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SST lauds staff, plans grad

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HANOVER — The South Shore Tech Regional School Committee on Wednesday, May 20, saluted school staff members who have worked to produce personal protective equipment for hospitals and first responders as well as students.

Cohassett member George Cooney did not join in the conference call.

Engineering instructor Jerry Shaw, paraprofessional Lisa Bellontoni, and community liaison Paul Bello were lauded for their work in making 3,000 PPE face shields over the past two months.

“They have given up their own time to come into school to make PPE,” said Principal Mark Aubrey. “They are winding down, but we’ve been able to supply, just on the backs of these people, from fire departments to hospitals all over the South Shore. … We’ve been able to give and give and give and it’s been great.”

Aubrey said the school wanted to recognize the time they’ve given up and their expertise.

Paraprofessional and support staff member Rachel Haynes was also lauded for her efforts to support teachers in virtual classrooms and working with students in small-group hangouts online.

“She has gone as far as to copy work and mail it to the students so that they have the work that they need to complete their [assignments],” Aubrey said.

Guidance Counselor Todd has also been a key to supporting students during remote learning, according to Aubrey.

“He’s really the conduit between the families, the students and the teacher, and he’s doing a great job,” Aubrey said. “He has a very difficult job — he’s never going to make everybody happy, but that’s not his job. His job is to do what’s best for the kid and he understands that.”

Zahurak has also been instrumental in improving the number of students participating in the school’s breakfast program.

Assistant Principal Sandra Baldner also lauded teachers and staff for creating the new normal for the school’s operations during the pandemic.

She also praised the district’s paraprofessionals.

“They have been extraordinary in supporting our teachers and have done an amazing job supporting students,” she said.

She also reported that the culinary department transformed the perishable food items left in the kitchen at the close of the school building in March into 500 meals for Abington and Norwell councils on aging and the Marshfield Boys and Girls Club.

“Our parents have been allies in this as well,” said Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey. “It’s really about old-school communication and outreach … combined with the latest technology in an attempt to reach kids.”

The school loaned out about 150 devices and will make the purchase of more a goal with the federal CARES funds.

The state has not yet issued guidelines for reopening school in the fall, but Hickey said sufficient PPE supplies will be a focus as well as plans for trade instruction that requires hands-on work by students.

Graduation has been scheduled to 10 a.m., Saturday, June 27. But prom has not yet been decided, but Aubrey said he should have more information about it in two weeks.

“We’re hoping the South Shore Music Circus will be the venue and we will prepare as normal a graduation as possible,” said Hickey. An online recognition of the senior class will be held on Friday, June 5.

A virtual welcome for rising freshmen is also being planned for eighth-graders attending the school next year later this month. June 12 is the last official day of the school year.

The committee held its annual hearing on school choice, voted against participating in the school choice program because the district has an established process of admitting students who do not reside in the district.

Regarding the fiscal 2021 school budget, Hickey said the district’s original budget, which was based on the governor’s budget numbers, may look different when the House Ways & Means numbers come out by July 1.

“We’ve generally been able to count on Chapter 70 money not being less but, at this point nobody’s been able to say that with confidence,” he said. “It will be a very unusual summer, financially.”

The district is preparing a template for a 1/12 budget to hedge against potential problems at the town meeting level. It takes six affirmative town meeting votes to confirm a budget. Some communities have town meeting set for June, but Hanson has delayed its Town meeting until July 20. Whitman’s will be June 22. Other communities have not set dates at all.

“I am not immediately concerned with a 1/12 budget, as it might take us through the summer,” Hickey said. The budget can be reassessed when the Ways & Means numbers are released, giving towns the ability to set town meetings and enact their plans.

Whitman OKs COLA, assessment

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WHITMAN — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, May 26, voted to provide a 2 percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) to town employees  this year and to set the school assessment. The latter vote was 3-2, with Selectmen Dan Salvucci and Brian Bezanson voting against it.

Town Administrator Frank Lynam said language on the school assessment issue would not be inserted into the warrant until town counsel approves it.

The COLAs add $105,000 to the budget under a warrant article funded by free cash. There is $1,026,000 in free cash also being looked at for capital costs

The schools line in Article 2 now stands at $15,367,392.

“The budget was prepared under the assumption that we would be offering no COLAs this year and also under the assumption that we would reach an agreement for an assessment process [for] W-H and would have an assessment resulting from that agreement,” said Lynam, noting Hanson’s Town Meeting is no scheduled for July 20. He said everything Whitman has done has been predicated on the statutory method and four new teachers.

Selectman Dan Salvucci, noting that the school budget— adding the four teachers — increases Whitman’s assessment by $758,000. While Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak was able to trim that assessment increase by $211,000 — finding savings in other areas, he asked why Szymaniak doesn’t continue to do that to save even more funds.

He argued that, since Hanson is looking to an override to fund its portion of the school budget’s assessment compromise, that town should seek the full amount to pay for its full statutory formula obligation. Szymaniak should also continue to find areas, such as excess and deficiency where cuts have already been made, for potential savings, Salvucci argued, so Whitman can pay COLA to town employees as Hanson and the School District contracts are doing.

“There’s only so much money to find,” Selectman Justin Evans said. “It gets into the same problem of one-time money that we have every year.”

Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski said he saw the COLA, which he described as a good thing to do, is linked to accepting Szymaniak’s “hybrid” assessment and budget.

If the agreement method were still in place, Whitman’s budget share would have been $16.2 million, Selectman Randy LaMattina said.

“We do have a considerable savings entertaining this offer,” he said.

Selectman Brian Bezanson said that while town employees do deserve raises for their efforts to see the town through challenges posed by the pandemic, there are residents who have had income setbacks or job losses — and some have still not seen stimulus checks.

