Residents push for tuition-free full-day kindergarten in Cohasset

COHASSET — A citizen group, Invest in Cohasset, is urging the town to reinstate tuition-free full-day kindergarten, arguing that public education should not come with a price tag. The issue, appearing as Article 12 on the Special Town Meeting warrant on Monday night, would allocate $300,000 from the town budget to make kindergarten free beginning in the 2025–2026 school year.

Under the petition, funds would be reallocated from the town manager’s, chief technology officer’s, and police department budgets. Supporters say the plan would “re-baseline” the school budget to include full-day kindergarten without increasing taxes.

Invest in Cohasset, the group behind the proposal, is a citizen-led community group dedicated to supporting a fiscally responsible and sustainable funding plan for the Town of Cohasset and Cohasset Public Schools. Supporters of Article 12 say the debate is about priorities, not affordability. 

Will Ashton, a resident who helped organize the group, said, “there’s only 14 municipalities in Massachusetts that still charge tuition for full-day kindergarten out of 313,” noting that five years ago that number was closer to 100. 

During the Oct. 8 School Committee meeting, members debated whether to recommend the citizen petition, with several expressing support for the goal but concern about how it would be funded.

Vice Chair Lance Dial said that while the committee values early education, the school budget cannot absorb the cost without new revenue. “We do not have enough money to run the schools the way we want to,” Dial said. “There was never a view at the school committee or discussion with the administration that the school budget could afford and absorb full day kindergarten. It cannot.”

He explained that when the district first implemented tuition-free kindergarten in 2023, the move was supported by a one-time transfer.

“That was approved under the understanding that it was effectively self-funding,” Dial said. “The idea was if we were able to have a one-time transfer of $200,000 and offer one year of tuition-free kindergarten, the students enrolled in full-day kindergarten would adjust our Chapter 70 funding such that it would be funded by the state.”

Chair Craig MacLellan encouraged the group to go through the full budget process. “I don't think it's prudent to start in the middle of the fiscal year and… even though we budgeted for X, Y, and Z, we're going to just unceremoniously slash $300 [or] $400,000 from these various budgets and have the schools apply that to kindergarten so people can be reimbursed.”

Ultimately, the school committee voted not to recommend the article. The Select Board followed suit at its Oct. 27 meeting, acknowledging strong public interest but agreeing the proposal was not financially sound.

Vice Chair Chris Plecs said he supports the goal of tuition-free kindergarten but opposed using one-time funds. “Free cash is a contingency fund, and this isn’t a contingency,” he said.

Select board member David Farrag agreed, saying he supports working toward “a long-term solution” with the School Committee, but this year’s article “only addresses one year” and “doesn’t build a sustainable model.”

Cohasset residents will decide tonight. The Special Town Meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 3, in the Cohasset High School Sullivan Gymnasium.

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