Whitman-Hanson Express

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Whitman ready to review regional pact

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WHITMAN – School Committee Chair Christopher Howard met with the Select Board on Tuesday, June 21 to gauge the board’s appetite to get together and rework the regional school agreement and thoughts on makeup of the current subcommittee.

“I think Whitman is committed to our partnership and definitely looking to stay in the region and fully aware we need to do something with the agreement,” Select Board Chair Randy LaMattina. 

A scheduled discussion with Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak concerning mold remediation at Whitman Middle School was tabled as Szymaniak was out on bereavement leave.

“In several School Committee meetings we have continued to talk about the regional agreement,” Howard said. “As the board knows, that agreement is 30 years old.”

A “subtle amendment” has been done to include statutory changes on the state level, but it is an old agreement and, Howard noted a subcommittee of two select board members and two School Committee members from each town, both town administrators and at least one citizen at-large sat on that “fairly large group,” he said.

“We wanted to approach both the Whitman [Select Board] and the Hanson Select Board and just really ask two simple questions,” Howard said. “One — what is the appetite for us to, because it is a tri-party relationship between the schools and both towns, to get together and rework this? And then two —do you have any feedback on the composition of the committee?”

In the spirit of cooperation and collaboration, Howard said his committee felt it was a good idea to at least have a preliminary conversation to get thoughts from the select boards in each member town before creating the subcommittee

“From an outside persepective, looking in, I thought that committee was a little too large,” LaMattina agreed. “[The size] could have ham-strung things a tad bit, and I think, probably, a lot of the legwork with the regional agreement has been done.”

He said the remaining sticking points to be worked out would require narrowing down the size of the subcommittee.

Select Board member Dan Salvucci asked how Hanson’s Select Board feels on the issue [See story, page one].

“We haven’t met with them,” said Howard, who added he planned to attend the next meeting of Hanson’s board on July 12. “Obviously, it’s a three-way tango, if you will, so we need all three dancing partners to come to the table and do this together.”

Any revised regional agreement would have to be approved by both Town Meetings.

“A lot of the legwork is already done,” said Select Board member Justin Evans, who was one of the Whitman Select Board representatives to the last subcommittee. “I agree with our chairman that less is more in this kind of situation, especially where it has to come back to the full School Committee, both [select] boards and then Town Meeting for final approval. We’re not leaving out any opportunities for public input, it’s just trying to get an agreement together.”

Select Board member Shawn Kain said he would like to see, in the interest of best practices, someone who has been involved in these negotiations and has been involved in regional agreements be consulted for guidance as far as how things are often done.

“Having somebody involved that can really speak from experience … can be helpful, because there’s certainly some hot-button issues that could be a sticking point,” he said.

Salvucci said the subcommittee was able to have input from Whitman’s Finance Committee chair as well as legal counsel, helped update the agreement, but some of the issues such as the statutory formula for assessments was either not discussed, or was assumed to have been. He advocated for a member of the Finance Committee or the state to join the committee. Salvucci worked on the agreement revision in 2017 and Evans did so in 2020.

“We’ve done this a couple of times recently,” Evans said. 

Howard said they are reaching out to the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools (MARS) and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) also must approve any revised regional agreement.

“I think smaller is better because it has to go through a rigorous approval process,” Howard said of the committee size. “I just don’t know what capacity you’d feel comfortable [with].”

LaMattina said it would require a Select Board member and the town administrator, which Evans agreed to.

“I would say no more than 10 members,” Evans said. “Even 10 is a lot, but it’s manageable.”

On other busines, Auburn Street traffic delays have generated a “Significant amount of complaints from the public, LaMattina said, but he said that, while there is significant impact to area residents and people driving on the street, the sewer force main work being done is crucial for the town.

“We’re trying to work through it,” he said. “We ask people to be patient and follow the signs. … It’s quite a large undertaking, but it is critical infrastructure for the town. It needs to be done.”

LaMattina emphasized that it is not just a developer inconveniencing residents and motorists.

“This is major water and sewer work, and it needs to be done,” he said. “We are trying to figure out, on a daily basis, a better way to do things.”

Coda on teaching careers

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It hasn’t been as dramatic as “Mr. Holland’s Opus,” but retiring W-H Regional High School music teachers Devin Dondero and Donald Legge can see the difference they’ve made for students in the 20 [for Legge] or the 25 [years for Dondero] in which they have taught at the school.

“We just don’t have to see any students off at the bus depot,” Legge laughed, referring to a scene in the film revolving around a teen with Broadway dreams.

And, while they are also not anticipating an alumni orchestra performance of a secret composition on their way out the door, as in the 1995 film, they said it is gratifying that they are able to participate in selecting the three new teachers.

Legge came to W-H after a stint teaching middle school in New Bedford after teaching nothing but high school in Florida.

“Coming up here and starting with a whole new group of kids, age development wise, was just totally different and I just wasn’t used to it,” he said of the New Bedford job. “Plus I was doing more general music [there], where in Florida it was all performance.”

Dondero said former W-H music teacher Tom Oliveiri brought him to the district from Abington, where he also worked with Oliveiri.

Dondero said they are very thankful to the people of Whitman and Hanson for allowing them to work with their kids all these years.

“The townspeople in both communities have been very supportive of the program over the years,” he said.

There will be things that will be missed a bit less, such as the fundraising needed to pay copyright fees involved in performing musicals or songs from them.

Mattress sale, bake sale and pancake breakfast proceeds went toward the $12,000 to $15,000 the Show Choir has had to pay out over the last three to four years in copyright fees.

