Prudential Spirit of Community Award finalist Mekalia Mason-Rollins (center) with her parents Danielle Mason and Everett Rollins and her little brother Seamus. Photo by Tracy Seelye

Whitman-Hanson Regional High School honored the good works of 170 students — and the significant fundraising efforts of another — during the school’s second Panther Pride awards ceremony of the school year on Thursday, April 16.

Students are nominated for Panther Pride honors by faculty and staff in five areas: academic attitude; attitude of mind (perseverance); grit (resilience); kindness and respectfulness.

Sophomore Mikalia Mason-Rollins of Whitman was also saluted for her selection as a state finalist in the 2015 Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.

“Each of the students here have really unique qualities,” Principal Jeffrey Szymaniak said. “That’s what makes a school great.”

Students who shovel the driveway for others, worked as tutors in the library, who walked to school when they didn’t have a ride, pick up trash in the halls and who sit with fellow students eating lunch alone were among those receiving awards.

“That’s what inspires us as educators,” he said. “Outside of graduation … these awards ceremonies, where we recognize the true meaning of culture, of goodness, of perseverance is what it’s all about here at Whitman-Hanson.”

Guidance Department members Amy Burns, Brianne Bianco and Courtney Selig presented the Panther Pride award certificates before students and their parents were invited to a Continental breakfast in the cafeteria.

“Everything around us that is good should be celebrated and recognized,” Burns said. “Your extraordinary acts of kindness were noticed. Your academic excellence was seen and your resilience, perseverance and respectfulness were heard.”

Bianco echoed that those traits matter and should be honored.

“It is truly amazing to see what these students do here on a daily basis,” Selig said.

Mason-Rollins received an engraved bronze medallion as a Prudential Spirit of Community Award finalist from Blackstone Valley Regional Schools Assistant Superintendent David Thompson, representing the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

“NASSP partners with Prudential Financial to sponsor a national awards program to honor young Americans who care about their world and find ways to make a difference,” Thompson said. “We do this because we believe if we’re going to meet the challenges we face today, we’re all going to have to be more involved in making our communities a better place to live.”

Thousands of students nationwide were considered for the Prudential Spirit of Community Award this year with a select few from each state and the District of Columbia selected for special recognition.

Mason-Rollins has raised $1,700 since 2012 to support Boston Childrens Hospital by creating and selling duct tape crafts through her project Duck and Donate.

“I’m proud of you, we as a school are proud of you and I encourage you to continue to make your mark — not only within the school, but in your community and, once you leave us, in your workforce and college career,” Szymaniak told the Panther Pride honorees.

HANSON — Selectmen on Tuesday, April 14 finished their recommendations on articles and signed the warrants for the Annual and Special Town Meetings.

Town Meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, May 4 at the Hanson Middle School in the auditorium. Voters will act on 56 warrant articles.

On April 14, Selectmen voted, 5-0, to support the town administrator’s proposed budget for fiscal 2016, which starts July 1.

Town Administrator Ron San Angelo said the proposed $22,376,854 budget is balanced and meets the needs of residents.

The budget funds 2.5 percent pay raises for all Wage and Personnel employees. It differs from the budget that will be recommended by the Finance Committee, which funds 2 percent pay increases for such employees. The difference is $7,000 to $9,000, San Angelo said.
Selectmen made no recommendation on an article to borrow $266,000 for the Maquan School roof, and left the measure on the Town Meeting warrant for voters to decide.

The article would provide for a project to tear off the existing tar and gravel roof over the gym and cafeteria, original to the school in 1966, and replace it with new PVC roof system with insulation.

Selectmen Chairman Bruce Young said that a new method using hot tar was used in December to fix leaks in the Maquan School roof.
Young said the roof has not leaked since, but there is no guarantee the new method will stop the leaks.

The School Department is getting estimates for repairs that would last for six to eight years, he said.
On April 8, the School Committee voted 9-0 to withdraw the article, he said.

Selectman Donald Howard said there is a big difference between the $1,200 cost to fix leaks and the $266,000 to replace the roof.
“It’s kind of a shame to put money into it if we’re going to tear it down,” Howard said. “You can do some temporary fixes and keep it dry.”

Selectman James McGahan said the town might need to tear the school down as a permanent solution, but the roof has been leaking, people are using the gym and something needs to be done.

“I don’t find that acceptable. The people in there don’t deserve it,” he said. “Put the decision in the people’s hands.”

Selectmen voted 5-0 to recommend an article to borrow an additional $900,000 to finish work on the water tank. A two-thirds vote is required for the measure to pass and the impact would be reflected in the water rates. The two tank bids received exceeded what the town appropriated in the 2014 Annual Town Meeting, and the project will need to be re-bid.

Selectmen also voted 5-0 to recommend an article to borrow $1.3-million to install new water mains, a measure that also needs a two-thirds vote to pass.

