Town Edition
Middlesex County
Boxborough, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
In the spring of 1994, Boxborough’s voters did something no mayor and no city council could have done for them. They stood up at Town Meeting, then went back to the ballot box for an override election, and agreed to raise their own property taxes so the town could buy the Steele Farm on Middle Road: roughly 36 acres and three buildings, protected for good. Your neighbors, in a room, made that call, and in Boxborough they still make most of the big ones. This guide shows you how to get into that room.
Boxborough at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, school and district profiles · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Middlesex. Boxborough is a small inland town of about ten square miles in western Middlesex County, bordered by Acton, Littleton, Harvard, and Stow.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Michael Johns.
- Schools: the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, about 5,005 students, led by Superintendent Peter Light.
How Boxborough’s Government Works
Boxborough runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Boxborough is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a 5 member Select Board to set policy between meetings and the School Committee that oversees the schools. The Select Board hires a professional Town Administrator to run the town day to day. So the money is voted by whoever shows up, the direction is set by the Select Board, and the daily work is carried out by the Town Administrator.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Boxborough is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Select Board
5 members elected town-wide. They set policy, sign the warrants that decide what reaches Town Meeting, appoint residents to many town boards, and hire and supervise the Town Administrator.
Town Administrator
The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Select Board. Hired under contract, not elected.
School Committee
11 members, elected by the voters of Acton and Boxborough together, because the two towns run one regional school district. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the 5 members of the Select Board and the School Committee.
- The Select Board hires the Town Administrator and decides what goes on the Town Meeting warrant.
- Town Meeting votes the budget and the bylaws, and every registered voter present can vote.
- You take part: register at 16, vote at 18, and once you are registered you are already a member of Town Meeting.
Civic Calendar
- Select Board: meets on the second and fourth Monday of the month at 7:00pm in the Grange Meeting Room at Boxborough Town Hall, 29 Middle Road. The agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting convenes on the second Monday in May, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait. Any registered voter may walk in, speak on a warrant article, and vote.
- Town elections: Boxborough holds its annual town election each year; the 2026 election drew a preliminary turnout of about 17 percent. The next is in 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Boxborough Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Boxborough HistoryFarms, patriots, and Steele Farm
- DemographicsWho lives in Boxborough
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataActon-Boxborough schools by the numbers
Your County Officials
Two of the people with the most direct power over your life are elected countywide. The district attorney decides who gets charged with a crime, and what they get charged with. The sheriff runs the county jail. Both of them answer to the voters of Middlesex County, and that includes Boxborough. They appear on your ballot. Now you know what to look for.
Every county in Massachusetts elects its own, and the job is the same everywhere: the charging decisions, the jail. Look up any town in the state and see who holds these two offices there.
Your First Civic Action in Boxborough
You do not have to wait until you can vote to be heard in your own town. Here is how to take a real concern to the people who decide.
- Pick the right body. Town policy, roads, and police or fire go to the Select Board. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets on the second and fourth Monday of the month at Boxborough Town Hall, 29 Middle Road, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. Five Select Board members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you.
- Speak. Meetings are open to the public and residents may address the board. Check the agenda for how to sign up.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken light, or a missed pickup to the Department of Public Works, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 29 Middle Road, Boxborough, MA 01719. Main line 978-264-1700.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 978-264-1727, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at boxborough-ma.gov.
- Public schools: the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, abschools.org.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, speak at a meeting on the town’s published calendar, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.