Now that their next chapter begins at the end of the school year, both say more opportunities for performance — jazz trombone for Dondero and guitar for Legge — await, bringing their musical journey full circle.

They’ll be giving some lessons, but performing is their main focus now. Dondero, who also plays bass, is part of a blues trio for bass, but said the trombone gigs pay better.

Legge said he’ll be performing and traveling, the latter more out of necessity since his daughter lives in Oregon and his dad is in Florida.

“I think we realized at the stage of our development here as music educators, it was the time to go,” Dondero said. “For two very important reasons — it’s going to be better for the department because now they’re hiring three people, which is really good because that means the department will take a huge step forward.

“And the other reason is we were just getting along in years and we wanted some younger people to come in.”

Legge said he’s been teaching for 37 years, starting his career in 1985.

Dondero is a graduate of Boston University and Legge attended Westfield State and then went to Miami.

Teaching hadn’t been their first goal in music, both initially looking toward performance.

“At first, I’d have to say I wasn’t absolutely sure [about teaching], but I decided to go for the education degree because I knew that it would be a good idea to have it, if I wanted to teach,” Dondero said. “But, then, when I started teaching, I just enjoyed it more and more.”

In college, he said he preferred hanging out with the performance majors, rather than those concentrating on education.

“They were the ones that seemed to be doing more performing — and just having more fun, I felt,” Dondero said.

“I was going to be a rock star,” Legge said with a laugh. “And I did, I hung out with that group.”

Legge’s undergrad degree was in performance and it was his master’s degree focus until his last semester when his dean asked him is he really needed a master’s to perform in a club or orchestra, and suggested switching around a few classes to get a pedagogy degree. He didn’t even have to wait to use it as a fall-back, because the day of graduation another student told him of a teaching opportunity that required guitar skills they did not have – but Legge did.

Finding that they were skilled at teaching, as well as finding that they enjoyed it, made the change all the more rewarding.

“There are some people that just can perform like crazy, but they can’t get that message out,” Legge said. “They can’t articulate how to do it and [have] the patience — I think that’s the key — and liking kids.”

They are also aware that studies endorsed by musicians, as trumpeter Wynton Marsalis has long advocated, that music can help students develop other skills such as math. 

“I would definitely say our music students are probably more well-rounded, better academically, than probably most of the students here,” Dondero said. “I just think it’s that type of student.”

“We get a lot of the AP kids,” Legge said.

But he acknowledged it can create scheduling challenges as AP classes are only offered during certain periods, which can coincide with the band/chorus period.

“We borrow kids from each other,” Legge said, noting band and chorus kids are often moving between the two music rooms.

Their advice for the new music staff at W-H?

Legge advises keeping an open mind.

“The best thing is not to change everything that came before,” he said. “I would think you’d want to build off the strengths that were here already.”

“We’re happy to see that [the district] will be hiring two, full-time high school teachers,” Legge said on Monday, June 13, noting interviews were beginning that day. There were six to eight candidates for the position and Legge and Dondero participated in those interviews.

Another will be hired to direct the middle school band program out of Whitman Middle School, but serving both towns. There are already two full-time chorus teachers at the middle schools.

Pastor prepares for mission to Ukraine

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HANSON – There may not be a lot of Americans hoping they will be sent to Ukraine anytime soon, but that’s just what the Rev. Dr. Peter Smith of the First Congregational Church in Hanson is hoping will happen for him.

“Whether I get to go there or not, we’re trying to support this need because it’s a long-term need, and the people it serves are very often moms and children, the elderly,” Smith said, noting that when the invasion happened he couldn’t help thinking about friends he had in Ukraine. Then a notice about the Samaritan’s Purse mission popped up in his Facebook feed. 

Smith has been hired by Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian Relief agency, to serve as a part of their Disaster Assistance Relief Team, which works in partnership with the United Nations High Council on Refugees (UNHCR) to coordinate the work of the several relief agencies responding to international crises.

If Smith is sent, he envisions a three-to-four week deployment with the deacons taking over Sunday services while he is gone, treating it as a kind of sabbatical.

To fund his trip and the greater mission of Samaritan’s Purse, the church is hosting a chicken dinner fundraiser on Saturday, June 25. While the dinner is sold out, a multi-media presentation will also be held so those interested in making tax-deductible donations in support of Ukraine relief work may learn more – and enjoy dessert. More information is also available on the church’s website fcchanson.org/donate-2/. It will also help what Smith terms “donor fatigue” from a long-term crisis where donations are needed.

He said he knows from his own experience that the Ukrainian people are incredibly stalwart.

“They have a very extensive security system as far as creating a network of safety around us,” Smith said, noting that volunteers must also pass a security check, including a CORI check, a number of references and drug testing.

A number of specialty occupations from medical personnel to construction, meals and security specialists.

In Ukraine, Samaritan’s purse is operating an Emergency Medical Field Hospital, several mobile medical units, and an extensive distribution chain for both food and non-food items. Transitional Housing as well as Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities wherever necessary will be provided by the organization. While about 5 million people have left the country, about 6 million are estimated to be displaced within Ukraine.

“That’s the main thing,” Smith said. “If they’re not in their home, and may not be in their home city, how do you take care of them, how do you help them get back?”

He said the call had gone out for people with skills or adaptable skills and, while he’s been a pastor for 37 years, he has managed programs and projects all through that time.

“They wanted people who have international travel experience and are comfortable traveling on their own,” he said, noting that as a backpacker for 30 years, he is also accustomed to living rough. They are also sending people who are comfortable sharing their faith.

While Ukraine is one of the locations currently being staffed, Smith acknowledges he could be sent anywhere, but he is hoping he would be sent to Ukraine. 