Selectmen voted 5-0 to recommend an article to borrow $633,500 for computer replacement in all Whitman-Hanson schools. Desktop computers in use now are 10 years old. The appropriation will upgrade computers for students and staff with greater capabilities and a better user experience for 21st century learning, according to an article explanation in the warrant.

Of the $633,500 total, $70,000 would be allocated to the Maquan School for computer upgrades; $105,000 to the Indian Head School; $175,000 to the Hanson Middle School; and $283,500 to Whitman-Hanson Regional High School as Hanson’s share, said McGahan.
The measure requires a majority vote to pass.

Selectmen voted 5-0 to recommend an article calling for special legislation to allow selectmen to negotiate and enter a three-year contract with the appointed highway surveyor.

San Angelo said that unlike the police and fire chiefs — allowed by state law to negotiate multi-year contracts — but nothing in state law provides for other department heads to have other than a one-year contract.

Since home-rule legislation was sought to change the highway surveyor position from elected to appointed, a similar measure must be undertaken to make the contract change.

San Angelo has said other department heads in Town Hall have expressed concern to him that they would not receive similar consideration.

Selectmen voted 5-0 to recommend an article calling for a $319,356 enterprise budget for the Recreation Department to operate Camp Kiwanee.
Selectmen voted 5-0 to recommend a $370,143 enterprise fund budget for the Board of Health to operate the transfer station.

The board voted 5-0 to recommend that voters approve a capital improvement matrix and plan for the next fiscal year.

The board voted 5-0 to recommend that Town Meeting appropriate $70,000  as the first of three lease-to-purchase plans for two police cruisers.

Selectmen voted 5-0 to recommend a citizens’ petition article to increase the Board of Health from three to five members.

The board voted 5-0 to not recommend a citizen petition article to withdraw from the Whitman-Hanson regional school district.

Selectmen voted 5-0 to recommend a citizen petition article to oppose federal Common Core education standards and associated PARCC testing in the schools.

Selectmen voted 5-0 to recommend that Town Meeting appropriate $10,000 to study Wampatuck Pond, to evaluate contaminants and clean up options.

The board voted 5-0 to recommend that Town Meeting add $10,000 to the school capital stabilization fund.
Selectmen voted 5-0 to recommend that Town Meeting accept a donation of land and buildings by Hubbell Inc. of former Lite Control property at 100 Hawks Ave.

Finding someone to look up to

LITTLE BIG FAN: Wearing Mitchell Kinney’s practice jersey as a cape, Jacob Franceschini listens in during a sideline huddle.
Courtesy photo, Jessica Franceschini.

When 6-year-old Jacob Franceschini of Hanson met W-H basketball player Mitchell Kinney of Whitman during the winter basketball camp for elementary and middle school children it was, as they say in the movies, the start of a beautiful friendship.

For Kinney, the youngest in his family — both he and Jacob have an older brother and sister in their families — he now has the experience of being a big brother figure for Jacob. At 6’7” make that a really big brother.

It’s also a testament to the kind of mentoring Athletic Director Bob Rodgers has in mind for the program. Registration for the summer camp has just opened at whathletics.com. Programs are available for boys and girls with participation caps at 100 players.

“At our camps and clinics everybody can come and have fun and make a connection,” he said. “Jacob’s been special because the connection he made with Mitchell is just so genuine. They’re like brothers.”

This was Jacob’s first basketball camp, said his mom Jessica Franceschini, adding he has played soccer and T-ball and is learning lacrosse this year. Basketball camp, however, has made a big impression on the shy little boy with a 1,000-watt smile.

That smile is missing two front teeth from an off-target chest pass, but Jacob doesn’t seem to mind much. He’s already dreaming of wearing a Panther basketball uniform. In the meantime he wears the practice jersey Kinney gave him as a cape around the house, according to Jessica.

“He came running home saying, ‘Mom, I have the tallest coach,’” she recalled about his first camp session. “He had a blast.”

A superfan

At the end of camp, Rodgers had passed out game schedules for the varsity team and Jacob, who was sad that camp was ending, vowed to attend all the games.

He did just that.

“Except for two,” Jacob said — the team’s Florida trip. Jessica set up her first Twitter account so her son could follow the team.

“He’s definitely a number one fan,” said Kinney, who is a junior this year. “I hope he’s cheering me on next year.”

He’s been invited to Jacob’s birthday party and they’re plotting a trip to do go-karts soon, if Mitchell can fit in one.

“It’s like a school thing now,” Kinney said. “Everybody knows about it, not just the team.”

The team even began developing a routine with Jacob, according to Jessica — coaches would say hello to him with their own handshake or fist bump and players would give him a high-five after warm-ups. Jacob has also become buddies with Kinney’s grandparents, who also attend games.

