Unanswered questions about one-time federal funding, long-term financial planning and some initial budget calculation errors were the focus of the W-H School Committee, on Wednesday, Feb. 16

Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak said he had three goals for the meeting – to hear feedback from the School Committee, to answer any questions about the district’s budget presentation and, looking ahead, what to do when federal funds run out in fiscal 2025 to maintain sustainability of programs. The meeting can be streamed at youtube.com/user/WHCA9TV/videos and is rebroadcast on the WHCA cable access channel.

Szymaniak also indicated there was “a couple of calculation mistakes” to clarify where assessments to the towns announced at an earlier meeting were concerned.

“We’ve gone through this a lot,” he said of the budget figures. “We try to do the best we can and give accurate information, and we found another [figure] doubled up today.”

Two people included in the ESSER figures had also been calculated into the district budget when it was presented on Wednesday, Feb. 9.

The new calculations, using a bottom-line budget of $58,543,037, put Hanson’s assessment at 4.51 percent and Whitman’s at 3.67 percent — including full-day kindergarten paid for with half of the funds in excess and deficiency and $400,000 for Chromebooks. Depending on what the committee wants to do with the budget, some things may still have to be moved around, Szymaniak said.

The bottom line figure is still 3.07 percent higher than last year’s budget.

Hanson’s original assessment had been 5.74 percent and Whitman’s had been calculated at 5.16 percent. The new budget document includes $370,000 for full-day kindergarten, $400,000 for Chromebooks and $123,885 for the Whitman water bill.

There is $974,000 remaining in excess and deficiency (E&D).

Without E&D, the assessments would be $5.66 for Hanson and $5.07 for Whitman, Szymaniak said. Using all of E&D, the assessments would be $3.35 for Hanson and $2.28 for Whitman, which is not sustainable.

Committee member Hillary Kniffen expressed concern about the sustainability of full-day kindergarten if it is started with E&D funds. Chairman Christopher Howard noted the start-up cost would be $740,000. The second year is forecast in the five-year plan at $763,000; the third year would be $785,000. The numbers reflect salaries.

Previous full-day kindergarten discussions had presented the start-up costs as high, but that subsequent years would be lower.

Committee member Christopher Scriven said deciding how the committee wants to proceed is vital.

“It’s not only about having enough information to vote for it or not,” he said. “It’s about voting something we believe in and going into the community and supporting it. So its very important that we have an accurate and understanding what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Howard asked Szymaniak to continue crunching the numbers.

“I really want to thank [Business Manager John] Stanbrook,” Szymaniak said. “He’s kind of been working tirelessly since January putting documents together.” Szyamaniak said he and Stanbrook would try to answer as many questions as possible during the meeting.

“Last year, when we were here, we were projecting a budget for kids to return to school,” he said, noting there are still a “lot of moving parts” in the budget. “We still weren’t in school yet. We were in a hybrid mode. I still had home-school students, and I had more than 500 students in a remote program that we were paying for.”

Committee member Dawn Byers, while lauding the reports, asked if they could be consolidated into a booklet of PDFs.

Effects of ESSER

The district had some federal money that “came out of the blue” [ESSER II and III funds], but they didn’t provide any rules to follow.

Howard noted that, as long as he had been on the committee, there had not been any long-range financial planning.

“I think one thing that we’ve all collectively introduced to the process this year is that long-term planning,” he said. “Some of the challenges that we may have in doing it right now are probably helpful because it’s ‘pay me now or pay me later.’”

Howard noted that the long-range planning being undertaken made for a very different budget process. 

Committee member Fred Small stressed that, for the short-term planning they still have to think of next year and the year after.

“I think a long-term plan is a great thing, but we have to be cognizant of what we may do now that can affect next year and the year after,” he said.

“To me that is the definition of long-term planning,” Howard said. “I couldn’t agree more.”

Committee member Beth Stafford, pointed to the changes COVID has brought to teaching over the last two years as an illustration of how difficult long-range planning is for schools.

“It’s more difficult, I think, than a town budget because we’re talking children’s needs and we never know,” she said. “If you had done a five-year plan four years ago, it would have fallen apart because [of] COVID.”

While long-range planning is needed, Stafford said, she also wanted to talk about what is being done now.

Howard replied that he just doesn’t want to be sitting at the same table in three years discussing lay-offs because of any decision made today, even as he recognizes the need for the programs they are discussing.

“If we’re saying there’s a need today, and we’re falling into the trap of using one-time federal funding to support that need, I can assure you that we’ll be sitting here in three years and we’ll be cutting positions,” he said. “The money is not going to just flow from the sky.”

Szymaniak said the budget process has taken into account the current program needs plus the committee’s wish to offer full-day kindergarten while maintaining reasonable assessments to the towns. He added that interventionist/coaches were included in last year’s budget prior to knowing the ESSER III guidelines because they couldn’t get it into the operating budget.

“Tell me what you want me to spend, or tell me what you don’t want me to spend and I can make those changes,” Szymaniak said.

Committee member Steve Bois said he had been asked what the total expenditure of everything sought in the budget amounts to. 

“I seem to hear that we’re looking for more, but it’s not coming out of the general fund, per se,” he said, asking for a comparison or all the revenues and all the spending included in the FY ’23 budget. [Budget documents are accessible on the school district website whrsd.org].

Vice Chairman Christopher Scriven suggested that the question might be closer to whether one-time funding sources are being used for funding, which is inflating the overall budget for future years. 

The district received a total of $3,608,374 through all three Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) programs over three years.