“I still have names and addresses of the teachers I worked with while I was there,” he said recently. “The Trustees and Deacons of the church were very open to my using scheduled sabbatical time to be part of a response to the greatest refugee crisis since World War II.”

Still, he said his job with Samaritan’s purse is to be a “good soldier” and go where he is sent. He’ll know where that is soon — and when the word of his posting comes, he’ll have less than 48 hours to be on his way.

Other possible locations for a deployment in charity are to the Caribbean, as hurricane season has begun; Mosul in the wake of the Isis insurgency; or Nepal, which is still recovering from a recent earthquake. He has already done work with Samaritan’s purse with a half-dozen countries in the past, including Tanzania in 2006 and a previous mission in Ukraine.

“They look at the skills [of a volunteer] and see what they need,” Smith said. “This is long-term,” he said of the Samaritan’s Purse Ukraine mission, which also demands flexibility. “We don’t know how long it’s going to be, but the crisis really is continuing to happen. … What you may think you’re going for you’ve got to be able to change to what the real needs are.”

Smith said volunteering for the mission was not easy, but he has been on Samaritan’s Purse assignments before and said the work is worth the screening and training. Those applying who are approved for training are briefed on all the organization’s projects, of which the most well-known is Operation Christmas Child, in which churches taking part pack shoe boxes of gifts for children in need around the world. Smith said the charity does 10.5 million of them each year.

“But that also provides an infrastructure,” he said. “Part of the training we had was how to get materials at the right price, at the right place, at the right time and how to distribute them in an orderly fashion, without mob mentality and being vulnerable to thievery.”

Heavy tarps for temporary shelters, blankets, jerry cans (used to transport water or gasoline) and personal hygiene kits are being supplied.

“When they go to Ukraine, the internally displaced persons are often sleeping on church floors,” he said, noting Samaritan’s Purse also provides meals, either using church kitchens or other facilities. “[They] send over a DC-8 every week filled with supplies.”

He also credits Chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen with success in setting up an organization based on a great idea without  lot or bureaucracy to fulfill it’s mission of feeding people in disaster areas. World Central Kitchen is also in Ukraine.

“Those are probably the two fastest places to get meals into people — Samaritan’s Purse and World Central Kitchen,” Smith said. “They’ve got a very good reputation.”

Smith said the briefings provided during the training session from which he has just returned indicated Ukraine is much more intact than a Westerner might get the impression of.

“While we certainly are serving in Jesus’ name and make no bones about it, we are obligated to — and are happy to — serve impartially,” he said of the situation, which also demands political neutrality. 

While it is not the main focus of the effort in Ukraine right now, Smith said that, in the wake of alleged war crimes on the part of Russian soldiers — including murder and rapes — spiritual comfort may also be provided.

“That’s particularly happening at the hospitals,” he said, noting that emergency field hospitals are faced with the need to treat Russian soldiers when they come in.

“They [Samaritan’s Purse workers] are very much ‘How are you doing, beyond your body, how are you doing? Have you had much loss and where are you finding strength through this time?’ If somebody has faith, as many of them do, they are encouraged to offer a prayer.”

Samaritan’s Purse also provides post-deployment counselors for their people to help process the trauma they may have witnessed, much as the American Red Cross now does for its disaster volunteers. Samaritan’s Purse also follows up with people six months later to ensure they are readjusting to their regular life.

Hanson eyes regionalization pathways

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HANSON – The Select Board on Tuesday, June 14 voted to support exploratory conversations with Silver Lake about what a possible regional agreement with that district might cost and look like. 

But any such conversation is not likely to happen anytime soon, as the town is expecting to have a cost estimate on de-regionalizing by this week.

“There’s two paths,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said – sticking with the de-regionalization process and deciding on negotiating with Silver Lake later, if at all – or to vote as a board to expand the role of the De-regionalization Committee to include exploration of a possible joining of the Silver Lake region.

Silver Lake School Committee Chair Paula Hatch has recently invited the Hanson Select Board to have more substantive conversations about the possibility of Hanson joining the Silver Lake School District.

Hanson Select Board member Jim Hickey initially met with Hatch to discuss that possibility, FitzGerald-Kemmett said emphasizing that, without the final result of the TMS study on the potential cost of de-regionalizing with Whitman-Hanson, the town has no real idea what they might be doing in the future.

Hickey said his meeting took place the day before a past Hanson Select Board meeting, so he had hoped to present it to the board the next night under the provision for presenting last-minute information. Hickey said, he thought it was too important to bring up at 9:30 at night — during a three-hour meting — so he waited until the following week. 

But, it still did not make it on that agenda.

“TMS has still not given us an answer yet,” Hickey said as his reason for the discussion with Hatch.

Town Administrator Lisa Green said she had reached out to TMS and was told the consulting firm’s estimate should arrive either June 20 or 21. FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed with Hickey that waiting for the De-regionalization Feasibility Committee to review it before the Select Board add it to a meeting agenda is the best idea.

Regardless of what we do, who we talk to, where we go if we stay,” Hickey said, there is a need to explore the four-year de-regionalization process, adding that he believes some of the W-H School Committee members have “lost their way.”

“I was just looking for other options for the town … and the students to be taught, but  not being gouged every year by Whitman,” Hickey said. “My phone conversation with Paula was to give the town of Hanson another option.”

Comparing Silver Lake’s cost estimate to the one the town gets from TMS, as well as calculating the votes on W-H’s School Committee could then be discussed, according to Hickey.

“Why would a de-regionalization committee look into regionalizing?” asked Select Board member Ann Rein. “To me, that makes no sense at all. … And I have serious issues with this anyway, because of the way that formula was changed.”