“Everyone knows him,” Kinney said. “I have to give a lot of thanks to my teammates for being so welcoming to him on the team.”

Rodgers said anytime a parent can get their children involved in any activity it enriches them. Basketball is a sport that anyone can play on a leisure level and sometimes kids have the talent and drive to go further.

“Nobody can work at this as hard as they have to if they don’t love it,” Rodgers said. “So the first thing we try to instill in them is that passion for, ‘this is fun, this is meaningful — it’s worthwhile.”

Still learning the basics, Jacob’s mom said he is already showing an interest in defense. But when you get right down to it, he just wants to be like Mitchell for now.

“So many parents will contact me and say that their sons, when they go to camp and meet our players, it inspires them to want to be like them,” Rodgers said. “We have such good kids in our program — it’s something that’s a big reason we’ve been so successful.”

Kinney, who is deciding between sports science, sports medicine or criminal justice, said the experience of mentoring younger children is valuable.

“They’re great role models,” Jessica said of the team. “They show great restraint and awesome self-control on the basketball court. It’s been great for [Jacob] to watch.”

Role models

She said that sportsmanship contrasts greatly with some other teams the Panthers have played.

“It’s nice to hear that,” Rodgers said. “As a coach I’m very fortunate to have quality kids. They’re very talented, but they’re really good kids.”

The ratio of campers to high school player-coaches is around 6:1, which allows the coaches to get to know the younger kids. The summer camp is a bit more comprehensive than February’s, as every aspect of the game is covered in a full week with a lot of games played, Rodgers said.

Fall clinics are geared more toward skill development and in February the campers become part of the high school program for a couple of days — taking part in practices and attending W-H games as a group.

HANOVER — The South Shore Regional School District Committee on Wednesday, April 15 voted to increase this fiscal year’s budget by $310,620 by drawing from excess and deficiency funds as well as savings, to pay for the district’s share of the cost to replace the  original 1962 boiler, projected to cost $663,708.

With the increase, this fiscal year’s budget is now $12,032,803.

The measure will not increase this year’s or next year’s assessments to the towns, according to Superintendent-Director Thomas Hickey said.
The Massachusetts School Building Authority will reimburse the school district for 54.16 percent of the project’s costs.

On March 25, the MSBA approved $12,699,614 in Accelerated Repair Program grants for 12 school districts, including SSVT.

The budget amendment is subject to Town Meeting action within 45 days of the vote. If there is no Town Meeting action, the measure is deemed passed.
School Committee Chairman Robert Molla of Norwell asked committee members to contact their towns’ administration and selectmen, and urge the boards to pledge, at their next meetings, to take no action on calling for a Town Meeting vote. That way, Molla said, work on the project can start in July, during summer vacation.

Hickey said the district has also submitted a statement of interest to the MSBA as part of its Core Program. The statement is like a pre-application, and tells the school building authority that SSVT has a well-maintained but aging building that needs more space for its vocational programs, science labs and weight room. If invited into the program, the district would need to secure funds for a feasibility study. The district will not likely hear back from the MSBA on the statement of interest until the fall, he said.

Hickey also reported that, by the time the School Committee meets on May 20, seven of the district’s eight towns will have voted on South Shore assessments for the next fiscal year. The School Committee has proposed a $12,103,154 budget for fiscal 2016, which starts July 1.
Hanson’s assessment would increase by $73,724 or 9.53 percent to $847,339. The assessment to Whitman would increase by $4,470 or 0.38 percent to $1,193,557.

Scituate’s Town Meeting on Monday, April 13 voted to support the assessment, he said.

Hickey, District Treasurer-Secretary James Coughlin and School Committee member Adele Leonard of Abington met with the Abington Finance Committee to discuss SSVT’s budget and assessment on March 25 and the meeting went well, Hickey said.

There will be five Town Meetings on “Super Monday,” May 4, in Hanover, Hanson, Norwell, Rockland and Whitman. Cohasett Town Meeting is on Saturday May 2, he said.

Coughlin said the House Ways and Means budget for the next fiscal year does not touch the state Chapter 70 state aid number for SSVT as outlined in the governor’s budget, a slight increase over this year. The House budget increases the regional transportation numbers for SSVT by $50,000 over the governor’s budget. Coughlin said the district budget for next fiscal year was based on numbers in the governor’s budget.

“We’re in good shape,” he said.
School Committee member John T. Manning of Scituate said Scituate voters praised SSVT’s budget presentation at Town Meeting.

PARCC test tested

Principal Margaret Dutch said SSVT was piloting the PARCC test last week, a computer-based exam that one day might replace the MCAS exam as the high-stakes test all Massachusetts students must pass in order to graduate.

For now, SSVT students and teachers are testing the test and the school’s ability to administer computer tests. Students will be asked about what they think about the new PARCC exams.