“I am concerned about the ESSER funds going away in FY 2025, but if we look at it big picture again, that one-time money is for learning loss. … we’re looking to do that through our coaches [interventionists] and special education.”

In fiscal 2022 a total of $1,881,655 in one-time grants and federal program funds (largely from ESSER II) were spent on technology, para-professional support and tutors, employee benefits, data and technology software, according to Szymaniak. The district is looking to use $1,305,385 million in fiscal 2023 allocations to add interventionists — now being called coaches — and staff to help students catch up in the classroom, substitutes, para-professionals, supplies, COVID cleaning, and summer buses all of which — except benefits —can be moved within a budget by an amendment through DESE. ESSER II funding goes away in 2024, leaving $1.3 million in ESSER III funds. The plan to pull expenditures for inclusion, a curriculum director for special education and the Hanson Middle School TLC program with the aim of integrating them into the general budget. 

“Most of those people were integrated into this budget,” Szymaniak said. “We would like to see them maintained, and through this FY 2023 budget we may move some of those folks over … and keep the assessments to the towns as low as possible.” 

Other federal programs, such as Title 3, for which the district my soon qualify due to an increase in ESL students, may also help the budget picture, Szymaniak said.

“I’m really cautious about FY ‘25, because I don’t know what we’re going to need in ’25,’ he said.

“To me, there’s a real danger if we’re using one-time federal money to satisfy those positions,” Howard said of special ed positions paid for through ESSER funds. “You need to make that decision. Are they real positions that we’re going to maintain, because then, to me, they should be in the operating budget.”

Other federal funds

Szymaniak said there are seven positions being funded by federal dollars in the FY ’23 budget, including two English language teachers, a behavioral specialist, a technology coach, two interventionist/coaches and a math interventionist/coach position not yet filled.

Kniffen said the ESL and behavioral positions can’t be paid for with one-time funds.

“I have significant concerns about providing services to students who need them,” she said. Szymaniak agreed that the use of para-professionals does need to be re-evaluated. “We front-loaded this year and we front-loaded for FY ’23, and it’s going to give us two years to really evaluate if we need the amount of paras that we have.”

Regarding the behavioral specialist, Szymaniak said that, while there is a need for on this year, it isn’t clear if it will be needed by 2025. Small said he was not questioning the need, just whether there is another dollar source to fund it. He suggested looking the ESSER funds as a two-or three-year plan the district can wean itself off.

Szymaniak termed ESSER funds a “blessing and a curse,” because they are sent as “free money” but can only be used once, leaving school districts trying to decide how to spend that money.

While there has been an overall decrease in the number of special education students, there has been an increase in needs among the students in the district, Szymaniak said during discussion of the program’s budget impact. Stanbrook said $1.7 million projected to be left in Circuit Breaker is the amount forecast to remain in the account at the end of fiscal ’22 as the amount the district is required to spend in fiscal ’23. The official filing for fiscal ’23 has not been done yet, so a definite figure is not known at this point.

Whitman Selectman Randy LaMattina said that, the school budget as presented would deplete E&D by 2025 and creating a $1.5 million deficit.

“I’m not here to speak on the validity of the services you’re asking for … I truly believe they will make our district stronger,” he said. “I’m here to speak on how reckless this budget actually is. You will not only put services at risk by using one-time money, you’ll be putting teachers’ careers at risk.”

He said a plan is needed and suggested that the obvious plan is that an override would be needed.

“As a citizen of [Whitman], I ask you to come up with a better plan to put forward, rather then risk services, because I think that is what this does, ultimately, in 2025,” LaMattina said.

Szymaniak agreed that sustainability and planning are important.

School mask mandates are being reduced to a recommendation after Feb. 28. Mask requirements on school buses, by federal mandate, and in school health clinics, by state regulation, are still in force. In the meantime, the School Committee is taking another budgetary look at non-mandated busing costs, a decision that ultimately lies with the boards of selectmen in each town.

Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak said his recommendation has been that the school district should continue to follow state education and health guidelines, as it has done since August 2020. 

He stressed, when asked how masks would be enforced for unvaccinated persons, that the policy was a recommendation — not a requirement.

Szymaniak during the Wednesday, Feb. 9 School Committee meeting, said he had a Zoom call with Education Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley, who indicated he is not asking to renew the mask mandate after Feb. 28.

“What that means for us is that after Feb. 28, DESE and MDPH are recommending masks only for students who are unvaccinated and staff that are unvaccinated,” he said. “They’ve pretty much dropped the recommendation for other folks attending preK to 12 — preK to 22 — schools, with the exception of buses.” 

Because of HIPAA and other privacy rules, no one could really ask others about their vaccination status, making enforcement nearly impossible.

School Committee Chairman Christopher Howard said that, unless the committee disagreed with the DESE/MDPH recommendation and wanted to revisit an earlier vote to abide by them, no action was required. If they wished to reconsider that vote, the only other meeting scheduled before Feb. 28 was the Feb. 17 meeting, which was planned exclusively as a budget session. 

“The uses of masks is a polarizing issue,” Howard said, noting that the committee received about 600 comments the last time feedback was sought.

“I can’t tell you the number of emails I’ve gotten from happy parents wanting to know how soon the masks can come off,” said Committee member, Fred Small, who was attending remotely be phone. He also reminded the Committee that the earlier vote was to abide by MDPH recommendations, not DESE.

He also said parents contacting him wanted to know why masks could not come off as early as the next day.

Committee member Heather Kniffen suggested that all Szymaniak needed to do was communicate with families about the latest information available so they can make an informed decision.

