WHITMAN – The Select Board has begun the discussion surrounding a possible override question to put before voters this May.
“As you know, we have put a 5 percent increase as a place-holder in the fiscal 2025 budget for the W-H Regional School District assessment,” said Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter. “If the district certifies an amount greater than the 5 percent we have planned for, the board may want to consider a Proposition 2 ½ override for any amount requested in excess of the 5 percent.”
She said such a move would require an additional warrant article for the annual Town Meeting and a ballot question for the May 18 annual Town Election. The Board will again discuss the budget issue on March12. The School Committee has until March 16 to certify its budget.
“I suggest that we consider this course of action and plan to include the related agenda items on an upcoming Board of Selectmen’s agenda in March to further discuss this issue,” she said.
Board member Shawn Kain, who is on the budget subcommittee, also spoke to the potential need for an override.
“The School Committee is in a tough spot,” he said, “There’s a good group of people who are trying to do best by kids, and at the same time wrestle with this budget, and they definitely are in a dilemma.”
He noted enrollment dropped again, the district is still in the hold-harmless situation, they spread themselves a bit thin with the use of one-time money as the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund (ESSER) money is going away and the state is pulling back on some funding. The ESSER funds were used to fund a number of positions to help students recover educational ground after remote learning during COVID.
Hold-harmless is a process by which the state calculates how much state funding was provided in a previous year, plus a small per-pupil addition to arrive at how much they believe a district will need and provide the larger dollar amount. A district is “held harmless” by not reducing your aid. If the state believes that need is declining, usually because of declining enrollment, all the budget growth is borne by the towns.
“They’re certainly in a difficult situation and, honestly, the solution isn’t clear,” Kain said. “Hopefully, we can go through the budget and find some ways to save money. I’m sure that would be greatly appreciated by the community. But with the signs of a deficit for a level-service budget, it’s understandable that they would consider an override and I think they should have the opportunity to do so.”
Kain added that he, personally, would like to see an enrollment projection to see exactly what the school district is facing.
“There is a difference between a stable enrollment override and an override that takes place while enrollment continues to drop,” he said. “If enrollment continues to drop – and I don’t know that that’s the case – but were it to continue to drop, then it’s no guarantee, but we would likely, or more likely, still be in the hold-harmless situation, which would complicate things moving forward.”
He said on the town side, although it would place a significant strain on departments, it may be advantageous to “limp through the next couple years” because of the Plymouth County retirement liability continuing strain that side of the budget. Those increases, to makeup a deficit in that fund are forecast to continue for the next three or four years.
“After that time, we know there’s going to be a significant drop-off,” he said. “Now that we know that and we can kind of project out what that’s going to do, for the town side, it may be advantageous, on Mary Beth’s recommendation, that we stay kind of disciplined, as opposed to combining with the schools for an override. But that’s something to talk about and consider.”
For now, he said, the recommendation is to discuss a school override.
Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski said the only wrinkle he sees is that it would be a Select Board proposal to put it before the voters.
Kain asked that the board consider whether they wanted to discuss the issue with department heads to determine whether the town wanted to “piggy back” an override in addition to the schools or follow Carter’s recommendation, which he favors.
“I think I agree with Mary Beth, that’s the way to go,” Kowalski said. “The difference between the 5 percent and what the schools initially said they needed for a level-service budget is a great difference. It seems to me that it needs the consideration of an override in order to have it work.”
Kowalski said the Select Board should propose putting that before the voters as a ballot question.
Select Board member Justin Evans expressed concern that, at the board’s last meeting, they discussed that town departments might consider it.
“Town departments are also not living within the Madden recommendations,” he said. “Over the last couple of years, as well as this year, their projected increases are greater than what we can afford for any given department.”
Unless there have been voluntary efforts to make cuts, that’s probably still the case, he said it would be difficult to say it’s an override driven by the need of the schools.
“For this to work, Hanson would also need to pass an override just for the schools, otherwise we’re passing an override that can’t be spent, I don’t think,” he said.
Kain said that is why discussing it early and making it public sets the tone.
“If we do this, we’re sending a clear message as to what our intentions are,” he said.
Carter said the Plymouth County retirement liability is set to end in 2029 if the retirement board does not vote to extend it.
“That’s light at the end of the tunnel, but it is a few years down the road,” she said.
She met with department heads on Thursday, Feb. 15 and asked for their suggestions for cuts and, if she didn’t hear back from them she would go through it as best she could to reduce it.
By the next scheduled Select Board meeting on March 12, she said the School Committee would be meeting to certify their budget.
Finance Board members Kathleen Ottina and Rosemary Connolly, each attending the Select Board meeting to address other matters, said they appreciate to difficulty, but had questions.
“As a FinCom member, I know the gap,” she said. “I question the legality of forcing an override on the schools. … Towns can’t cut the school budget. They can either accept it or not accept it. … I question the legality of what the town is suggesting, that the school budget can be segregated into what the town is capable of funding within the 5 percent and then the rest would be put on an override.”
Kowalski and Carter said it was considered legal in 2016 when the same course of action was taken. Carter stressed that town counsel would be asked to examine it this year, as well. Ottina countered that the initiative came from the schools in 2016.
“To be clear, this would be with the cooperation of the schools,” Kain said. “If the schools were not in agreement with this structure, then we would have to pivot.”
“Schools have autonomy over their budget,” Connolly said. “There are so many laws and requirement that they have to meet. It’s one of the reasons you’re supposed to put your school budget first.”