“It’s an interesting study of an assessment. … It’s new,” she said. “This is not a high-stakes test.”
MCAS is the important test they need to pass in order to get diplomas, she said.

Hickey said the state Board of Education would vote this fall whether to replace MCAS with PARCC.

School Committee member Daniel Salvucci of Whitman said there are citizen’s petitions on  Town Meeting warrant articles in Whitman and Hanson to oppose to Common Core and PARCC.

If questioned about SSVT’s use of PARCC, Salvucci said he would respond by saying that the district is simply trying it out to know what to expect if the state forces them to do it.

“We are trying it so we are not surprised if it’s implemented in the school system, so we know what it’s all about,” he said.

Justin Robertson, a senior carpentry student from Hanson, was recognized as South Shore Vocational Technical High School student of the month.
Director of Guidance and Admissions Mike Janicki praised Robertson for his leadership. Robertson is now working on site, takes initiative, people look up to him, and he is seeking more opportunities.

“Justin Robertson, by all accounts, has been a success story of South Shore Vocational Technical,” Janicki told School Committee members.

The FBI is assisting Whitman, Hanson and State Police in the investigation of email threats received at three area high schools Monday morning.

“There was a threat that indicated there could be a bomb on a bus,” said Whitman Police Chief Scott Benton. “The buses are kept in Whitman. … We followed the state protocol.”

No explosive devices were found. An “active shooter” threat included in the email has also proved unfounded.

“We had the mechanics pop the hoods to check the engines and undercarriage,” Benton said. “Everything was cleared and the buses rolled.”

Benton said he and Whitman Fire Chief Timothy Grenno, FBI personnel, a State Police bomb technician and dog, bus mechanics and drivers worked together to check the buses so they could be cleared to transport middle and elementary school children later in the morning.

“There’s a joint investigation going on right now with a few departments and federal agencies,” Benton said.

Similar emails were received this morning at Cardinal Spellman High School in Brockton and at Brockton High School, according to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner.

It was the second such threat received at Whitman Hanson in the past month, Benton said. This was the third threat received Brockton High this year, according to published reports.

“On Monday morning, April 13, the Whitman-Hanson Regional High School received an email threat,” Gilbert-Whitner said in a prepared statement that afternoon. “Public safety and school officials met, and the decision was made to cancel classes at the high school. Early Monday afternoon, public safety officials reconvened and determined that the building was safe to open for school on Tuesday. There will be an increased police presence at the high school throughout the week.”

Parents were notified of the situation via an email blast from the School Department early Monday morning.

“Public safety officials are working collaboratively to investigate the email threats,” she stated.

Benton encouraged anyone with information on the threats to contact the Whitman Police Detective’s Office at 781-447-1212.

— Tracy F. Seelye

WHITMAN — Opponents of the Common Core curriculum and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) testing were urged to take part in Lobby Day at the Statehouse on Wednesday, April 15 and push back against state participation in the programs.

Lobby Day provided the opportunity for Common Core/PARCC opponents to talk to legislators on seven bills ranging from pausing PARCC implementation, providing IT requirements and district opt-outs to a moratorium on high-stakes testing and forming state education standards.

An informational meeting on the issue, the second in the W-H Regional School District this year was held at Whitman Town Hall Auditorium on Thursday, April 9. The forum, hosted by Whitman-Hanson Against Common Core (WHACC) featured state Rep. Geoff Diehl, R-Whitman, and education standards experts Michael Sentence, who was instrumental in the formation of Massachusetts’ Education Reform Act in the 1990s, and former State Board of Education member Dr. Sandra Stotsky as guest speakers.

Common Core Forum steering committee member Shanon Dahlstrom of Chelmsford was the evening’s moderator.

“We’re spreading the word and connecting parents and trying to facilitate more conversation around the state about this issue,” Dahlstrom said.

Diehl said when he first ran for state representative in 2009, federal Race to the Top funds amounting to $250 million — connected to the Common Core — were accepted with no public hearings held on the issue.

“That was the beginning of Common Core for Massachusetts,” he said. The program has worked to sidestep federal law prohibiting a federal curriculum by working through the National Governors Association, according to Diehl.

“They were asking the states to buy, sight unseen, this new education plan,” he said, comparing it to implementation of the Affordable Care Act. “If you think driving to the State House, or talking to your legislators is a waste of time — it isn’t. Please come.”

Sentence, a former state secretary of education, said the Common Core undermines “one of the great success stories in public policy in this country,” the Massachusetts Education Reform Act.

“This is not a small change that has happened,” Sentence said. “This is an enormous amount of change.”

Massachusetts was 12th in the nation and fourth in New England on grade eight math scores when education reform was signed into law in 1993 requiring that state standards had to be comparable to the educationally advanced countries in the world. By 2007, Massachusetts was first in the country in grade eight math scores and competitive with several global leaders, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress.