The Committee then followed Howard’s suggestion to amend the August 2020 vote to read that they would follow the recommendation of MDPH or DESE. That vote was unanimous.

Non-mandated busing

Szymaniak noted that the district is mandated by law to bus all K-12 students who live two miles or farther away from a school to school each day.

“This is not your vote, but I want you to be aware,” Szymaniak said of the options open to the towns. “Things shift at Town Meeting [and] it does change the assessment that we can control.”

The district received regional transportation reimbursement for anyone living 1.5 miles and out, he said. They also provide non-mandated busing for students living .5 miles to 1.5 miles around a school, with the towns picking up that cost.

“Questions have come up in the past about non-mandated busing and do we need it? What can we do?” Szymaniak said. “We truly have local regional elementary schools. There’s a lot of kids that are [within] a mile and a half to the school.”

School Committee policy also requires that all kindergarten students, whether they live within 1.5 miles or not, are bused to school,” he said. “It’s our rule that we do that.”

While there has been occasional discussion about whether Whitman should consider halting non-mandated busing, Hanson has not done so and no calculations have yet been done for Hanson as a result of that fact.

Calculations on whether to keep non-mandates busing within a certain distance from a school takes into consideration whether students within walking distance are kindergarteners, have to cross state roads [routes 14, 18, 27 and 58], where there are no sidewalks or where there are registered sex offenders living in the area, Szymniak said. It creates a tier system for bus ridership on which the budget is based. Each tier represents a school to which a given bus drives students. Four-tier buses drive students to the high school, a town’s middle school and each elementary school. Of the 20 buses contracted from First Student, six are four-tier, 12 are three-tier and two are two-tier.

School Committee member Steve Bois said traffic at the intersection near WMS has been increasingly clogged and he wants to see the state address it.

“There’s no way I’m voting to get rid of any non-mandated busing,” he said.

First Student plugs data into software that makes bus assignments within the parameters of school start times and making sure they arrive safely.

It costs $9,747.20 per day for 20 buses to transport students to school in the district. For 180 school days, that totals $1,753,329.60 plus $10,000 for a fuel clause allocation in the First Student contract.

Byers wondered if there was any way, keeping in mind the time restrictions concerning how long students are on buses and the number of students assigned to each bus, the number of buses could be used in Hanson.

“We could continue to look at this,” Szymaniak said about keeping the committee informed.

“If we increased the ridership on a bus in Hanson, that bus would take longer to do its route,” Small said. “We would probably run into some contractual differences as far as start times go within the schools.”

He also suggested the high school might have to start even earlier to get a jump-start, because the same buses are used in both towns. He suggested a Finance Committee motion last year advocated that the non-mandated bus cost not be recommended for passage. 

Pulling Whitman non-mandated busing out, the service costs $9,606.90 while changes the scheduling. Cutting out all Whitman non-mandated busing reduces the number of buses to 19, and costs $9,011.36.

Removing Whitman Middle School non-mandated busing saves $24,087 from the transportation budget and removing all Whitman non-mandated busing saves $131,284 in the overall transportation costs.

The number of students whose parents have opted out of bus travel to school in Hanson is 253 and in Whitman, it is 400.

“I have a concern, as a superintendent of students getting to school if non-mandated goes away,” he said. It would also increase vehicle traffic around schools as parents drop students off.

“It would [also] shift our assessments to the towns, because our transportation costs would remain high even though Whitman or Hanson wouldn’t be paying a line item in the budget,” Szymaniak said.

Complex calculations based on three scenarios have to begin with the fiscal ’23 general fund transportation budget, according to Business Manager John Stanbrook.

Scenario 1 starts with the assumption the non-mandated busing is as submitted in the fiscal 2023 budget at $1,7603,329.60. Scenario 2 assumes a cost of $1,739,242.69 with no Whitman Middle School busing — a savings of $54,680 — and Scenario 3 assumes a cost of $1,632,044.80 — a savings of $292,345 — with non-mandated busing for all of Whitman eliminated. Hanson’s costs would increase by $30,593 in Scnario 2 and $161,000 in Scenario 3.

“There’s still transportation costs,” he said.

“I want to get out in front of this with the committee,” Szymaniak said, indicating that traffic studies could be required if Whitman’s non-mandated busing is eliminated. “We’re trying to do our best.” 

He said getting all parents to respond to any kind of survey is difficult, so it makes it hard for the district to make substantive decisions.

“I think it will be really important for you to build scenarios for Hanson,” said Committee Chairman Christopher Howard. “Based on how things have gone in the past … I would think, if this was to happen in Whitman … it’s going to cause a chain reaction.”

WHITMAN — Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman presented a balanced fiscal 2023 budget of $38,938,294 — including $261,892 in excess levy — during a joint meeting with the Finance Committee Tuesday, Feb. 1. It would reflect a 2.8 percent tax increase in the average single family home.

Selectman Brian Bezanson was absent.

 “Contrary to the last several budgets was a necessary one-time revenue source to balance the budget, this does not envision that,” Heineman said. “Depending on what the school assessment comes in at, that may be a factor, [but] it should be a relatively small factor, based on past increases … but under this proposed budget, there is excess levy and a clear policy question for the Board of Selectmen is do we as a town, as we did last year, want to capture that excess levy and have a higher tax rate and spend it in some way …  or is there some part of the full excess levy that we as a town would not want to capture and provide in tax relief.”