She asked what happens if the schools put forward a budget that meets students needs, but still does not meet what the Select Board wants.
“Do you have a secondary budget set, because it’s going to come out of all of your other budgets?” she asked. “I just feel like this might be a little bit dangerous and almost theatrical and not really proper budgeting.”
Evans agreed the schools have autonomy, but they also have to present their budget to be printed in the warrant, but the Select Board also has to present a balanced budget to Town Meeting.
“That’s a huge point that Mr. Evans just made,” said resident John Galvin, who has served on the Finance Committee in the past. He noted that to keep to the 5 percent the towns indicated they could afford in a school budget, $1.9 million in cuts would be necessary to the school budget.
If you look at what’s causing this deficit, it’s clearly a revenue issue with the schools,” Galvin said. “It’s not just the $800,000 worth of ESSER, or the $500,000 worth of [excess and deficiency] that could be used. They’re also being told from the state … and federal other grants to be short almost another $400,000.”
State Cherry Sheet numbers will be down almost $125,000, he noted.
“If you add those all up, it’s basically the $1.9 million deficit that the schools are saying they would have if the towns are funding at 5 percent assessment,” he said. “All the grants they’re forecasting in their revenue are gone.”
He asked how the town could even think about handling that without an override. The town’s budget increases, by comparison, were designed to help increase town services.
“They’re going to lose jobs,” Galvin said of the schools. “I can’t imagine why the schools wouldn’t want to work with us on this. It’s really the only way the schools have a chance.”
Connolly asked which school – between W-H and the four tech schools students attend.
Kowalski said the W-H district was being discussed.
Kain said increases from other regional schools, such as South Shore Tech and Norfolk Agricultural, are due to enrollment increases where the enrollment at W-H is decreasing.
Resident Robert Kimball of Auburnville Way, urged the Select Board to consider the elder population in town, who are already financially stressed because of ballot initiatives for a new DPW building and a new Whitman Middle School.
“It’s nice to have a level-service budget, but let’s make some cuts someplace,” he said. “Let them try to cut their budget. They’ve got decreased enrollment.”
W-H hires a new business manager
The School Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 7 voted to accept Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak’s recommendation to hire former Canton Director of Business Steve Marshall as the W-H district director of business and finance, pending the successful negotiation of a contract.
His official start date would be July 1.
Szymaniak had recently accepted the resignation of Business Manager John Stanbrook, posting the position immediately on SchoolSpring and Indeed employment websites.
Thanking him for putting together the fiscal 2025 budget presentation, Szymaniak said he appreciated what Stanbrook has put together.
None of the viable candidates responding had any certification or experience in school business, so Szymaniak contacted some local superintendents for possible recommendations. School Committee Chair Beth Stafford said that, no sooner did W-H begin searching for a new business manager, a number of other towns also started a search process.
“I found Steve Marshall,” he said. “I shot a text to Steve and said, ‘Would you be interested in sending me your material so I could review it?”
He also asked Marshall if he would be interested in having a conversation with the W-H Central Office team. When Marshall agreed, he was interviewed and the team found him to be “exceptional,” Szymaniak said. Stafford also had a chance to meet with Marshall.
“By Jeff looking to the other superintendents and seeing if there was anybody around, to do it that way, was really the only way to get somebody qualified, who is certified and ready to go,” Stafford said.
“He comes with very good references,” Szymaniak said. “I’m very confident in his ability in municipal – town – government work. We spoke about the learning curve in a regional [district] and I’m very confident.”
Marshall had been director of business for the Canton School District, and W-H will have someone mentor him as he settles into the district’s business routine.
“He’s got the name,” Steve Bois joked about their shared first name.
Committee member Fred Small said he noticed a trend toward two-year periods with past employers on Marshall’s resume, and asked for an explanation.
Marshall replied that he spent about 10 years with Aramark, working with a number of different districts through the same employer as a contracted service provider.
“I did leave [Aramark] and spent some time outside of public schools, working for a startup company that was subsequently sold off, and I came back to public schools,” he said. “At that point, I decided to go back to school, get my MBA and decided I wanted to pursue a business manager position.”
He then spent four years with Newton Schools in the business office, and went for a promotion as the business director and manger in Canton, where he has been for the last two and a half years.
“What assurances could we feel we would have that, two to five years from now, you wouldn’t be giving the same pitch, so to speak, [to another district]?” Small asked.
Marshall reiterated that Szymaniak reached out to him.
“I don’t have to leave my current position,” he said. “It’s not something I’m running from at all, but after meeting an interviewing here, it’s a place that I truly want to be. I think there is a very strong leadership team here that I’m excited to be a part of.”
He also said he lives in a close-by town only a 20-minute drive away and is looking for a professional home.
“I’m really looking for a place to be for an extended period of time.” he said.
Committee member David Forth said he appreciated Marshall’s attending the meeting, asking about his experience with the MSBA in middle school projects noted on his resume.
Marshall noted he was serving as Natick food service director when that district built a new high school and was part of three building projects in Newton – one state-funded and two locally funded.
Canton – just getting into schematic design – is looking to build a 1,000-student middle school, which current cost estimates put at $230 million.
“Steve is very familiar with that [process],” Szymaniak said. “He can maneuver right into working with MSBA and our architect.” AO3 is also working on the Canton school project.
Forth also asked about how the budget process had been reworked in Canton.