“Our worst students are average elsewhere, above average in a whole lot of other states — that’s how good we are,” Sentence said. “This is a tremendous success story. … That’s what’s at risk.”

MCAS test questions were also released after testing each year, while PARCC test questions are an unknown entity, he charged. Stotsky agreed with Sentence, and reviewed some of her reasons for refusing to sign off on Common Core standards.

“I was interested in raising everybody’s achievement, not just low-achieving groups,” she said. “All kids needed to do better.”

She was also concerned about a lack of subject experts to write content standards and the need to improve skill sets of teachers through tougher licensing tests.

Among the flaws she sees in Common Core are that the standards are skills, not literary or historic content standards, they place emphasis on writing over reading and that the standards are poorly drafted.

“You can have variation from teacher to teacher, class to class, school to school,” Stotsky said. “I couldn’t even begin to tell you what your own schools are doing.”

She is also concerned that future teachers are being trained to Common Core standards. Among her suggestions to remedy the situation, Stotsky advocates petitioning to “get rid of our state Board of Education and Department of Education in every state” for approving Common Core, a prescription with which Sentence disagrees.

“I’m thinking of getting rid of a useless appendage,” Stotsky said.

“We don’t agree on everything,” he said. “I think, as the process showed in the 1990s, even with a pretty dysfunctional board, when you have real academic rigor you get great results and it’s the quality of the people that matters.”

Sentence also said local districts can put their own stamp on what their students learn.

“Whether the state acts wisely or not, you still have the obligation to act wisely,” he said.

HANSON — The election season officially kicked into gear Tuesday, April 7 with a candidates’ forum between Hanson Board of Selectmen hopefuls televised on the Whitman Hanson Community Access program, “Bring It On.”

Incumbents Donald Howard and James McGahan and challengers Annmarie Bouzan and Joseph Weeks fielded questions from town residents ranging from schools to economic development, size of the health board and the selectmen’s role in government, in an hour-long forum moderated by host Bob Hayes.

The show is being rebroadcast periodically on the Hanson local access cable channel.

Each candidate had the opportunity to make a one-minute introduction, the order decided by lots, and begun with Weeks, a 2003 WHRHS grad and father of two small children.

“I’ve always considered Hanson my home,” he said, stressing economic development — particularly at the Plymouth County Hospital site — and school issues as key. “I consider it a great town and the only place we wanted to live.”

Bouzan, the mother of three grown children and 26-year resident of Hanson, has worked at Camp Kiwanee and on the Finance Committee before becoming administrative assistant to the Building Department.

McGahan, 53, is also a parent of three and had won a recall election last summer, unseating Steven Amico.

“My belief is that I was brought into this board to restore faith in our government,” he said.

Howard, a resident of Hanson since 1948, also has three grown children, said he is running again because he loves the town and serving the public.

Economic development, especially with vacant or underused properties in town was a main focus of attention.

“We always talk about them every couple of years, but we don’t ever actually move forward on a project,” Weeks said, suggesting using part of it as a park and some mixed residential use of PCH. “I’d like to be able to do that.”

He also expressed an interest in actively seeking funds for sidewalk expansion in town.

Bouzan also prioritizes the PCH site where affordable senior housing is one possibility, as well as the vacant Lite Control property and what is being done to attract businesses to town.

McGahan has also proposed residential and walking park uses for the PCH site. But he and Bouzan agreed razing existing buildings is a first step.

Howard said Lite Control is being looked at as a site for a Highway Department salt shed. McGahan said they could also be used to store heavy equipment for town departments, but cautioned about utility costs.

“Hanson doesn’t need another property that doesn’t have a defined and determined use,” he said. “Hanson has a problem maintaining its buildings.”

Bouzan and weeks agreed.

“We don’t want to get involved in another PCH issue,” Weeks said. “We have to figure out if we want it first.”

School issues were a major concern.

All four were against a petition initiative urging deregionalizing Hanson schools on economic basis.

Hanson’s status as a “bedroom community” makes its schools even more important, Howard said.

“Not all of the school [issues] has to do with buildings per se,” Bouzan said. “My idea is education isn’t brick and mortar, however we do need to deal with the buildings and structures in the town. …  There’s multiple buildings in town that need some TLC, if you will.”

McGahan noted his involvement in several school facilities committees involved in the repair and maintenance of Hanson’s school buildings.

“We should have a new roof by the end of August on the Indian Head School,” he said.

The candidates were largely in agreement on the proposal to expand the Health Board from three to five members.

Howard, as a past member of that board disagrees with the proposal, arguing it seems to work effectively at three members, but hinted he is open to the idea.

McGahan advocates expansion to five, but Bouzan wants to have a dialogue with Health Board members to get a clear idea why they want expansion.

