Town Edition
Norfolk County
Wrentham, Massachusetts
In May 2025 a developer had a signed agreement to put fifteen houses, some of them priced past two million dollars, on 55 acres off West Street, and the only thing standing in the way was a room full of your neighbors. Wrentham held a right of first refusal, a legal window to step in front of that sale, and at Town Meeting the town used it, 347 votes to 39, and bought the land instead. That is not a story about land. It is a story about a room. Wrentham has kept an open Town Meeting, which means the legislature of this town is whoever registers and shows up, and the money still gets voted by people standing on a school auditorium floor. On June 1, 2026 that same room voted to borrow $106,550,000 for a new elementary school, and two weeks later the whole town got a second vote on it at the ballot box. This guide shows you where the rooms are and how to get into them.
Wrentham at a Glance
Sources: Secretary of the Commonwealth, voter enrollment · US Census Bureau (data.census.gov).
- County: Norfolk. Wrentham covers 21.7 square miles of land between Boston and Providence, with three lakes at its center and more than 1,200 acres of state forest inside its borders.
- Government: open Town Meeting, with an elected five-member Select Board and an appointed Town Manager, Michael J. King, under a home rule charter the Legislature enacted in 2024.
- Schools: three districts, not one. Wrentham Public Schools runs Pre-K through grade six, King Philip Regional runs grades seven through twelve for Wrentham, Norfolk and Plainville, and the town belongs to the Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical district in Franklin.
How Wrentham’s Government Works
Wrentham runs on an open Town Meeting, which means there are no elected Town Meeting members at all: every registered voter in Wrentham 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 Manager 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 Manager.
Town Meeting
The legislative body, and it is not a committee. Every registered voter in Wrentham 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 Manager.
Town Manager
The appointed chief administrator. Runs the departments, builds the budget, and answers to the Select Board. 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 Select Board and the School Committee.
- The Select Board 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
- Select Board: the first and third Tuesday of the month at 6:30 pm. Each agenda is posted in advance on the town’s Agenda Center, so check it before you go.
- Town Meeting: the Annual Town Meeting is the first Monday in June, in the King Philip Regional High School auditorium, and the Special Town Meeting is usually the second Monday in November. Town Moderator Edward Goddard presides.
- Town elections: the Annual Town Election is the first Monday in April, and all four precincts vote at one place, Wrentham Elementary School at 120 Taunton Street. The 2026 election was held on April 6.
- State and federal elections: even-numbered years. The 2026 primary and general are this fall.
Explore the Wrentham Edition
- Town Manager’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.
- Wrentham History1673, the lakes, and the charter
- DemographicsWho lives in Wrentham
- Non-ProfitsCommunity organizations
- Student DataWrentham 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 Wrentham. 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 Wrentham
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. Elementary schools go to the Wrentham Elementary School Committee, and grades seven through twelve go to the King Philip Regional School Committee. The budget and bylaws are voted by Town Meeting.
- Find the meeting. The Select Board meets the first and third Tuesday of the month at 6:30 pm, and the agenda is posted in advance on the town’s Agenda Center.
- Know your members. Five Select Board members are elected town-wide, so every one of them answers to you.
- Speak. The charter requires the board to set aside time for public comment at every regularly scheduled meeting. Check the agenda for the procedure.
- Or skip the trip. Report a pothole, a broken light, or a water problem to the Department of Public Works, which is the department that owns the repair.
- Town Hall: 79 South Street, Wrentham, MA 02093. Main line 508-384-5400. Open Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 8 am to 4:30 pm, Tuesday 8 am to 7:30 pm, and closed Friday.
- Town Clerk & agendas: 508-384-5415, with meeting agendas and minutes posted at http://www.wrentham.gov.
- Public schools: Wrentham Public Schools, 120 Taunton Street, wrentham.k12.ma.us.
Local government works best when residents show up. Find your Select Board, speak at a meeting on the first or third Tuesday, or simply register to vote and take your seat at Town Meeting.