Pepperell Board Appoints New Town Accountant, Reappoints Vocational School Seat

PEPPERELL — April 7, 2014 — Pepperell Selectmen appoint new town accountant amid $500,000 deficit and heated vocational school assessment dispute. The Board of Selectmen on April 7 unanimously appointed Lori J. Blanchard as town accountant for a three-year term, contingent on a satisfactory background check and contract negotiations, citing her experience guiding the Town of Orange's finances through a roughly 20 percent budget cut without a town administrator. The board also joined the Nashoba Valley Technical High School appointing authority to reappoint Sandra M. Proctor to the school committee through March 31, 2017. That vote quickly gave way to a pointed exchange, with one selectman declaring it "very disappointing" that a 22 percent increase in Pepperell's Nashoba Valley assessment — part of a 9 percent overall district increase — passed the full committee unanimously with no discussion recorded in the minutes, at a moment when the town projects a $500,000 deficit. Per-pupil cost for the roughly 133 to 135 Pepperell students at Nashoba Valley was reported at approximately $15,080, up from around $11,000 to $12,000 in prior years. The Nashoba Valley superintendent is expected to appear before the board at its April 14 meeting.