Whitman-Hanson Express

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Keeping ‘Whitman Strong’

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WHITMAN — On Sunday, April 19, a steady parade of vehicles stopped in front of the LaMattina house on River Birch Circle all morning. They stopped long enough for Selectman Randy LaMattina or his wife Michelle to load something in the back before driving away.

Residents were taking delivery of 18X24 Whitman Strong lawn signs, designed by 14-year-old Clare LaMattina to benefit the Whitman Food Pantry. She has raised $4,000 so far.

“Awesome! Great idea!” one woman said as the signs were loaded into her vehicle.

By afternoon, the signs were popping up on front lawns or windows of homes and businesses all over town — with photos posted on social media. The signs are intended to show solidarity and support of frontline essential workers and community spirit, as well.

A member of the Girls in Action Club at Thayer Academy, where she is an eighth-grader, Clare has sold about 220 of the signs at $15 each in four days. Of those, 80 were sold in the first two hours. Some residents have made “overwhelming” donations above the purchase price, and the extra cash will be used to purchase gift certificates to area restaurants, which will also be distributed through the food pantry.

“We’ve been thinking that people who can’t afford groceries, probably can’t afford to go out for a pizza, and how much would their kids love that?” Michelle said.

A second batch of signs was being ordered for delivery to the LaMattinas on Wednesday.

“We really focus on giving back to our community,” Clare said of the club. “I wanted to bring it back to my home community to support people who were less fortunate during this time and to help support them.”

Whitman Food Pantry President Bruce Perry stopped by the LaMattina’s to talk about the need in the community his organization serves.

“We have seen an increase [in demand], but only around 10 percent,” Perry said. “We were expecting a lot more. We have a lot of food at the food pantry and we’re just waiting for that surge.”

He noted news photos of lines of cars streaming to food pantries in other areas of the country.

“People may be afraid or embarrassed to come,” he said.

Normal pantry procedure has clients provide their income information for government statistics. But that is being waived during the pandemic.

“We’re not taking names, we’re not taking any information, the only thing we’re asking is that they show proof of Whitman residency,” Perry said. Residents are asked to call ahead at 781-447-8560 and leave a message that will be returned. When a time to stop at the pantry is provided, a box and a couple of bags of food items will be brought out to one’s vehicle at the 44 Blake St., loading dock. No one is allowed in the pantry at this time.

Those ordering signs are asked to drive around the cul de sac and stop in front of the house at 6 River Birch Circle, where they give their name for Clare to check off her list while one of her parents loads the signs.

Physical distancing is observed in that way, and the LaMattinas wear masks and/or gloves while handling the signs. Buyers were asked to post a photo of their sign on Facebook, once placed.

Some people asked for the signs to be delivered.

“We’re thinking once they are out in circulation, it’s going to boost it again,” Michelle said.

At first the sale was only posted on Michelle LaMattina’s Facebook page, but it was later posted to the Whitman Connection page, which helped sell another 100.

“We knew we had to put Whitman Strong on it,” Clare said. “Then a heart, because we’re supporting everybody and we want to spread the love and the paw, because we’re the Panthers.”

She said the Whitman Food Pantry was selected as a beneficiary because it’s harder for people to afford food when they lose their jobs.

“We’ve helped with the food pantry before, whether it’s through school or town committees, but we said we don’t want people to feel embarrassed to go to the food pantry, that’s why it’s there,” Michelle said. “This is a trying time. It’s a great thing in the community that people put a lot of effort into.”

Right now, food donations are not being accepted at the pantry because the virus can live on surfaces for a couple of days. Donations like Clare’s allows the Whitman pantry to purchase from the Greater Boston Food Bank for 29 cents per pound, where items are cleaned and have been sitting for the requisite time.

“We want people to call,” Perry said. “You can take the money you saved and pay a bill or something. Please call. … We have tons of volunteers that want to help.”

Perry also said the gift card donations help, because the pantry is not permitted to write a check to businesses for them due to federal regulations.

Businessman Richard Rosen has also made a donation to the project.

“I just think what she’s doing is so admirable,” Rosen said of Clare LaMattina’s project. “For a young person to take on a challenge like that is just amazing.”

He said it showed a sense of moral resoponsibility as well as a shot in the arm for the pantry.

“The food pantry desperately needs funds all the time,” he said. “That’s why we donate half of what we make on every year’s road race. There’s need, and this year, more than ever, there’s more need. … And you really need to support something like that. It’s great for the community.”

The McGuiggan’s 5K Road Race is being postponed at least until September, Rosen said.

Regional pact panel convenes

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A committee reviewing the regional school agreement has agreed, in principle, that a statutory assessment to the towns is the likely result of its work, has begun the task of negotiating a compromise path by which to get there.

The W-H Regional Agreement Amendment Committee, a subcommittee of the W-H School Committee, met remotely for it’s first session via Zoom Meeting Wednesday, April 15.

School Committee Vice Chairman Christopher Scriven, of Whitman was elected as chairman, as subcommittees are generally chaired by a member of the School Committee.

Scriven opened the meeting by seeking for suggestions within the charge of amending the regional agreement that could help resolve the current impasse on the school budget.

“If we look at the exiting regional agreement, the language around the apportionment of operating costs … presently spells out the agreement methodology that I think everyone on this call is fully ware of,” said Hanson School Committee member Christopher Howard.

He suggested a phased approach of specific language within the agreement to create a framework that would enable the two communities to move past this year after focus only on that issue until the budget is settled.