“While I believe that they deserve [raises], I would be hard-pressed to fight that fight to the citizens that are out of work right now — 25 or 30 percent unemployment,” he said. “I don’t believe that, in this crisis, anybody should get a raise.”

Lynam said he has noticed that the cost of living has increased dramatically over the past few months.

Selectmen on Tuesday, May 19 opted to wait until this week to vote on a compromise school budget splitting the increase in assessments to the two towns before moving to a statutory formula next year. Whitman’s assessment will increase by $211,000 for fiscal 2021.

Salvucci said he does not support the compromise because Whitman employees would be foregoing raises, while Hanson employees will not. Bezanson also expressed opposition to the agreement.

“We have to hold our line in the sand,” Bezanson said. “I can’t sleep at night knowing how this is going to go. I will vote no.”

LaMattina, meanwhile, had urged the board last week  to wait for an opinion about the agreement’s legality by town counsel. Kowalski agreed, even as he described himself as leaning toward it, noting there is enough in free cash to cover the $211,000 as well as raises for town employees, if the town so decides. But, he said, Whitman may have to be sterner at the bargaining table in the future.

“If Whitman approves this … it’s doing a pretty solid service to the town of Hanson because if they were not to accept this, they get hit with a very big bill July 1,” LaMattina said. “When we talk about consensus and compromise, this would be a very solid offer by the town of Whitman.”

Bezanson also noted on May 26 that the Finance Committee is adamantly opposed to the 50/50 assessment plan.

“If we were to vote this tonight, their heads would be exploding,” Kowalski said.

“I heard a lot of diatribes and …” Bezanson said.

“… slander, maybe?” Kowalski said. “‘Frank has a law degree,’ ‘there are terrorists on the Board of Selectmen,’ is that what you’re talking about, Brian?”

While Bezanson said he agrees with the FinCom’s position on the 50/50 agreement, it presents a personal conflict for him. Kowalski agreed, but noted his long-standing support for education meant he would not object to helping the schools for another year.

“I’m leaning to one more time to make sure the kids don’t suffer,” LaMattina said.

TOWN MEETING

Lynam said that, while the WHRHS street address is in Whitman, the building is entirely in Hanson, a fact that could threaten the opportunity to use the school’s gym for Town Meeting.

“With what we have to deal with in Whitman this year, I wouldn’t want to split those hairs,” Lynam said noting that legislation pending since May 4 to allow municipalities to go outside boundaries to find larger spaces to safely conduct town meetings, the current law could delay town meeting if the issue is not resolved. He is still working on locating the Town Meeting at the high school, however.­­­­­­­­­

Hanson sets override vote

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HANSON — Selectmen voted unanimously in a special meeting, Friday, May 22 to place an $800,000 override question on the Saturday, June 27 Town Election ballot.

The board took no position on the question, only placing it on the ballot for residents to vote on the issue.

The board had voted to postpone the Town Meeting until July 20 at its Tuesday, May 19 meeting.

The questions ask voters to decide on an $800,000 override — about $199 per household based on a $354,000 valuation — to pay the town’s assessed share of the fiscal 2021 W-H operating budget, and represents a one-year fix.

“We settled on that number based on where we sit right now, based on [negotiations between] Whitman, Hanson and the School Committee,” said Finance Chairman Kevin Sullivan. “It gets us through this year, it gears us up for next year to see how it changes,

Hanson’s deficit sits at $865,000, he said, meaning $65,000 would have to be trimmed from the town’s budget.”

“We looked at this number because of the implications for next year,” Sullivan said. Both lower and higher amounts were considered. “Our fear was, if we did not do this this year, it would force us to make significant cuts in the departments and the departments that would bear the brunt are the departments with the most personnel,” he added.

Whitman and the School Committee are fairly lock-step with the budget number, Sullivan explained.

The dollar amount for an override question, voted May 19 had to be voted on before Saturday, May 23 to comply with a 35-day notice requirement to place an override question on a town election ballot. Town Election will be held Saturday, June 27.

Regardless of the outcome of the Town Election, the School District and town will be on a 1/12 budget because the new fiscal year begins July 1.

Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff and Sullivan sat in on the meeting conducted virtually via the GoToMeeting platform.

Sullivan had been meeting with Town Administrator John Stanbrook and Town Accountant Todd Hassett about numbers and options surrounding the override issue since May 19.

Stanbrook said a tax calculator is being placed on the town website hanson-ma.gov.

“We know about peoples’ appetites for an override,” said Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “I don’t even like to mention the O-word.”

She asked if the override could lead to cuts next year, and what could happen if an override fails.

“If it doesn’t pass, you don’t have the same ability to raise taxes to cover the costs so you have to either cut, try to reject the budget and go through that whole process,” which could lead to a super town meeting, Feodoroff said.

Sullivan said it could lead to a better spot if it passes, while it could lead to cuts, it is the Band-Aid the town needs to get there at all, a conclusion Hassett supported. Next year there is more potential to influence the school budget.

Feodoroff reminded Selectmen that, in framing an override question, the purpose — whether general operating expenses a  specific use — must be stated. Because the Town Election comes first, due to COVID-19 related postponements of the Town Meeting, the election results can be used in framing the warrant article to provide more flexibility.

In response to a question from Selectman Kenny Mitchell, Feodoroff said failure at the ballot box could limit the town on the amount of revenue it is able to raise from residents.

Selectman Matt Dyer asked if the $800,000 figure took into consideration anticipated cuts to local aid from the stat, and what cuts might look like with an override.

Sullivan said personnel cuts would not be needed to find the remaining $65,000

“Where we get into difficult times is if the override isn’t approved,” he said. Because there isn’t enough built into the budget to cushion the entire $865,000.

“I would like to see some sort of cushion built into this number,” he said. Hassett said, while the concern is valid, Hanson is not as dependent on state aid as some other communities.

