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So, whose side are you on?

School and town hall supporters in most communities are having their annual budget battle. To the diehards, there's no middle ground.

In Foxboro, Martha Slattery wants to play for both sides.

The veteran school committee member is running for selectman in Foxboro's May 4 annual town election.

If elected, Slattery plans to keep both seats - even though they are often at odds. "I don't see it as a burden. I see it as a challenge, and I'm up to that challenge," Slattery said.

If elected selectman, Slattery might be the first in Foxboro history to serve in both major arms of town government, according to both the town clerk's office and town historian Jack Authelet.

"I have no knowledge that jumps to mind of anyone holding these simultaneous positions," Authelet said.

"They're both very, very heavy commitments. Not to say it can't be done, but I'd go so far as to say its unprecedented."

It also appears to be legal under the state conflict of interest law, although some town charters supersede the law on this issue.

Mansfield Town Clerk Helen Christian said no one in her town may hold two elected offices.

Told of Slattery's plans, Christian said, "I would consider that a conflict."

"You've got one side of the equation, which is the selectmen, and the other side, which is the school committee," Christian said.

"A lot of times, they go into executive session, and that person would be privy to information from both."

Christian also questioned how someone could "do a terrific job" in both offices, since "they're both busy boards, especially selectmen." "One or the other board, I would think, would suffer," Christian said.

Plainville Town Administrator Joseph Fernandes said he doesn't recall seeing one person serve on both the school board and the select board in his town.

"The ultimate judge on this is the citizenry. If they're OK with it ...," said Fernandes, also a Norton planning board member.

"I can see some peculiarities, but I don't see anything that would be so much of a problem that can't be overcome," he said.

Both of Slattery's opponents in the race for two three-year terms on the Foxboro Board of Selectmen are sitting town officials: fellow school board member Larry Harrington, and Advisory Committee Chairwoman Lorraine Brue.

The advisory committee is an appointed group.

Brue and Harrington said voters must decide if one person can responsibly handle the workload of both boards.

"I understand it's legal for her to do this," Brue said. "I think it would be difficult to accomplish effectively."

In particular, Brue said, the school and municipal sides of town government compete for their respective share of town revenue.

"Which side would she sit at when it's time to balance the budget?" she said.

Harrington said the demands on the board of selectmen will be greater in the coming years, in part because the town's executive board needs to make a strategic plan and set goals to avoid getting side-tracked with aimless squabbling.

"Martha is trying something that hasn't been tried in a long time, if ever," Harrington said.

"Voters will have to decide if it's appropriate or inappropriate."

Slattery said she does not see any budgetary conflict or awkwardness in her plan to serve on both boards.

She will begin her 12th year on the school committee this May.

"I would always back a budget that is student-driven," Slattery said.

"If you have good schools it's an asset to the town and the real estate market. You have people who want to come to town and stay in the town."

Slattery said she has already demonstated her ability to see the big picture, in part by returning a $519,000 school surplus to the town's general fund in June 2007, when she chaired the school board. Harrington joined in that decision.

"I think I have demonstrated I have an awareness of what's needed on the town side," she said. "The bottom line is I still live in this town."