“Then, after the budget cycle, or concurrently, we work toward fully working through the agreement itself,” he said.

Howard said just tweaking the last revision is not enough, but that the new committee must look at too many issues to re-examine them all at once.

“What I would propose is a phased approach,” he said.

Whitman Finance Committee Chairman Richard Anderson, also a member of the RAAC, said he was unable to adequately convey his disgust at the School Committee’s inability to agree on a budget yet. He reminded the panel that the Whitman FinCom has stated publicly before that it will not support any assessment calculated by any formula other than the statutory method.

“I’ve been tasked further by the full committee to publically state that this Finance Committee will not recommend any phased implementation or any other financial consideration that causes us to pay Hanson’s bills,” Anderson said. “I would say I am opposed to any recommendation for changes to the regional agreement that would effect that type of a change.”

Hanson Citizen At-Large member of the committee Bruce Young said it was his impression that, in order to be on the panel, that he should be willing to compromise to help reach an agreement.

He agreed to keep an open mind on the issue.

“If you take a hard-ball approach and say, basically, this is going to be statutory or nothing, or basically this is going to be a percentage of pupils or nothing, then … there would be no way in the world that I would want to be on that committee,” Young said. “I’m looking for a fair compromise.”

He noted that Hanson would like to continue to operate the assessment split the same way as has been done for the past 60 years, and he recognized why Whitman would favor the statutory method, which benefits Whitman by about $1.5 million. Young agreed with Howard that an average of the two methods — which puts the towns at only $500,000 to $600,000 apart — is a better place to start.

The statutory method takes into account a town’s minimum per pupil expenditure designated by DESE — the minimum local contribution — which fluctuates based on inflation, wage adjustment, town’s total earned income, property values and municipal revenue growth. Anything in a budget over the minimum local contribution goes to the regional agreement, based on pupil population, for any other operating expense.

There is no requirement for unanimous agreement by both communities to use the statutory method.

The agreement/alternative method uses strict per-pupil representation to assess the communities, the method currently used by the district. Both communities have to pass the assessment methodology prior to the budget distribution or at town meeting in order to use this method. If one town does not vote the budget forward and the other does, it does not constitute unanimous agreement for the method to be used.

Hanson Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said that, while she can appreciate where Anderson is coming from, he is one member of the RAAC.

“If the majority of the committee is willing to work on some type of compromise … we’ve got to start someplace,” she said. “Without compromise, I don’t even see why we’re meeting.”

Whitman Citizen At-Large member Christopher George said any compromise must be carefully drafted, assuming a compromise is possible.

George presented the argument that a statutory assessment was the likely end result, and that the work of a compromise would involve how the towns arrive at that point. Howard, FitzGerald-Kemmett and Young all agreed that the argument had merit.

Local assessments are not permitted to go down, he noted.

“We should outline the goals of this committee before we get too far into this conversation,” said Whitman Selectman Justin Evans, also a member of the RAAC. “Even if we were able to send something to DESE tomorrow, they’ve got a lot going on right now. They’re probably not going to be able to approve anything for the next two months.”

He cautioned that any compromise agreement reached for this budget cycle would have to fall under the current regional agreement and Chapter 70 rules.

“To be honest, my objective was to get past our [budget] impasse, and however we need to do that legally,” Scriven said. “We can meet as often as we need to.”

After the subcommittee reaches an agreement, it must be approved by the full School Committee and sent to DESE for approval and ratification by the towns. Anderson likened it to an “exercise in futility,” as he did not think it likely that either town would accept any type of compromise that includes its town departments supplementing their budgets with budgets of a member town.

If an average for compromise were to be used, he advocated going back over the past six years that Whitman has overpaid — a figure he put at closer to $4.2 million — as a starting point.

“In my estimation, the compromise has already taken place and [Whitman is] still on the losing side,” Anderson said.

Howard argued both towns have benefitted financially from the regional agreement.

Young asked for an explanation of “retroactive overpay” and stressed that if someone actually believed in it, the committee was not going to get anywhere.

Anderson said that was not the term he used, but that he could provide documentation to the committee on the amount Whitman overpaid in assessments after the state shifted to the statutory agreement.

Scriven stressed the benefits of the region above financial consideration and that he hoped the committee would keep that in mind. Anderson agreed, but noted Whitman also faces the financial challenges of a new or renovated middle school and a DPW facility where conditions could accurately be described as hazardous — in the coming years.

Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said the committee’s charge is also to review the regional agreement in its entirety, but the first task if getting out a school budget that the towns can vote on in June.

Hanson May tax bills deadline extended to June 1

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HANSON — Residents will receive an extra month to pay tax bills due May 1, as the Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, April 14  votes to extend tax bill payment deadlines to June 1.

Meeting remotely via the Go To Meeting teleconferencing app, Town Administrator John Stanbrook told the board he has met to discuss the issue with Tax Collector Jean Sullivan several times over the past week to go over a new law passed last week with the Department of Revenue.

Hardship appeals, as advocated by Selectman Matt Dyer last week, are not allowed under the new law which only permits towns to either change the due date or not.

Bills can’t be limited to real estate or personal property, either. Penalties and interest must be waived on all bills — motor vehicle excise, real estate and personal property taxes and water bills issued after March 10.

“It’s either all or nothing,” Stanbrook said. “We can’t set a due date in between May 1 and June 30 to start charging interest. It’s either we set the date at May 1 or we set the date at June 30 … there’s no gray area in between.”

The three options open to Selectmen were to move the due date of all the bills from May 1 to June 1 with interest or penalties kicking in after June 1; keep the May 1 due date with no interest or fees applied until June 30; or make no changes at all.