Sullivan also said some other capital projects in the warrant might be examined.

He asked why the entire $865,000 was not being sought, and Sullivan said the $800,000 — while a significant number — is a round figure that leaves room to maneuver.

Hanson TM is moved to July 20

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HANSON — The Board of Selectmen voted on Tuesday, May 19 to move the annual Town Meeting to July 20. The Annual Town Election, however, will take place on the original June 27 date [see related story] to avoid the need of paying for a special election for a school override vote.

“Unless you want a massive cut to services in the town of Hanson, there is a 100-percent chance we are going to need an override,” Finance Committee Chairman Kevin Sullivan said. “With the compromise from the School Committee, we are still currently running and $865,000 deficit.”

Moderator Sean Kealy had suggested holding the Town Meeting outdoors for the date for which it had been scheduled — June 22.

Whitman Selectmen have discussed holding their June 22 Town Meeting in the High School gym, which Kealy said he was fully in favor of planning for Hanson on a different night.

Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff reviewed the logistics of postponement for Selectmen, noting that there had been some concern that postponement wasn’t possible since elections in Hanson are posted on the warrant.

“We were concerned we would be in violation of the bylaw if we held the Town Meeting later,” she said. Emergency legislation about the coronavirus pandemic’s effect on town government, allows postponement.

“What is clear, if we don’t have our Town Meeting before June 30, we go to a 1/12 budget for the town,” Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

Feodoroff said a 1/12-plus budget permits up-front payments of pension assessment, insurance and other bills offering a discount for payment in-full at the beginning of the fiscal year. Capital expenditures during that phase are discouraged in a 1/12-plus budget.

FitzGerald-Kemmett noted that use of Zoom for Town Meeting is permissible for department heads and other presenters, but not voters.

Selectman Kenny Mitchell agreed keeping to the June 15 schedule would be tight but endorsed Kealy’s suggestion to hold the Town Meeting elsewhere or outside. Selectman Matt Dyer preferred the postponement and use of a 1/12-plus budget until further guidance is available from the governor.

“I don’t want voters to have to feel, ‘I have to go vote and risk my health to make sure I vote on something that’s going to be permissible … am I going to miss out on something that’s going to make or break the bank?’” Dyer said.

Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan also said she is not comfortable putting her roster of checkers at risk on the June 27 date. She also reminded Selectmen that early voting is being encouraged for the September primary and November general election.

In other business, Selectmen discussed the potential for opening Camp Kiwanee, based on Gov. Baker’s reopening schedule pertaining to summer camp activities. While the beach was technically allowed to open May 25,  FitzGerald-Kemmett questioned if there was time — as of the May 19 meeting — to have lifeguards and infrastructure in place by then.

Playground will not be allowed to open under the state’s protocols until June 8.

Recreation Commission member Diane Cohen asked if it were permissible to allow caretaker staff to work, observing social distancing and other safety guidelines, to permit opening by the time school is out. [See related story].

“There is a lot of maintenance to be done at the camp to prepare it,” she said.

Mitchell and Dyer agreed to that in view of the need for the cove as a diversion for kids, but Selectman Jim Hickey noted that since Town Meeting had been moved back to keep people safe, it might be wise to delay the Cranberry Cove opening as well and to limit numbers of people.

“We’ll probably have to go to a day-pass system only, rather than selling season passes,” Cohen said. “I’m concerned about the swimming area, which gets extremely crowded and what those regulations look like.”

An online reservation system is already being looked into.

A schedule of reopening for town buildings, meanwhile, is already being discussed, according to Town Administrator John Stanbrook.

FitzGerald-Kemmett noted that the governor’s task force is deliberately moving with caution to reopen senior centers due to the vulnerability of its population of elder clients, a position Stanbrook indicated he shares.

In Town Hall, employees will be brought back in stages and their temperatures will be checked on entrance and masks and hand sanitizers will be required. Frequent cleaning, weekly foggings and the wearing gloves will be required.

An initial phase will test the regulations with only employees present, followed by phasing in of public entrance to the building. The public will be limited to the use of lower level entrances and bathrooms and public hearings must calculate the number of people required to attend until the “new normal” for full public access can be determined.

Play us a song, piano man

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HANSON — Mark Davis has a new following as he continues his decades-long talent as a piano man.

A Hanson resident of more than 20 years, he plays a concert “brought to you live” on Saturday nights.

Just six months ago if you told Davis he would be “streaming from his basement” you would have been speaking a foreign language.

This week he had more than 12,000 views — a first — since he began his home concerts on his music channel Mark Davis Piano Music on Facebook. The live  music starts at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday nights, the sounds brightening the evening for so many.

As is the case with many Americans, the coronavirus has affected his work.

“I wanted to help bring a smile to others… what’s going on TV (news) is all doom and gloom,” he says.

Retired from his 9-5 job at age 65, he continued to grow and pursue his music career.  His regular music gigs vanished along with a steady income.

He admits he had very little experience with technology but set out on a mission with a baby grand, a finished basement, transparent tape, and his phone — which he admits fell off the cement pillar a couple times while he tried to create a studio set and learn how to live stream.

He enlisted the aid of his adult son Scott, who also has a musical background and his girlfriend Tatiana Alverez  The pair now run the behind the scenes technology from the kitchen on Saturday night.

The Beatles, Sinatra, and his well-liked repertoire of American Song Book with 1950-1980 music sheets are his most popular requests.

Davis’ musical background began as he grew up in Quincy with a multi- generational home with his family and his grandparents under one roof.

The piano he plays now at his Hanson home was the original piano he learned on in his grandparent’s house. It was restored and refurbished more than in eight months by a local company and later gifted to him by his two brothers Glenn and Richard, who financed the project.

His brother came across the original piano sales receipt, which — Davis has now framed – the Marshall and Wendell instrument was purchased in Sept. 29, 1925 in Boston for $869.99.