There is also $1.5 million in currently allocated American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA) funds, funneled through the county, that may be spent through December 2024. Heineman advocated reserving most of the funds for the sewer force main project — as the one-time money should be used on a one-time expense — or to consider applying to some operating budget needs. The latter is not sustainable after 2024, he reminded the boards.

“For the past couple of years of, I think, pretty good fiscal management from the town, we’ve gone from a necessary override to now producing a budget where we’re not using any one-time money, and I think that’s a huge positive in that things are going in the right direction for this town,” Selectman Randy LaMattina said. He argued that one-time money should never be used to balance a budget.

“It’s a pretty good spot to modify from if we see fit,” he said.

“We’re doing what we’re doing to maintain a workable budget for the town,” agreed Selectman Dan Salvucci. 

Heineman said some of the key budget goals and objectives are the implementation of the Madden Report, the draft Strategic Plan and new financial management policies as well as clearly defining the budget’s impact on property taxpayers and the creation of predicable and moderate increases.

Department heads requested $1,077,818 in expense increases — mainly due to increases of $194,000 for Plymouth County Retirement, $144,000 to fully fund unfilled police shifts and $102,000 for storm water management. Another increase of $402,623 is expected in the form of the WHRSD assessment, which is not final yet.

“We have this increase,” Heineman said. “It is not affordable within our property tax levy.”

To close the budget gap, Heinemaan included $239,274 in reductions were made to departmental requests, while still reaching goals.

The budget proposal also includes the allowed 2.5 percent increase under Proposition 2 1/2, as well as a conservative new growth estimate of  $400,000 and debt exclusions of $1,042,920. The spending package also includes Gov. Charlie Baker’s local aid figures.

“It does, almost fully, meet the Madden report’s recommendations regarding revenue,” Heineman said. He said the report set a goal of injecting no more than 85 percent in departmental receipts than what had been received in the previous fiscal year, an approach with which Heineman said he agrees.

“When we’re talking about departmental receipts, the big drivers of that are motor vehicle excise, building permits — any other fees the town collects that aren’t taxes,” he said. “This gets there … many of those projected revenue figures were dangerously high — up to 97 percent, 99 percent in some cases — understandable in the budget crunch that we were in, but not wise in terms of long-term budgeting and not wise in that it makes it very difficult to raise free cash because it’s not conservative budgeting.”

Without the generation of free cash, Heineman said, it can be very difficult to maintain any long-range capital plan. 

“That’s the key Madden Report recommendation that would be almost entirely achieved here in this proposed balanced budget,” he said.

The two acknowledged exceptions were that if a revenue source was almost certain to come in higher than the 85 percent, it would be acceptable to have a higher amount.

The budget fills 20 percent of the unfilled police shifts, including a full-time records clerk ($57,000), and would provide an IT position ($55,000) and a full-time Building Commissioner ($57,000) as well as a full-time facilities manager ($21,000). The town’s lack of an additional IT person, and a full-time building commissioner, were identified as weaknesses by the Madden Report.

“I think it’s a great budget rollout, and a great first step,” said Finance Committee Chairman Richard Anderson. “I think we’re all in agreement that [the impact to residents] is something the strategic plan outlined, and one of our budget objectives is to get that line a little straighter.” 

Heineman said the town is nearing predictability and the moderation point already.

Anderson asked how building projects, such as a school project and/or DPW building would affect that. He also urged that the Capital Committee be included in budget discussions.

Heineman said the level of interest rates would be a key factor in determining that. 

“This is a presentation and then there’s a schedule of events that will happen over the next series of months that involves our two bodies to cooperate and know what each body is doing,” said Selectman Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski.

Department heads submitted their budget requests by Dec. 7, 2021, with Selectmen considering the budget ahead of their vote on the town-side appropriation between now and early March for inclusion on the warrant for the annual Town Meeting on May 2. The Finance Committee will work on its review of the proposed budget from now until April 5.

Kowalski suggested adding another joint meeting with on the Finance Committee on April 12 “to see how close we are.” He noted it may be difficult to duplicate last year when the two boards were only $10,000 apart on their budget reviews.

“We disagreed on one item in that whole budget, which is pretty good,” Kowalski said.

Anderson said the schedule works fine but the April 12 joint meeting date would hinge on whether any of their other meetings are delayed.

“We had it tentatively scheduled for [April] 19, but the 12th is perfectly fine,” Anderson said. Kowalski said he suggested April 12 because he could not be there on the 19th.

“I think that’s a great schedule,” Anderson said.

HANSON — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Jan. 25 heard a presentation from consultants hired to conduct a De-Regionalization Feasibility Study during a joint meeting with the De-Regionalization Feasibility Study Committee.

Selectmen peppered the consultants with questions and comments.

“I think this was a great presentation, but I still find myself with so many questions,” said Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “I don’t feel I’m completely armed with the empirical data that I would need to make an educated decision about whether this is a cost-effective decision to make or not.”

She said they were “maybe halfway there” on the information needed to make an informed decision.­

“I think we are all in consensus that we need more information before we can even think about which direction we want to head,” said Selectmen Chairman Matt Dyer.

Selectmen Joe Weeks and Jim Hickey had already asked a lengthy list of questions on points TMS consultants had reviewed in their presentation.

Weeks also said more local control was as much as a concern for Hanson residents as school budget costs.

“It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the data,” he said. “As a homeowner, as a taxpayer and as someone who has to take a vote on something, that’s hard to reverse. There’s still so many data points that I’m missing.”