She argued that the regional agreement itself needs to be revisited in “an honest and fair way, and not because we’re the ‘richer town.’ That’s infuriating. We’re not the richer town.”

Hickey responded that the de-regionalizion committee had nothing to do with any discussions with Silver Lake.

“This was me, on my own, thinking outside the box, and I did not keep this information to myself,” he said, noting that while he did not keep his title a secret, he was talking to Silver Lake as a private citizen.

Noting that, impropriety could be assumed even where there was none on Hickey’s part, FitzGerald-Kemmett asked Select Board member Joe Weeks if he would be willing to work with Hickey as an ad hoc committee.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said that, in her recent conversation new Whitman Select Board Chair Randy LaMattina, she expressed Hanson’s intention to revisit the regional agreement, and he said Whitman, too, had an interest in revisiting it.

“Does it make sense for us to be sitting down with the Silver Lake regional School Committee?” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “I go back and forth on it.”

While the board could hold that conversation with the Silver Lake board, there are concerns over it wasting everyone’s time without negotiating with Silver Lake.

“For me, it comes down to there’s never anything wrong with having a conversation,” said Select Board member Joe Weeks, noting his only concern is with Silver Lake’s status, compared with W-H, as a town.

Rein, who said she de-regionalizing does not mean finding another region to join, also stressed she has “severe reservations” about dissolving W-H, given the money and time invested in the school system.

“Until we know if we’re going to de-regionalize, why even waste our time, or their time, talking about joining them?”  FitzGerald-Kemmett said of any talks with Silver Lake. “It’s my fervent hope that we don’t de-regionalize, but that we find a way to improve the relationship and effectuate something more positive for Hanson.”

Weeks said he’s fine with conversation, but if you formalize it with two people, it may be viewed as a formal negotiating.

“Whoever gives us the best deal, wins,” Weeks said, noting his priorities are making sure his kids are educated, his grandparents are not priced out of time and if people can afford to move to and live in town.

“Is [that] going to strengthen our position?” Weeks said, admitting he does not have an answer to that question.

Regardless, it is a conversation he said he is willing to take.

FitzGerald-Kemmett also asked why the state always refers to Hanson as the wealthier town in formulating funding regulations.

“I look around and that’s not what it feels like to me, but I guess I’m not the state,” she said about the formula for the statutory calculation of regional school costs.

FitzGerald-Kemmett also said she had spoken with W-H School Committee Chair Christopher Howard the previous week, reiterating what the prior board had said about communication between the two boards, as well.

“Inasmuch as we have to advocate for a budget and understand the budget, we need to have a more transparent, open dialog on an ongoing basis,” she said. “I appreciate and support the work that the School Committee does, but we are not elected to be School Committee members.”

Select Boards should not have to expect that the only way to discover information about the budget process is by attending School Committee meetings, and said Howard agreed.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said she also spoke about the situation with LaMattina, who also agrees to try having Howard and Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak come before the select boards of each town as early as possible in the budget process in order to provide a better and deeper understanding of the numbers there, what’s happening with the school budget and what’s being budgeted for.

“It’s a huge part of our budget and we just don’t have the transparency that we need,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

“A vast majority of people don’t learn what some of these subcommittees are doing until an article is placed on Town Meeting warrant,” Weeks said. Then an issue, such as a land transfer or a new project being funded is before the town.

Earlier budget discussions could get more information out to the public and result in more people attending.

Better
communications

In other business, FitzGerald-Kemmett suggested public office hours – a “Select Board’s Night Out,” of sorts – be held perhaps once per month, as one way to improve communication between the board and residents, seeking more ideas from the rest of the board.

She suggested the board could alternate who does it and discuss the days and times in which to hold them, as an experiment. 

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” she said.

Rein said both morning and evening hours should be considered to accommodate elder residents who don’t drive at night. 

“That [morning session] could be by appointment, where one of us wouldn’t have to sit there, waiting for someone,” Hickey said.

Select Board members would be available in a meeting room to discuss issues residents want to bring to their attention. Hickey suggested that Tuesday nights when no meeting is held and Town Hall is open, they could use the table in the adjoining coffee/lunch room.

“I’d really like you guys to think about what kind of things could we do improve our communication to the public, about things like Town Meeting –you get a vote, you should show up – election – you get a vote, you should show up,” she said.

Board and commission vacancies, the role of various boards and even “fun stuff” like town events need to be easier for residents to find out about.

“As the leaders of the town, we need to set precedence and try to be better at communicating,” she said.

That includes a policy requiring all boards and committees to post agendas in a timely  manner on the town’s website (hanson-ma.gov), and be more consistent with posting the Select Board agendas while encouraging other departments with doing the same.

“Yes, I know they are setting the hearing notices to the abutters, and all the good stuff that they’re supposed to do,”  FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We’re doing the bare minimum and how’s that working for us?”

Rein, noting she is “pretty good with a computer,” said it is very difficult for residents to find information on the town’s website, to the agreement of other members of the board.

“I am not a web designer at all, but that website has got to be revamped and things have to be easy to find,” she said.

“We really have to do better at communicating with the public about a host of things,”  FitzGerald-Kemmett said, noting that Rein and fellow new board member Ed Hear had mentioned the issue to her, recommending that email addresses for all department heads be listed on the site to ease resident frustration with the phone system and leaving voicemails. Select Board members’ emails are already listed.

While the town has an IT person, she noted the significant overhaul envisioned “could take a while.”

Hear said he would like to see more information presented to residents, especially on controversial issues, at Town Meetings.