Sullivan recommended the first option, which would mean the loss of only one month’s interest, according to Stanbrook.

In 2019 interest and fees revenue for May was $19,329 — $9,700 for motor vehicle excise; $7,900 for real estate and personal property and $1,640 for water bills in rounded figures. June interest and fees were $12,890 — $5,800 for motor vehicle excise; $6,200 for real estate and personal property and $800 for water bills in rounded figures. The total for both months was about $32,200.

Dyer asked if postponing payments would be detrimental to the town’s financial health. Stanbrook said he did not think so.

“It’s significant money, but it’s not break-the-bank, there’s-no-way-we-can-recover money,” Stanbrook said. He agreed with Dyer that the amounts owed are not forgiven, the due dates are just being pushed back.

“I think we have to look out for the little guy that may not be able to afford that bill because they were laid off from their job this time, and help them out where we can,” Dyer said. “We’re here to serve the public.”

Selectmen also voted to declare Recreation Department employees as non-essential during the corona virus emergency, and to establish an official town Facebook page.

Stanbrook had made his initial designation of essential and non-essential personnel in accordance with Gov. Baker’s March 12 emergency declaration. Town Counsel, however, has determined it is up to the Board of Selectmen to make such designations.

The recreation director, administrative assistant — both working from home — and caretaker are being paid, but the caretakers are not working, Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said, adding there are maintenance tasks that could be done while observing physical distancing.

Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff has told Stanbrook that caretakers can be considered essential if their work is needed to ensure safety and sanitation at Camp Kiwanee or if the lack of maintenance could have long-term impacts.

Dyer said that, with little to nothing scheduled at the camp, there is no need for staff there, but recommended that the director inspect the camp at least once a week to make sure there is no vandalism in addition to police patrols.

Selectman Kenny Mitchell said he was “on the fence” and that, either all staff should be working or they should all stay at home. Selectmen James Hickey and Wes Blauss agreed that, while office staff can work at home on bookings for functions next year, there is no pressing need for caretakers to be there right now.

“We’ve been discussing social media or engaging citizens for three years, now,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said on the official town Facebook page issue, noting that Stanbrook picked up on work begun by former Town Administrator Michael McCue. “This is another way to reach people.”

IT Director Ryan McGonniagle has been working to link town websites to permit updates to post to the town’s Facebook page if officials choose, including agendas, Town Meeting warrants, voting information and other similar information that only Stanbrook or Executive Assistant Greer Getzen would be permitted to post. The comment section on the page would be closed to the public at the strong recommendation of Town Counsel, but contact information would be included.

Dyer added a provision that a two-person citizen at-large committee be appointed to assist in running the page.

The vote was 3-2 with Hickey and Blauss voting against the proposal. Blauss was concerned about people without Facebook missing important information.

“I feel it’s going to make for an uneven playing field,” Blauss said, favoring a single town website and worrying about the fake news aspect of the social media platform. “Somewhere down the road it’s going to bite us when, for a hearing or something, someone says ‘Well, I don’t have Facebook, so I was never notified.”

Hickey expressed concern about the time it would take Stanbrook and Getzen when there are so many other more pressing matters before them, advocating putting the change on hold for now.

Re-vote delays school budget

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The School Committee, meeting via Zoom conference call on Wednesday, April 8, learned the reconsideration vote which approved setting the budget at $55,040,238 by a 7-2 vote was improper.

It failed to set a budget on a re-vote 7-3 with only Whitman’s Steve Bois, Dan Cullity and Fred Small voting in favor.

An amendment to set the budget at $55,320,328 including the return of the four teachers failed 6-4 with only Whitman members Bois, Cullity, Dawn Byers, and Alexandria Taylor voting for it.

“We do not have a budget number yet,” said Chairman Bob Hayes.

The committee also voted to forego April vacation — with the full support of the WHEA — to enable setting June 15 as the last day off the school year,

Hayes admitted his error in stating the affirmative votes in the 5-4 vote to set the budget on the first try was the side to move for reconsideration. In fact, it was the prevailing side — the four votes preventing a two-thirds majority to pass the motion — that was to have the opportunity to move for reconsideration. The committee also did not re-vote on the number.

School Committee member Christopher Scriven of Whitman suggested that, since Whitman has postponed its Town Meeting until at least June 3, the committee is not faced with a need to submit a budget at this point.

“We don’t need to set a budget at this point. I think we should think about that before we go ahead and vote something,” Scriven said, after speaking to legal counsel. Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said he also spoke with the School Department’s legal counsel, who concurred that a budget need not be set yet.

“We don’t have to set a budget today,” Szymaniak said. “We’re within the 45 days and new legislation that came out today … about, if we don’t have a budget by July 1, what that means to us.”

Whitman Committee member Steve Bois said he would not vote for a budget that does not include the four teachers because he has heard from several residents how critical that is.

Two Whitman residents also sent emails to the committee decrying the budget vote that did not include the four teachers cut from the budget last year, citing concerns over equity since Whitman schools have higher class sizes and number of low-income families.

“There are a lot of unknowns right now,” said committee member Christopher Howard of Hanson. “We know that state revenue is going to change, we know revenues for the town of Whitman are going to change, we know revenues for the town of Hanson are going to change, and it’s likely — depending on what happens to the rest of the school year — that the school budget is going to change and that’s going to impact us, as well.”

Howard said the committee has not yet reached the point where it can responsibly set a budget. He is “all in” for returning teachers for the benefit of students, but has an issue with the extraordinary time both communities are facing.