Town Administrator Lisa Green noted that Selectmen had voted before she came on board to form a de-regionalization committee and have consultant firm TMSolutions Inc., out of Auburn study the potential and possible effects of such a move. They compiled and studied documents on assessments, revenue support, staffing, special education and other issues — and attended the meeting remotely to present their report.

The Jan. 25 presentation can be viewed on WHCA-TV’s YouTube channel as well as rebroadcast on its Hanson access channel.

Judy Houle, senior VP and chief education officer at TMS and Associate Consultant for Special Projects and Business Services Michael DeBarge presented the report. A 43-year educator, Houle has been a teacher, principal, curriculum director, superintendent and business manager for school districts. She said TMS has done three de-regionalization studies, including Hanson’s and two regionalization studies.

DeBarge holds a master’s degree in conflict studies from the London School of Economics where he studied how institutional design could be used in conflict resolution. He also provides general financial management services for K-12 schools.

“We were to provide information to the town of Hanson with regard to the question of should the town separate from the W-H Regional School District or remain with them,” Houle said.

The scope of the study was to inform Hanson officials of the educational, financial and administrative impacts. Legal implications and a potential timeline and processes for town officials’ consideration.

“For me, it’s what’s best for the kids,” Selectman Jim Hickey said. But he added that 30 percent of Hanson’s population is over age 60 and 45 percent is over 50.

“We either have people ready to go to a fixed income or already on a fixed income,” he said.

Houle responded that it was an important concern, but added that quality schools help property values to go up.

“Financial considerations have been driving a lot of this discussion, and the big questions before us are what do you save as a result of de-regionalization? What costs would be incurred as a result of that?” DeBarge said.

The three options TMS brought forth for the town to consider are to:

• fully separate for a PreK-12 district and a decision about the WHRHS faculty;

• PK-8 supervisory union and region for nine to 12 or

• maintain the status quo.

“I still find myself asking the question, ‘What would it cost to completely de-regionalize,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said noting that complete de-regionalization was not fully fleshed out. She cited legal costs and forensic accounting as two areas of concern.

“Both towns would have to vote to amend or dissolve the regional agreement,” Houle said, advising that be done by July 2023. She noted that the next steps right now would be to engage stakeholders in both towns to discuss the issue. She said the soonest any separation could be achieved, were that the decision would be 2025.

“We recommend you move slowly and methodically in this process and make sure stakeholders’ voices are heard,” Houle said. She noted that total cost would depend on the option Hanson chooses.

The commissioner of education must approve any long-range feasibility plan by Dec. 31 of the fiscal year any de-regionalization would be planned.

The first option raises issues over ownership of buildings or responsibility for building a new facility; the need for a separate administrative set up and a new school committee, the need for added staff and the loss of regional transportation reimbursement.

Option two presents some of the same considerations, but DeBarge said the impact would be lessened as special education programs would be easier absorbed and most central office services could be shared.

The third option’s main focus is collaboration in containing costs while maintaining a high level of educational programs. 

The regional agreement, first entered into in 1956 established a grade nine to 12 region and was amended in 1992 to become a K-12 district. The assessment methodology was amended in 2020 to conform with the state’s preferred statutory method based on the rolling average of enrollment in the district, and was the impetus for the study.

Hanson owns the Indian Head Elementary and Hanson Middle schools, both of which Houle and DeBarge have toured. They noted HMS’ high-priority capital needs are roof and kitchen repairs and gymnasium egress. Outstanding high-priority capital needs at Indian Head are the playground and lead paint, which is currently encapsulated.

Hanson’s share of capital costs to the town’s schools is $710,650 and $1,643,703.12 for a total on $2,354,365.12. Hanson’s liability for regional capital costs is also calculated based on enrollment.

“Your regional agreement specifies that you are liable for any capital debt that has been incurred during the process and at the time of separation,” Houle said.

DeBarge said the financial impact of de-regionalization was investigated in concentrating on three specific areas — the foundation budget, transportation and human resources. 

“From 2015 to 2021, Hanson experienced a total decline in foundation enrollment of nearly 14 percent,” DeBarge said. The decline in enrollment, however, does not translate to financial savings.

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), determines the adequate spending level for a school district, based on enrollment inflation and the wage-adjustment factor, DeBarge said.

Hanson should also consider that, should de-regionalization be pursued, transportation reimbursement would disappear.

“While transportation expenses would decline, if you look at the percent of transportation funding that has been reimbursed, you see that this is not an inconsequential amount of money,” he said. If Hanson opted for partial separation, some of that reimbursement would be maintained, but it would be only at the high school level.

“The point is, transportation is a major factor to consider, and separation does not entail significant savings,” he said. De-regionalization would also increase the costs for staffing by about 4 to 5 percent, for cost of living, advancing steps and salary lane changes with additional education. Those figures do not include custodial costs. Administrative and instructional support costs must also be considered.

HANSON — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Jan. 25 honored Library staff member Antonia Leverone for her 3 years with Hanson Public Library.

“She assisted with the automation process in 2000,” Selectmen Chairman Matt Dyer read from an email about Leverone’s retirement from Library Director Karen Stolfer. “Toni was instrumental in obtaining a grant that provided materials and equipment for the blind and low-vision individuals.”

Leverone also took over leading the Library’s popular Book-To Movie Club after the passing of Nancy Cappellini and has managed the library’s magazine collection and helped ensure computers were up to date and maintained the collection of historical materials.

“I think Toni is an overall great example of a public servant who cared about the community in which she served and brought her passions to our community and shared them with us,” Dyer said.

Selectmen are sending her a citation honoring her service.

