Most meetings in Truro are remote. Go to truro-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. The agenda includes instructions on how to join.
Thursday, March 24
- Finance Committee, 3 p.m.
- Housing Authority, 4:15 p.m.
Monday, March 28
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 5:30 p.m.
Wednesday, March 30
- Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) Trust, 12:30 p.m.
- Charter Review Committee, 4:15 p.m.
- Walsh Property Community Planning Committee, 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 31
- Climate Action Committee, 10:30 a.m.
Conversation Starters
Vouchers for Child Care
Town meeting voters on April 26 will be asked to reach into their piggy banks to expand a program that grants $7,500 child-care vouchers to Truro residents and employees of the town or a Truro business.
Last year, town meeting voters overwhelmingly approved the creation of the voucher program for two-year-olds. That age made sense at the time because children older than that could attend an all-day preschool program at Truro Central School. The voucher is valid at any licensed child-care facility. The town appropriated $112,500 last year for the voucher program, according to the town website.
This year, resident Raphael Richter wants to expand the program. On March 22, he proposed to the select board that eligibility for the $7,500 vouchers be extended to babies and toddlers from birth to age two. He also presented an alternative plan in which the vouchers would be offered to three- and four-year-olds who cannot get into the preschool if it is filled.
The select board members liked his ideas so much that at least two of them, Kristen Reed and Stephanie Rein, suggested that Richter just combine the age groups so that the eligibility period would go from birth to four.
“I think we need to capture those younger children,” Rein said.
Board member Sue Areson said the school superintendent told them recently that the preschool appears to have room for all the three- and four-year-olds expected next year. If so, the voucher would not be needed for the older tots.
But Reed thought it better to be safe than sorry. “There is no confirmation the preschool will definitely be able to take in all the three-year-olds,” she said.
The select board is expected to further discuss crafting a town meeting article based on Richter’s proposals at its next meeting on March 29. —K.C. Myers