Whitman committee member Fred Small noted that the panel has the ability to change its budget numbers right up to town meeting. He said the district is likely to see cuts to regional transportation reimbursement, and that the state is likely to impose 9C cuts for fiscal 2020 before the committee even sets the 2021 budget.

“I agree that we need four teachers, I just don’t know how to pay for them,” Small said.

Szymaniak said teachers could be moved around in-district, within their certification if necessary, to ease class sizes.

“I recognize that life as we know it has changed with coronavirus,” said Whitman committee member Dawn Byers, in urging the committee to maintain its focus. “Coronavirus is impacting the entire world, but still, for the purposes of this committee and the policy we need to set, which is a budget, I still feel we need to focus on our goals — and I know we have a district goal of class sizes, no more than 20 in K-three, no more than 25 in fourth and fifth grade. It’s really frustrating for everyone at this point.”

She said, the revenue problems are not new and were something she heard about for years, but had turned out to be an assessment problem, an excess levy problem.

She then moved to set the budget at $55,320,328 to include the return of the four teachers.

“When I look at this budget I think about what it doesn’t have,” she said.

Scriven countered that it would be in the best interests of the district in the long run to delay a decision until the regional agreement committee can start to work on determining an assessment method. That committee is tentatively slated to meet on Wednesday, April 15.

Hanson committee member Michael Jones agreed.

Committee member Alexandria Taylor of Whitman urged a vote as the committee had “kicked the can down the road” for weeks while knowing the needs of the schools and district.

Howard, who works for a bank where he has seen thousands of deferments on auto loans already, said he wants to see that the committee sets the right budget that the towns will support to take care of the district’s children.

“This is nothing I’ve ever seen before in terms of impact,” he said.

Whitman committee member Dan Cullity said that, while there are revenue concerns, the School Committee has to focus on setting a budget for the schools so Finance Committees can begin working with the numbers.

“Tonight we should be setting something, even though we know, in our hearts that we’re going to take a major hit somewhere down the line over the next few months because the money just won’t be there,” he said.

Cleanup slows

In other business, Szymaniak said that due to a positive COVID-19 by the significant other of a facilities employee has led to a slow-down in school building cleaning. Most SJ employees who were cleaning buildings are now under quarantine as of Monday, April 6.

Most district staff were already working from home, Szymaniak said.

Whitman postpones Town Meeting, election

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WHITMAN — The annual Town Meeting will be delayed by at least 30 days and the annual Town Election will be pushed into June, with a date to be determined by June 9, the Board of Selectmen decided on Tuesday, April 7.

Health Board Chairman Eric Joubert said Town Administrator Frank Lynam has done an outstanding job of acting to control the spread of the virus.

“We’ve all contributed,” Lynam said, crediting the Health and Fire departments for their response, as well. Links on the town website whitman-ma.gov provide updated information.

The state has passed two emergency bills, Chapter 53 and Chapter 45, that affect towns’ ability to manage and control when town meetings and elections are held, according to Lynam.

“More importantly, the town has been working at minimizing exposure of employees to the virus by working rotating staffs so that we have the minimum number of people necessary to operate in each office,” Lynam said. “All of the essential functions are being performed. We are experiencing some increase in expenses due to our need to take care of and maintain facilities, but all-in-all, I think the town is doing pretty well, and all of its departments have made the effort to make this thing work.”

He said that, to his knowledge, no town employees have tested positive for COVID-19, but some have family members who have and they have managed the cases to minimize exposure.

One of Lynam’s main concerns going forward is on the effect of coronavirus on revenue.

“Eventually, it’s going to trickle down to us,” he said, noting he expects the state to announce that the drop in lottery sales alone could be responsible for a forecast 10-percent drop in local aid receipts. Sales taxes and meals taxes are also down.

The town moderator can extend the Town Meeting date for 30 days at a time — and the board voted to advise that Moderator Michael Seele do that, as most surrounding towns have already done. The postponement pushed it to June 3, but it could be revisited.

Calling into the Zoom Meeting, Seele asked for an opinion for public health and safety personnel.

“I think we’re all in agreement that the less social contact, the better,” Joubert said of his discussions with police and fire officials about both the Town Meeting and election. “Delaying the election would be the most appropriate thing to do from a public health standpoint.”

Fire Chief Timothy Grenno agreed.

“Things are rough in town,” Grenno said. “I don’t think a May 4 [Town Meeting] date would even be approachable right now for us to have a large gathering. It’s just not a safe thing to do.”

The Town Election must be held by June 30. Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski said he does not think it would be safe to hold either as scheduled, and agreed that would be the wise move.

Town Clerk Dawn Varley said the board was permitted to vote to delay a vote without a date — which doesn’t have to be set until June 9. She is going to proceed with having the ballots printed with the May 16 date on them, but that won’t affect votes, which will be counted when the election is held.

Lynam endorsed that suggestion in the interest of flexibility for the town the election should be postponed with a date to be determined later.

“I’m highly recommending that people start now to early vote,” Varley said of the municipal early voting form — different from absentee voting. “They’ve allowed a lot of leeway for this election because a lot of towns already have their ballot printed. … I don’t want to see anybody in Town Hall.”

Residents can contact the Town Clerk’s office at 781-618-9710.

Kowalski noted that, since he and Selectman Randy LaMattina are both up for re-election, their votes reflect only a concern for public safety.

Selectman Brian Bezanson expressed concern about the number of people out walking in Whitman Park.