The board also held a brief public comment hearing on the town’s community aggregation plan with Patrick Roche of Good Energy, a hard copy of the responses gleaned during the public comment period is available for review at both the Town Hall and Library as well as on the town website. 

The Dept. of Energy Resource next does a review and a final plan will be brought back before Selectmen, which is then reviewed by the Department of Public Utilities for review before bids are sought.

Residents have asked about details such as other town aggregations’ performance, how the plan impacts people with solar panels on their homes and how opting out works.

Selectmen Chairman Matt Dyer, who also serves on the town’s Energy Committee asked whether or how an aggregation plan might affect people on other low-income or other savings plans as well as how it could affect people with solar panels on their homes.

Roche said is would not affect people on other plans. Those with solar panels would see the credits they now receive would be valued and the way credits are allocated would not change. It would only change the cost of the electricity pulled from the grid.

Selectman Jim Hickey asked about the average savings for Gloucester’s four-year time period. Roche said that town have not yet seen the full impact of it.

“I know we had talked about this before and we had both agreed that it was not about the money, although citizens would save, it was the idea of using cleaner energy,” Hickey said. But saving $60 or $70 each year is kind of a win-win situation, he added.

Dyer also said the savings also hinge on how much energy people consume.

Selectman Joe Weeks asked if people want to stay with NatGrid, is there a participation threshold at which the contract could be nullified. Roche said it is not effected by that.

FitzGerald-Kemmett asked about the length of the contract and any decoupling process if the town decides the program isn’t what it wants. Roche said the most common contract is three years with some going a bit longer.

Usually after a full year the contract can be reviewed before a town decides to lock in for the next contract.

“I think it’s important that this vote we take tonight, what does that lock us into?” she said. “We’re not locking it down today, we’re going out for bids for brokers.”

 “I just want people to understand there are a lot of checks and balances out there,” FitzGerald-Kemmett. 

It process could take as long as two years to complete.

Business Manager John Stanbrook has pledged to continue providing a monthly budget report and will give a quarterly analysis of the school budget, including transfers of Circuit Breaker finances to the School Committee as the panel concluded a lengthy meeting, Wednesday, Jan. 5, on the questions and concerns that have cropped up over use of Circuit Breaker funds.

Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak, who acknowledged Stanbrook’s important work in uncovering budget concerns, also pledged greater transparency in the budgeting process to the committee.

“I don’t think we did things right,” Szymaniak said. “I don’t think I did things right with these [School Committee] folks, I don’t think Dr. [Ruth Gilbert-]Whitner did things right … I don’t know if Dr. [John F.] McEwan did or not, I didn’t know Dr. McEwan. But I think we can do better, I think we need to do better. Communication with both communities has to be better.”

School Committee members Mike Jones, Fred Small and Michelle Bourgelas attended the meeting remotely by phone.

“Of late, there are a number of questions and concerns that have come up concerning Circuit Breaker as was first discussed in our November meeting and the administration has been working to gather information needed,” said Committee Chairman Christopher Howard. “That process has been delayed a couple of times due just from folks being out, which we’re continually dealing with.” He said the plan for the meeting was to lay out all the questions put forth up to this point and share the answers publicly. Follow-up questions were permitted as the presentation progressed.

The complete meeting may be viewed on the WHCA-TV YouTube channel online, or as rebroadcast on the education channel.

Howard said he and Vice Chairman Christopher Scriven met with school district administrators in an effort to obtain information on “questions that we thought needed to be addressed.”

“A lot of this material is a little dense – it’s a little thick – it can be complex at times, so really the objective of tonight’s meeting is to try and get to the same place of understanding,” Howard said.

Questions and answers [also available on the WHRSD website at the link: https://p10cdn4static.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_18535382/File/WHRSD%20Circuit%20Breaker%20Questions_final.pdf] included what is Circuit Breaker?

“Circuit Breaker is the state’s special education reimbursement program,” the response stated, in part among the nine pages of questions and answers. “Its intent is to provide relief to districts for high-cost special education students, and not all placements go where parents would necessarily prefer because of the process schools must follow.”

Szymaniak explained there are some students for whose educational costs are not reimbursed, because their tuition did not meet that standard.

Szymaniak said that Stanbrook had mentioned in a budget subcommittee meeting that there was a change in how the Circuit Breaker funds would be used in the fiscal 2023 budget. In addition to Stanbrook, retired interim Business Manager John Tuffy also attended the meeting.

“From that, more questions evolved about how we had done in the past, what we were going to do in the future, what past practices we’ve used that I’ve learned, now, probably aren’t best past practices, and how we figure out how we do this moving forward to make sure this committee here has a full understanding of this revenue source here, this reimbursement source of Circuit Breaker,” Szymaniak said, inviting more questions. “I’m just trying to be open and honest that I might not have a specific answer. I’m not trying to brush it off.”

Answers not available at the time would be answered at a subsequent meeting, or by a phone call or email, he said.

“I think [Stanbrook], in this role, is extremely efficient and is continually finding some things of how we can improve as a district, how his office can improve and how we can improve communications with the School Committee and the towns, so that we don’t have this problem in the future,” Szymaniak said.

Disagreements

He acknowledged there are disagreements out in the communities about best practices and how to use Circuit Breaker funds.

“What I found from my colleagues, from MASC, from DESE, there is no Golden Rule,” he said, pledging to more effectively communicate options. “People do it differently.”

Reviewing the basic reimbursement formula timing for some residential facility needs cases, was clarified by Whitman resident Shawn Kain, administrator of the Recovery High School in Brockton, whose wife is also a special education teacher, as he had been.

