Alumni of the Harvard public school system are advocating for changes to the schools’ curriculums and practices in an open letter that has been signed by over 600 current and former members of the Harvard public school community.

Updated Tuesday, June 30, 2020, at 10:00 a.m.

Although Harvard’s State of Emergency remains in effect and state and local restrictions to halt the spread of COVID-19 continue to evolve, we are suspending publication of our "State of the Town" for the duration of our summer break. This is our final edition. However, we will report significant developments as breaking news.

Harvard's annual flea market, a major fundraiser for the League of Women Voters of Harvard and the Harvard Schools Trust, is canceled.

The Harvard Press has been named Harvard’s 2019 Citizen of Note.

Following four votes, a bit of parliamentary legerdemain, and repeated attempts by voters and town officials to explain its consequences, Town Meeting on Saturday passed the $33,346,128 fiscal 2021 omnibus budget recommended by the Finance Committee and Select Board. Three days later at Town Election, however, voters rejected the tax override needed to balance it, 467-674.

Bare feet, quick naps in the grass, and mask-wearing were just a few of the novelties of this year’s Spring Town Meeting. Despite temperatures that peaked at 90 degrees and the complexities of a new venue, Harvard residents showed up to debate, learn, and vote.

An article asking the town to borrow $4.3 million to build an addition to Hildreth House failed at Spring Town Meeting last Saturday. It also failed at the polls. The borrowing would have funded construction of a 6,271-square-foot building next to Hildreth House to provide additional space for Council on Aging (COA) dining, programs, and events.

Harvard’s cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began —as reported by the state—remained at 18 in the week between June 17 and June 24.

An article asking the town to borrow money to replace the roof and gutters at the old library passed by a comfortable margin at last Saturday’s Town Meeting, but failed at the ballot box a few days later. 

An article to transfer jurisdiction over six parcels of land from the Select Board to the Parks and Recreation Commission was passed at the Spring Town Meeting last Saturday. The article, which was brought to Town Meeting by a citizen petition, was one of the most contentious issues on the floor. 

Three-quarters of Harvard’s 4,376 registered voters took no part in Tuesday’s Town Election, leaving several major decisions about the town’s future up to the 1,150 voters who did show up, either at the polls or by absentee voting. 

The General Store may soon be bustling again, thanks to a new layout for outdoor dining approved by the Select Board at its June 16 meeting.

With less than 10 minutes’ discussion in total, three measures to spend $220,000 on improvements for the Bromfield School all gained support from two-thirds or more of the voters present. But two measures for rebuilding the emergency exit ramp from Bromfield’s middle school wing both failed.