Audit, forum on school safety is planned

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The week before a bipartisan U.S. Senate deal reinvigorated hope that a gun safety legislation deal is possible to help halt the flow of illegal guns across state lines, institute red flag limitations as well as billions for mental health and school safety programs, among other moves to confront the epidemic of mass shootings in America, W-H School Committee members addressed how to reassure parents and the community about school safety in the district.

“Student safety has been a priority for me since I became an administrator,” Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak said on Wednesday, June 8.

In 2014 the district adopted ALICE training protocols in the wake of the December 2012 Sandy Hook shooting in Newtown, Conn. Szymaniak was the trainer to teach district staff, along with school resource officers (SRO) Kevin Harrington of Whitman Police and William Frazier of Hanson Police.

“I have not kept up my certification as a trainer, but I still follow up,” he said.

As he spoke, members of Congress were negotiating gun safety measures after the Uvalde, Texas massacre in which 19 children and two teachers were murdered.

In addition to ALICE, the district is undergoing a process to ensure buildings are secured.

“We’ve already noticed two issues, one at Whitman Middle and one at Hanson Middle, that we need to improve upon in our secondary entrance,” Szymaniak said.

Elementary Schools have all been reconfigured so that, when people are buzzed in, they are in a vestibule and have to obtain entrance through another set of doors.

“We will be adding that [to the middle schools] this summer as a priority to make sure we have another layer of defense,” he said. “I’ve been in contact with both of our chiefs and we all agree that we are going to move forward with a safety/security audit this summer.”

Some consulting firms are already being talked to, Szymaniak said.

“We know our buildings do well, but we want an outside look at our protocols, our procedures, what we can do differently and I’d like to present that to you prior to the start of school, depending on how soon we can get this audit.”

A similar “soft look” before security changes had been made, was done after Sandy Hook.

When former Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Dr. Patrick Dillon was working in the district an evacuation plan was also created.

“Safety and security is on our plate – it’s never lost,” he said. “We didn’t lose it through Covid.” Another ALICE training had been done in that period with officer Harrington and new Hanson SRO Derek Harrington and staff.

Committee Chairman Christopher Howard, attending remotely, said the issue was one he and Szymaniak had specifically discussed adding to the meeting agenda.

They talked about setting up a night to conduct a forum that can allow every stakeholder in the district to have the opportunity to participate in that conversation.

“It shouldn’t be ‘This is what we are doing,’” Howard said. “It should be a ‘Tell us your thoughts, tell us your concerns,’ so that as Jeff goes forward we can roll that in. I’ve heard from a couple of parents on this specific topic [and] I’m guessing some of you have, as well.”

Howard said it was something on which they wanted to take the pulse of the committee before moving forward.

Member Fred Small said the district held such a forum three or four years ago that was well received and provided a lot of good information.

“What people are thinking. What’s on the horizon and, also some of the things that we’ve done,” he said could be touched on.

Vice Chair Christopher Scriven, conducting the meeting in Howard’s physical absence, said he thought it was a good idea.

“So many of us in the community – and rightly so – are concerned about this,” he said.

Member Hillary Kniffen, who teaches in another district, said is would also be important to hear from the people in the buildings with the students.

“I think the principals have a good idea, but really the people on the ground in the classrooms … would be really valuable and important,” she said.

“They certainly qualify as stakeholders,” Scriven said.

With a consensus from the committee that such a forum is a good idea, Szymaniak said they would discuss a target date some time this summer during the next meeting.

A change is gonna come

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HANOVER — There are 150 new vocationally-trained graduates heading off into the workplace, on to college or preparing to serve in the military, following the South Shore Tech commencement ceremony on Saturday, June 4.

Graduation season often makes parents wistful a the passage of time, turning their bubbly, carefree children into purposeful young adults, and time was on the mind of students speaking during the commencement ceremony. 

But the Class of 2022 heard young voices of experience offering some sage advice to take with them on life’s race to whatever is next — don’t take the next chapter for granted.

Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey said he knew the feeling, having watched his younger son’s graduation from Whitman-Hanson the night before.

“I still shake my head saying, where did the time go,” he said. “And I’m not alone: Graduates, I know that when your parents look at you decked out in your green robes, they aren’t just seeing the young adult who almost made them late to graduation, they aren’t focused on the teenager who likely has more clothes on their bedroom floor than in their bureau.”

Photos of their children’s progress from newborn, preschooler, the second-grade artwork on the refrigerator, trophies and certificates; endless drop offs at sports practices, and the frantic trips to the store for that last minute poster board project flash through parental memories, Hickey reminded the graduates. 

“And right now, in this time and place, all of these memories are fresh, as if they happened yesterday,” he said. “That is what graduation ceremonies are supposed to be for families and graduates, a delicate mix of sweetness and sadness, where we all spend some time looking forward and looking back. We do ask ‘Where did the time go?’ but we also whisper “I can’t wait for what comes next.’ 

Change, after all, is a constant factor of life. For some, that change came in the form of pandemic-related experiences that shifted their perspective, for others, like Valedictorian David Lowden, it came in the form of a diagnosis of ADHD and severe Dyslexia, which forced a change in the way he learned.

When he started attending night school, instead of being pulled out of classes each day for personal instruction, it was a change that made sixth-grade the first year he didn’t need to attend summer school. By his sophomore year at SST, Lowden was taken off his IEP because he had exceeded its expectations.

His advice — David’s Tried and True Methods for Success — outlines how he made change happen for himself: Find what helps you focus, ask for help, build bonds, never be complacent and learn from failure.

“We’ve all got a lot of learning ahead of us and we’re going to need a group willing to help get each other through,” Lowden said. “Whether that’s forming a study group, or like me, forming bonds with teachers and mentors, these supports are what make the impossible possible.”