“There are an awful lot of people out there,” he said. “I can see that they were somewhat trying to distance themselves, and it was a beautiful day.” But he asked if the parks were included in any restriction on gathering in public places.

Restrictions have only been placed on playground equipment and basketball courts.

Lynam said the police are conducting hourly passes through the park and are “encouraging them to move on” if they see people ignoring guidelines for physical distancing. Joubert said the intention is not to have to close the parks so long as the public cooperates.

“It’s a great time to be a dog,” Kowalski quipped. “Dogs are getting more attention than anyone.”

Hanson board hears COVID response updates

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HANSON — Gov. Charlie Baker’s latest coronavirus policy, limiting stores to 40-percent capacity — including employees — at one time, was among the legislative updates provided by state Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Pembroke, in a Tuesday, April 7 Board of Selectmen’s session held remotely over the Go To Meeting conference call platform.

The store capacity guidelines went into effect April 7.

A first responder testing facility has been opened at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro and drive-through testing for the public is being conducted by CVS in Lowell. The appointment-only testing (online at cvs.com) aims to provide up to 1,000 tests per day.

“I would expect, and hope, to see more of those types of those sites coming online,” Cutler said.

Cutler also outlined the federal Paycheck Protection Program, which is designed to help small businesses, and self-employed people — or gig workers — will become eligible for state unemployment benefits this week through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

“I am seeing these requests being filled,” Cutler said.

He also noted that the state’s budget, which is expected to be affected by revenues reduced by the economic impact of COVID-19, is expected to be delayed. The legislature also passed a bill permitting both towns and school districts to operate on 1/12 budgets.

“Since this is a disaster declared by FEMA, carefully document all your expenses because we may be able to get reimbursement from the federal government,” Cutler said.

Town officials do not report out to the public the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus as the Board of Health continues to follow Mass. Department of Public Health (DPH) guidelines, according to Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett.

“That is a decision that is made by each local board of health and we honor their sovereignty and the ability to make that decision,” she said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said Hanson health officials had begun making reports, but were met by “push-back” from the DPH to local boards due to the concern over the potential for bullying.

“We’re following the DPH guidelines,” said Health Board Chairman Arlene Dias. The DPH is currently issuing reports per county. “The concern is, if we say we have a very low number people are not as diligent as they should be, and having a low number of positives doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of people in town with COVID.”

Dias advised residents to act as if everyone they come into contact with has the virus and to stay away and protect yourself.

“We’re going to stay the course,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

Town Administrator John Stanbrook said the town’s Emergency Preparedness Committee has been meeting regularly throughout the pandemic crisis.

Police Chief Michael Miksch told Selectmen the state’s Department of Public Health (DPH) is allowing health boards to update public safety personnel about positive cases in their communities, to properly prepare them for emergency calls. He coordinates that, since the 911 center is in the Police Department.

While the town has enough personal protective equipment (PPE) on hand right now, the advance information allows police and fire to be conservative with its use.

Both Miksch and Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr., expressed some concern about uncertainty on the “burn rate” of how quickly PPE supplies will be used.

“We’re tracking it very closely,” Thompson said. “In anticipation of shortfalls, we’re putting in orders very early to get some.”

The Fire Department has already closed its building to public access. They have brought the third, back-up ambulance back online to be used exclusively for COVID-related calls.

“We’ve moved more to a security role in policing, where we’re constantly checking the public buildings … trying to keep people from gathering,” Miksch said. The public is also discouraged from walk-in business at the station with phone and email communication preferred.

Health Agent Gil Amado said his role is to ensure compliance with state health guidelines, with which all stores and restaurants in town are complying.

“The big thing about this is social distancing,” Amado said. “Prevention is the best method here. … The citizens of Hanson are doing a good job — we’ve had nobody in non-compliance.”

Stanbrook reiterated that essential town employees are still reporting to work, with non-essential staff working from home to the extent that they can. All public meetings are being held via conference call. Public hearings that can be postponed are being rescheduled and a new act passed by the state on April 3 permits the dates and deadlines of mandatory ZBA hearings and they will be postponed without adverse effects to the town.

Learning at home

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Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak announced a remote learning plan the district will be rolling out Thursday, April 2, during the School Committee, April 1 meeting.

“We have met as a leadership team — principals, curriculum folks, technology, operations — as far as what that learning environment is going to look like,” Szymaniak said.

School is not currently slated to reopen until May 4.

The plan took effect Monday, April 6 and will “look different at all levels,” according to Szymaniak, who stressed that safety and social-emotional health of all students during the pandemic remains a priority.

“This isn’t going to be one-to-one teaching, this isn’t going to be an online class for our kids,” he said.

Szymaniak said he was aware that parents are concerned their children will be required to sit in front of a computer for long periods of time despite a required two- to two-and-a-half-hour period of engagement each day through middle school and three hours for high school students. Teachers might use learning activities based around backyard outings or looking at a recipe in a cooking exercise.

Teachers will be using a variety of check-ins with students, especially from kindergarten through grade eight.

New material will not be introduced and K-8 students will not be grades, according to Szymaniak, but parents should not be concerned about matriculation to the next grade.

“We’re looking at information previously presented and gaining a level of mastery with our students through engagement,” he said. “Teachers will be reaching out to those kids in a variety of ways. … Really, what we’re going to try to pinpoint are kids that aren’t engaging and reach out to them or their parents, either through the teacher, a counselor, the assistant principal or the secretary of that building to make sure everything’s going OK at home or if they need something.”