“Having three members can be a problem at times because of attendance,” he said. “More input from equal members can benefit the town.”

“More people coming into Town Hall for Board of Health meetings will bring more ideas, better attendance at meetings and   maybe make meetings easier to [function],” she said.

Weeks said he knows of more people who would like to serve on the Health Board, but the size limit prevents it.

They also agreed the role of selectmen is one of setting policy by which the town administrator manages town government.

“The administrator was hired by the town of Hanson to run the town,” Howard said.

“I don’t believe the selectmen should be involved in the day-to-day operations,” McGahan said. “It is the town administrator’s job to be doing so. But I also know it’s the town administrator’s responsibility to report to the Board of Selectmen on any town issues of any great importance.”

Bouzan said communication between the town administrator and Town Hall staff  “gets altered if there’s a selectman standing there.”

Weeks said Town Administrator Ron San Angelo does a good job, but that selectmen should become involved — when an issue warrants it — but doesn’t believe in micromanagement. He, Bouzan and Howard also do not see why the town administrator’s evaluation is being delayed until after the election.

McGahan maintains there are two issues — the evaluation and San Angelo’s contract.

“There are risks associated with this contract,” he said.

None of the candidates advocated placing the town administrator’s contract before Town Meeting for ratification.

HANSON — Voters at Town Meeting on May 4 should increase the Board of Health from three to five members, according to selectmen. They should also vote to discontinue use of Common Core state standards and PARCC testing in the Whitman-Hanson school district.

However, Town Meeting should reject an article to remove Hanson’s elementary and middle schools from the Whitman-Hanson regional school district, a measure that would force Whitman to do the same with that town’s elementary and middle schools.

The Board of Selectmen unanimously made the recommendations on a slate of Town Meeting warrant articles during their meeting on Tuesday, April 14.

The proposal to increase the health board’s elected membership from three to five members is a citizens petition article filed by Helen Vess and 23 other Hanson residents.

The measure would “create more transparency and help foster public trust in the department due to questionable actions of past and present three-member boards,” according to the warrant article.

Selectmen Chairman Bruce Young said the Board of Selectmen was a three-member board from 1820 to 1982, when Town Meeting approved a similar citizen petition article to increase the board’s membership, for the same reasons as the Board of Health article in the May 2015 warrant.

Young said he was elected to the first five-member board of selectmen in 1983.

Selectman Donald Howard said he served on the three-member Board of Health in the 1960s and 1970s and board members got along well, and that a visiting nurse was on the board.

Board of Health member Richard Edgehille said he has served on the health board for nine years and if the board’s membership is expanded to five members, the town would see a couple of nurses, and perhaps a doctor, come forward to serve and a more professional board.

“It’s a good move,” he said. “Very positive action.”

Michael McLeod of Hanson and 24 other residents filed a citizen’s petition article, a non-binding referendum, to discontinue use of the Common Core state standards and PARCC testing and return to using the pre-2009 state education standards and MCAS testing.

The former standards and testing “made Massachusetts’ education number one in the nation and competitive with the top ranking countries in international standardized tests,” according to the warrant article.

Selectmen voted 5-0 to recommend increasing the Board of Health’s membership and to discontinue use of Common Core and PARCC.

However, the board voted 5-0 not to recommend a citizen petition article filed by Jeffrey McNeil and 17 other Hanson residents to remove the town’s elementary and middle schools from the Whitman-Hanson regional school district.

Selectman James McGahan said people are frustrated with the condition of the schools and the article can open up a discussion.

However, McGahan said the measure, if it passes, would open a can of worms.

Hanson would lose state education aid, and the town would need to form a new school committee and hire a superintendent for the town’s schools, he said.

Selectman William Scott said the article puts the cart before the horse and the town should form a committee to study the feasibility and cost of the measure.

“If the article should pass, we’d be between a rock and a hard place,” he said.

Young said the article is legal.

However, if it passes at Hanson Town Meeting, it would force Whitman’s elementary and middle schools out of the Whitman-Hanson regional school district, as Whitman could not be in a regional district of one town, he said.

Whitman would also face increased costs and need to form a school committee and hire a superintendent for that town’s elementary and middle schools, Young said.

“If this passes in Hanson, we’d also be sealing the deal in Whitman,” he said.

Selectmen also voted 5-0 to recommend that Town Meeting appropriate $10,000 to fund a study of Wampatuck Pond to evaluate contaminants and clean up recommendations.

Selectman Kenny Mitchell said he is all for protecting the water, but asked what would happen if the study comes back and says it would cost millions of dollars to fix it.

Mitchell said the measure is good as long as the town has the option and is not forced to do anything.

Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett of Hanson said she is a huge pond lover and applauds the article, but selectmen should be careful to make a balanced presentation of the article at Town Meeting and that voters know the ramifications of it.

