Whitman-Hanson Express

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A Merry send-off

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HANSON — The Board of Selectmen, state legislators, family and former colleagues came together Tuesday, Jan. 28 to say goodbye to interim Town Administrator Meredith Marini after 21 years as the Board of Selectmen’s administrative assistant.

She served as interim town administrator several times during her tenure, the most recent delaying her retirement a month until new Town Administrator John Stanbrook could settle into his role.

“This is really a surprise, and surprising me is kind of hard,” she said while opening the gift from the Board of Selectmen.

Her family presented her with flowers, Selectmen presented her with a clock with the Seal of the Town of Hanson on its face. State Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, and state Sen. Mike Brady gave her a mirror — to reflect on her retirement — and a reception with cake was held.

“Cake?!?” Marini said. “For people who aren’t here on a regular basis, cake is what we do.”

She counted off the 25 selectmen and eight town administrators in her 21 years on the job.

“It has been a blast,” Marini said. “It’s been the best job ever. … Remember who you’re working for, remember why we’re here and everybody will be fine.”

She credited the people she works with at Town Hall for making her work so pleasant and noted the reason she never wanted to be a full-time town administrator was because her family comes first.

Her family also surprised her, with one son, Jeff Scozzari, coming from his home in New York to join his brother Steven Scozzari and his girlfriend Suzie, daughter Trish Glenn and Marini’s husband Fran in attending the meeting.

“What can I say about Merry that each of you don’t already know?” said Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “It isn’t an overstatement to say that Merry has been the heart and soul of the town of Hanson and Hanson Town Hall for many years.”

She has answered questions from residents and town officials, and oriented “scores of freshmen selectmen” on their jobs.

“She is one of the hardest-working women I have ever met,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, noting there’s a lot to Marini’s dedication that people don’t see. “She has single-handedly been responsible for some semblance of stability … in the selectmen’s office as we’ve had the revolving door of town administrators, which we’re hoping to break that chain.”

She has also continued to do her own job, while doing the little things that make Town Hall run smoothly like organizing the decoration of Town Hall for the Holiday Festival and taking part in the town’s Halloween Extravaganza.

Case in point was what Marini was doing the weekend before Stanbrook began working — spackling and painting his office so he would have a “nice, sparking office when he arrived,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

U.S. Rep. Bill Keating sent a Certificate of Congressional Recognition, presented by an aide, to Marini and Brady and Cutler presented citations from the Senate and House of the General Court.

Cutler related attending a Scouting event at which he was asked what a state representative did, asking if it was akin to being a mayor.

“No, that’s Merry Marini,” he replied. “We know when we need something done, we’d always call Merry and she’d always have the answer or know where to get the answer.”

The gift from Cutler and Brady was wrapped in wallpaper from the Statehouse because giftwrap wasn’t available.

“As you reflect on your many years of service to the town of Hanson, you can reflect,” Cutler said as Marini opened the mirror’s packaging.

“We get it,” a voice in the room replied.

“I can’t say much more than has already been said, other than the fact that I’m glad I checked up on you every morning, and days that I missed, you were afraid I was sick or something,” said former Selectman Don Howard, who said she was still welcome to stop by his house in the summer for zucchini from his garden.

Former Town Administrator René Read, now Duxbury’s town manager also shared memories of working with Merry during a difficult financial period for the town, when they were trying to avoid layoffs.

“I can’t believe you’re leaving,” he said after giving Marini a big hug. “When I first got here things were rough.”

He recalled talking to his wife about it after one typically long day, marveling how Marini “just won’t stop, she’s just go, go, go.”

Years later, he asked Marini about how she did it.

“S**t, you were going so fast, I thought I had to keep up with you,” he related was her reply. “I said, Merry, I was trying to keep up with you. This is the kind of conversation we should have had when I first started.”

He added he always swore if Marini ever left the Town Hall would have to close.

“They better watch out, after you walk out of here if they have to shut the lights off, I wouldn’t be surprised,” he said, wishing her a long, healthy and happy retirement.

Halifax Town Administrator Charlie Selig, who has dealt with Marini over the years, also wished her well.

“In losing Merry, you’re losing someone great,” he said.

SSVT holds budget hearing

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HANOVER — The South Shore Tech School Committee held its annual budget hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 22.

The hearing followed the release earlier in the day of Gov. Charlie Baker’s fiscal 2021 budget, as well as the Chapter 70 and minimum local contribution numbers for the budget cycle by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

The budget will be up for certification at its February meeting.

“To this point, we’ve had an initial proposal on fiscal 2021 and now we can look at some other numbers,” said Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey, noting that the information was being sent to member towns on Thursday, Jan. 23 and will be posted on the school website.

