rest is contingency, and anything unspent would reimburse the town's share.

The borrowing now goes to the Nov. 3 ballot as Question 10, a Proposition 2 1/2 debt exemption that needs a simple majority. "This is a two-vote journey for this school to be done," Superintendent Scott Holcomb told WSAR. The town's tax calculator puts the added tax at $136.50 per $100,000 of assessed value; the district's estimate for the average single-family home, assessed at $494,954, runs $141 to $200 a quarter over a 30-year bond and assumes the full contingency is spent, which the district says is not typical. "There are no Case, Brown or Stevens families waiting in the wings to provide us with a new school. It is on us," Selectwoman Alanna Solitro said.

Two dates are ahead: the Massachusetts School Building Authority board votes on the project scope and budget Oct. 28, and the ballot vote follows Nov. 3. Swansea votes at Joseph Case High School, 70 School St., from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. A renovation of the existing school, estimated at $98.6 million, would not win state support, the district has said.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.

How we verified this

Verifier A (blind) read every saved record fresh on Oct. 22, 2026: WSAR's full text confirms the 743 to 217 margin, the Venus de Milo venue, the voice vote on Stony Creek Farm, the three quotes word for word, the $136.50 per $100,000 calculator figure, the $149,723,734 budget with $61,444,746 from the MSBA, the $117 million construction projection and the most-expensive-project framing; the Herald News headline and snippet corroborate the outcome; the live Oct. 19 preview (itself verified from the warrant booklet and forum presentation) confirms every project figure, the committee votes, the 1927 and 1950s dates, the 114,707 square feet and 510 students, and the $98.6 million renovation estimate; the live 10-questions story confirms Question 10, the Proposition 2 1/2 debt exemption and the 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. polling at 70 School St.; the district project page, re-fetched, lists Oct. 28 (MSBA board) and Nov. 3 (ballot vote, Question 10) as its key upcoming dates. Numbers recomputed: $149,723,734 minus $61,444,746 is $88,278,988; $136.50 per $100,000 on a $494,954 home is about $676 a year, inside the district's $564 to $800 a year range. Weekdays checked: Oct. 19, 2026 was a Monday; Oct. 28 is a Wednesday; Nov. 3 is a Tuesday. The outcome and margin are attributed to WSAR because no official town count has been published. No students are named. No charged person is named.

Corrections

No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.

Sources (5)

  1. WSAR: Swansea Town Meeting say yes to new middle school, farm conservation (Oct. 21)The 743 to 217 vote on the $88.3 million borrowing at the Venus de Milo; the voice vote conserving Stony Creek Farm; the Ruscitti, Holcomb and Solitro quotes; the $136.50 per $100,000 tax calculator figure; the $117 million construction projection and contingency; the most-expensive-project framing. Fetched and saved as wsar-swansea-tm.html. Read Oct. 22, 2026.
  2. SC360: Swansea votes Monday on a $149.7 million Case Junior High, the first of two local votes the project needs (verified from the town's warrant booklet and the district's forum presentation)The project figures ($149,723,734 budget, $61,444,746 state share, $88,278,988 town share, the $494,954 average home at $141 to $200 a quarter on a 30-year bond, the full-contingency assumption), the 114,707 square feet and 510 students in grades 6 through 8 at 70 School St., the 1927 and 1950s dates, the $98.6 million renovation estimate, the two-thirds requirement, the Article 1 acreage and address and the committee votes (8-1 with one abstention; 3-5 against the farm article), and the Venus de Milo venue. Saved as live-case.html. Read Oct. 22, 2026.
  3. SC360: Swansea voters will decide 10 ballot questions Nov. 3, including a school building override (verified from the Swansea Board of Selectmen amended Oct. 20 agenda with the election warrant)Question 10 on the Nov. 3 ballot (the Proposition 2 1/2 debt exemption) and the polling place and hours, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Joseph Case High School, 70 School St. Saved as live-swansea-voters-decide-10-ballot-questions-nov-3-election-oct-21-2026.html. Read Oct. 22, 2026.
  4. Swansea Public Schools: Case Junior High School project pageThe dates ahead: Oct. 28, MSBA board approval of the project scope and budget; Nov. 3, the Question 10 ballot vote. Re-fetched and saved as swansea-msba.html; the Oct. 19 Town Meeting no longer appears among the key upcoming dates. Read Oct. 22, 2026.
  5. Also reported by: The Herald News.

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