An engineer cannot make Hanson to do anything as a result of a study, but once the town has information about contaminants and cleanup, there could be a class action lawsuit from citizens, FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

“Once Pandora’s box is opened and Pandora escapes, we may not be able to get her back in there,” she said.

McGahan said like mold in the schools, the town cannot turn its head the other way when it comes to the condition of Wampatuck Pond.

“I would rather know than not know,” he said.

Selectmen also voted 5-0 to recommend that voters approve a $22,376,854 budget proposed by Town Administrator Ron San Angelo for fiscal 2016, which starts July 1.

The plan would increase spending by 3.2-percent or $694,861.

“Its a balanced budget. It meets the needs of residents,” he said.

Assessment to towns reduced

The School Committee has taken two more steps toward closing its fiscal year 2016 budget gap.

Members voted 7-2 on Wednesday, April 8 to reduce the assessment increase the towns will be asked to pay from 4.5 to 3 percent, and voted 9-0 to transfer an additional $250,000 from reserves.

Board members Susan McSweeney of Hanson and Robert Trotta of Whitman voted against the assessment reduction. Member Alexandria Taylor was absent.

“Taking one-time money out to fund an operating budget goes against everything that you normally think about, but at the same time if we can have a vision as to how we’re going to correct what the future is … we have a revenue problem,” Small said of the reserves transfer. “[But] I think it would decimate us not to do it.”

Both Small and Trotta advocated a return to long-term planning toward closing the budget gap.

“There needs to be a real dialogue between the towns and the school committee,” Trotta said. “I feel frustrated that we don’t seem to be making any [progress].”

The budget as presented in February was $47,635,211 with a $3,363,618 deficit. Salary adjustments and reductions of $959,382 made last month as well as revenue from school choice brought the deficit down to $2,262,988 and a March 11 transfer of $500,000 from the $1.4 million in reserves — leaving $970,000 in the account —further trimmed the deficit to $1,762,988. With the second transfer, there is now $720,000 in reserves.

With a 4.5-percent increase, $788,173 would have been added to the budget, according to committee Chairman Bob Hayes. At 3 percent, 525,449 would be added to help close the deficit — now at $987,539.

How it would hit

The impact of a 3 percent assessment increase would mean about 20 positions cut, according to Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Ellen Stockdale. Only six retirements are planned, but Hayes said so many past retirements have gone unfilled, the district can’t assume the six can remain unfilled this time.

“We’re cutting bone onto bone,” he said. The $250,000 transferred from reserves can save four teachers, according to Hayes.

Both Whitman and Hanson officials have indicated 3 percent would be as high as they dare go for the FY 2016 budget.

“We don’t have the money,” said Whitman Town Administrator Frank Lynam, adding that a 4.5-percent increase could lead to either an override situation or “shutting down one of the departments.”

Hanson Selectmen Chairman Bruce Young said Hanson is in a similar situation as the town has spent “a good deal” of the free cash the town had going into its last Town Meeting and going into the May Town Meeting on projects the town has needed to do for some time such as school roof and window lintel repairs. He added that the Finance Committee has already reduced an approved 2.5-percent raise for department heads to 2 percent.

“We’re definitely not in as good a position as we were last year,” Young said. “Our position may not be as dire as [Whitman’s] but we’re just trying to maintain some kind of balance.”

“We have struggled over the past few years to accrue some money in stabilization to protect the town with its bond payments,” Lynam said. Whitman started the year with $1.8 million in capital stablization, but just to make existing debt payments the town will have to withdraw about $300,000 from the account, he cautioned.

“That was not something we anticipated,” he said. “We ended the year in a fairly positive mode and the weather took care of any spirit we had.”

Lynam and Young also indicated “dueling budgets” would have a detrimental effect on voters willingness to pass articles at Town Meetings and at the ballot box to fund technology upgrades the schools need.

“I think we have to show people we can work together,” Lynam said.

Time to talk

Whitman Middle School teacher Beth Stafford said, while she acknowledges departments need to work together, “it always seems to be the school side that gets cut” and the schools have lost 100 positions since 2000.

“No other department even comes close,” she said. “I just feel at this point in time people need to stand up and do what they’re supposed to do and fight for what you need — you’re the School Committee, you represent the children in the two towns.”

She suggested that perhaps it needs to start with conversations between the schools and the community.

“I want to have a dialogue,” Lynam said. “I don’t want it to be now. I don’t want it to be May. I want to get through this budget cycle and I want to have some serious discussions with people on what we can do on a long-term plan.”

In other business, warrant articles for fire alarm panel replacement were withdrawn from both towns’ annual Town Meeting warrants as not necessary at this time. Lynam mentioned that Whitman Fire Chief Timothy Grenno “very emphatically” said he was not requesting the project.

