Town Government
Swansea School Committee & Superintendent
The Superintendent
Scott Holcomb
About 1,973 students start their day in this district, and one person answers for all of it. Scott Holcomb is Superintendent of Swansea Public Schools. He proposes the school budget, sets academic priorities, and runs a system of six schools day to day. The Superintendent is hired by, and reports to, the elected School Committee.
Swansea is a single-town district, which is worth understanding because most of its neighbors are not. Every seat on this committee is filled by Swansea voters alone, so there is no second town to negotiate with and no regional assessment to argue over. When the schools want something, they ask Swansea, and Swansea answers at Town Meeting. Swansea students who want a technical education have a second route, and the town elects one member to the school committee of the Diman Regional Vocational Technical district for exactly that reason.
You can watch the Superintendent work without leaving your house. On July 14 and again on July 21, 2026, he appeared before the Board of Selectmen alongside the School Committee Chairman and the district’s project consultant to present the Joseph Case Junior High School building project and the debt exclusion that would fund it.
| Role | Superintendent of Schools |
|---|---|
| District | Swansea Public Schools, a single-town district |
| Website | swanseaschools.org |
| State data | DESE district profile, code 02920000 |
The School Committee
The Swansea School Committee has five members serving staggered three year terms, all of them elected town-wide. The committee sets district policy, approves the school budget, and hires and evaluates the Superintendent. Two of its five seats were on the April 2026 ballot, and both were filled: Thomas M. Rodrigues, Jr. with 1,192 votes and Sonya M. Barbosa with 1,117. The meetings are public, which means a Swansea student who shows up can speak.
Thomas M. Rodrigues, Jr.
James J. Carvalho
Anakarine C. Ponte-Porto
Kristin Barkett Pettey
Sonya M. Barbosa
Swansea separately elects one member to the Diman Regional Vocational Technical school committee.
The District at a Glance
- Enrollment: 1,973 students.
- Schools: six, including Joseph Case High School.
- Graduation rate: 93.0%, against a state figure of 89.3%.
- State data: DESE profile (code 02920000).
Meetings & Participation
- When: the town’s own board and committee schedule puts the School Committee on the first and third Monday at the School Administration Building, One Gardners Neck Road. Every meeting is posted under the Open Meeting Law, and the town notes that dates and rooms can change.
- Public comment: residents may address the committee with the chair’s permission. Check the agenda for sign-up details.
- Follow the building project: the Joseph Case Junior High School project goes before the Special Town Meeting called for October 19, 2026, and a debt exclusion question decides how it is paid for.
Curious how a bill becomes law, or how students can take on a civics project?