The sitting room in the old Quincy dwelling was considered a proper room with oriental rugs and protected furniture, which were for guest visits making the room slightly less accessible for foot traffic on the average day.

Davis admits he loved playing and reviewed his lessons during the week with help from his grandparents making the sentimental black and white keys priceless.

He laughed as he recounted his grandfather’s operatic form of singing and although he knew he came from a strong set of musical genes on each side of his family he just couldn’t stand opera music.

Little did he realize it was not that he disliked the music rather his grandfather’s talent elicited a teary reaction to the beautiful sound. His sensitivities and discovery of his love of music developed from the age of 8, as he learned to play by ear as well as read music.

However reading music especially classical pieces were not his niche’ he wanted to play the tunes that were of the era.  A music teacher who knew he had talent taught him to read chords similar to the guitar and he evolved from there. It also aided in molding his likeability as a teen at the  talent show in junior high school where he admits he did not fit in as an athlete.

He was the last one picked for the team and stuck in the outfield with a fellow music lover.

“They would never see the ball fly right by them as they talked about favorite albums,” he said. “We didn’t care about the sports our music was much cooler.”

His wife Pat, who is a fan, recently pointed out that his talents, and musical gifts had been there all along.

Davis has seen that as a motivation that his life is going in the right direction.  As things progress into a “new normal,” he foresees returning to play live at cocktail parties, weddings and other events reconnecting with local businesses. For now he will watch for a thumbs up and fill music requests on his site. He asks the music requests be available a few days  prior to the concert so he can prepare his music roster. Visit markdavispianomusic.com.

Hanson hosts COVID tent event

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HANSON — Selectmen approved a proposal for a one-day SARS2-coronavirus testing event on Friday, May 22 at the former Maquan School.

The price is $65 per person, for which insurance reimbursement is mandatory by order of Gov. Charlie Baker. To sign up, visit https://www.bedfordresearch.org/product/hanson.

Ann Kiessling, director of the Bedford Research Foundation, and Town Moderator Sean Kealy, who has been on the BRF board of directors since 2007, made the proposal at the Tuesday, May 19 Board of Selectmen meeting.

“We’re able to offer this because of the governor’s task force,” Kiessling said. “In early March [it] got very involved with any [Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments] CLIA-licensed lab that could possibly begin to pick up this testing. This is not something that we were doing.”

She said BRF has been doing that type of test for HIV, and other illnesses, so it was an easy transition.

“I think this is a great opportunity for the community as long as there is appropriate certifications and credentials and that we have the signoffs from the [police and fire] chiefs,” said Selectman Matt Dyer.

Selectman Jim Hickey asked if the tests would be used for tracking, and Kiessling said it would be used that way for positive results.

“It’s all about the testing,” Kiessling said.

“Let’s do it,” Selectman Wes Blauss said.

Kiessling has been conducting the tests in her hometown of Bedford and has been working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as the Mass. Department of Public Health, conducting tests for various hospitals and nursing homes.

“What she would like to do is expand her tests to individuals in towns to make sure people don’t have COVID-19 and, if they do and are asymptomatic, know to self-quarantine and stay away from people,” Kealy said.

He said the aim is to conduct a three- to three-and-a-half-hour event at the former Maquan School, and has spoken to Board of Health Chairman Arlene Dias about the proposal.

“We thought that, if we set up a tent outside of the Maquan School for a couple of hours people would register online ahead of time, get a number and a slot [for] when they could show up to be tested,” Kealy said. A nurse would be on site to order the tests and a BRF technician skilled at performing the tests.

The tests take only a few moments and people would wait in their vehicles until their number is called, the return to their vehicle after the test and depart.

“It’s remarkable how we can get people through,” Kiessling said. No paperwork is passed and there is nothing to sign.

Traffic should not be a problem due to the parking lot layout at Maquan and bathroom facilities would not be needed as people are given a time slot for the tests, which do not take very long, Kealy explained.

Kiessling said HIPPA privacy protocols are part of the federal CLIA licensing requirements to which BRF adheres.

“The only information that gets shared is with the DPH, they want to know everybody who tests positive,” Kiessling said. “As more and more testing sites open up, it’s possible that this sort of community approach may not be necessary … Bedford has discovered is once you start doing some kind of community and public testing, it raises awareness of the idea.”

More people then request tests, she said, revealing how many people may have it without knowing and can help flatten the curve of contagion.

Kiessling said that, at any given time, 1 to 2 percent of the population is infected and does not know it.

“This would be a great opportunity for our emergency responders to be tested, as well,” Kealy said, noting that it could become a weekly thing as is the case in Bedford.

Dias noted that first responders are currently sent to Foxboro for testing. She has spoke to Police Chief Michael Miksch about it, but Kealy said he has not had the opportunity to discuss it with Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr., as yet. Dias said Miksch indicated to her that he saw no potential traffic problems.

Selectman Kenny Mitchell initially questioned the need, pointing to testing sites in several area towns.

“The only way we’re going to get ahead of this thing is to get as many people tested as possible,” Kiessling said.

Dias added that physician referrals or employers — for essential employees — must make referrals for other testing sites.

Kealy said that BRF has a 24-hour turnaround on test results, followed up by a phone call for positive tests and a letter for people testing negative. Everyone is also mailed a follow-up letter with insurance forms.

Changing circumstance of grad pomp

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An outdoor graduation ceremony for the Class of 2020 is being planned for July 31 — rain or shine — at the WHRHS football field, depending on social distancing rules at that time, according to Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak.

But first, the seniors will get a car parade send-off on Friday, May 29.