The overall budget proposal represented a 4.09-percent increase, and — thanks to non-resident tuition revenue, regional transportation and a modest increase in Chapter 70 state aid — funds sought from member towns would therefore be slightly lower than the current budget of $13,816,873. Hanson’s assessment increases by $132,507 and Whitman’s by $18,468.

Assessments vary based on the funding formula (75 percent) and the number of students in the school (25 percent).

“In general, the towns that saw assessment increases, usually it’s because there’s an increase in students,” Hickey said. “It’s not always guaranteed and the intensity might be different.”

Hanson’s minimum local contribution — the amount the state says towns should be spending to educate students — is $1,135,420 and Whitman’s is $1,623,676. Non-resident tuition, divided proportionally among the SST member towns gives $14,193 to Hanson and $12,027 to Whitman. The towns’ assessments would be even higher without the increased revenue,  Hickey said Monday, Jan. 27, noting that the non-resident tuition is traditionally used to offset the next year’s tuition. He also said he is very confident that regional transportation reimbursement, anticipated to be at 70 percent, will be 80 percent this go-round. As labor costs and the fuel and maintenance costs brought with the transition to propane-powered buses, are being pointed to as reasons next year’s transportation costs are calculated as “largely flat,” Hickey said the additional 10 percent of transportation reimbursement could be passed along to the towns.

Capital expenses are up slightly due to the capital improvement plan, while transportation costs are largely flat and the district has eliminated most of its debt, according to Hickey.

Hickey said on Monday, Jan. 27 that DESE is expected to issue guidance to better explain what they are looking for in terms of student opportunity grant paperwork, seeking explanations from each district about how additional Chapter 70 funds are going to be used — from closing achievement gaps to improvements to social-emotional learning and other priorities.

The report, due April 1 and must be completed by all districts in the state, expects districts to reach out to community stakeholders and figure out how it’s going to be spent.

“A lot of districts are not getting a lot of money,” Hickey said. “Our Chapter 70 increase is $30 a student — I think we saw a bump of, it might be $18,000.”

There is a long-form and a short-form document to complete, Hickey said, adding that SST’s “modest amount of money” would likely translate into a short-form document for the district. He said he would be interested in reading the actual paperwork within the next couple of weeks.

In other business, Assistant Principal Sandra Baldner announced the school has achieved its goal of reducing absenteeism by 20 percent.

“It required a lot of work by a lot of people,” she said, describing weekly attendance meetings with guidance counselors, an administrative aide assisting with data management, the school nurse and other administrators. “We’re attacking this with a student-centered approach to target each student intervention based on the student’s reasons for absences. We’re very involved with the families, as well.”

While not meant to be punitive, freshmen absent four times in a row without a valid excuse, receive a detention in a supportive environment with the assistance of a teaching aide. After a fifth unexcused absence a letter is sent home to their family, and in the case of 10 absences, the family is asked in for a 10-day appeal meeting.

“Those meetings are starting to happen now,” Baldner said.

Initial response from families have been generally positive.

A Saturday School initiative for struggling students meets once a month from 8 to 11 a.m. In November, the session had 26 students and last Saturday, there were 27 students working during the session.

“The goal is that we have fewer failures during the school year,” she said. Class failures are also being targeted for a 27-percent reduction this year.

Principal Mark Aubrey reviewed the pilot data program on the breakfast programs, reporting a plateau after an initial improvement. The numbers are still improved even with the plateau considered.

March 4 to 8 is National Breakfast week, when new menu items will be offered free of charge to gauge interest.

Hanson delays region, override panels

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HANSON —  It’s too early for any move to appoint a committee to consider either de-regionalization of the schools in any manner or a Proposition 2 ½ override, but the Board of Selectmen opened the door to both possibilities at its Tuesday, Jan. 28 meeting.

“I put those on the agenda because I’ve been getting some feedback and I thought it was important to be responsive and to talk about it as a committee,” said Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked about the viability of de-regionalizing.”

She said that regardless what form of de-regionalizing Hanson might look into — from a K-8 system to a complete K-12 break away — it would not immediately solve the town’s fiscal or contractual problems this year.

“In addition, I ultimately don’t think that de-regionalization is going to be proven to be in the best interests of the town, given the buy-out costs and the fact that you’d have to set up a separate administration and overhead costs,” she said.

People are asking her about it, however.

School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes is having the district’s Business Manager John Tuffy look into the costs involved in such a move and Town Administrator John Stanbrook and Town Accountant Todd Hassett would also review the figures.

“I think, in light of the fact that we haven’t gotten those numbers yet, it would be a little bit premature to form a committee,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, suggesting that even discussing the formation of any de-regionalization committee be put off until March. “We also don’t know the budget numbers, so I don’t want to put the cart before the horse.”

Selectmen Kenny Mitchell said he felt it was “definitely premature” to form a de-regionalization committee, an opinion with which the other members of the board agreed.