Frequent false alarms are traced to faulty building sensors or the communication system within the panels and do not preset a life safety issue. The articles in fact originated with the district’s technology department as a delayed project and they wanted to see if it could be done this year.

The votes were 9-0 to remove the article from both warrants.

Free cash leaned on heavily, additional firefighter request tabled

WHITMAN — There is good news — and a sobering forecast for future finances — on the fiscal 2016 budget front.

“We have a balanced budget,” Finance Chairman William Capocci reported to the Board of Selectmen Tuesday, April 14. “This is one of the nicest budgets that I think we’ve produced over the years. … Almost everybody’s going to walk away happy.”

While the budget is balanced, the Finance Committee was able to accomplish that by almost completely depleting free cash and tabling Fire Chief Timothy Grenno’s request for eight additional firefighters for at least a year. Several other warrant articles were also withdrawn.

“Free cash is gone,” Capocci said, as are funds in the motor vehicle fine and ambulance accounts and technology stabilization. More than $281,000 is being taken out of capital stabilization.

“We’re getting through the year and we’re surviving,” Capocci said, asking for selectmen’s support on the budget at Town Meeting, including on the firefighter issue he described as “the killer on the budget” even as he stressed that he has no argument about the need.

“If the eight firemen go through, we’re talking override,” Capocci said. That is a move Grenno said he did not want to force.

Grenno and Town Administrator Frank Lynam had independently reached the same conclusion to table the additional firefighters after a recent numbers-crunching session. There was, however, some friction aired between the chief and Capocci on the issue.

Communication between Grenno and Capocci was the main issue in their disagreement.

“The problem that I have is on Jan. 20 I presented my budget,” Grenno said. “Last Tuesday, Frank and I sat in his office for three hours an crunched the numbers on the eight hires … knowing the financial picture the town was going through … I came to the mutual agreement with Frank that we would table it.”

The next morning at 7:15 a.m., Lynam called him to report he did not have the chance to discuss it with the Finance Committee because it voted a 2.5-percent increase in all the services, Grenno said of his budget’s 4-percent increase.

“There was no discussion with me,” he said. “My concern is [that] discussion of the Fire Department budget is going on without me being present.”

Lynam clarified that the 2.5 percent Grenno mentioned, plus 2 percent was approved by FinCom for a 4.5-percent increase.

“At no point in time in any of our nine meetings that you have requested the minutes for, did we discuss the merits of five firemen,” Capocci said. “This was simply a question of we have $5 to spend and it’s going to cost $6 to hire eight people — and we don’t have that dollar.”

Grenno had ultimately sought Finance Committee minutes through a Freedom of Information request to find out what, if any, discussions on the firefighter issue were conducted in his absence.

“All he’s got to do is call me,” Capocci said of the FOI request emailed to him by Grenno the morning after a late FinCom meeting in which the Fire Department Budget was voted. “To do it this way, I thought, was a little extreme.”

He said no budgets were voted on before March 31.

Chairman Carl Kowalski said his first reaction to Grenno’s proposal for additional firefighters — to deal with increasing call volume and resulting overtime costs — was concern for the school budget.

“It’s sad that the schools are in that shape,” Kowalski said of W-H’s position at 10th from the bottom in per-pupil spending statewide. “But we cannot afford to give them more money.”

Grenno made his points effectively enough to change his mind, Kowalski said. Now, however, he said he finds sense in Capocci’s argument and Grenno’s willingness to table the request.

Getting there

Capocci started his presentation by outlining the town’s ability to weather the recession, without layoffs, since its onset in 2007 before detailing the current state of the town’s finances. He concluded the presentation by cautioning about five major challenges to future town budgets.

The town had been hit with a $2 million cut in revenue between local receipts and state aid to cities and towns on a $20 million budget in 2007, according to Capocci, while services were increased. Fiscal planning in the intervening years permitted infrastructure investment, including the new police station paid for inside the levy limit mainly through free cash.

Cuts made two years ago, however, required by a failed override for the schools had an effect on free cash since as town budgets have increased, due largely to higher fixed costs and a 10-percent cut in trash fees, he said. Another $322,482 transferred from free cash at a special Town Meeting in January – before the weather turned. This year’s snow and ice deficit is $354.832.

“Before we looked at any budgets for this year, we were in the hole $455,000,” Capocci said.  Basic revenue is $812,000 over last year. Initial budget requests came in at $1,325,743 higher than last year.

Capocci also warned of five key concerns looming over future budget years: the eight additional firefighters; minimal free cash; rising energy costs; other post-employment benefits (OPEB), such as retiree health insurance; and Whitman-Hanson Regional  School District, the low per-pupil spending for which he termed “an embarrassment.”

“We are going to reach a solution in the near future,” he said. “So be prepared.”