“I don’t know what [commencement] is going to look like yet, I don’t know if we’ll be able to have everyone in attendance, or if we’re going to stage it like the Air Force Academy did, with just the graduates spaced six feet apart [there],” he said. “I’m hoping by July 31 our restrictions are a little less — we will still maintain social distancing and everything — but we’re really looking at a live graduation on July 31.”

Plans can be modified if things shift in the next month or so, but Szymaniak said the ceremony is what seniors said they wanted in a recent video meeting with him.

W-H principal Dr. Christopher Jones, with the assistance of both towns’ police and fire personnel, delivered graduation lawn signs to seniors’ homes the week of May 4.

A Senior Class car parade, set for 1:30 p.m., Friday, May 29 is planned to pass by each school in the district to allow seniors to thank teachers. Whitman and Hanson police and fire personnel will be “actively involved in the send-off as well, Szymaniak said.

Hanson Middle School has scheduled a similar parade for their eighth-graders in June and Whitman Middle School is planning something similar.

“The senior class has asked that all school and teachers be represented, meaning all teachers at the elementary and middle [teachers as well], will be staged at different areas of the high school parking lot, from the tennis courts up to the loop – building-specific, so seniors can drive through and say goodbye to their teachers,” Szymaniak said. “Wave goodbye and do a real senior send-off on the 29th, which would have been graduation day.”

A virtual scholarship awards ceremony will be held and live-streamed on Saturday, June 30.

Commissioner of Education Jeffrey C. Riley issued new remote learning standards earlier this month, called power standards, which Szymaniak described as “just diving down deeper into the core of what we were already doing.”

Instead of review, teachers across the district are diving deeper into the curriculum and principals are working on how students will be assessed and graded on report cards. Grading will be credit or no credit at the high school and a pass/fail system is being looked at for the middle school and elementary levels.

To close out the school year, students have to pick up belongings left at school since March 15 and teachers still have to close out classrooms.

Principals will be establishing a time frame for teachers to come in and pack up all student materials into bags for a drive-up parent pickup much like what was done when Chromebooks were issued. High school seniors will go first on May 26 and 27. Elementary and middle school teachers will report to their buildings that week to pack up their classrooms and students’ belongings.

Building-specific parent pickup times will be scheduled for the week of June 1 to 5.

“We need our Chromebooks returned … June 11 and 12,” he said. There are close to 700 Chromebooks out and the district wants to ensure they are all returned with as little damage as possible.

HVAC project

Interim Business Manager John Tuffy reported that the $500,000 ban debt remaining for the Hanson school HVAC project will be rolled over on May 28. He said it does not add to the district budget or debt burden, it is just a routine rollover already accounted for in next year’s budget.

The School Committee voted to rescind a Feb. 26 vote for a Whitman Middle School feasibility study and warrant article in favor of new language from bond council that includes authorization to borrow.

“What has happened a little bit is Whitman has changed how they’re going to do their funding source, as I understand it,” said School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes.

“The town of Whitman, facing a severe revenue crunch, does not have the available funds to pay for it out of free cash, as they were going to once do,” said Committee member Fred Small. He said they plan bans similar to the HMS HVAC project — a three-year ban — to fund the feasibility study.

Tuffy concurred with Small’s description, explaining that bond counsel has presented Whitman with the option of using free cash or borrowing the money. Town officials are discussing a three-year loan, but the final decision is up to Town Meeting.

Small also reported that the Whitman Finance Committee held a brief discussion on the matter Tuesday, May 12, and that it has also gone through the facilities subcommittee.

“There’s revenue issues in every town across the commonwealth,” he said.

Budget deal now heads to towns

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After two meetings in five days, the W-H School Committee on Monday, May 18 unanimously voted to set a budget of $55,320,238 for fiscal 2021.

They also voted unanimously to amend the regional agreement for one year in support of a 50/50 split on the assessment to both towns, and for assessments of $11,214,176.79 for Hanson and  $15,367,391.75 for Whitman and transferring $350,000 from excess and deficiency. A first vote adopted a 50/50 assessment split for fiscal year 2021 only — by a 9-1 vote with member Fred Small voting no.

The votes are the first steps in the budget process. Voters at town meeting must still approve the measures.

“You’ve taken three square pegs and found a way to make them round to fit in the hole,” Hanson School Committee member Christopher Howard said of Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak’s work. “This is a step in the right direction. Thank you for what you’ve done.”

“This budget is a first step to supporting the kids in the district,” said Whitman member Dawn Byers.

Szymaniak recommended the $55,320,238 for FY 2021 budget, using $250,000 of Fiscal 2021 Circuit Breaker money in addition to the $450,000 already being used, as well as $350,000 of the $605,000 remaining in the excess and deficiency account, to lower the operating assessment. The budget figure includes the return of the four teaching positions cut last year.

Rollovers from contract savings should result in no change to the $605,000 in E&D when the dust settles.

“This committee doesn’t like using E&D, and I get that, but this money would be rolling into E&D [see below], and I find it as a way to lower the assessment for both communities,” he said.

Potential savings because of the coronavirus closure of district schools were calculated into the E&D numbers so that a 50/50 split on the assessment to both towns would be $11,214,176.79 for Hanson and  $15,367,391.75 for Whitman, Szymaniak said.

He met on a Zoom call Monday morning with Christine Lynch and Michelle Griffin of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the district’s legal counsel and Steve Hemmand from the Mass. Association of Regional Schools (MARS) to relay questions from the committee about the the budget as well as de-regionalization that cropped up in the Wednesday, May 13 meeting.  Town administrators, a half-dozen school officials and School Committee members were also on the call.

“I think this is laid out really well,” said Howard. “It hits a lot of what we talked about.”

Szymaniak said on May 13, that there have been passionate discussions in both towns regarding the budget bottom line for the school district.

