At a joint meeting Tuesday evening, the Thomaston Board of Education and Board of Finance voted unanimously to move forward with a planning study led by Drummey Rosane Anderson, Inc. (DRA), which could have significant impacts on the future of education in Thomaston.

According to the selected proposal, the study will explore four key areas: retaining current facilities, reducing the total number of buildings, identifying opportunities for shared services, and evaluating the potential for regionalization. The cost of the study is projected at $111,000.

DRA was selected from among two firms that had been under consideration by the finance and education boards. The scope of work also includes enrollment forecasting, to be conducted by Cropper GIS Consulting, LLC, with the timeline targeting a report by the end of this year.

After both boards voted separately to approve DRA’s proposal, the Board of Finance made a motion to fund the $111,000 from the town’s undesignated fund balance. As noted in a prior article on procedural thresholds, an expenditure of this size requires town meeting approval, which will be held on Wednesday, July 30th.