For high school students, the plan may look different, Szymaniak said, with the possibility of new material being added depending on the equity of the classroom. They will be looking at a credit/no credit grade system for the rest of the year.

“It shouldn’t be a stressful time for parents or for students,” he said.

Food services began a different procedure on April 6, as well.

“We’ve been inundated,” Szymaniak said. “That’s a good thing because we’re helping people.” The district had been delivering meals, which has become problematic.

Food Services Director Nadine Doucette has developed an app through which parents can sign up for food services and pickups will be held in the high school bus loops on Mondays and Thursdays.

Deliveries will still be available for families that need them, but Szymaniak said the district can’t do it for everyone that wants it.

“It’s really on a need basis,” he said.

The district is providing meals for about 120 families right now.

The district has also distributed 460 Chromebooks to students with another roll-out held Tuesday, April 7, for which parents had to sign up by April 3 to give the technology department time to prepare them.

It was the last distribution, involving three different checkpoints and the use of masks and gloves by district personnel of Chromebooks.

Schools are closed during the Good Friday and April break period and the district is looking for guidance from the Commissioner of Education concerning whether April vacation days will be counted as school days toward the end of the year, if they are worked as instructional time during the shut-down.

“Right now, it’s on our calendar as the School Committee-approved April vacation,” Szymaniak said. “If we decide to … work through April vacation, we’d have to speak to the [teacher’s] union, first and foremost, as it’s in their contract.”

He said a conversation has already been held to lay out the groundwork of what that would look like and said he would communicate to the School Committee what the commissioner’s guidance on the issue would be.

School budget passed

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It took two tries, but the School Committee — meeting via Zoom conference call on Wednesday, April 1 — set the fiscal 2021 budget at $55,040,238 — the amount for the required budget to maintain level services without returning the four teachers cut from last year’s budget.

The budget number can still be changed but not the assessment method.

“We need to set a budget,” said School Committee member Fred Small in making the motion. “I cannot see any way, shape or form, or in any world, how we would set a budget that would be cutting anything that’s required. If our administration tells us that is the bare bones of what they need … then I think that’s what we need to support and that’s what we need to send to the towns.”

Whitman committee member Dawn Byers said she felt it was important to return the four teachers in order to reduce class sizes in elementary grades. She noted that the Whitman Finance Committee, meeting met Tuesday, March 31 and has a placeholder through which they are able to afford the assessment which incudes the four additional teachers.

Byers sought to amend the budget total to $55,320,238 — including the four teachers — but there was no second to her motion. The original $55,040,238 was voted down 5-4 [Hanson members Christopher Howard, Michael Jones and Robert O’Brien Jr. and Byers voted no]. Whitman’s Alexandria Taylor was not able to call into the meeting in time for the first vote. Two-thirds of all committee members, whether all are present or not are required to approve budgets.

The reconsideration was approved 7-3, with Taylor and Byers joining the affirmative votes.

Small then moved to have the original vote reconsidered. Reconsideration votes are permitted so long as they are moved by one of the yes voters on the same night as the original vote, School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes explained.

Committee member Christopher Scriven of Whitman suggested they “kick it to the no’s” to determine what it would take to pass a budget.

Howard said he was trying to make sure education is put first, but that if a budget is “slammed through” without working out an assessment compromise, it will fail. In Hanson, an override would be necessary for even a level-service budget.

Howard asked Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak to give the committee an idea what cuts would look like and that the 1/12 budget — which looks like a certainty for many districts across the state [see story opposite] — presents an opportunity to bring the towns together to work it our now.

Scriven said the ball really is in the towns’ court.

“If I vote no on this required budget, then that means I’m going to be voting at some point on a budget that’s less than what’s required, and I don’t want to do that right now,” he said.

O’Brien said he agreed with the $55,040,238 but cautioned that Hanson is not going to agree to an override, especially now that some people are finding their jobs and incomes threatened by the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Even before everything went on in the world, it was going to be a hard pill to swallow to get Hanson residents to vote an override — where, now, I don’t think they’re going to,” O’Brien said.

Jones agreed.

“At no point are we saying what you are presenting us is not correct, and we are not looking for you to make any cuts, or I am not,” Jones said to Szymaniak. “We just want to be able to sell to the town of Hanson, something that they’re going to vote yes on.”

Cullity reminded the committee a 1/12 budget would mean 48 staff cuts to Whitman-Hanson schools, mostly teachers.

“It’s up to the towns to figure out whether they are going to support the school system or not,” Cullity said, arguing for setting a budget. “I understand you’re looking for a compromise, a compromise isn’t going to happen.”

He said an override is almost certain.

Cullity said, without a budget figure to work with, the towns will not be able to reach a compromise.

O’Brien suggested changing the assessment method back to the alternative formula, based on pupil population, that night. Hayes said that was not possible.

Szymaniak said, traditionally, the committee passes a budget and the towns determine what they can afford.

Hayes said he voted yes because, while the assessment method can’t be changed right now, the committee can change the budget’s number right up to the date of town meeting votes. The state is also reviewing the statutory formula.

“I would implore everyone to find it in your hearts to be able to send a budget,” Small said. “The agreement, or whatever the two towns do, that’s separate from whatever we’re sending for a budget.”

He argued that he could not see decimating the school system.

“It was bad enough, what happened last year,” Small said. “I’m begging everyone. Please.”

Byers maintained that the four teachers are needed now, more than ever.

“Students are having a loss of learning right now, and it’s unacceptable to have class sizes of those sizes — especially in first and second grade, those early learners, learning to read,” she said.