Salutarotian Jackson Snyder of Hanover pointed to the Covid-19 pandemic as evidence of that, recalling the day in March 2020 when Hickey announced on the school intercom that there would be a two-week break to isolate and control the spread of the virus.

“But two weeks turned into 6 months. Then a year. And here we are, more than two years later, and things finally seem to be back to what they were,” Snyder said. “All of us have been through so much change, and that change helps to define who we are, and the people that we have become.”

But, reflecting on his experiences at the school over the past two pandemic years, he challenged the class to reflect on where they might be had things been different.

“Where would you have been had you stayed in your town schools,” he asked. “Where would you be if the pandemic had not taken place? Would you have met the people currently in your lives? Would you have had the opportunity to make all these memories? I know when I ask myself that very question, I can say that I am happier with who I am now.”

Change is, after all, something humans crave, and claim we need, observed Student Body President Grace Michel of Pembroke. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to speed up time. … I’ve spent a lot of my life just waiting for the next chapter, especially graduation.”

Thinking her first job would wait until after a long and leisurely youth, she said she grew up too soon — a fact she now regrets.

“While my friends went out to eat and the bowling alley, I went to work at the ice cream shop, the hockey rink, Dunkin Donuts, Barnes and Noble, and now the collision center,” she said. “I decided to bury myself in a sea of responsibilities, instead of enjoying things like going to the arcade, or the beach, or even just Five Guys. I never took the chance to be irresponsible and to be immature.”

She admonished her classmates to enjoy what comes next.

“Live it,” Michel said. “Don’t bury yourselves in responsibilities too soon, especially those that come with life. All my high school career, people around me have said, ‘‘Grace don’t overwhelm yourself, ‘Grace you take on too much,’ and ‘Grace slow down.’ I wish I took the time to listen. Now, I want you all to listen. Make sure you understand the chapter before you finish the book.” 

Senior Class President Gabriel Freitas of Rockland urged classmates to reflect on what makes them unique, including the experiences of their high school years as they enter their new world.

“Do not forget the people [who] have helped you along your journey,” Freitas said, advising his peers to follow a path that excites their passion. “Remembering the past helps you make decisions in the present. … You are in control of what happens next.”

Inclusion issues discussed at W-H

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The Whitman-Hanson School Committee will be discussing issues of inclusion — from a proposed single-color graduation robe to a request to change start times as a way of fostering the physical and mental health of students.

The issues were brought up Wednesday, June 8 during the committee’s public comment period, when the public is invited to address topics not on the agenda.

Whitman resident, Annie Gray of Whiting Avenue raised the issue of start times.

“It’s incredibly important, so I fully support that,” she said, but her main reason for commenting was to determine what would need to happen to push back the start of the high school day.

Classes currently start at 7:05 a.m., “which is incredibly early,” she said.

“I’m here, primarily, as a professional,” said Gray, who operates a private psycho-therapy practice in Whitman, specializing in treating adolescents. “I’m treating your students. … Additionally, I’m a parent in town with three kids who go to the public schools here. … It’s been very difficult to observe the schedule that these students are put under.”

Her daughter is a freshman at the high school and is a member of a sports team. Gray said that, whether teens are just focused on being a student, take part in sports, other extra curricular activities or work — either because they want to or their family needs them to — it takes a toll.

“We are asking these students to do something that is physically unhealthy, that is mentally unhealthy,” she said. “Most of your students are waking up in the 5 a.m. hour.”

As a therapist, Gray said the data proves over and over that sleep is very important for many medical problems as well as three mental health areas: anxiety, depression and ADHD.

“They’re all greatly impacted by sleep deprivation,” she said, advocating that the start time be included in upcoming workshops related to the school district’s strategic plan.

“I’m sure we’ll be having both those topics on the agenda for future meetings,” Scriven said. Public comment is intended to permit residents to address issues not included in the agenda for the meeting. Because Chairman Christopher Howard attended the meeting remotely, Scriven conducted the meeting.

“Start times have been an issue since we were in first grade,” said Roberts, who is a junior at W-H. “We’ve been writing small essays about waking up early.”

He said he feels very strongly about the issue as a student who doesn’t get as much sleep as he should because of work schedules and studying — and he feels he manages his time fairly well.

“It really drains you after a while, especially if you have sports in the afternoon as well,” he said, noting if student voices were heard, it would be a hopeful sign for them.

Whitman Select Board member Justin Evans raised the issue of gender-neutral colors for W-H graduation robes. Traditionally, the school colors of red and black are divided by gender — girls wear red and boys wear black — creating another awkward situation for non-binary, gender non-conforming and trans students, especially those with less understanding families.

Gray, who is also a social worker, echoed Evans’ request.

 “I noticed a practice at last year’s graduation that is kind of at odds with this committee’s commitment to equity and inclusion,” Evans said, noting he was unable to attend this year, as his wife had recently given birth to their first child. “W-H is one of the only districts that still genders their graduation robes. … It’s a practice that most South Shore communities have gone away from.”

Evans had congratulated the district on another successful graduation in prefacing his comments. He said his wife’s high school had recently switched to a single color robe with representations of both school colors on it.

“It seems a lot of districts are going that way,” he said, asking the district to “do right by our students” during Pride month with a whole year before the next graduation.

Student Advisory Committee member Noah Roberts said a lot of students agree with Evans and have expressed the same thought.

“This year, I think there was some flexibility within the graduation robes,” Roberts said. “I know that there were some girls who decided to wear black because it made them feel more comfortable. … But I don’t know how open that is.” 

