Massachusetts committee schedules April 8 hearing on Great River Regional School District vote bill

A Massachusetts legislative committee has scheduled an April 8 hearing on a bill that would let residents vote on whether to create the proposed Great River Regional School District.

The Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government will hear S.3026 on Wednesday at 10 a.m. in Room 222 and virtually. The bill is titled “An Act providing equal opportunity for residents to vote on establishment of the Great River Regional School District,” and Sen. Joanne M. Comerford is listed as the sponsor.

According to the Legislature’s bill page, S.3026 was referred to the committee on Feb. 17 and the hearing was scheduled on March 27. The hearing notice published Sunday is the first public sign of the near-term agenda.

The proposal comes out of a broader local effort to give voters in six towns a direct say on the district’s future. Earlier local reporting said the Six-Town Regionalization Planning Board was seeking a special legislative act so all six towns could vote on the plan at the polls rather than through Town Meeting votes.

Montague selectboard materials also urged lawmakers to find a legislative path that would give all registered voters in the six towns the same opportunity to vote on the proposal.

The April 8 hearing is the next procedural step for the bill, but the committee has not yet acted on whether to advance it.