“It’s absolutely phenomenal – the best budget book I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” Forth said, of the work Stanbrook had put into the fiscal 2025 presentation, asking about how Marshall might restructure the budget process at W-H.
“There were some fantastic documents shown here tonight,” Marshall said. “I think it’s been a very transparent process,’ he said of Canton’s budget process] … there was many community members and a lot of outreach that the process might not have been as transparent as it should have been. … It can be more easily understood by the general public, which is important.”
He noted there is work to be done on the financial software, in the wake of the hack to central office computers last year.
Committee member Glen DiGravio asked Szymaniak about an ETA on the software.
“It seems like it’s a very stressful thing,” he said.
“We’re actually getting really frustrated with MUNIS – customer support for us – we’re a small district,” Szymaniak said. “We’re actually actively looking at two different systems.”
Marshall, who has used the software for about 15 years, said the current MUNIS software is comprehensive software that can do anything, but the more they can provide to users, the harder they are to use.
“It is not the easiest platform to use because of its capabilities,” Marshall said. That said, he noted he is comfortable using MUNIS.
He also granted there is a learning curve involved in moving from a municipal to a regional school district, but there are aspects of a regional district that he has seen in other places.
Newton, for example, holds all its own benefits on the district side.
Committee member Dawn Byers asked about Marshall’s grant-search and writing experience.
“We were managing about $16 million in grants that came from a variety of different sources,” he said, noting that the “grant market is just not as great as what it was in the time I was in Newton.”
He added that a lot of private organizations are struggling with fundraising and the impact of the potential future of the economy and how that plays into grants and private funds.”
He was writing applications for private, state and fedral grants in Newton as that had been his specific charge when he started there.
“The demographics of the district has a huge impact on what your eligibility requirements are for many of the state and federal grants,” he said.
Library love
Hanson Public Library made Valentine’s week twice as lovely with a Family Valentine Craft Day, during which parents and their children made Valentines, left, while patrons were encouraged to offer notes about what they love about the library all month. See more photos, page 6. Courtesy, Hanson Library
SST narrows design options
HANOVER – The Building Committee is advocating new construction, instead of renovating and adding on to South Shore Tech, the panel decided at its meeting on Thursday, Feb. 15. The Committee voted to remove the so-called add/reno option from consideration.
The new construction option the Committee favors is known as Option 2.0 –the district’s share would be $174 million if designed for 805 students or $176 million for 900 students – with the enrollment capacity to be further discussed at the Thursday, Feb, 22 meeting.
Broken down by towns for preliminary comparison only, Whitman taxpayers by Fiscal 2029 would see a cost of $559.53 on the average home each year for an 805-student school and $564.23 on a 900-student school. The monthy impact could be either $46.63 or $47.02. In Hanson, the fiscal 2029 taxpayer impact could be $399.90 or $404.90 per $1,000 depending on the building size – or between $33.33 and $33.74. The MSBA official reimbursement won’t be available until this August.
The estimates are based on a level principal payment (which is more costly up front) using 3.75 percent interest and do not include the share of the debt that Marshfield, which begins contributing in 2026, will take on over the life of the note.
The school committee is developing a regional agreement amendment for Fall town meeting consideration that would make debt share adjustable over a four-year rolling average to reflect changes in student enrollment over time.
Option 2.0 would look no different than the current school building, but would be built behind it so instruction would not be interrupted.
Owner Project Manager Jen Carlson of Left Field attended remotely to update the committee on costs of the various design options.
“We were going to take a little closer look at the risk of the add/reno option and try to put a cost on two of the major factors that we think are a concern,” Carlson said of underslab plumbing and for modular classrooms as that work is done.
The work would bump the estimated cost to $272.5 million for the total project budget, with the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) reimbursement now estimated at $106.5 million and the district’s estimated share at $172 million for a school with 805 students.
The add/reno was rejected for two reasons – the high cost of modular construction at $20 million, which the MSBA does not reimburse and a 52-month construction window and the disruption it could cost to student instruction. “[The Add/Reno] was seen by the building committee as very challenging to have an active construction zone, near an occupied school on a small site.” Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey said this week. “Also, the considerable amount of costs that are not reimbursable brought the costs very close to the new construction estimates.”
The MSBA does not reimburse for modular classrooms, so the total new budget cost of $81 million – for an estimated project budget of $110 million – would be the district’s responsibility.
Whitman Committee member Dan Salvucci said he did not favor an addition/renovation plan.
“I’ve seen that done in my town in the past and, for the amount of money we spend, you don’t get 50 years out of it,” he said. “When you do an add/reno and you have to [join] the old section with the new and you get them together, for some reason there’s always issues with water leaks and damage and mold.”
Hanson member Robert Mello voiced similar concerns.
“There’s a lot of unknown things that aren’t or may not be repaired,” he said. “I initially think of things like the plumbing system, whether it’s in the ground or in the walls that currently exist, that we don’t really have good access to and are 60 years old.”
Mello said that, for a little bit more money, they would have the “security of knowing we’re not going to have any major issues for some time.”
Cohasset member George Cooney added that the lack of MSBA funding and disruption caused by an add/reno to the school routine is concerning.
“If you could build a separate structure and everybody does business as usual [during construction], I think that’s a win,” he said. “Yes, money is always tight, but when you look at expenses and potential hidden ones, the add/reno could actually turn up being more money than going new.”
Principal Sandra Baldner said a new school would better enable the school to maintain a moslty regular function. She said it could rob an entire generation of SST students of the educational experience they deserve.