“I’ve heard the word compromise, I’ve heard the word deal, I’ve heard the [phrase] ‘Let’s make this happen,’” he said, noting that he and a couple members of the Regional Agreement Committee spoke with Lynch on whether a compromise was doable and what it might look like.

Lynch discussed what a 50/50 compromise would look like for fiscal 2021 moving toward a statutory formula going forward. Using that split between the statutory number between the two towns as well as dividing the current formula to arrive at an example for the School Committee to discuss.

“This is a one-year only method,” Chairman Bob Hayes reminded School Committee members.

Szymaniak said Monday night that amendment language presented by district legal counsel must be approved by DESE, which he said they have done. He also asked legal counsel to write up an amendment to the agreement to submit to DESE and to place on town meeting warrants as a line item.

“They changed a couple of words around, but the overall gist of that amendment met their baseline for approval from the legal side,” he said. Lynch said it would have to be voted on by the committee to forward to town meetings for a vote before budgets are voted on.

If voters affirm the article, then they could vote a school budget.

However, if the commissioner does not approve the amendment, there is still no budget, Szymaniak said.

“I think every person on this committee has influenced a portion of that [compromise],” Howard said. “It’s something that we can put forward in front of the towns, giving the voters of both Whitman and Hanson an opportunity to move forward. … I really think this is a step in the right direction.”

Byers agreed.

“There has been a lot of good communication and a lot of good progress,” she said, expressing pleasure at the savings that prevented budget cuts. “My one reservation was putting students first.”

Lynch also cautioned that it will not be a benefit to allow the district to go to a 1/12 budget — the commissioner would then use the FY 2020 budget, the minimum local contribution used under the statutory method and the FY 2021 Chapter 70 funds.

“In her experience, the commissioner has never increased a 1/12 budget over the FY 2020 numbers, whether it be September, October or November,” Szymaniak said. “She understands that this is painful and problematic for districts [but] if the district doesn’t have a budget by Dec.1, the state will take fiscal control using the statutory method. She said no one benefits if the commissioner is involved with the budget.”

Szymaniak said the major question of an 50/50 split amendment is OK with DESE legal going forward, if that’s what the School Committee wants to do to move a budget.

“I’m really asking — almost begging you — to get a budget out of committee,” Szymaniak said March 13 and echoed that sentiment Monday. “I have to issue pink slips to teachers by May 31. I have some very anxious folks, teaching from their home right now, knowing that the School Committee hasn’t affirmed a budget out of committee yet.”

He said Silver Lake Regional has already made some staff cuts. Szymaniak said he is trying to avoid a 1/12 budget.

Hanson committee member Christopher Howard agreed during the May 13 discussion that it has been a contentious debate that has prevented movement on the issue. To prompt a more formal discussion on Monday, he moved the committee accept the amendment with Lynch’s modifications.

Amendment

On the budget bottom line, Howard is looking to return the four teachers cut last year while looking to excess and deficiency to help bring the numbers down.

Whitman member Steven Bois said Szymaniak’s proposal makes sense, but asked what the agreement amendment committee might think. Whitman’s Christopher Scriven, who sits on that committee, indicated the two are really separate issues.

“This is an amendment to the 1991 existing agreement that’s put forth today,” he said.

Byers questioned the procedure that was being discussed, especially in view of only receiving the three-page amendment proposal a half-hour before the meeting.

Chairman Bob Hayes then suggested waiting a week to vote on the budget, and focusing on voting on the amendment before voting a budget with or without the four teachers and on whether or not to rescind the vote basing the assessment on the statutory method this year.

He suggested giving DESE time to review the amendment to “see if it holds water,” and giving the towns time to weigh in before voting on the budget.

Howard agreed that time for review was fair, as did Whitman member Fred Small.

Budget snapshot

Szymaniak began the budget discussion with a review of the district’s current financial situation.

Potential savings due to schools being closed since March 19 because of the coronavirus pandemic include: the furloughing of custodial contractor SJ Services as of the first week of April when the wife of an SJ employee contracted the virus; the halting of payments to First Service after the last bus run on March 13; and furloughing special education van drivers from North River Collaborative since April 22, but storage fees and the need to keep vans running for upkeep will have to be paid.

After receiving a full bill for April, Szymaniak contacted SJ Services’ owner and he is revising the bill for April and May. The SJ contract typically costs the district about $99,000 per month, but the district could save $100,000.

While three W-H employees are paid by SJ Services, Szymaniak said he anticipates a substantial reduction in the bill from the company due to the furlough.

Szymaniak said a meeting between school districts in the area and First Student on Monday, May 18 was intended as a negotiation over costs for upkeep of buses, insurance and locked storage, for a savings of $250,000 in fiscal 2020. Savings from the contracts would be rolled over into excess and deficiency.

A modification of a contract with Fox Transportation for other special education transportation needs is also being examined, which could bring a $50,000 to $60,000 savings.

“If we don’t spend it, we’re not getting it back next year,” Szymaniak cautioned, however.

North River van drivers have been working with the district to deliver food to families in need who lack transportation, saving about $60,000.

Copy center contactor Collegiate Press has kept employees on and applied, but was turned down for the first round disaster loans, so the district is discussing options with the company, Szymaniak said. Collegiate press has again applied for a loan, and has issued a credit for next year on their bill, but actual copy costs were frozen on March 13.

Despite a canceled spring sports season, head coaches are being paid a “small amount for their service” in the offseason, but  Szymaniak is still anticipating a $65,000 to $70,000 savings in the athletics budget.

“Those are our big-ticket savings, right now that I could see, I didn’t want to put numbers to them because I didn’t have hard numbers, and I don’t want the committee to be upset if those numbers come in lower than I’m anticipating due to whatever expenditures we have going forward,” he said.

On the other side of the ledger, pre-kindergarten tuition is running at a deficit because of the school closing. Savings from SJ Services, athletics and other closure-related cost savings would help fill that projected $300,000 shortfall, Szymaniak said Monday.

