Whitman-Hanson Express

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O’Brien sworn in as Hanson deputy fire chief: Selectmen delay regional agreement vote

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HANSON — Fire Department Deputy Chief Robert O’Brien Jr., was officially sworn in at the Tuesday, May 1 meeting of the Board of Selectmen — a session in which the board postponed a vote on the revised W-H regional school agreement.

Selectmen opted to wait for town counsel to weigh in on the pact, and plan to vote on it prior to the Monday, May 7 Town Meeting. Whitman Selectmen already approved it as has the School Committee on the legal thumbs-up from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and school district legal counsel.

It was O’Brien’s swearing-in ceremony, however that most of the overflow crowd at the meeting came to see.

Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr., noted that former Chief Peter Huska, who gave both he and O’Brien their start on the department, was in attendance.

The deputy chief position has been vacant for several years, Thompson said, adding that call volume has increased in recent years.

O’Brien has been working as deputy chief since March 5.

“As we get to 2,000 a year, we also have had the percentage of multiple calls [at one time] increase,” he said of the need to again appoint a deputy chief. “As this went on we’ve also seen our code enforcement and administrative duties of our department increase. These factors were making it more difficult for our shift commanders to balance the administrative duties and the daily operations of the department.”

Thompson thanked Town Administrator Michael McCue, Selectmen, the town accountant, Finance Committee and residents at Town Meeting for supporting the position. He said the process of selecting O’Brien also provides the opportunity to promote a firefighter to the lieutenant and the hiring of another firefighter.

O’Brien and Lt. Charles Barends applied for the deputy chief position. The selection process included a January assessment center, which evaluated leadership, administrative and management skills. O’Brien was the top-scoring candidate.

A lifelong Hanson resident, he lives in town with his wife Deb, son Christopher — both of whom took part in pinning on his new badge — and three children the O’Briens are in the process of adopting — Armando, Nathan and Chloe. A 1991 graduate of Cardinal Spellman High School, O’Brien went to EMT and paramedic school, working at Fallon Ambulance for many years before becoming a call firefighter in Hanson in 1997, becoming full time in 2000.

O’Brien attained the rank of lieutenant in 2012. He has also been SAFE and training coordinator, a member of the Plymouth County Rescue Training Association and is the deputy director for the technical rescue team. He had been a lifeguard at Cranberry Cove while in high school and served on the Recreation Commission for many years. O’Brien is currently a member of the School Committee, Parks and Fields Commission, CPC and is the town’s harbormaster.

“I don’t know how he’s going to be able to do any Fire Department work,” Thompson joked before Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan administered O’Brien’s oath of office.

After the swearing-in ceremony, O’Brien’s School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes updated the Selectmen on the revised regional agreement.

REGIONAL AGREEMENT

Hayes outlined the process the Regional Agreement Amendment Committee’s work over the past year in revising a 1956 contract that had not been changed since 1992.

“The goal was to update the document to reflect legislative changes, financial agreements and current facilities,” Hayes said, thanking the committee members from both communities who worked on the revision.

Hanson Middle School was not listed in the original agreement, but schools long-since closed, such as the Park Avenue School in Whitman, were.

Hayes said a conversation he had with Mass. Association of Regional Schools (MARS) Executive Director Stephen Hemmond Tuesday assured the towns that either community would be able to petition the DESE to amend the agreement, pending the DESE’s approval.

“By law, the town is required to teach students,” Hayes said. “You would have to come up with a plan on what to do [in the event a town wanted to leave the district], and it would have to be approved. … It’s the vote of the people at all times.”

Other stipulations for leaving a district would require a town to assume financial responsibility for other post-employment benefits (OPEB) of school employees — about $15 million to $20 million in Hanson’s case, according to Hayes.

“There’s a lot of advantage to being in a regional school district, and it saves money,” he said.