Chair Robert Mahoney also noted that, at a timeline of five years, the add/reno would take more time than new construction.
“It’s a bad idea,” said Norwell member Dustin Reardon of the add/reno plan. “We can’t do a disservice to these students who are fighting so hard to come here.”
“I haven’t heard one positive reason to go add/reno,” said Hanover member Robert Heywood.
Salvucci and Reardon both voiced concerns about enrollment capacity of a new school.
Citing the need to discuss it as a School Committee and to keep in mind that Marshfield is joining the district – and Pembroke is signaling and interest to do the same – Salvucci said he did not want to have to turn away Whitman students who might want to attend SST.
“I’m really split between 805 and 900,” he said. “I wouldn’t go any lower than that.”
Reardon agreed that enrollment is the biggest issue.
“That’s where we’re going to be deciding what makes financial sense,” he said.
The project has been carrying over $1 million in advance, but an a$3.5 million has been added to the carry-over for the renovation plan because of the need for plumbing under the slab.
“This is not just a cosmetic fix,” Carlson had said of the plumbing situation. “It’s a very invasive plumbing activity, it requires lot of planning to avoid undermining the footing of the existing building. … There’s a lot of risk involved with this work.”
When another closer look at logistics and things that needed to happen on-site and within the building for an add/reno would mean doubling the amount of modular classrooms needed to be brought onto the site.
“We had been carrying just under $10 million for that, so we added another $10 million,” she said. “Typically, to get into this level of detail, the construction manager, once we bring them on board, would be able to get into this level of detail, which is why this cost was not identified in the earlier estimates.”
Code concerns
Code updates for an add/reno project would also affect costs and could eat into the useable space already existing for teaching and learning.
The scope of this updates include: adding sprinklers to the original building; a full ADA accessibility upgrade; a major HVAC upgrade and replacement of all non-compliant plumbing and replacement of all electrical infrastructure. Not included are new finished beyond patching where electrical and plumbing work had to be done, nor for new furniture, technology or equipment. Site upgrades would likewise not be included.
“Because of the reuse of the existing building in this option, we really don’t think you could go much beyond 5-percent enrollment growth for the add/reno option,” Carlson said.
The add/reno budget estimate was calculated on the assumption that the district would be done on the same timeline as the add/reno.
The existing building is appraised at $26.4 million. Work over $8.7 million, or 30 percent of the appraised value – within a three-year timeframe would trigger the need to fully address ADA accessibility.
“There are other thresholds that do apply, depending on what work is being done, that may trigger the need for the full scope of the code upgrade to be done in one shot if this option becomes a reality,” Carlson said.
“There actually may be less space available,” Carl Franchesci of architectural firm DRA said in light of the fact that no future enrollment growth could be accommodates under an add/reno option. “Educational space could actually be reduced slightly.”
Hickey asked for a breakdown on the increased number of modular classrooms, seeking information on whether they are for classrooms or specialized space because certain shops might be included in the renovation.
“I think it really had to do with looking at the phasing,” Franchesci said. “The way that option wraps around the gym creates a construction zone, that at first we did not include the [five or six] science labs as part of the first phase.”
He said the phasing could have them consumed by the adjacent construction zone.
‘Truly a level-service budget’
Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak presented a “truly a level-service budget” for fiscal 2025 to the School Committe on Wednesday, Feb. 7.
The proposed budget for FY ’25 funds exactly the same programs and staff now in place during the 2023-24 school year, with no proposals to add or change programs.
“What is presented tonight is apples to apples,” Szymaniak said. “With the exception that everything is a bit more expensive than last year.”
The proposed $63,590,845 budget represents a 4.7 percent ($3,105,687) spending increase because of cost increases, according to Szymaniak. If accepted as presented, the budget would set assessment increases as 11.03 percent ($19,695,553) for Whitman and 10.20 percent ($15,325,369) for Hanson.
All budget documents are available on the district webste whrsd.org.
By comparion, some area school districts are “looking at double-digit increases of their overall budgets,” Szymaniak said, citing Middleboro and Norton in particular who are looking at 11- to 13-percent increases. Most are looking at increases of 3 percent and up.
“We’re just trying to service our students the best we can,” he said. “I believe we’ve done a nice job … we’ve been able to work federal aid into the district budgets for the support of students.” Between the ESSER funding series of grants the district has received close to $4.6 million in federal aid.
After budget discussions with both town administrators in November to hear what they were allocating, Szymaniak said he told them he would get the budget to that allocation, but he was obligated to present to the School Committee what the schools needed.
A 2 percent ($61,694,861) district budget increase would require cuts of $1.8 million to the overall plan, and would place Whitman’s assessment at $18,529,713 – of 4.45 percent higher – and Hanson’s at $14,595,226 – or 4.96 percent higher. A 3 percent ($62,299,713) district budget increase would require cuts of about $1.3 million to the overall plan, and would place Whitman’s assessment at $18,901,636 – or 6.55 percent higher – and Hanson’s at $14,828,154 – or 6.62 percent higher. A 4 percent ($62,904,564) district budget increase would require cuts of $686,281 to the overall plan, and would place Whitman’s assessment at $19,273,559 – or 8.63 percent higher – and Hanson’s at $15,061,082 – or 8.30 percent higher.
