Taunton School Committee Unanimously Backs Parker Middle School Move to Hamilton Street

TAUNTON — December 17, 2025 — Taunton School Committee votes 7-0 to relocate Parker Middle School to 2 Hamilton Street and fold the current Parker building into Taunton High School's footprint. The decision, reached at the December 17 meeting after months of community surveys and financial analysis, sets aside a competing proposal to open a fourth standalone middle school, which administrators said would cost roughly $6 million more than the relocation option. Member Nathan Pawelski argued the Parker building should pass to Taunton High School administration without a restrictive "eighth-grade academy" label, and mover Gail Enos — in his final meeting before leaving the committee — agreed to amend the motion on the floor. The committee also approved a $1,419,706.17 FY26 warrant and a final FY25 warrant of $157,366.62, and authorized up to $2,000 to cover hotel and meals for caregiver chaperones at a DECA regional competition in Hyannis. Ten public speakers, most of them members of the Taunton Educational Secretaries and Assistance Association, pressed the board to bring improved wage proposals to contract negotiations scheduled for January 6, with TESA President Corinne Werra citing an $8-per-hour wage gap between school-based and central-office secretaries.