Dear Upton Residents,
I am writing today to ask you to attend the Upton Annual Town Meeting on May 5, 7 pm at Nipmuc Regional High School. A resident has petitioned the Board of Selectmen to add a warrant article to the Annual Town Meeting (Article 28) for a $1.4 million underride (the same amount of the override last spring) in order to reduce funding for the Mendon-Upton Regional School District budget. We need your help to ensure this does not happen.
Our district has made tremendous strides over the past several years based, in part, on the dedication of our citizens to provide the funds necessary to maintain our programs and our collaboration with the towns. Since passing of the override in 2015 our district has provided reasonable class sizes, added additional programming in STEM, world languages, and career exploration, enhanced technology for students, and provided additional supports to our youngest learners.
Many of us remember how the district struggled during the economic downturn of the past recession and don’t wish to repeat those lessons. If this article passes then it will create similar kinds of issues for the school and Upton.
We need your help and attendance to ensure that the school district budget is not impacted on May 5. Being there and voting this article down, will help us continue the positive momentum and ensure that we can continue the good work that has been done over the last 6 years.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions about the school budget. You can reach me via email at pdezutter@mursd.org
Thank you for your continued commitment to the Mendon-Upton Regional School District.
Phil De Zutter
Chairman MURSD School Committee
Upton Resident
UPTON DAILY 
The only hard work is coming from the taxpayers who actually pay these exorbitant taxes.
Our town spends money like a drunken sailor at port. I will be pushing for this underride, and encourage all residents to do the same.
Yes we are here again, thank goodness, the original override was a masterstroke of fear-mongering and political deception. A coup of policy to vote on an issue until the stranglehold politicians got the vote that they wanted. Its time to hold the town government accountable to operate within their means instead of constantly reaching into the taxpayers pockets to support their excesses.
Schools are important, I will have 2 children our school system and I want them to have the best possible education, but instead of reaching into my pockets every year as well as my neighbor’s, who have no children to benefit from the overrides, do what every other corporation does and find areas to cut spending. Perhaps we don’t need 23 employees at our Police department, perhaps we don’t need a $140,000/year town manager, perhaps our Police department doesn’t need to spend $179,000/year in overtime. And maybe if these are truly necessities, our leaders can also do what corporations do and find ways to create new revenue streams such as having a more business friendly approach to attract businesses to add to the tax revenue.
What people need to understand is that like a teenager with your ATM card, it won’t stop until we tell them “NO”. It’s time to task our leaders to lead and think creatively because the path of least resistance leads right back to our pockets…every year.
I cannot believe we are back in this place again! Please attend the town meeting and preserve all of the hard work in Upton and Mendon.