Circuit Breaker

“There’s a buzz around both communities around Circuit Breaker,” Szymaniak said of the special education aid the district receives. “Folks have said that we have millions and millions of dollars that we recover in special education every year.”

Tuffy said the program received funds to assist with the cost of individual education plans, with the district using them to pay for the next year’s special ed costs, usually transportation and tuition, because those costs are easy to track — $1,171,000 in fiscal 2020.

“But those carryovers are often used to take care of for unexpected and unbudgeted expenses,” he said. At the end of last fiscal year, the carry-over was $692.

This year’s budget assumed that the district would to spend $450,000 and expect to get the $171,000 plus the $692 carryover makes $1,172,000 available, he said.

Howard asked where remaining funds “live” until the next budget cycle, to which Tuffy replied the money goes to a separate Circuit Breaker fund.

COVID-19-related mental health support costs, meanwhile, don’t include lost revenue such as preschool tuition. A state emergency fund speaks to “any costs” related to closing schools and moving to remote learning, which the district will apply for, but also does not include lost tuition revenue.

CARES funds are also intended as reimbursement funds that must be carefully accounted for, according to Szymaniak.

The preschool line starts off $97,000 in the red for more than $300,000 in fiscal 2021. Szymaniak said it is usually in the negative because the district hasn’t fully funded it since is a partially tuition-based program.

There are also deficits expected in some facilities accounts, according to Tuffy.

Debating budget compromise

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WHITMAN — The Board of Selectmen after a joint meeting with the Finance Committee on Tuesday, May 5, voted 4-1 to reaffirm the statutory method for school budgeting this year. Later in the meeting, however, Selectman Randy LaMattina argued for a reconsideration that, while not approved, left the door open to hearing out any Hanson compromise.

Selectman Justin Evans, who represents Whitman on the regional agreement amendment panel, dissented from the vote to reaffirm the statutory formula.

“I can’t see this as anything but punishing the schools for a disagreement with another town,” he said. “I’d like the opportunity to continue and present something to this board before we vote it down.”

“To now paint the town of Hanson as the enemy is wrong,” LaMattina said.

The meeting was conducted via Zoom meeting and recorded for playback on the Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV YouTube cannel.

Finance Committee Chairman Richard Anderson advocated the end of negotiations for a compromise as a way to move other business forward.

Finance Committee member Kathleen Ottina, who has extensively researched the assessment formula issue according to Anderson, said the statutory method was never properly enforced.

“People … never took the time to do the math,” she said. “Over the course of the last six fiscal years, Whitman has already paid $4.1 million that would have been paid by our partner town had the statutory method been enforced.”

She said that she has tried to “nicely inform” to finance committee chairmen in both towns that the real problem is the loss of $3 million in Chapter 70 money for Hanson, which has increased their minimum local contribution to the school district.

“We can’t go back in terms of suing, or trying to recapture, that money apparently, but we certainly can’t go forward and continuing to subsidize Hanson’s bill,” Ottina said. “Whitman people should be paying Whitman’s bills and Hanson people should be paying Hanson’s bills.”

She said she is not convinced that any type of compromise is in the best interests of the Whitman taxpayers.

“We don’t get aid we don’t need, so we don’t have aid we can give away,” agreed Finance Committee member Rosemary Connelly. “The aid is very specific to the need of the town.”

She said paying Hanson’s bills was part of the reason Whitman can’t provide cost of living increases to its town employees.

Evans said Hanson has made it clear that they do not plan to fully fund the school budget.

“They’ve given numbers that they say they can afford, and they don’t plan on exceeding those numbers,” he said. “In trying to find our way out of this situation we can either let Hanson underfund the school system and meet our statutory obligation [by laying] off teachers in that scenario, forcing a 1/12 budget by voting down the budget or letting Hanson vote the budget down, or we can make up the difference and protect the schools and the students from a dispute between the towns.”

He has been seeking one-time relief that includes the four teachers in the elementary schools cut from the budget last year as his conditions to move the towns forward.

“The town of Whitman is being taken for a ride with this entire charade,” Anderson said, arguing that the regional agreement amendment panel does the work it was formed to do — amending the agreement that are in the best interests of the students, faculty and both towns that serve the district. He asked what kind of figures Hanson has provided.

“It took a very long time to even getting a number from the Town Administrator for what they were able to afford this year — or willing to afford, or however you want to say it — and I only got that number this past week,” Evans said.

“That’s part of the charade that I grow increasingly tired of every single day,” Anderson said. “It’s time for them to educate their citizens about how they need to pay their bills. We’re not going to pay Hanson’s bills.”

Evans said, if the statutory method is where the district will end up, there shouldn’t be a need to lay off teachers to get there. Connelly said such a move is already unnecessary.

“We are willing to fund,” she said. “So it’s not us.”

She said that she has watched a video of a September 2017 Hanson Selectmen meeting that proved the board knew about the assessment formula then.

Anderson said information on what Hanson can afford, coming from the town administration gives no indication about the taxpayers’ willingness or ability to pay. Evans agreed that the Mass. Association of Regional Schools assessment last year showed Hanson has the capacity to afford an override, but have not formed an override committee.

“This is a big deal to the Whitman taxpayer,” Anderson said of the $500,000 difference in Hanson’s favor. “We’re going to tell the fire chief that line items from the Fire Department [are] going to be reduced in order for us to fund the fire department in Hanson. That’s what we’re talking about. It’s $500,000 we don’t have.”

Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski said he had been supportive of a compromise, but after Evans was rebuffed at a recent meeting by Hanson’s Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett, he changed his mind.

“I think we need to say, ‘No, it stops here,’” Kowalski said. “Whitman has always come through.”

Connelly argued that Hanson voters are being misinformed.

