Town Edition
Norfolk County
Sharon, Massachusetts
In 1792 a Sharon woman named Deborah Sampson Gannett brought a claim to the Massachusetts legislature. She had served seventeen months in the Continental Army under the name Robert Shurtlieff, and she wanted the back pay she was owed for it. The legislature awarded her 34 pounds and commended her for heroism, and the document carries John Hancock’s signature. Her statue stands outside the Sharon Public Library on School Street, moved there in May 2025 when the new library opened. Sharon still does its business in an open room: on May 4, 2026 the Annual Town Meeting worked through 22 articles and passed 20 of them, and every registered voter in town had the right to stand up and speak to any one of them. This guide shows you how to get into that room.
Sharon at a Glance
Sources: Massachusetts DESE, district profile · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Norfolk. Sharon covers 23.4 square miles about 22 miles south of Boston, with an MBTA commuter rail stop in the center of town, Lake Massapoag near the middle of it, and more than 5,000 acres of protected open space around the edges.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five member Select Board and an appointed Town Administrator, Frederic E. Turkington, Jr.
- Schools: the Sharon Public Schools, about 3,401 students in six schools, led by Superintendent Dr. Peter Botelho.
How Sharon’s Government Works
Sharon runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Sharon 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 Sharon 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
7 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 two Tuesdays a month at 7 pm, in the second floor meeting room at Town Hall, 90 South Main Street, or on Zoom. Check the town calendar for the exact dates, because the agenda is posted in advance.
- Town Meeting: the 2026 Annual Town Meeting was held on May 4, 2026 in the High School auditorium, with doors open at 6:30 pm and the meeting starting at 7:00 pm. It voted 22 articles, from the Fiscal Year 2027 budget to a town wide ban on second generation anticoagulant rodenticides.
- Town elections: the 2026 Annual Town Election was held on May 19, with the polls open from 7 am to 8 pm across five precincts. The next is in spring 2027.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The State Primary is set for September 1, 2026.
Explore the Sharon 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.
- Sharon HistoryStoughtonham, cannonballs, and a soldier’s back pay
- DemographicsWho lives in Sharon
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataSharon 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 Norfolk County, and that includes Sharon. 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 Sharon
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 two Tuesdays a month at 7 pm at Town Hall, 90 South Main Street, 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. Every Sharon Select Board meeting opens with a public comment period, and the minutes record what residents said in it. 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: 90 South Main Street, Sharon, MA 02067. Select Board office 781-784-1500, extension 1208.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 781-784-1500, extension 1201, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at sharonma.gov.
- Public schools: the Sharon Public Schools, 75 Mountain Street, 781-784-1570, sharonschools.net.
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.