Tewksbury School Committee names Dr. Nancy Milligan as next superintendent

TEWKSBURY — March 18, 2026 — Tewksbury School Committee unanimously names Assistant Superintendent Dr. Nancy Milligan as the district's next superintendent and votes to make Good Friday a school day. The 5-0 vote at the March 18 meeting moved contract negotiations with Milligan forward, with ratification expected at the April 15 meeting, as outgoing Superintendent Brenda Theriault-Regan prepares to retire. The committee also voted 5-0 to hold school on April 3 — Good Friday — at a cost of roughly $15,000 in contractual overtime pay, moving the current school year's last day from June 22 to June 18; Vice Chair Kayla Biagioni-Smith called the expense "irresponsible" but voted in favor after the administration identified offsetting savings in unused purchase orders. Business Manager David Libby presented a $82.05 million FY27 budget reflecting a 3.44 percent overall increase, and flagged $213,000 in lost competitive grants due to the town's MBTA Communities Act noncompliance. Architect Douglas Roberts of JCJ Architecture recommended the district pursue an estimated $205 million plan to close both Dewing and Heath Brook schools and construct a single new pre-K through grade-one building, with an MSBA statement-of-interest deadline of April 17 and no new school possible before fall 2033.