Small said he was basing his motion on the budget administrators presented as what was absolutely required.

“I have to side on the fact that they’re the experts,” he said, characterizing this as an absolute need budget year. “I feel very strongly about class size and people doing the best we can for the kids.”

Byers reminded the committee that the four teachers had been included in the fiscal 2020 budget as necessary, but were cut anyway.

“What we’re doing today is horrible, and the position we put our great teachers in, having to teach behind the eight-ball, is not right,” Small agreed. “It’s not fair, but it’s life, and that’s what we have to deal with.”

He reminded the committee that one town can afford things, but the other town is struggling.

Byers replied that, while she respects the superintendent and the decisions made in the budget preparation, she reminded the panel that it sets district policy and she feels an obligation to students and teachers who will return in the fall after losing four months of learning.

“I want it all, if we’re talking what we really need … but I’m trying to be realistic, too,” Szymaniak said. “I just need a budget, because my teachers are anxious. We’re all anxious right now, that we’ve been talking about a number for three months … and the first vote of this committee was a no budget.”

He said that, based on the first vote, he and Assistant Superintendent George Ferro “are cutting right now” and were looking for a budget number to come out of the meeting to direct that work.

“Let’s set a budget,” Cullity said.

Howard said the intent of the budget process is to give the towns the ability to plan for what is coming from the school districts.

“I do think we’ve had sufficient discussions with the towns in terms of providing them with the numbers so they understand what needs to be done,” Howard said. “I think the larger issue right now is there is so much fluidity, as to what’s going on, I’m not sure the towns — even with the numbers we provided them — have a good understanding of what their revenues are going to look like and even what some of their expenses are going to look like.”

With people facing job loss before being asked to absorb a “massive [budget] swing” in Hanson and to vote on an override, Howard said he does not think the current budget is one the committee should be looking at before having some sense of what a compromise between the towns would look like.

Cullity said he understood Howard’s concern but that the committee’s jurisdiction is to provide a budget to the towns.

“They have to have figures to work with,” he said. “We don’t have to push an assessment on them now.”

“I think if there was a compromise, they would have come forward already, and shared any information they had,” said School Byers. “I haven’t heard that. Right now, we owe it to the teachers, who are working their tails off, and to the students, who are doing their best to participate.”

She said nothing short of level services — which, she added, isn’t enough — was acceptable.

Szymaniak was charged with meeting with town administrators John Stanbrook of Hanson and Whitman’s Frank Lynam between School Committee meetings, but Stanbrook was ill so the meeting did not occur.

Spring cleanup amid pandemic

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HANSON — With the coronavirus pandemic forcing the cancellation of it’s annual Clean Up Green Up — which had been slated for Saturday, April 25 — Green Hanson is looking at another way to hold its annual town-wide spring cleaning.

Meeting remotely via Zoom conference call Monday, April 6, members Marianne DiMascio, Susan Gaspar, Melissa Valachovic, Arlene Dias and Maureen Twomey, are planning a week-long observance residents can participate in remotely.

Twomey suggested the group sponsor this year’s clean up event as an Earth Week observance, in which residents can select the day on which they want to participate between April 19 to 25. The official Earth Day observance is April 22.

Green Hanson will be confirming the proposal with Highway Director Matt Cahill before officially advertising the event. Informational flyers will then be posted at Shaw’s and other stores still doing business, the transfer station, town websites and social media groups, on WHCA-TV and in the Express.

Some Hanson residents, as well as Green Hanson members, have already been working to clean town roadsides, with Gaspar reporting she has found masks and rubber gloves thrown out on the street.

Twomey has cleaned the streets near Hanson Public Library, filling three trash bags and removing a polystyrene cooler from the underbrush.

Some people have contacted Gaspar about continuing the “hot spot” approach, where a small group of people could work at the proper physical distance.

“I like the idea of still doing it on the 25th with a possible rain date,” Valachovic said. She said she liked the idea of people cleaning up and bringing filled trash bags to Town Hall for collection by Highway Department staff, but the group decided that created sanitation concerns.

Instead, they plan to arrange a way to let the Highway Department where to find the filled trash bags along the roadsides. They will be communicating with the community via posts on the group’s Facebook page: facebook.com/groups/480117582029777 as well as other Hanson social media pages.

Efforts to salvage a school year

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Deciding how to instruct students at home — and salvaging what is left of the milestones for the Class of 2020 when, and if, school returns — is the challenge facing school superintendents right now.

Gov. Charlie Baker and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced last week that schools would not reopen before May 4.

“So far, we’ve been doing a deep-clean in the district, which will be completed on April 4, the original return date from the closure,” W-H Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak told the School Committee on Wednesday, March 25. Conley, Indian Head, Hanson Middle and Whitman Middle schools have been cleaned and closed down, with Duval and the High School set to be cleaned and shuttered by April 4. Access will be limited to Facilities Department personnel after each school is closed.

The cleaning cost the district $100,000, which Szymaniak expects may have to come from the district’s excess and deficiency account, which is intended for emergency expenses. [See budget story, this page]

District employees are being paid as if they are working through April 7, but Szymaniak said that could change for come employees depending on DESE’s directive. He stressed that he is following teachers and the inventive ways the are serving students at home through several social media pages.

“Our teachers are really working diligently at home, I see them, what they’re doing, on social media,” he said. “I’m seeing a lot of engagement with kids — creative ideas.”

Teachers are leaning on the project-based learning that DESE has been advocating.