“It really looks like 5.13 percent when we add the [Whitman] middle school debt … but, overall, for the assessment value of the district, we’re looking at a 4.74 increase this year to maintain level services,” he said. “Hanson is not going to be paying anything on the Whitman Middle School project. It shows in the budget … because it’s a borrowing on behalf of the school, but it’s not part of the Hanson assessment.”
Since 2016 only one other budget – when it went up 5.52 percent in fiscal 2021 posted an increase of more than 4 percent.
He also pointed out that Whitman-Hanson is still spending less, at $16,339.41, per-pupil than 11 other area communities. The state per-pupil average is $19,566.95.
“I am very thankful and grateful to say to the towns of Whitman and Hanson tonight that we’re not in the bottom third,” Szymaniak said. “We’re not up at the top tier, but we’ve made somes strong gains.”
That is an improvement from the bottom eight districts where it once had been.
Szymaniak said educational programs the towns have paid for have helped that happen, but that he is concerned about regressing.
“We all know this is a challenging time of year, as all department heads and chiefs in both Whitman and Hanson are advocating for their departments and employees,” Szymaniak said. “I’m taking risk here, but I think all town officials and leaders in both communities want a budget that will support their department and the town, and also provide the best possible service to the community. The regional school district budget proposal is no different.”
He noted that today’s students are “much different than the students we had in 2019.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on students academically, socially and behaviorally.
“Students have changed and our teachers and our district have had to change and modify how we deliver our curriculm and keep students engaged in our classrooms,” Szymaniak said. High-quality instructional materials, one-to-one technology, interventionists to aid students in making up any lost ground while helping all students, social-emotional supports, a growing English language learner population and an increase in students receiving special education both in and out-of-district, have increased the school budget over the years.
W-H is in compliance with laws, regulations and mandates from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) on high-quality evidence-based instructional materials, K- grade three screenings and interventions and enrichment.
“FY ’25 is no different,” he said. “The difference this year, is the loss of federal assistance to the amount of about $818,000, which we have incorporated into this budget.”
There are 11 district paraprofessionals ($351,388), one English language learner teacher ($90,859) and four Unit A staff members ($375,955) who were hired under the federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Reief (ESSER) III funds for which salaries are being placed back in the general fund for fiscal 2025.
The budget is aligned with the School Committee’s Strategic Plan for 2023-28, focusing on what they term the four “focus area buckets” of: student access; communication; curriculum and community/culture, while simultaneously aiming to retain, recruit and develop staff as well as resources.
The budget process began with the Jan. 10 preliminary presentation to the School Committee and will continue to be discusssed at every committee meeting through April 17, if it takes that long, to finalize the budget for the May 6 Town Meetings. A meeting with the Whitman Finance Committee was held Tuesday, Feb. 6. The deadline for presenting the budget to the towns is March 21.
There are anticipated costs included in the budget, as well, Szymaniak said. These include contractual obligations, movement of costs from grants (like ESSER funds) to the budget and multi-lingual learner enrollment for which there are educational requirements the district must meet. Szymaniak stressed the multi-lingual learner population does not represent newly arrvied homeless migrants, as is the case in some neighboring districts.
“This is just direct residents of either Whitman or Hanson that has increased 198 percent over the past two years,” he said.
Unanticipated costs include specal education placements due to move-ins and increasing student mental health needs and behavioral supports.
At the same time, class size is down.
“We are at or close to, class sizes of 21 in all elementaries, if not a little bit lower,” Szymaniak said. Only the incoming kindergarten classes are not fully known right now.
High school enrollment, meanwhile, is decreasing as the town average between 60 and 70 students going to vocational schools, private schools or charter schools.
There is also 28 students supported by the district in its Community Evening School. Another 117 preschool students are also enrolled in that program at the high school.
“What does all this mean?” said Asssistant Superintendent George Ferro. “It means that we’re trying to do the right thing for the students that we have in our schools.”
That boils down to three district-based academic interventionists, 12 building-based interventionists, five district wide curriculum coordinators spanning all subject areas and a secondary data specialist. Interventionists help W-H students as teachers and paraprofessionals in math and ELA, gathering data to form intervention groups and work with staff and teachers in the buildings.
For social-emotional supports, there are five board-certified behavioral analysts, seven school psychologists, 10 adjustment counselors and transition rooms at Hanson Middle and WHRHS for students returning from hospitalization – which can run the gamut from concussions or minor surgery such as appendectomies as well as students with social-emotional issues or hospitalization of other treatment for any mental health issues.
“Our staff has done a wonderful job for the last 20 years, but we never gave them the schools that they actually needed – that are research-based, that are scientifically based, that do improve student learning that we now can offer,” Ferro said.
Hanson weighs grants, farming bylaw
HANSON – A renewed effort at a Right-to-Farm Bylaw and the proper uses of remaining ARPA funds were the focus of Select Board discussion Tuesday, Feb. 6 as the board considers the articles they are advancing for the annual Town Meeting warrant.
The board voted to allocate the remaining $1,092,514 in ARPA funds for repairs to a culvert and the purchase of a new ambulance. Another reallocation of $150,000 in unused ARPA funds from the treasury was approved for the warrant to front an applicaton for another library grant as well as another $50,000 for pond maintenance article, both of which will go to Town Meeting in May.
A vote on a Right-to-Farm Bylaw – the town’s second attempt to adopt one, will come once the language is ironed out.
“Right-to-Farm is one of the articles,” Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We’ve never discussed it in-depth, but I think everybody is pretty familiar with what it is.”
She noted that a resident approached the Select Board with a citizen’s petition.