“We’ve been the victims of fake news from Hanson, and it’s hurtful,” Kowalski agreed.

Whitman’s budget

During the discussion of Whitman’s Article 2 preparations for Town Meeting, Anderson noted that anticipated local receipts are down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“You’re forecasting how much we’re taking in in things like motor vehicle excise tax in a very difficult economy, meals tax in a situation where the restaurants are on the edge,” he said. “It’s reflected in the fiscal ’21 revenue summary.”

Assuming the town funds everything sought in the Town Meeting warrant, Whitman would “certainly maximize our levy to the point where we’ve spent $582,000 more” and would have to adjust the ambulance fund — among other accounts — to keep the town out of the red, Town Administrator Frank Lynam said. Free cash would have to be used for other expenditures because other available funds would be used for the larger numbers.

“People should know that this is a very bare-bones budget,” Lynam said.

Connelly asked if the budget reflects new realities such as a town pool that may not open for the summer or a library that remains closed to walk-in patrons. She asked if funds from such relatively dormant facilities could be transferred to public safety and other accounts where there is greater need.

“Could we rethink how we’re using our money?” she asked.

Lynam said the funds are essential to the operation of departments, noting there is little savings to be realized. Some, like the Recreation Department, are funded by revolving accounts.

“We’re certainly in uncharted waters,” Anderson said as the discussion moved to municipal salaries. “We have been talking about reining in salaries for while, and I would hope that the sacrifices the town departments are making is recognized throughout all of the departments.” No cost of living adjustments are being considered in the new budget.

He said the Finance Committee has opened up a “really interesting dialog” with the regional school district.

“I think it’s really time that we talk about what kind of commitments they can make in this particular aspect of the budget,” he said.

The Building Facilities and Capital Improvements Committee has not competed its work, either. Anderson said the Finance Committee is working with that panel in order to provide time for them to formulate a complete recommendation on all the capital articles on its matrix.

Outright purchase rather than lease/purchase as well as contracting for replacement value insurance on town-owned vehicles are also being viewed as a way to save money in the long-run.

Should the town approve a Whitman Middle School feasibility study, Lynam said, it makes more sense to borrow the $850,000 than to used free cash — as the state reimburses a portion of that amount. It is also consistent with the recommendations of the Collins Center Capital Improvement Plan recommendations, according to Selectman Justin Evans.

“The regional school budget is really holding us hostage,” Anderson said.

Lynam agreed that the schools and certain fixed costs are the only areas of the budget where Selectmen and the Finance Committee have no control.

The veteran’s benefits account, for example — already in the red — is expected to increase by $48,000.

“Even though we are generally curtailing expenses, Article 2 and our borrowing costs, all of the things that represent raise and appropriate, are going up $1.3 million this year,” Lynam said. “It’s a big number.”

Selectman Dan Salvucci asked why Whitman Library costs are up 18 percent when the library is closed, prompting Lynam to observe that two area towns have furloughed library staff — except for the library director — until September, signaling an intent to remain closed all summer.

“We haven’t addressed that yet, and it’s probably something that should be discussed,” he said.

Anderson suggested the cost of accreditation renewal for the library could be partly responsible for the increase. Connelly also suggested that electronic books being made available as well as use of library WiFi from the parking lot could have an effect.

“People are continuing to borrow books electronically,” Lynam said. “That has no impact on us.”

Voting safety eyed

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WHITMAN — COVID-19’s effect on the annual Town Meeting and Election process, was discussed by the Board of Selectmen Tuesday, May 5.

Town Administrator Frank Lynam said a question has arisen concerning employees working on alternate schedules being brought back in to work together.

“So long as we could ensure social distancing in safe environments … we could bring more of the staff back to work on a regular work week basis,” Lynam said about a letter he sent to department managers, copied to the Board of Selectmen. “I have to see how that goes over the next few days [and] who is looking to make what adjustments.”

He said how the process works will not be clear until “more and more people return to the open market” over the next several weeks.

Coronavirus will also have an effect on how Town Meeting is operated as well as when it convenes. The board voted to schedule the annual Town Meeting on Monday, June 22, with the possibility that it could be pushed back again.

Should social distancing regulations force the spacing of Town Meeting participants to keep six feet from each other the entire seating area of the Town Hall auditorium would only fit 100 people, Lynam said. He has reached out to Superintendent of School Jeffrey Szymaniak about the possibility of holding Whitman’s Town Meeting at either the high school gym or the Performing Arts Center.

“The only wrinkle in that is that the school is located in Hanson and state law requires that the meeting be held in Whitman,” Lynam said. “I would argue that the mailing address for the school is 600 Franklin St., Whitman.”

He asked for a legal opinion about it from Town Counsel, adding that Senate Bill 2680 was filed, which, if passed — and indications are that it will be, according to Lynam — would allow Whitman to hold Town Meeting at the school or other out-of-town facility.

Szymaniak said Whitman could use the high school if needed.

Finance Committee member John Galvin asked if, in view of Baker’s statement that limits on public gatherings could be increased on May 18 back to 50 from the 10 persons now permitted, raises the question of whether that allows for town meetings to be held.

“I believe not, because it involves voting rights,” Lynam said, noting that residents must be given 20 days’ notice for registering to vote at a town meeting. “The state is adamant about not depriving people of the opportunity to vote.”

He said the attendance limit may not apply to government meetings, either.

Selectmen also discussed a feasibility study for Whitman Middle School, with Selectman Brian Bzanson suggesting it be expanded to include the possibility of a junior-senior high school in case Hanson pushes to de-regionalize. Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski said the same thought had occurred to him.

Lynam said bidding guidelines would require a separate study for such a scenario.

“I like the idea, I just don’t think it’s practical,” Lynam said.

De-regionalization, if it were to happen, would be a long process, selectmen noted.