This fence not seen as a good neighbor

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HANSON — The shortest distance between two points is a straight line is an adage that holds true just about everywhere — with the possible exception of state statute.

The board has pledged to continue discussing the issue with town counsel and planning officials with an eye toward presenting an update on the situation within a month.

Several residents of Lakeside Drive, a private road, crowded the Select Board meeting room Tuesday, June 14 to find out if there was a way to deal with the fence a resident with property on both sides of that road has built across it, blocking both vehicular and — in effect — pedestrian traffic as well from Rollercoaster Road. 

Rollercoaster Road can no longer be accessed from Lakeside Drive.

The town does grade and plow Lakeside, as it does all private roads approved by Town Meeting vote every year.

“I, too, have many, many questions as to what the objective is here,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “I think that’s beyond the scope of what this board can do. … The elephant in the room is private ways in general.”

The owner of the property in question at 252 Lakeside Drive did not attend the meeting, but the session was held for residents to voice their concern about the situation, but FitzGerald-Kemmett cautioned the board was legally limited in what they could say.

“I’ve believed right from the beginning this is not a town matter,” said Select Board member Jim Hickey. “It’s a private matter. It’s a private road, but I want to help and the board wants to help as much as we can.”

He said he would like to speak with the owner of the property to find out why he is putting up the fence.

“We’ve heard everything why we don’t want the fence there,” Hickey said, noting they have no reason why it shouldn’t be allowed.

“It is private property,” he said. “What I would like to talk to this gentleman about is why he did it.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said the board will ask Town Counsel Katherine Feodoroff to work with the Planning Departments and Building Inspector on the issue.

“I don’t know that this is anything we’re going to be able to satisfy,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “That said, I’m going to try to effectuate some positive change here. I don’t know what that’s going to look like.”

Select Board member Joe Weeks said he understands the concern over discussions with town counsel that have to be conducted in executive session, but stressed the board is “on the side of trying to do what’s right for everybody.”

The erection of the fence may result in properties on the road not being in compliance with current dead end road zoning regulations,

But Police Chief Michael Miksch said that, as a civil matter, his authority over the situation is limited, but stressed that response times are not going to change.

“We’re going to get there,” he said. “We don’t usually use Rollercoaster Road to get to Lakeside — it’s a narrow road, it’s not a road I want to go down with an emergency vehicle, unless I have to respond on that road.”

He said there are roads like it all over town, and it presents more of a quality of life issue. Land court limits plantiffs in such cases to those directly aggrieved, not a town, he added.

“This is mainly a civil issue and I cannot deal with civil issues,” Miksch said. “There’s very few civil issues that police can enforce.”

Miksch noted that Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr., could not attend because he was working mutual aid on a large fire in Rockland.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said that if the board felt the situation did present a public safety risk, the decision it reached [to permit road closure] probably would have been different.

“We’re trying really hard to come up with a solution that makes sense,” Weeks said, but the fact that it is a civil matter ties the Select Board’s hands. “We haven’t come up to a situation like this in this way before.”

His concern is what it could do to the community and the open communication has been needed.

 “This is where we’re going to need Feodoroff’s office to work with the Planning and Building departments to see if that’s an option for a path forward,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, stressing it is only an avenue to be explored.

Zoning Board of Appeals member William Cushing of 236 Lakeside Road said he grew up in the area and said the primary intent appears to be access to Oldham Pond, where the road closure at Lakeside and Rollercoaster would create a dead end with a right of way easement to the pond.

“We have a number of situations like this in Hanson,” he said. “This is the equivalent of saying, ‘I can put a gate up and allow who I want to pass, when I want [them] to pass.’”

It is the zoning enforcement officer’s role to enforce regulations through fines.

Nick Rubino of 279 Lakeside Road, who has lived there for five years, is an engineer with concerns about safety on the road and longer response times by taking the alternative route to Rollercoaster.

Another Lakeside Road resident, who is handicapped, said that, with one less access road and the frequency of storm damage to tree limbs, she is also concerned about ambulance response times.

“That is a safety concern for me,” she said. “I don’t feel safe.”

Matt LeBlanc, of 140 Rollercoaster Road, said his driveway has become one of the turnaround spots since the fence went up.

“I was going to put a sign up: ‘I didn’t close the road, please use my driveway,’” he joked. But seriously, he said he sees the fence as a safety issue.

“Either it’s a private way that you can enforce or it’s a private way that can be traveled through public access — you can’t have it both ways,” Cushing said.

Feodoroff said the Planning Board’s role in looking at access is the creation of new lots.

“This is a little bit different,” she said. 

“To not enforce this as a zoning enforcement issue is to set a terrible precedent,” Cushing argued. “I’m not saying you’re saying to set that, I’m saying [that] if it was to be set it’s a terrible precedent because Hanson has a lot of situations like this.”

Feodoroff said that, from a zoning enforcement perspective, there is a question over where a zoning enforcement officer have the right to enforce a private agreement between parties of a legal deed.

Hanson Church plans Ukraine Relief Fundraiser June 25

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Humanitarian aid will be on the menu as the First Congregational Church in Hanson (FCC-Hanson) will present a “Love Ukraine” night on Saturday, June 25 at 6 p.m. The evening will also include information about refugee relief efforts being undertaken in several sites throughout the war-torn country.  

Rev. Dr. Peter Smith, Sr. Pastor of FCC-Hanson, has been hired by Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian Relief agency, to serve as a part of their Disaster Assistance Relief Team, which works in partnership with the United Nations High Council on Refugees (UNHCR) to coordinate the work of the several relief agencies wo respond to international crises. Smith, who has been part of several international missions, worked in Ukraine in 1995 with the International School Project, helping to rebuild the educational system there after the fall of the Soviet Union. 