“I’m still hopeful that this is going to work out,” Mitchell said. “I’m hopeful that Whitman is going to want to sit down and come to the table.”

Selectmen also indicated that an override committee was also premature.

“I’d like to see [school budget] numbers before we decide,” said Selectman Jim Hickey.

She reviewed the genesis of the regional agreement entered into in 1993, which spelled out a per-pupil methodology for apportioning the school assessment.

“This methodology has been used without fail every year since then,” she read from a statement, noting that changed in August when Hanson was told there might be another method “the statutory method, which uses a ‘wealth-based formula’ and takes into consideration the average household income and home value for determining the minimum contribution each town makes to the regional school district.”

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has determined the statutory method should have been taken into consideration every year since 2012 and that the School Committee should have been voting each year on the budget as well as the assessment method.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said Whitman has decided its residents have been paying more than they were required as a result of the statutory method not being used and have “drawn a line in the sand” and support only the statutory method.

“While I believe that the decent and ethical thing to do would have been to enter into good-faith negotiations with Hanson on a revised regional agreement, and work on a phased-in approach, those options are presently not on the table,” she said. “This is for this year. I’m not saying this is never going to happen.”

She also pointed to the balance of membership on the School Committee favoring Whitman based on student population, and the committee’s 6-4 vote in November — along community lines — favoring the statutory assessment method.

Town Counselor Kate Feodoroff has reminded Hanson Selectmen that the School Committee must have a seven-vote majority to pass a budget.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said there are a few options open to Hanson: negotiating a change to the current regional agreement; formation of a de-regionalization committee; or forming an override committee to acknowledge that ‘most likely this year, we may have to have an override.”

Another option is to obtain legal counsel for a second opinion or litigation.

Interim Town Administrator Meredith Marini, FitzGerald-Kemmett and Selectman Matt Dyer have been meeting with Whitman Town Administrator Frank Lynam and Selectmen Randy LaMattina and Justin Evans in an effort to find a path forward.

“We’ve decided that the only way to determine what is equitable is to get a breakdown of the cost to educate the children in each town,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We simply do not have the facts.”

She stressed that the audit is not an attempt by the towns to cast doubt on the confidence level in the school district.

“We’ve got a fiduciary responsibility and we cannot make decisions without being armed with the facts,” she said.

The board also discussed the status of that operational and forensic school audit.

Stanbrook said he has been working with Lynam to set up the audit and reviewing the cost of, and qualifications they are seeking in, an auditor.

The WHRSD fiscal 2021 budget release will take place at the School Committee’s Wednesday, Feb. 5 meeting. Selectmen are posting the meeting as a public session of the board “in case we all show up and decide to deliberate the heck out of things,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

That budget could determine the need for an override committee, she said.

Boards talk budget

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WHITMAN — Prior to a joint meeting with the Finance Committee Tuesday, Jan. 21, the Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to accept the report and budget recommendations from the Budget Override and Evaluation Committee to avert a fiscal 2021 Proposition 2 ½ override. It was the only item on the agenda before the joint session with the Finance Committee.

All but one had the unanimous recommendation of the BOEC, and were based on the recommendations of the findings reported by consultant John Madden’s review of town finances.

“All of these measures defer the inevitable,” the budget committee’s report stated. “Even if all recommendations are adopted, an override will most likely be required in FY 2022, albeit a much smaller one.

BOEC Chairman Randy LaMattina said the key factor Madden determined to be at the heart of Whitman’s financial situation was where the operating budget — with an annual increase of 4.86 percent — is growing.

“He notes that school growth, from 7 to 8 percent, are not the norm,” LaMattina said. “His recommendation, and there will be a vote later on in this meeting, was to restrict operational growth to somewhere between 2 to 2.5 percent and a school assessment of 5 percent. … They’re not concrete numbers, there may need some adjustment here and there, but these are what he considers the norms for surrounding towns and towns meeting our demographics.”      

The recommended moves include:

• Restructuring of the ambulance account without taking needed funds away from the fire department;

• Moving funds from the motor vehicle fine account into general townwide operations;

• Use of sewer/water indirect costs to offset costs within the town budget article at Town Meeting;

• Controlling town operations increases to 2.5 percent of the overall budget increase and education not to exceed a 5 percent assessment increase;

• As a financial policy, refrain from using free cash to fund ongoing expenses;

• Seek funding for the feasibility study for a DPW building project;

• Funding the $750,000 for the first phase of the Whitman middle School Project (Finance Committee member John Galvin and Fire Chief Timothy Grenno abstained from this vote at the BOEC meeting);

• Development of a strategic plan for municipal finances; and the

• BOEC’s recommendation against seeking a Proposition 2 ½ override.