“We’re going to be reimbursed for the money we pay for that student next year,” Kain said. “So the Circuit Breaker we get for that student will increase next year … even though the special ed costs [for the year of the expense] will increase. … I think that’s an important clarification … sometime special education costs and Circuit Breaker reimbursement gets blurred.”

Tuffy agreed it is a reimbursement program.

Small asked how many times in the past five years the district had experienced an emergency expense – such as a special needs student moving into the district or requiring residential placement.

“I think that’s a flow,” Szymaniak said. “I can’t give you an exact number.”

Student Services Director Lauren Matthiesen described her budget process for some costs as a best-guess process based on expecting 3 percent increases from collaborative schools and 6 percent increases from private placements each year during budget calculations. Some figures are not finalized until June.

Tuffy said the district had actually received funds this year as a beginning reimbursement for special education transportation.

“Up until now, we’ve never gotten any money at all,” he said. “They’re phasing it in over a period of time. They actually missed the first year that they said they were going to phase it in because of financial issues at the state [level]. The assumption is we will continue to see that funded as we go into fiscal year 2023.”

Whitman Selectman Randy LaMattina said he could already see the meeting going off the rails before the discussion had reached the half-hour point.

“We’re now talking about special education costs, not Circuit Breaker reimbursement,” he said, asking why the two were being confused.

Like Howard, LaMattina questioned where the district’s best practices come from.

“I’m asking the same question,” Howard said. “What my opinion of that is, it’s an opinion and I would ask everyone to hold their ‘we’re going to accept those as what we should do’ until we actually go through all the information because its simply an opinion of best practices from someone.”

LaMattina also asked if the district places Circuit Breaker reimbursements in an account such as special education stabilization, rather than funneling money into the general fund. Stanbrook said that, yes, there is a Special Revenue Fund for Circuit Breaker in the budget.

“All the revenue from Circuit Breaker goes into that account, no question,” he said.

Stanbrook also reviewed special education expenses from fiscal 2014 to 2021. Overall special ed costs went from about $7.7 million in 2014 to $11.2 million in fiscal 2021 – a 44.95 percent increase, based on end-of-year reports required by DESE.

In the past, it’s been used for tuition to collaboratives, professional salaries, contractual services and transfers to the general fund, Stanbrook said.

School Committee member Hillary Kniffen asked if there was a best practices recommendation for how much Circuit Breaker funding the district should use in a year.

Szymaniak said that percentage amount has not been found, but the committee had recommended that a policy be determined. Howard confirmed that his inquiries to state officials show “it’s all over the place.”

What is not spent is carried over into excess and deficiency per state law, Szymaniak said.

Whitman resident John Galvin, who stressed he was not speaking in his capacity as a Finance Committee member, had several questions about a chart showing the “drastic overspending” of Circuit Breaker money in 2018 and ’19 as well as “drastic under-allocation” of it in 2021 and ’22. He questioned who authorized the overspending in 2018 and ’19 when the report he cited “clearly showed it was not transferred to the general fund” and how it was actually paid out. He also questioned a page on the late deposit of $246,943 on July 2, 2019 — after the budget had been certified. He said he was aware the figure was explained (the last deposit on fiscal 2018 had been delayed) on another chart, but a notation would have helped transparency.

“Telling the truth can’t possibly be misleading,” said Stanbrook, who said his report was based purely on what is in the accounting system. Galvin said it would simply be helpful to add notations on the chart if an additional amount was delayed. He also questioned how it was spent, if it was not transferred to the general fund.

Heated exchange

Howard cut off the back and forth discussion to focus on the original question of who authorized expenditures.

“It’s an honest answer – I don’t have an answer for you right now,” Szymaniak said of the 2019 budget compiled before he was superintendent.

“You should have been made aware that that money was being added to the overall budget after it was certified,” LaMattina said, noting that if more money is going to be added to the general fund in any given year after the budget has been certified, the School Committee needs to vote on it. 

“We’re not getting at spending,” he said. “You should have been made aware that money was being added to the overall budget after it was certified (for fiscal 2021). … I think we’re here to discuss a mistake that I think we’re dancing around. A mistake was obviously made in the way this was calculated — an accounting mistake and then spending.”

If used correctly, Circuit Breaker reimburses the school district to offset unexpected costs and then the bill comes to the town, which frees up more money for member towns.

“That’s not the way this has been done, and that’s the way it was supposed to be done,” LaMattina said.

Stanbrook said the state asks his office twice to certify that the required amount had been transferred out of the Circuit Breaker fund so the district would not carry more than one year’s worth as per state regulation.

Szymaniak said the fiscal 2021 budget, with all it’s unknown COVID-related expenses led to the district being conservative with Circuit Breaker, but still ended up with “an abundance at the end of the year.”

“It was a very difficult time to understand how we were going to budget, even to the point when we developed our remote plan for students, we didn’t know if we were going to be reimbursed for that at all,” he said. Fiscal 2022 carried it’s own COVID-related questions, including learning loss and social-emotional issues. More parents of special ed students were also looking for residential placement for their children, as well. 

Stanbrook recently proposed to the budget subcommittee that the district determine the total sped costs in the general fund for fiscal 2023, and then remove about $1.7 million from that budget and show it as being paid by the Circuit Breaker in the special revenue section of a budget

 “It covers the amount we need to spend next year by the state regulation, and I think it will show a substantial relief to the towns,” Galvin said in support of the proposal.

