Town Edition
Worcester County
Grafton, Massachusetts
Photo: Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
On May 19, 2026, 3,912 Grafton voters raised their own property taxes by $5,000,000. That was Question 1 on the annual town election ballot, an operating override for the school and municipal budget, and it passed 2,471 to 1,428. Question 2, which let the town borrow for a new roof on the Grafton Middle School outside the limits of Proposition 2 1/2, passed 2,726 to 1,126. Every one of those ballots was cast in a five precinct town of 15,422 registered voters, and the people who filled out those ballots set the price of a year of Grafton government for everyone. This guide shows you the rooms where the rest of it gets decided, and exactly how to get into them.
Grafton at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Worcester. Grafton covers 22.8 square miles of land southeast of the City of Worcester, and it grew as six separate villages: Grafton center, New England Village in North Grafton, Centerville on Brigham Hill, and Farnumsville, Fisherville and Saundersville in South Grafton. All but the center were sited by water power.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Evan Brassard
- Schools: Grafton Public Schools, about 3,115 students in six schools, led by Superintendent James Cummings.
How Grafton’s Government Works
Grafton runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Grafton 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 Grafton 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
5 members, elected by the voters of the district the schools serve. 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: generally meets on the first, second and third Tuesdays of the month at 7:00pm in Conference Room A of the Grafton Memorial Municipal Center, 30 Providence Road, with the agenda posted in advance. The meetings are broadcast live on Charter channel 192 and Verizon channel 33, and streamed by Grafton Community Television.
- School Committee: meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month in Conference Room F on the second floor of the Municipal Center, and the meetings are carried on Grafton Education Television, Charter channel 194 and Verizon channel 32.
- Town Meeting: Grafton holds its Town Meeting in the Grafton High School auditorium at 24 Providence Road, which is the room where the budget is actually voted.
- Town elections: Grafton votes in May, across five precincts. The 2026 annual town election was held on May 19. The seats now held by Craig Dauphinais on the Select Board and by Laura Often and Kristy Kielbasinski on the School Committee carry terms that expire on May 18, 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Grafton Edition
- Town Administrator’s OfficeThe town’s chief administrator
- Select BoardYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at the Municipal Center
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Grafton HistoryHassanamisco, the common, and 1735
- DemographicsWho lives in Grafton
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataGrafton 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 Worcester County, and that includes Grafton. 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 Grafton
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 generally meets on the first, second and third Tuesdays at 7:00pm in Conference Room A, 30 Providence Road, and the agenda is posted in advance.
- Know your members. All five Select Board members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you.
- Speak. The Select Board holds a public comment session at the end of each meeting for items that are not on the agenda. General correspondence has to reach the board by noon on the Thursday before a meeting to make that meeting’s packet.
- 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.
- Municipal Center: 30 Providence Road, Grafton, MA 01519. Select Board office 508-839-5335 Ext. 1201.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 508-839-5335 Ext. 1300, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at grafton-ma.gov.
- Public schools: Grafton Public Schools, 508-839-5421, graftonps.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.