School Committee member Dawn Byers spoke about her dissenting vote favoring an override after Selectman Dan Salvucci asked for the reason for that vote.

She said that, while she saw a lot of information on how to infuse more money into the town’s operating budget, she saw no expenditure reports for how the new revenue would be distributed.

“I know that the schools did cut from their budget last year, so I feel that to recommend not having an override this year doesn’t serve the people in our community, the families in our community, working families in our community. I think we need to recognize our true expenditures with our real revenue.”

LaMattina said nine votes against seeking an override spoke to the dire nature of the move.

“We know we have a middle school, possibly, on the horizon, we know we have a capital service project,” he said. “We do not know what the number is for the school district. … If we look at our history, 5 percent will not be sustainable for the schools — we get it — they will need an increase.”

He said the town is trying to get through this year, working with Hanson.

“I think this override will be the last time we can ask taxpayers for money for quite a long time,” LaMattina said. “We better get it right.”

Moving into the joint meeting with the Finance Committee, the session reflected Finance Chairman Richard Anderson’s introductory remark that, “undoubtedly we will disagree on some of the paths” to get town finances where they need to be.

Town Administrator Frank Lynam advocated identifying the town’s budget tolerances as a first step in preparing a budget with a 2.5 percent increase limit as the goal.

Finance Committee member Kathleen Ottina advocated more transparency in that process.

“Right now, the general public in Whitman does not know the details of what was involved in last year’s decision to stay under an override,” she said. “The closed-door meetings, I understand, involve less formal discussions than when you televise, but they have to be open to the public so they know what’s at stake.”

She also questioned how an override could be taken off the table when they don’t have all the numbers yet, and argued it does not take six months to educate the public on the need for an override.

Lynam said he would be “hard-pressed to find 100 people that would regularly be interested in what’s going on, that doesn’t mean we don’t provide it.”

Most of what he does at the meetings is working with a calculator and the town has committed to a more open and fluid approach.

Ottina said she appreciated the difficulty, but said information coming out of the meetings should be publicized. Lynam agreed.

Finance Committee member Rosemary Connolly urged that a working group could ensure the budget is accountable to the town’s budget survey conducted last year.

Finance Committee member John Galvin, who also served on the BOEC, disagreed that a working group meeting was necessary, because the FinCom is charged with hashing out that information and bringing it to the people at Town Meeting.

Anderson said that, if the next step is for the Finance Committee members to follow up with budget managers, “I think we’re in a good place.”

In discussing the Capital improvement plan, Lynam said the wording for any article would be tricky.

“We’re going to have to work out that process,” he said. “It would be a big change from what we’ve done.”

The capital committee will be holding its next meeting in the first week of February.

Noting that WHRSD is the biggest part of the budget, Anderson brought up the issue of paid school transportation.

“I think this is a discussion that needs to take place,” he said. “It’s time to consider alternate funding sources and maybe address some of the schools’ needs.”

School Committee member Fred Small, who attended the joint meeting, said students on the Superintendent’s Council had said last week that the early start didn’t bother them.

Connolly said early start times generally affects boys more than girls, and the Superintendent’s Council members who spoke were all female.

They also did say the time change was hard for them in the beginning, as well.

Lynam cautioned that the issue raises a myriad concerns, particularly when school doors don’t open before a certain time, which causes a hardship for working parents.

“Massachusetts has the earliest start time, generally, across America and we are one of the earliest within Massachusetts,” Connolly said. “We also have to think of how effectively our money is spent.”

Most buses arrive at the school empty because parents already drive their children, she said.

Finally, Lynam discussed the MSBA grant invitation for a Whitman Middle School project, requiring a vote at the May Town Meeting on whether to call for funding for a feasibility study. Components of that study will include demographics, utility and design.

“I don’t see anyone ever approving us renovating that building,” Lynam said. “If we’re going to do something there, we’re most likely looking at a new building.”

The first step is the assessment of need through a feasibility study which can be funded out or either a debt plan, free cash or a one-time capital override.

“I was persuaded that the feasibility study will give us the information we need to present to the public,” Lynam said.

Committee seeks student feedback

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Members of Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak’s Superintendent’s Council, who will be joined in future meetings by a more diverse group of W-H students, attended the School Committee meeting Wednesday, Jan. 15 to discuss their ideas about things going on in the district and answer any questions from the committee members.

“I feel that they have a pretty good relationship with their high school principal,” Szymaniak said. “They’ll tell him the good, the bad and the ugly. I think they have a pretty good relationship with me and they’ll tell me the same.”

School Committee Student Advisor Caitlin Veneto was joined by fellow Superintendent’s Council members Anika Floeck, Jordan Pelissier, Chloe Wilson and Marissa Connell, all seniors.

