MIDDLEBORO — Middleboro School Committee members and Superintendent of Schools Carolyn Lyons reacted angrily at their Feb. 27 meeting to the state’s decision to withdraw an education grant of $73,705 because the town refuses to comply with the MBTA Communities Act. 

“We’re getting screwed, for lack of a better term,’’ committee chair Allin Frawley said.

Committee members agreed to draft a letter in opposition to the decision. “We need to take a really strong’’ stance, said committee member Susan Pennini. “This is outrageous. Given that it’s about money that’s already been spent makes it doubly so.’’ 

The grant withdrawal is the latest action in a battle between the state and town over the MBTA Communities Act. The act requires MBTA communities, including Middleboro, to allow multi-family housing developments of at least 15 units per acre by right in a zoning district within a half mile of the transit station. 

Special Town Meeting voters in October voted against compliance. Town officials have said the requirement could cost the town $21 million in annual costs, including $16.5 million dollars in school expenses. 

The grant in question, in support of students’ social and emotional learning, behavioral and mental health and wellness, was awarded in November 2024, Lyons told the committee. The grant funded “critical initiatives,’’ she said.

The grant receipt was reiterated by a December 2024 message from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, known as DESE,  she said.

The district was directed to begin the work being funded by the grant, she noted, which they did. That work has now been completed, she said. 

Then the state sent a “cryptic message’’ Feb. 20, saying that “compliance’’ with the MBTA act would be taken into consideration when awarding grants and that the district should not announce the grant’s receipt until receiving an official award letter from the governor. On Feb. 24, Lyons stated, DESE sent a message saying that the district was not eligible for the grant. 

Lyons said she was “deeply disappointed’’ by the grant withdrawal. She noted that no other school district to her knowledge has lost funding for refusing to comply with the act.  

The superintendent also said she was worried about what this means for future grants, which she said the district relies heavily on.

“My concern is, Where does this end?” Lyons said. 

A visibly angered Frawley said the decision uses the district’s students as “human shields’’ to mandate compliance. “They’re going to put pain on our children to force us to do what they want,’’ he said. “That’s pretty outrageous in my mind.’’

Committee member Jessica Chartoff said the state is trying to “bully us into complying. It’s just the wrong approach.’’

Town Manager Jay McGrail said the town would assist financially since the grant removal was unanticipated, Lyons told the committee.