School Committee member Dan Cullity asked how the closure will affect student learning, to which Szymaniak replied that he was looking for direction from DESE, since the original instructions on March 13 was for enrichment and connection with students, but no new learning or grading through April 7.

Home learning

Remote learning recommendations, released by DESE [doe.mass.edu] on March 25, include four guiding principals: the safety and well-being of students and staff is the top priority; the COVID-19 crisis disproportionately affects vulnerable students; the need to maintain connections between students and staff is paramount.; and that remote learning is not synonymous with online learning.

“I have MCAS, I have graduation still on the table,” Szymaniak said. “That hasn’t been voted out by the Legislature yet.”

Szymaniak said the district still plans on holding a graduation ceremony and work out proms and other end-of-the-year activities so that students now struggling at home have something to look forward to when and if school is returns to session.

“Whenever it is, we’re going to hold a graduation ceremony,” he said. “I don’t know what the graduation ceremony will look like if we still can’t meet with more than 25 people in a room … but we’re going to figure it our for those kids because we need positive and we need something to look forward to.”

South Shore Tech Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey also expressed the hope that schools would be able to lift the restrictions on size of gatherings.

“Our prom is late this year,” Hickey said. “It just happens to be in late May within a week of graduation. … All of those signature senior events are just all up in the air.”

For most schools, a May 4 return to school is within two weeks of the slated graduation date, Hickey added.

Eighth-grade trip cancellations were due to decisions made by national tour companies, Szymaniak stressed.

Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley’s revised guidance on remote learning is focusing on what is required vs. what is voluntary, or enrichment learning projects.

“What I think is going to become apparent by the middle of next week, is you will probably begin to see school districts come out with revised guidance and expectations on what they want kids to actually do,” Hickey said on Saturday. “I kids … or families think right now that this logging in and doing work remotely is voluntary, is that going to change?”

The teachers’ unions and school committee associations have both signed off on documents stating that while kids’ mental heath and safety are paramount, there is also a need to figure out ways at the local level concerning what remote learning looks like, Hickey said.

“It’s an important conversation, but it is complicated in terms of you’ve got to design a system … we’ve just got to make accomodations for families,” he said. “It’s one thing to say you’ve got a functioning computer at home, but if you’ve got three kids all of whom need to log in, now the question is are there enough devices?”    

Hickey said educators are creating a new normal.

“As of right now, [the W-H technology department] has fielded 4,000 calls to their help desk since we went out of school — for service, for Chromebooks, for kids, with parents asking for help and with teachers asking for help,” Szymaniak said. There have been 150 requests for student Chromebooks, which he was issuing Friday, March 27.

The process for that involved a “drive-by pickup” in the high school’s bus loop to ensure social distancing for community members and staff.

Hickey said SST, too, is loaning out devices for students to use at home when the need arises.

The next step is to check in with administrators and teachers to determine that students are logging in or contacting teachers. There is a plan for SST guidance staff to reach out to families if there is a concern.

“So we just have a sense for how everybody is doing, that’s really the foundation to it all.” Hickey said of the plans.

Szymaniak said the social-emotional well-being of students and their parents is paramount at this point.

Pre-K, kindergarten tuition

The Committee approved Szymaniak’s recommendation to suspend pre-K and kindergarten tuition payments for full-day pupils, and allocate for some prorated reimbursements for the time students are out, based on the closures since March 16. Three of those days are being calculated as snow days. The district is not paying for transportation during the closure.

“I don’t necessarily feel it’s equitable for parents to be paying for service for preschool or kindergarten when their teachers aren’t there,” Szymaniak said. “That will directly affect our budget, and I’m crossing my fingers that we wouldn’t have to go to excess and deficiency to balance our budget because we will be saving some money in either transportation or utilities … but that’s unknown to me.”

Additionally, through a new partnership between DESE and WGBH, educational resources will be posted on the department’s website, and middle and high school students can access WGBH and WGBY educational programming on WGBH and WGBY on the WORLD channel from noon to 5 p.m.

“Food service has been outstanding over the past two weeks,” he said. “We are delivering our meals [via deliveries of boxes of food to the homes of students on free and reduced lunch plans] at a two-week interval.” There are 46 families — with a total of 93 students among them — receiving that assistance.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved DESE’s request to waive the requirement that school meal sites must be located in areas where at least 50 percent of school lunch program participants are eligible for free and reduced-price meals. Therefore, all school districts that are distributing meals during school closures related to COVID-19 and are focusing the distribution of these meals to children and teens in need of them are now eligible for USDA reimbursement. Further details will be released later this week.

Teachers have been directed to contact their students to maintain connection and communicate enrichment activities for the students to do at home. Speaking before Riley’s March 26 directives, Szymaniak anticipated more directives for teachers and parents.

“I’m very wary of overwhelming an already-overwhelmed household,” said Szymaniak, who has two elementary-grade children at home himself. “Speaking from experience, this is new. … My wife and I are educators and we’re both still struggling to get them on a routine of school work and academics.”

He said he could only imagine how other parents, working from home, or who have lost their job are trying to accomplish that task with material that may be new to their children.

“I have a concern about equity as far as delivery of services to our special education students and for our ELL (English Language Learner) students [are concerned],” he said, asking for patience from parents as teachers and administrators confront a new situation.

Hickey also noted students with IEPs are being given particular attention at his school, as well. He said paraprofessionals, as well as staff teachers, will be deployed to support students who need that extra assistance or direct instruction.

Among the issues they are looking at is the potential strain on device accessibility of parents and more than one child trying to use computers at home.

“If students are in that situation, they can still get a device from us,” Szymaniak said.