“We’re looking forward to get students more involved with School Committee meetings because we’re looking for your input,” Hayes said. He explained that the students would also be asked to funnel student body questions for the Committee through Szymaniak.

Hayes asked about school start times, noting the debate that has surrounded them since they were changed a few years ago for budget savings.

All the Council members, while they struggle with the early start times on occasion, it is beneficial because students can get an earlier departure from school for participation in sports or part-time jobs and internships. They also pointed out that AP students such as themselves have a lot of homework and, as a result, later start times would just mean going to bed later.

Regarding extra-curricular activities or classes they would like to see, the students said an activities fair for eighth-graders or later in the school year for freshmen — after they settle into a high school routine — would be helpful to outline programs and classes students might want to take.

Venito also said the school’s mentor program might be extended to revisit freshmen at the end of the school year to get their feedback on clubs, sports and classes — as well as perhaps a summer workshop on the college application process. Wilson suggested extending mentor programs into upper classes to help with the college application process.

“I know when I first came here, I kind of struggled with fitting in and finding my group, at first,” Floeck said. “I feel if the mentors were more involved long-term it might help other kids transition better to the high school from middle school.”

School Committee member Dawn Byers, noting that 2020 is a presidential election year, asked if the students have thought about registering to vote.

They have.

“I am already registered to vote,” Venito said, noting a friend has discussed the idea of a voter registration fair at the school. Floeck said the History Honor Society is planning to work on the elections as part of their projects for the year, including student voter registration.

School Committee member Dan Cullity asked what classes the students would like to see offered at W-H. Wilson mentioned either micro- or macro-economics, Venito said she would like to see an AP music theory class offered. An SAT prep course was also mentioned as a course that would be useful.

School assessment process debated

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The School Committee on Wednesday, Jan. 15 declined action Whitman resident Shawn Kain’s suggestion it consider some kind of compromise between the statutory assessment formula favored by Whitman and the current alternative formula sought by Hanson.

School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes said that the issue, not included on the evening’s agenda, would not be something on which members could act.

“There are a lot of discussions concerning budget with both towns right now,” Hayes said.

He noted Hanson Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff’s reminder to Selectmen that seven votes — or two-thirds of the School Committee, regardless how many are present — are required to pass a budget.

“To me it seems pretty clear that it would be difficult to get seven votes with such a split on the budget,” Kain said, noting that could lead to continued division in the budget process from there. “It’s really setting us up for the whole process to go down toward the state taking over in December, which sounds terrible to me.”

Taking that, and Whitman’s decision to follow the statutory method, he suggested “it might be helpful,” if the School Committee, particularly Whitman members, to reconsider their recent 6-4 vote — split along community lines — to favor the statutory assessment formula.

“Long-term, sustainable funding for education will only come through consensus, and this, right now, is not consensus,” Kain said. “I think to slow down, reconsider and take another look at that vote would be helpful.”

The School Committee will hear the district’s fiscal 2021 budget presentation at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 5 in a meeting where it will be the only item on the agenda, according to Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak.

Another meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 26 will feature a regular agenda.

Interim Business Manager John Tuffy provided a year-to-date report on revenue and expenditures.

“At this time, there is not one particular line item I’m terribly concerned about,” he said. “We’re up to date with our bills, we haven’t spent quite as much of our budget as we had this time last year and that’s relatively good news.”

Szymaniak said a recent meeting he had with the Whitman Finance Committee was a positive one, with an improvement in tone over a session at the same point in the budget process last year.

Kain then asked for the assessment formula reconsideration.

“We don’t need it,” said School Committee member Steve Bois. “We already voted an assessment method, and we’re moving forward.”

He told Kain that, with all due respect, he should let the committee do its job.

“We’re in this all together, so I think it might be helpful to keep together,” Bois said. “You’re kind of tearing us apart in a way that … we’re not even looking at it that way.”

Bois pointed out that the School District has not even had a chance to meet with the Hanson Finance Committee.

Kain countered that without a Hanson School Committee member changing their vote, the assessment would fail to pass the committee and, ultimately, it would lead to a state takeover of the school budget.

School Committee member Fred Small said he fully expects that the panel will come up with a budget, but that the assessment is a secondary item that will go to town meetings.

“It’s our job to try and do a budget that is going to meet the needs of our pupils,” he said. “We also did an assessment method where you also look at what you feel is fair and proper as we are charged to do.”

Small charged that, “by coming here and continually going after these things,” all Kain was doing was beating a dead horse and not allowing the committee to do its work.

Hanson School Committee members Christopher Howard and Robert O’Brien Jr., however said some of Kain’s concerns are very relevant.

“It puts the folks that represent Hanson in a very difficult position to support a budget with an assessment methodology that isn’t supportable,” Howard said stressing that he was speaking for himself. “I would heed Mr. Kain’s words and think them through, because … you had four people from the town of Hanson unanimously vote against that methodology, so to make the leap that that’s over and done with and we’re just going to move into budget — that’s a tough leap for me to make.”