“We [told them] you don’t really need a citizen’s petition,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We’re more than glad to entertain, as a board, bringing it back to the town. It didn’t pass the first time, but I think really it got kind of torpedoed unnecessarily, and maybe there wasn’t good information about what that Right-to-Farm Bylaw would mean.”
She said the board hoped to glean some “good information and clarity” around what it really means, but that sometimes one or two people at Town Meeting who are very persuasive – and that’s what happened at that particular Town Meeting.
“They started using examples of some bad situations on farms, or around town, that had happened and sort of extrapolated that this would happen more often if we had the Right-to-Farm – which was actually not accurate,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
Town Administrator Lisa Green said her office is researching Right to Farm language in other communities for a proposed Select Board warrant article.
“It turns out that towns that have adopted Right-to-Farm have been able to add in some language that provides their own restrictions,” Green said. “We’re jus gathering some articles from other towns to see what information’s been put in each and then we’ll … put something together to present to the board as we get closer to looking at articles.”
Resident Michael Flemming said the problem proponents had the last time was that the Right-to-Farm language was really written for larger dairy farms, and there are not a lot of those in Hanson. Relating it to smaller properties opened the door to other issues.
“If you’re looking into language that’s going to be added, I don’t know what can be added to include smaller home farms,” he said. The previous bylaw would have required five acres, of which the house could take up an acre.
“Ultimately, it would only affect three places in town,” Flemming said, noting that making it clear it is trying to help out people who want to have a backyard farm, might remove some of the stigma of what transpired the last time the issue came up.
“It’s why they moved here in the first place,” he said. “This town is a farming community.”
Select Board member Ann Rein, who had been active in the effort to pass a Right-to-Farm Bylaw and in the work to establish an Agricultural Commission at the time, said it is really a matter of educating people.
She had been called to deal with compaints about roosters, and when she explained to the homeowners with too many of them about the problem, they were cooperative when they realized it – and then took care of the situation.
“There are people who get mad about the roosters, and then there are people who love hearing the roosters,” she said. “It’s funny.”
She advocated for a return of the Agricultural Commission to facilitate proper animal husbandry.
“I don’t know you can do much with a bylaw that’s going to fix that,” Rein said, adding that real estate values had been another concern. “People have actually found that a Right-to-Farm bylaws in a town actually bring real estate values up.”
Determining which articles could be funded with Plymouth County ARPA money, which must be spent by Dec. 31, 2016, was also discussed.
A culvert repair on Pratt Place, an ambulance, pond management and a library project are all seeking part of the $1.9 million remaining.
Green noted that the $1.542 million in Plymouth County-administered ARPA funds are very restrictive as to how it can be used. The Pratt Place culvert and ambulance are two projects that are eligible for that money, Green said.
In 2021, the town had received a quote of $1.25 million for the culvert repair or replacement. A $450,000 pricetag [leaving $1,092,514 for the culvert project] is the way lot of towns are using their last remaining ARPA funds to purchase ambulances.
Green “highly suggested” the funds be used for the culvert.
A memo on how the town wants to use the ARPA funds would be due to Plymouth County by March 1 and a timeline by April 1 Green said.
“Right now Highway is using some metal plates to make that road passable,” she said. “That culvert is in dire condition and, since I’ve been here, people have been saying that it is in dire condition and could collapse.”
When FitzGerald-Kemmett noted that approving both projects could put the town over what is available, Green said there is a possibility that the county could be approached for more funds, but they would have to obtain Town Meeting backing before asking Plymouth County for additional funds.
“We are also chasing some grant funds that could potentially help us with Pratt Place,” she said, but she cautioned that, when the town has applied for grants in the past it has been turned down every single time. “The culvert’s either too long, too short, not wide enough – there’s always been something that disqualifies that culvert frombeing eligible for grants.”
While there are only four houses on Pratt Place, Green noted that, should the road collapse, there would be no way for those residens to access Winter Street.
“I understand that it’s a safety issue, but what I’m struggling with is we’re never again going to have this type of money to move the needle on other things,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “The grant funding is not a sure thing.”
“I think we’ve done a lot of marvelous stuff with ARPA money,” Rein said, noting that waiting for other funds while risking a road collapse was risky. “I think this is a worthy thing to spend it on.”
Vice Chair Joe Weeks said he is confident Green has done the due dilligence on the Pratt Place culvert and the restrictions on the remaining ARPA funds.
The library’s article for $200,000 in ARPA funds for an HVAC system was approved at October Town Meeting, but maintenance work has since been done on it to gain three more years of operation, freeing up the $200,000 for other projects, Green said. The library is applying for a grant due in May, meanwhile, that would require the town to front the funding.
“If we don’t get the grant, we won’t spend the money,” Library Director Karen Stolfer said, noting the grant notification would not be issued until October 2025. The $150,000 needs to be authorized, but need not be sitting in a separate account for the application to go forward. That would leave $50,000 from the October Town Meeting to apply to the pond management project.
“If you want to know if you’ve got support for a new library, I think you nee to do it as a free cash item,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. She feared people would not pay attention to it again if it comes out of ARPA funds.
Construction fatality probed
HANSON – A fatal construction accident at a Hanson home is under investigation after a portion of a foundation fell on him, according to the office of Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz.
According to family members present on scene, the victim is Gercier Faria, 51, who moved to Massachusetts from Brazil just seven months ago. He has two grown children. The situation remains under active investigation.
