Marty Green

A bumper crop—pardon the pun—of antique cars rolled through town center in this year's Fourth of July parade, to the delight of young and old alike. Pat Jennings and Theresa Ledoux, who organize the antique car brigade each year, both said this year's number of cars was exceptional. “I think this is the most we've ever had,” Jennings said. Ledoux agreed, “This year's turnout was amazing.”

With just days to go before the new school year starts Aug. 28, preparations are in high gear at both the Bromfield School and Hildreth Elementary School. At HES, a new fence along the south side of the playground field will keep balls from rolling into the parking lot—and children from running after them. At Bromfield, new hallway floors are getting their final touches.

Bromfield has a new look, new faces in 2024–25 school year

The abrupt closure of the Nashoba Valley Medical Center has triggered expressions of alarm from Harvard's Select Board, Board of Health, and Council on Aging. Many of the concerns that these groups have raised are focused on emergency medical care. What should a Harvard resident do in a medical emergency, now that NVMC has closed?

The Hildreth Elementary School has two new specialists joining the faculty for the 2024-25 academic year. Elizabeth Bala is taking on the role of board certified behavior analyst. Haley Lowney will serve as a special education teacher concentrating on grade 4.

Just under a quarter of Harvard's registered voters cast ballots in this year's state primary election. And only a third of those who did vote cast their ballots in person last Tuesday at the new location in the Hildreth Elementary School gymnasium. Fully two-thirds of the primary votes were mailed in or cast early at Town Hall.

Articles 11 and 12 both create new funds for use by the schools. Each would do a job that some other fund formerly did. And each new fund is intended to solve a problem that arose in the past year.

Two-hour Town Meeting passes all warrant articles by clear majorities

With inflation gradually declining, the Personnel Board voted unanimously last week to recommend a cost-of-living increase of 3.19% for the town's nonunion employees in fiscal 2026. That is the lowest such increase in four years. But the amount proposed for merit raises is substantially higher than in past years. The final decision on the increases will be up to the Select Board.

As if picking a president weren't hard enough, voters in Massachusetts on Election Day will also decide how thousands of high school students should earn their diplomas. Passage of Ballot Question 2 would end the current requirement that a student must pass the 10th-grade Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) to graduate from high school. If Question 2 is defeated, the requirement will stay in place.