“I still have names and addresses of the teachers I worked with while I was there,” he said. “The Trustees and Deacons of the church were very open to my using scheduled sabbatical time to be part of a response to the greatest refugee crisis since World War II.” After a week of training mid-June at the Boone, N.C. headquarters of Samaritan’s Purse, Smith must be available to be deployed for three or four weeks with as little as 48-hours’ notice.  

In Ukraine, Samaritan’s purse is operating an Emergency Medical Field Hospital, several mobile medical units, and an extensive distribution chain for both food and non-food items. Transitional Housing as well as Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities wherever necessary.

The evening’s program includes a full chicken dinner followed by strawberry shortcake. A multi-media presentation will precede an opportunity for those in attendance to make tax-deductible donations to support the relief work in Ukraine being undertaken by Samaritan’s Purse.

The cost of the dinner is $12. Reservations are requested: please RSVP to 781-293-7997 or at office@fcchanson.org.

Caught in middle of history

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The Class of 2022 has some big challenges ahead of them, and their send-off from Whitman-Hanson Regional High School on Friday, June 3, provided some sound advice for meeting those challenges.

And, as the messages of optimism, confidence and that advice hung in the springtime air, nature seemed to have the last word – hurry up – as a warm afternoon took a sudden, chilly, turn just as the 269 seniors were called to receive their diplomas.

The day’s strong sun had disappeared behind heavy, low clouds as humidity spiked and the temperature took a nose-dive, perhaps hastening the process.

But this was a class that had persevered through two years of Covid-19 and its effects on what once passed for a normal high school experience, and learned to meet that challenge with humor. 

“In our four years in high school, we’ve had to overcome unthinkable obstacles never before seen by anyone” Class speaker Aidan Hickey said. “We were forced to make adjustments, live in a way that was far from normal, and deal with our fears on a daily basis. But in the process we also learned real world lessons about how one’s actions can impact others, and we developed an appreciation for being together in person, even for the mundane things in life.”

One could hear it in the words they spoke and feel it in the adults they have become.

“It seems surreal that we are actually graduating now and our time in high school has come to an end, but I am confident that the best is to come,” Valedictorian April Keyes said. “As a side note, for those of you who may not already know, I do have a speech impediment, in particular a stutter, which is something to keep in mind during this and also a good reason to get comfortable.”

While how she said some phrases made it noticeable, what she said spoke louder and inspired a standing ovation before she was through.

“I used to be caught up in this idea of never speaking, believing that because I had a stutter, I automatically was meant to be quiet. Even two to three years ago, I think if someone had told me I would be giving a speech right now, I would have passed out, and I say that with very little exaggeration,” Keyes recalled. “But over time I got sick of missing out on conversations and potential new friends, avoiding clubs, and making strange promises to myself to not raise my hand in class. I eventually reached the truth about myself and every single person here: like everything else in the physical world around us, we, as people, are also complex and nuanced.”

The Harvard College-bound member of the school’s English, history, math and science honor societies assessed how her classmates will use their experience with Covid in approaching the problems of the world they now enter and will one day lead.

“As we move on into the diverse and confusing world, do not be afraid to match that diversity as well,” she said. “Whether you are going into the workforce, enrolling in college, joining the military, taking a gap year, or doing whatever you have decided best for yourself, know that your potential, as well as your options, are unlimited. Celebrate who you are in this very instant and all that you have achieved, but also look forward to all that you will be and do in the future.”

Salutatorian Mary Kate Ryan also touched on that theme.

“We are living as a generation caught in the middle of history. Between a dying planet, a never ending pandemic, countless social movements, and more there is so much that seems so far out of our control,” she said. “We’re told that we’re too young to do anything. Too inexperienced. Too ignorant. Except we aren’t. We are entering the adult world and we have the capacity to change it. With bounds of knowledge and the means to spread it at our fingertips, we have an immense power to create a world we want to live in. … Take the passion and drive within each of you and use it. It’s not about changing the entire world, but rather changing the world around you.”

School officials speaking at commencement also had these thoughts in mind as they offered their own advice to the Class of 2022.

School Committee Chairman Christopher Howard noted his remarks would brief, as he never could remember what had been said at his own high school graduation, but added he did have a point for the seniors to consider.

“Just be you,” he said. “It took me a while, but over time, I realized I just needed to be me, and more importantly, I needed to try as best as I could to let others be themselves.”

He was not alone in hitting on that theme.

“There’s way too much negativity in this world,” Superintendent Jeff Szymaniak said. “Don’t be that person. Be alive. …Be thoughtful and kind, because why not? There’s no reason not to be.”

While standing up for your principles, Szymaniak advised the class to be the person who makes everyone feel like somebody.

“Be respectful,” he said. “Believe it or not, not many people may believe what you believe. Don’t make fun or disregard their feelings because you don’t have the same points of view.”

Principal Dr. Christopher Jones took that advice a bit further as he admonished students to advocate honestly, practice positivity and treat everyone as a fellow human being.

“I encourage you to keep an open mind,” he said. “Examine other viewpoints, hold onto your beliefs and then stand up for what you believe in in an honest, open way.”

Jones summed up that it doesn’t matter what race, color, gender, sexual orientation a person is, whether they are rich or poor, or what faith a person ascribes to.

“We’re all human beings, with thoughts, dreams, goals, families, experiences and stories,” he said. “Take the time to realize that in everyone and you will begin to see the value everyone, especially those who are different, have to add to your life.”

He said the current world is in dire need of leaders who exhibit those traits.

“Be those leaders,” Jones said. “We will all be forever grateful.”