Police Chief Michael Miksch reported Wednesday, Feb.7 that the Hanson Police Department had responded to the scene that morning.
DA Cruz reported to media outlets later in the day that a “suspected fatality” had occurred as the homeowner was having their basement waterproofed. The homeowner was at home at the time of the accident.
Kingston fire officials had posted on that department’s Facebook page that one person was believed to be dead. That post was not visible on the site at 5 p.m.
At approximately 11:30 a.m., Hanson Police and Fire responded to 50 Dwight St., for a report of a construction incident involving a partial foundation collapse, Miksch stated. The Plymouth County Technical Rescue Team also responded.
OSHA was also on scene and investigating.
The workers were digging when the foundation broke away from the home, trapping a male worker underneath, WBZ TV reported at 3 p.m.. Crews stabilized the house and are using air bags to lift the foundation so that the man’s body could be recovered.
Part of the trench appeared to be filled with water, and first responders seemed to be focused on a part of it where a large piece of the concrete had fallen in, according to the WBZ report.
Police remained on the scene through the afternoon and people were asked to avoid the area.
Making $ense of Medicare
HANSON – It’s always welcome news for the Select Board when a town department can save people money.
The Multi-Service Senior Center saw more than 138 Hanson residents during the open enrollment period ending Dec. 7, 2023 – saving them more than $58,000 all together. One client saved $16,000 when his carrier no longer covered his insulin.
“It’s their money, and if we can save them a little bit …” said Elder Affairs Director Mary Collins, who provided the board with an update on the Senior Center and its services such as Meals on Wheels and Hanson SHINE counselors, state-certified personnel who help seniors enroll in Medicare.
“We’re not making people’s decisions for them,” Collins said. “We’re giving them options.”
SHINE counselors are certified by the state, to aid seniors in selecting Medicare advantage plans without commission from insurance companies, unlike the advantage plan brokerage firms advertised by retired celebrities on TV.
“We’re going to give you unbiased information,” Collins said. “We [also] have the ability to vet people for maybe public benefits that they’re unaware they may qualify for. We truly want them to benefit from it.”
Part-time administrative assistant Roberta Bartholdson schedules Medicare open enrollment and intake appointments. Part-time Outreach Coordinator Linda Mulrey and volunteers Fae Vitalle and Jim Hickey – who were all SHINE-certified last May, assist Collins with open enrollment, as well.
Nutritional services and food donations and help with SNAP and housing benefit applications are always available, too.
“Don’t ever feel that you are in need,” Collins said. “There’s always food available, just pick up the phone, or have somebody you know make the call.”
Over the course of a year, more than 5,400 Meals on Wheels volunteers go out to Hanson seniors. More than 200 emergency meals went out and congregate meals are served at the Multi-Service Senior Center twice a week, will “well over 1,100” served over the past year.
“Throughout COVID – before, after and for the most umpteen years – we have had four groups of people that deliver Meals on Wheels,” Collins said. “There are many reasons why it’s beneficial for people to get Meals on Wheels. Of course, nutrition and [dependable] access to food … people are seen by someone.”
Many of the Meals on Wheels drivers return to clients after they complete their route for a cup of coffee or tea and a social visit.
“It’s another set of eyes on people who might be frail in our community,” she said.
Leah’s Club, which has taken the place of the Supportive Day Program – forced to be discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic – on Tuesdays and Wednesdays offers support and activities for people with dimensia.
“The feedback from the families is tremendous,” Collins said.
She is also seeking a $300,000 grant from the Executive Office of Elder Affairs to bring back supportive day programs or estblish new ones to help expand the facility or improve use of space to help make that possible.
Music, dancing, chair yoga and other programs are also available.
Collins also thanked Camp Kiwanee for housing the center after pipes burst last February and Community Christmas for bringing cheer to elders in need at the holidays.
‘The tough work is ahead of us’
WHITMAN – The town is looking at a 1,017,394 deficit even as officials have been crafting tighter budgets.
The Select Board heard a budget update from member Shawn Kain and Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter at its Tuesday, Feb. 6 meeting.
The process was begun as a forecast, based on the fiscal 2024 budget and projections of what revenue and expenditures might be for the next budget cycle. The result was a “pretty tight” forecast, Kain said, moving Carter to issue a budget message to department heads in early December that was in line with that forecast to stay within the Proposition 2 ½ increase with no increase in expenses. The total revenue increase over last year is only 1.2 percent for funding all departments, according to Kain.
“The likelihood of an override – certainly a discussion with the schools about an override – is real,” he said.
“We have to balance the budget, that’s the bottom line,” Carter said. “So the tough work is ahead of us.”
Since December, Carter has met with each department head separately to listen to concerns about the department needs. The Finance Committee has gone through a similar process, and more information on revenues is now available.
On Dec. 5, the deficit stood at $273,813, but now comes in at $1,017,394 in a fiscal 25 budget totaling $43,312,919 – with revenues of $42,295,525 in department requests.
“The numbers we were looking at this year are pretty lean,” he said. “At this point we are now ready to begin to formulate the formal budget.”
They walked the board through that information Tuesday night.
The Fire Department, seeking a 15.83 percent increase ($615,529) for salaries and a 12.42 percent increase ($52,945) in expenses, includes adding a firefighter to fill a vacancy created by promotion and contract year for the chief and deputy chief as well as equipment repairs, service contract increases and the ongoing expense of transporting patients due to the Brockton Hospital fire. The Police Department’s salary line increase is 8.05 percent ($274,204) as the chief and deputy chief contracts are up for negotiation, shifts have been unified and police reform makes hiring more complex, but expenses have been held to a .92 percent increase ($3,200).