Kniffen said she is more concerned with the educational opportunities for students that Circuit Breaker savings could be used to finance. LaMattina argued that proper use of Circuit Breaker would enable the towns to possibly give more if voted because you’re allocating the reimbursement in a proper manner. Both he and Galvin fully supported Stanbrook’s proposal.

“You don’t get less money,” he said. “You’re now presenting a more accurate budget to the towns. By not doing it right, you’re hurting yourself.”

Kain also said he believes last year’s budget was miscalculated in an effort to hold back some money for a rainy day fund of sorts. Scriven was uncertain about Kain’s terminology, but said it was clear state Circuit Breaker regulations were not followed.

“That, to me, is the problem,” he said.

“I just think people agreed on the budget last year under false assumptions,” Kain said. “If you wanted to withhold some money for a special ed rainy day fund, it should have been in the budget and subtracted in that line. It wasn’t, and it was voted on, therefore to me, that doesn’t sit right.”

Howard said he did not disagree with anything Kain said.

“We could have been more transparent,” Howard said, but neither he nor Scriven knew where to go with that.

“What we can do best is learn from the experience,” Small said, suggesting a special ed stabilization fund be established and funded.

Whitman Finance Committee liaison to the School Department Kathleen Ottina thanked the School Committee for putting together the session.

“It’s a refreshing approach to informing the public how money is spent,” she said. “The school budget is not a simple budget. … I believe we have the right people committed to the School Committee and to the towns, going forward, who will do the right thing.”

HANSON — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Jan. 4 voted to impose a mask mandate in all town-owned buildings, effective Wednesday, Jan. 5. All employees must wear masks when interacting with the public.

The board plans to revisit the issue at its Tuesday, Jan. 25 meeting.

“I don’t think it would hurt anything to say [access to Town Hall] is appointment only for the next two weeks,” Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “And then we can revisit it.”

Selectmen Chairman Matt Dyer, noting that everyone, “healthy or sick” goes food shopping, asked if Selectmen could impose a mask mandate in all public spaces. He asked that the board put such a mandate in place in all town-owned buildings, Jan. 5. He also endorsed a hybrid meeting atmosphere, so people who wish to attend in person may do so at their own risk, but virtual attendance is encouraged.

Dyer also asked if it was possible to obtain test kits to have on hand for town employees, which Amado said he was looking into. A COVID booster clinic will be held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 13 at Hanson Middle School. Registration with the Board of Health is required for the Moderna booster shots.

FitzGerald-Kemmett noted that is a Board of Health decision, where the Selectmen are in charge of town employees and town buildings. She also sought to mandate mask wearing when town employees interact with the public.

“Ideally we would like to agree on these things and work together,” she said.

The board discussed the issue with Health Agent Gilbert Amado, who reported that there were about 300 cases in town as of that time, but did not advocate additional measures be taken. Selectman Joe Weeks called attention to the report two meetings ago when there were 20 cases in town.

“It’s ramping up unbelievable,” Amado said adding that the Omicron outbreak has led to more people getting tested. He said Hanson has a 12.32 percent positivity rate and Whitman has a 12.18 percent rate.

“It’s up to common sense right now,” he said, adding the town has been “kicked in the butt” by the CDC and governor. He did say the board might consider mandating masks in Town Hall and other town buildings.

“But people are rebellious,” he said. 

He said the town has done a “fabulous” job protecting town employees with plexiglass shields, and sanitizing wipes and lotion for cleaning surfaces and hands. Masks and gloves are worn and buildings are fogged against the virus.

FitzGerald-Kemmett asked Amado about surrounding towns like Whitman closing town halls for a short period in order to get control of the transmission rate and protect staff in the interests of the town. She asked if masks are still required in Town Hall.

“For a week or two, while this thing is getting crazy and the transmission numbers are so high … 300 is alarming,” she said. “We’re in it. We’re in the crosshairs right now.”

Amado confirmed that’s the highest number of cases the town has had at one time.

Weeks also asked about virtual or hybrid meetings. Town Administrator Lisa Green confirmed that town boards are allowed to meet virtually through April 2022.

“Employees within Town Hall have taken it upon themselves to wear masks,” Green said. 

Public safety personnel frequently pitch in to help community programs that benefit youth. This year, the efforts of the Whitman Police and Fire departments to assist the Whitman Area Toy Drive reached new levels of success — filling seven cruisers and two ambulances with toys, clothing, sporting goods and other items frequently found on kids’ wish lists for Santa Claus.

The Jolly Old Elf was also on hand, and provided assistance to the police officers, who managed to arrest and book the Grinch on charges he tried to steal Christmas. 

Both characters appeared through the generosity of the Amleida Family, said Whitman’s Deputy Chief of Police Joseph Bombardier.

The collection’s success brought kudos from Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman during the Tuesday, Dec. 21 meeting of the Board of Selectmen.

“I just want to trumpet a little bit the great work of our public safety officials — Police Department, police staff — as part of the Whitman Area Toy Drive,” he said. “It was the most successful year yet, according to the organizers.”

For adults’ holiday celebrations, the Board of Selectmen also voted to approve extending the hours under clubs and Common Victualers’ licenses to permit bars and restaurants included to stay open until 2 a.m. on New Year’s Eve.

In Hanson, that police department also filled seven cruisers on Dec. 4, in a toy drive benefitting the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots program, according to officer Derek Harrington.

“We truly want to extend our thanks to the entire community for their generosity at this years toy drive,” Harrington said. Our community conference room was filled entirely by the toys donated.”