O’Briens said he echoed everything Howard said.

School Committee member Dawn Byers and Whitman Finance Committee member Rosemary Connolly cautioned that a state takeover “sounds really scary” and — while it can be, because it is the unknown — it is not the same as state receivership, which is based on underperformance in academics.

The schools will operate normally, and classes will be held.

“When the state takes over, it’s always in the best interests of the students, too,” Byers said. “Fiscal control of a district by the state is just because we couldn’t get a budget and they help us to get there.”

Hayes added that, in the event of a state takeover, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education could increase the school budget, if they determined more funds were needed. Dighton-Rehoboth schools have gone through the process.

In other business, Director of Student Services Lauren Mathisen provided a report on the department. DESE’s coordinated program review of special education, civil rights and English learner education programs resulted in recommendations for minor changes in the English learner program, she said.

Another DESE audit, of the 2009 Circuit Breaker claim has ranked W-H among the top 5 percent of special education, districts they have reviewed, she said. An independent transportation audit will be conducted in a couple of weeks, she said.

“Transportation continues to be a big financial burden for us,” Mathisen said. “We are projected to spend about $1.1 million this year in transportation of our students.”

She said $875,000 had been budgeted, but the tuition and salary contracted service lines in the budget should cover the remaining amount, Szymaniak said.

She did, however, express some optimism that the recently passed Student opportunity act, that some reimbursement for out-of-district transportation costs is on the horizon. A deficit is foreseen in contracted services due to medical or maternity leaves and a resignation that had to be contracted out.

Mathisen also shared her in-district program goals for special education, particularly in the form of an autism program at the high school as well as an elementary-based language program.

Hanson works to ID climate challenges

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HANSON — Representatives of town and regional departments have begun work to identify potential emergency situations triggered by climate change as part of an effort to obtain action grant funding to address some of the deficiencies.

Laurie Muncie of the Old Colony Planning Council joined her successor as Hanson Town Planner Deborah Pettey to conduct the meeting for the officials to lay the groundwork for a day-long Municipal Vulnerability Priorities (MVP) workshop at Camp Kiwanee from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday, Feb. 7. Friday, Feb. 28 will be the rain date.

Pettey, who said she welcomed participants to attend even if they could not devote an entire day to it, stressed their input is important as she is not a Hanson native and does not know the entire history of the town.

“I need this information to make the best report and the best plan that we can for the town,” she said.

The Thursday, Jan. 9 planning session also discussed their top four environmental concerns for Hanson.

The session ranked their four major climate concerns ahead of the February workshop: wind, flooding, drought and, potentially, extreme temperatures.

“Flooding should be on the list,” said Conservation Commission chairman Phil Clemons. “I don’t know that it’s ahead of wind, though.”

He noted the impact of wind bring trees down on power lines as a frequent concern.

“It just seems kind of artificial to force ourselves to think of things separately,” Clemons said.

“Wind and trees … are a higher concern than even rain,” Muncie agreed.

While a concern, flooding is mainly responsible for road washouts and is not as big an issue as it would be in coastal communities, Clemons said.

Drought is another contributor to downed trees that cause damage, Pettey said.

Muncie noted that the lack of a generator at the Hanson Senior Center is an important concern during power outages, and is at the top of her list of grant priorities. Capacity of generators for long-term use must also be considered, officials said.

“A long-term power outage is a real burden for a lot of demographics,” Pettey said. “Whether you’re elderly or whether you’re handicapped or whether you have small children, a long-term power outage is going to cause quite an impact.”

Communications during a power outage was also discussed.

“Have you driven through Hanson center with your cell phone?” asked WHRSD Facilities Director Ernest Sandland.

“That’s a normal day,” Muncie said.

Sandland noted that the new cell tower planned for a portion of the Middle School property is aimed at helping the situation. Pettey said the ZBA approved the plan Tuesday, Jan. 7.

She was asked if emergency services communications would be included on the tower and indicated that was her understanding, but that she was uncertain. A representative of the Hanson Fire Department said the present cell tower “carries everything along with the sheriff” department radio communications and present no problems.

Whitman override averted in fiscal 2021

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WHITMAN — There will be no Proposition 2 ½ vote in Whitman for the fiscal 2021 budget, Selectman Randy LaMattina told the full board during its Tuesday, Jan. 14 meeting.

A fiscal 2022 override, however, has not yet been ruled out.

During a marathon three-and-a-half-hour meeting the previous night, the Budget Override Evaluation Committee decided.

Town Administrator Frank Lynam said a joint meeting between Selectmen and the Finance Committee on Tuesday, Jan. 21 will further discuss the issues.