At the DPW, salaries are up 4.56 percent ($33,865) due to contracts and expenses are increased by 10.64 percent ($190,394) primarily due the increase in solid waste expenses, even as they offset by the trash rate. Capital needs included in transitioning to the part-time use of the armory as the new DPW building is under constructed are also calculated in the expense increase.
Library salary line increases total to 3.81 percent ($14,791) as director and assistant director contracts, other salary increases are contractual. Expenses are up by 29.14 percent ($28,773) due to materials, utilities and maintenance costs.
“If their budget increases, then the amount or money that they spend on books, specifically, has to increase in order to qualify for a significant amount of state funding,” Kain said.
Technology expenses are up 17.03 percent ($46,023) while the salary costs have been kept to a 2.5 percent ($5,777) largely due to software costs.
While the School Department budget wouldn’t be unveiled until the next evening, a level-serviced budget with an increase of 11.12 percent ($1,972,658) is anticipated.
“They knew that this particular year was going to be a drop off, mostly because of the sunset of the federal ESSER funds,” Kain said. “The level-service numbers are expected to increase because of the numbers that came back from the state.”
Carter has included a 5 percent (an increase of $886,975) school budget increase as a placeholder in the budget thus far.
“Anything above that, of course, is going to be a much higher impact to the budget,” she said.
South Shore Tech’s assessment is up by 11.79 percent ($189,177) as a placeholder, as Whitman is sending 14 more students to the school this year.
“When Mary Beth sent her budget message, most of the department heads gave really what they think their department deserves, and they’re advocating for their budget, which they should be able to do so that we and the public understand what their needs and concerns are,” Kain said. “But what they didn’t provide us is what would their department look like if it actually was a 2.5 percent and zero percent expenses.”
He said that is the information they expect to be learning in the coming weeks.
Board Vice Chair Dan Salvucci said that, with three building projects in the works, he does not think an override to balance the budget would pass.
“I think that’s an important discussion for us to have with the School Department,” Kain said. “Obviously, people in the community care about education, they’ve made that clear, it’s a priority.”
He noted the district was presenting a thorough presentation on it Wednesday, Feb. 7 on what it will be able to fund as well as what they won’t be able to fund.
Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski also saw the need for the schools to ask for an override this year.
“I don’t want to be pessimistic about an operational override because we need it to take care of the kids,” he said. “As long as we know that they’re spending their money responsibly, we need it.”
Salvucci said it depends on what the School Committee decides for a budget.
“They need to show that they’re willing to look at both towns and what their budget [outlook is],” he said.
Kowalski said a lot of hard work has gone into avoiding an override to this point.
“Some of us have been saying for years that, in order for us to serve our students in a way that is appropriate,” he said. “The town needs to say – not only in a survey can we say that we value the students and we value the schools, but they also have to say they are willing to pay for it.”
Board member Justin Evans said town departments are not without blame, either.
“A lot of those asks are well above two-and-a-half percent,” he said. “The money has to come from somewhere.”
Police Chief Timothy Hanlon said his department has been underfunded for years.
Hanson aims to flag down discord
HANSON – If you want to hold your banner high in Hanson, you’ll have to raise that flag on your own pole on your own property.
Only the U.S., state, town and military-related flags such as the POW-MIA flag, will be allowed to be placed on flag poles on town-owned property under a new municipal flag policy now being drafted. Nothing else will be permitted.
Town Administrator Lisa Green has been charged with working with Town Counsel Katherine Feodoroff to write the policy for the Select Board to review and adopt.
“This isn’t to curtail people’s First Amendment rights,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “They’ve got a right to protest on town property, they’ve got a right to freedom of speech whatever way they want, but not on our flag pole.”
The Select Board on Tuesday, Feb. 6 voiced support for the policy change as a way to prevent the discord other towns have encountered recently, for example that caused by groups seeking to counter Pride flags flown during LGBTQ History Month each June.
FitzGerald-Kemmett said the policy is an attempt to prevent complaints, lawsuits and appeals, such a with a case in Boston that ended up before the Supreme Court. Town clerks have been approached in many communities by people going through that office asking about use of town hall flag poles.
“Kate [Feodoroff] thought it was a good idea for us to adopt a policy,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
“We have, along with a lot of other towns, been getting some requests to put various political flags on our flag pole,” said Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “I talked to town counsel about this and I also talked to our town clerk.”
Some towns have adopted a process through which groups can apply to have their flag flown.
“I’m just one person, if you guys disagree,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “I don’t want to be judge and jury about whether this cause or that cause, and inevitably, there’s going to be something hateful that we’ll be asked to represent and then you’re getting into curtailing one group versus another and putting your own personal values on it.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett said she didn’t want to put the town in the middle of that, but she asked fellow board members if they had any fundamental problems with such a policy..
“I personally couldn’t agree more the way you just said it,” board member Ed Heal said.
“If you leave it open and you let one person hang a flag, that’s not for policy,” Vice Chair Joe Weeks said. “You’d have to let a whole bunch of people fly a flag – and I’m not even thinking about the controversies – I care about how many flags could be on one flag pole and how big the flag pole now has to be.”
“There’s just no need,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “They have their T-shirts, their bumper stickers, their hats.”
“They also have their own private property,” Weeks said.
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