Town Edition
Worcester County
Oxford, Massachusetts
On May 19, 2026, 898 Oxford residents walked into five precinct polling places and filled seven elected seats for everyone else: two on the Board of Selectmen, two on the School Committee, the Moderator’s chair, a Library Trustee seat and Oxford’s seat on the Bay Path regional vocational committee. Philip Irving Davis, Jr. led the ticket with 627 votes. That is what a single ballot is worth in a town of 13,347 people. Eight days later the five members of the Board of Selectmen sat down in the second floor meeting room of Memorial Town Hall and voted, one office at a time, on which of them would be Chairman. Then the town went back to the thing it has done since the English settled here in 1713: it argued about the budget in a hall where every registered voter gets a vote. This guide shows you where those rooms are and how to get into them.
Oxford at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Worcester. Oxford covers 26.517 square miles of land in the valley of the French River, about 503 people to the square mile, with North Oxford at one end and the town centre at the other.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with a five member Board of Selectmen elected at large and an appointed Town Manager. Justin M. Leduc holds the office as Acting Town Manager.
- Schools: Oxford Public Schools, about 1,420 students across four schools, led by Superintendent Kristine Nash. Oxford also elects a member of the Southern Worcester County Regional Vocational School District Committee, which runs Bay Path in Charlton.
How Oxford's Government Works
Oxford runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Oxford is a member, and any of them can walk in, speak, and vote on the budget. Voters also elect a 5 member Board of Selectmen to set policy between meetings and the School Committee that oversees the schools. The Board of Selectmen hires a professional Town Manager to run the town day to day. So the money is voted by whoever shows up, the direction is set by the Board of Selectmen, and the daily work is carried out by the Town Manager.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Oxford is a member. Town Meeting adopts the annual budget, passes town bylaws, and approves major spending. This is direct democracy in its literal sense.
Board of Selectmen
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 Manager.
Town Manager
The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Board of Selectmen. 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 Board of Selectmen and the School Committee.
- The Board of Selectmen hires the Town Manager 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
- Board of Selectmen: the first and third Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m., in the Second Floor Meeting Room of Oxford Memorial Town Hall, 325 Main Street. Each agenda is posted in advance on the town's Agenda Center.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is held the first week of May on a date the Selectmen set, usually a Wednesday, and there is a Special Town Meeting in October. Moderator Cheryll A. Leblanc presides. Since October 2, 2024 the town has voted with a handheld electronic voting system.
- Town elections: Oxford votes in the spring across five precincts, 1, 2, 3, 4 and 4A. The 2026 Annual Town Election was held Tuesday, May 19. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even numbered years. The State Primary is Tuesday, September 1, 2026.
Explore the Oxford Edition
- Town Manager's OfficeThe town's chief administrator
- Board of SelectmenYour five board members
- School CommitteeSuperintendent & committee
- Town DepartmentsWho does what at Town Hall
- Boards & CommissionsWhere residents serve
- LegislatorsYour voice in Boston & D.C.
- Oxford HistoryThe Huguenots, Clara Barton, and 1713
- DemographicsWho lives in Oxford
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataOxford 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 Oxford. 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 Oxford
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 Board of Selectmen. Schools go to the School Committee. The budget and the bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Board of Selectmen meets the first and third Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at Memorial Town Hall, 325 Main Street, and the agenda is posted in advance on the town's Agenda Center.
- Know your members. All five members of the Board of Selectmen are elected at large, so every one of them answers to every voter in town.
- 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, at 508-987-6006.
- Town Hall: 325 Main Street, Oxford, MA 01540. Main line 508-987-6038. The Board of Selectmen office is extension 6 and the Town Manager's office is extension 8.
- Town Clerk & agendas: Town Clerk Michelle A. Jenkins at 508-987-6032, with agendas and minutes posted at oxfordma.us.
- Public schools: Oxford Public Schools, 4 Maple Road, 508-987-6050, oxps.org.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Board of Selectmen, speak at a meeting on the town's published calendar, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.