“We had quite a bit of discussion [Monday night] that probably will be best served giving one presentation next week at a joint meeting,” LaMattina said. “It’s a very complex budget — lot of questions still up in the air, issues still in flux with the schools — but what has been determined is that … with the adoption of some policies that the consultant has recommended, it was the determination of the board last evening that we will not seek an override for fiscal year 2021.”

He added that, more than likely, an override for fiscal 2022, even with the option of more stringent policies, may still be on the table.

“But we feel confident that departments will be sustainable, some may actually see growth and we will have money to fund a very solid part of the Collins Report for capital projects,” LaMattina said.

LaMattina added that a strategic budget plan was “the only missing piece” and, with the work done by the Budget Override Evaluation Committee, “80 percent of it is there.”

That will be addressed at next week’s meeting, as well.

“You’ve done the groundwork for being able to come up with something in writing,” Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski said. “The strategic plan is impossible without the work that your committee has done.”

LaMattina credited the members of the Budget Override Evaluation Committee: Selectmen Justin Evans, Fire Chief Timothy Grenno, resident Christopher George, Finance Committee members David Codero, Scott Lambiase and John Galvin, School Committee member Dawn Byers, Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak and DPW Superintendent Bruce Martin for the time they committed to the work over the past couple of months.

Capital projects focused on were Whitman Middle School and the DPW building.

“The Budget Override Committee is definitely recommending some type of article be places on the May warrant for a feasibility re-evaluation of the DPW building,” LaMattina said.

Selectman Brian Bezanson lauded the committee for doing a lot of work in a short amount of time.

“It brought to light a lot of information for everybody that we otherwise might not have had,” he said.

“We thanked the committee, but I think we also have to thank Randy,” Kowalski said. “It was a huge task to lead this group, and the most important work that this board has done for a while.”

Road project

In other business, Lynam announced that, after two years of work by the DPW, the town has received a grant for $363,674 to redesign and layout the intersection of Essex Street and Park Avenue.

“That has been a challenging intersection over the years because of the way it merges,” Lynam said.

Boards issuing audit request

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HANSON — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Jan. 7, supported the drafting of a letter to the School district saying they are — in conjunction with Whitman — conducting an audit of school expenditures in hopes the district will “open up their books” so the work can be done when an auditor is hired.

Outgoing interim Town Administrator Meredith Marini said a retired official that Hanson Town Accountant Todd Hassett had recommended is already swamped with post-retirement consulting work and will not be able to take on a School District audit for Whitman and Hanson town officials. He did provide some names, and she has been in communication with Whitman Town Administrator Frank Lynam on the matter and Marini has also been looking at regional agreements, especially those involving two communities, for comparisons to W-H.

“We are united, Whitman and Hanson, in being committed to looking at the books to see where money’s being spend and kind of ticking and tying that to the ask that we’ve got before us,” said Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “I don’t want to hire an auditor only to find that we’re not going to have access to those records. I’m not suggesting that’s the case, but I just want to make sure.”

Representatives of the Whitman and Hanson boards of selectmen were slated to have another discussion on the school assessment issue Wednesday.

“This is a very specialized discipline, to be able to audit school books,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “It’s not your garden-variety auditor that you’re looking for … it’s a much more specialized discipline so it may not be easy to find this person, but we need to find the right person to do the job.”

She said there is nothing to discuss in terms of revising the regional agreement until an audit is completed.

“We don’t know where the money’s being spent,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

She also noted that, with a regional agreement still in place, she did not see how Whitman officials could be insistent on using the statutory assessment formula instead of an alternative one as the district towns have done in the past.

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.

Town Counsel Katherine Feodoroff had been asked to brief Selectmen on the process going forward if a statutory budget is presented and what “potential plays” the town can make, especially if a state take-over of the schools occurs.

“It seems to me that we control the [Town Meeting] warrant,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “I can certainly see the writing on the wall … but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be comfortable knowing there’s a regional agreement in place, voting for statutory as a selectman.”

She said she does not think it is in the best interests of citizens and said her preference would have been for negotiations to have been opened prior to Whitman and the School Committee voting to go with the statutory formula. FitzGerald-Kemmett said she did not think that would be in the best interests of Hanson.

“Everybody wants the budget approved, because when you don’t approve the budget a whole bunch of automatic processes go into place,” Feodoroff said.

Town Meeting options are to amend from the floor.

She said despite the past drafting of the regional agreement, the new state law was passed requiring the statutory assessment.

“Your option is to vote it down — and then they don’t have an approved budget,” she said. That sends it back to the School Committee to either acquiesce to what the dissenting town wants or come back with a different assessment, which the town would have to vote up or down at another Town Meeting. With no budget by the new fiscal year on July 1, the state imposes a 1/12 budget based on the assessment of the previous fiscal year — through the statutory method.

