The School Committee is the one elected body in Palmer that the Town Council does not control. Voters choose it directly, it hires the Superintendent directly, and it approves the school budget on its own vote. Five people, elected by the whole town, decide what happens inside the buildings where 1,068 Palmer students spend their days.
Your School Committee
Five members, each elected town wide for a three year term, with the terms staggered so two seats come up most years.
Bonny Rathbone
Chairperson
Sandra Noonan
Vice-Chairperson
Anthony Braden
Member
Joseph Nompleggi
Member
Matthew Lovell
Member
Every one of the five reconciles against a certified election sheet. Bonny B. Rathbone took 502 votes and Matthew James Lovell 505 on June 9, 2026; Sandra Jean Noonan took 275 and Joseph P. Nompleggi 237 on June 10, 2025. The full roster is at palmerschools.org.
The Superintendent
Matthew T. Francis
Superintendent of Palmer Public Schools
Hired by and accountable to the School Committee. Runs the district day to day, proposes the school budget, and leads the two schools and the central office at 4107 Main Street.
The Superintendent is to the schools what the Town Manager is to the town: a professional hired by an elected board, not chosen on a ballot. That is why a question about a bus route, a class size or a school policy usually starts at 413-283-2650 rather than at Town Hall.
What the Committee Controls
5 members, elected by the voters of the district the schools serve. It sets school policy, approves the school budget, and hires the Superintendent, separately from the Palmer Town Council.
The school budget is the biggest number the committee touches, and it travels a different road from the rest of town spending: the committee approves it first, and the Town Council then votes the town’s overall budget. Two elected bodies, two votes, and both meetings are public.
How to Reach It
- Meetings: the third Wednesday of the month at 6:00 pm in the Palmer High School library. The district posts the year’s dates and its minutes at palmerschools.org.
- Superintendent’s Office: 4107 Main Street, Palmer, MA 01069. Phone 413-283-2650.
- Run for a seat: the district publishes a short guide called Become a School Committee Member, and two seats were on the June 2026 ballot.
- The other school: Palmer students may also attend Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School at 240 Sykes Street, 413-283-9701, which has its own separate district committee.
Sources
Palmer Public School District, School Committee Members and its own staff directory, read 2026. Town Clerk certified Annual Election results for June 9, 2026 and June 10, 2025.