Town Edition
Worcester County
Harvard, Massachusetts
Photo: John Phelan, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
In 2001 the people of Harvard voted, at Town Meeting and then at the ballot box, to tax themselves. They added a small surcharge to their own property bills, the state matched every dollar, and the money has bought open space, saved old buildings, and built housing ever since. What makes that remarkable is who decides where it goes. Not a mayor, not a council, but a room full of neighbors: any registered voter in Harvard can walk into Town Meeting, speak, and vote the budget line by line. This guide shows you how to get into that room, and everything the town does between meetings.
Harvard at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Worcester. Harvard is a rural town in north-central Massachusetts, bounded by Route 2 to the north and Interstate 495 to the east, and it includes the village of Still River and part of the Devens area on its western edge.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Dawn Dunbar.
- Schools: Harvard Public Schools, a district of about 1,006 students, led by Superintendent Dana Labb.
How Harvard’s Government Works
Harvard runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Harvard is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a five-member Select Board to set policy between meetings and a five-member 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 Harvard 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
Five 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
Five members, elected town-wide. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent.
- Residents elect the five members of the Select Board and the five members of 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 first and third Tuesday of each month at Harvard Town Hall, 13 Ayer Road, and the agenda is posted in advance, so check the town calendar before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is warned each spring, and the town can call a Special Town Meeting when business cannot wait.
- Town elections: Harvard votes in early May. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held on May 5. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Harvard 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.
- Harvard HistoryShakers, Fruitlands, and 1732
- DemographicsWho lives in Harvard
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataHarvard 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 Harvard. 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 Harvard
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 first and third Tuesday of each month at Harvard Town Hall, 13 Ayer 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. 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: 13 Ayer Road, Harvard, MA 01451. Main line 978-456-4100.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 978-456-4100 Ext. 316, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at harvard-ma.gov.
- Public schools: Harvard Public Schools, at psharvard.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.