The next step would be a “super town meeting,” with the state able to take over a district if that fails to produce a budget by Dec. 1.

“Nothing gets done without the state signing off,” Feodoroff said. Sometimes the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) approves a budget greater than was originally requested.

“The sad part is the kids are being held hostage by this,” said Selectman Wes Blauss. “In the end its not even Whitman vs. Hanson.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett asked if the situation didn’t boil down to a breach of contract.

“We’re being painted into a corner and it just doesn’t seem fair,” she said. “I know the law isn’t always fair but it’s befuddling to me that a confluence of facts and events would get us to a place where a town literally has very little control over what we are going to spend on our schools.”

Stanbrook sworn in as Hanson’s TA

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HANSON — The Board of Selectmen welcomed new Town Administrator John Stanbrook on board — and lauded the work of the town’s first responders, who rescued two men after a New Year’s Eve canoe accident, during their first meeting of the year Tuesday, Jan. 7.

Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan administered the oath of office to Stanbrook before the meeting was recessed for a welcoming reception in the Town Hall kitchen.

“I’m so excited, I can barely contain myself tonight, and I may not — just a warning,” joked Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “This board has accomplished a lot in the past year, but I think the most important thing we accomplished was, with the help of [interim Town Administrator] Merry Marini and [Administrative Assistant] Greer Getzen, laying a foundation for the future.”

She said that future is embodied by Stanbrook.

“He comes to us with impeccable credentials and years of diverse municipal experience and skills, which we know will serve us in good stead,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

Stanbrook’s family attended the ceremony and reception.

“I’m looking forward to working here. Day two is going very well,” he said to laughs. “There’s only 200,000 more, or whatever.”

After Stanbrook’s reception, FitzGerald-Kemmett kept the “good new train” rolling along as Selectmen applauded Hanson Police and Fire personnel who responded to the New Year’s Eve incident [see story, page one].  She began the congratulatory segment of the meeting before Marini suggested the recess for Stanbrook’s reception.

“I have cake,” Marini said.

“I’m sorry, you know me, I just wanted to cut right to [it],” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “For me, it’s not the cake — no carb thing.”

“At this end of the table, cake is important,” Marini said.

New Year’s rescue

When the meeting resumed, FitzGerald-Kemmett noted that, while most Hanson residents were ringing in the New Year on Dec. 31, the town’s first responders were addressing a “life and death drama on Maquan Pond.”

Police and Fire chiefs and personnel who were involved in the rescue were invited to the meeting so the board could “express its heart-felt gratitude to the life-saving measures that they took that evening,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr. provided an overview of the incident and said the first responders appreciated the recognition even though what they did was just part of the job.

He did acknowledge that the job they did that night was “more than routine.”

“From the beginning of this call, from dispatch getting all the pertinent information, relaying it to the crews out on the street, to the police officers getting there and locating these individuals quickly … we were also assisted by some bystanders who did a really good job attempting to help us,” Thompson said.

He called the rescue labor-intensive because the ice, while too thin to hold firefighters’ weight, was too thick to break easily. Police and fire personnel on shore worked together to pull the rescuers and victims back to shore with ropes.

“This was a team effort,” Thompson said. “It definitely made a difference that night — it was great work.”

He also credited Hanson’s mutual aid partnerships with Pembroke, East Bridgewater and Whitman for the three responding ambulances that were used to transport the victims and evaluate rescuers for signs of exposure.

Selectman Kenny Mitchell said he listened to the whole incident on his scanner, noting he had once thought he could be an on-scene incident commander, if the occasion called for it. Now he knows differently.

He learned that a generous resident was willing to launch his own boat to aid in the rescue, and thought that was a great idea. At first.

Police Sgt. Peter Calogero, however, then responded on the radio that Hanson Fire should get their boat in the water before they had a second rescue on their hands.

“That’s why Cal’s got the stripes and I don’t,” Mitchell said, relating the drama he followed along at home.

“There was a point where I was concerned you weren’t going to get to him,” he said.

Mitchell conceded there are things going on at a scene that the public may not be aware of as they listen to the scanner.

“Just listening to you guys work together was just unbelievable,” he said. “What a hell of a job by everybody.”

Bay Circuit Trail

Selectman Matt Dyer, who served on the Final Plymouth County Hospital Reuse Committee with Conservation Commission Chairman Phil Clemens, recommended an easement at Bonney Hill Way to allow the Bay Circuit Trail to skirt the former hospital property. The easement would be accessible to foot traffic only.

The trail goes through 37 communities from the North to South Shore for 200 miles. Selectmen’s approval for the easement was needed for a Mass. Trails Grant application, due in February,

The mile-long stretch through the PCH site would include bog walks and trails.