Hayes also addressed Whitman’s concerns over the 60-40 split in financial responsibility, based on most of the students in the district’s enrollment being Whitman residents. He said he looked into the private school enrollment from Whitman and Hanson — 150 total students — and found 60 percent were from Whitman and 40 percent were from Hanson.

“I never figured it would be that exact split,” he said. “It was an interesting thing to see.”

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett suggested the delay, not to “second-guess what people have done,” but to provide more time to review the agreement.

“It was very enlightening,” Selectman Jim Hickey said of his appointment to the regional agreement committee.

TOWN MEETING

In other business, during discussion of Town Meeting preview, Finance Committee Chairman Michael Dugan indicated two capital proposals — for a Town Hall generator and Highway Department utility truck were not recommended because the FinCom deemed that clear-cut arguments for them were not made.

Selectmen Chairman James McGahan also spoke of two amendments to the proposed revision of the recall bylaw he plans to present at Town Meeting.

One amendment from the floor would shorten the period in which a recall can be scheduled from 170 days after petitions are certified by the Town Clerk — to 45 days. The other would also shorten the time required for a special election in the event an elected official does not resign within five business days of the date of notice, with a minimum of 45 days.

Whitman OKs region revision: Agreement change to go before May 7 Town Meeting

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WHITMAN — The Board of Selectmen voted 3-2 on Tuesday, April 24 to accept and recommend to Town Meeting the revised regional agreement for the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District.

Selectmen Randy LaMattina and Scott Lambiase voted against the revision because of concerns over the requirement that dissolving the region be a unanimous one on the part of both towns.

“A lot of language has been cleaned up with regard to assessment and capital costs,” Town Administrator Frank Lynam said of the revision. “In 1992 when we regionalized, we were a 9-12 region and added the K-8.”

That agreement provided that either town could opt to withdraw from the region for kindergarten through eight-grade schools, Lynam noted.

“We’re basically being asked to OK an amended agreement that takes away Whitman’s ability to withdraw from the region without Hanson’s permission,” Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski said.

“And vice-versa. Yes,” Lynam said.

“Thanks for the vice-versa,” Kowalski said. “I don’t care whether or not Hanson gets permission from us.”

Selectmen Vice Chairman Dan Salvucci, who served on the regional agreement revision committee, said there is good reason for the provision.

“You’re regionalizing both towns, not just half … and the fact that if you wanted to de-regionalize, the cost would be unbelievable,” Salvucci said.

School Committee member Fred Small, attending the meeting for the budget discussion also said the language was written with flexibility to allow an additional town to join the region, should that ever be a consideration. That flexibility was a reason for South Shore Vo-Tech’s recent revision of its regional agreement, approved by Whitman voters at a special Town Meeting in December.

Kowalski said he shared some of LaMattina’s concerns.

Small said the DESE and the school district’s counsel had both approved the revised agreement and the School Committee unanimously voted for it.

“As Whitman is forecast to pick up more and more of that [per-pupil] swing as the Hanson population declines” it presented additional financial worry for LaMattina on behalf of Whitman.

Salvucci said LaMattina’s concerns were the reason he called for an additional discussion of the revision by the School Committee.

“If the population imbalance keeps going the way it’s going, you could see a time when 30 percent of the students in the school system are from Hanson and 70 percent of the students are from Whitman, and Whitman will have to pay 70 percent of the cost,” Kowalski said.

“But we’ll get 70 percent of the School Committee members,” Salvucci said. Small added that it would give Whitman control of the School Committee and its direction.

Hanson might seek an exit if the Whitman edge reached the 80-20 split, Small said.

“It’s not going to be any easy way to divorce the two towns,” Kowalski said.

Small said that was exactly the term used by the Mass. Association of Regional Schools’ consultants.

“That’s what happens — you get divorced,” Small said. “You both have to sign off on the divorce.”

Selectman Brian Bezanson said he does not foresee such a regional divorce occurring.

“I look at it this way — this is a partnership. If we become in a situation where it’s 70/30 or 80/20, we’re in control and we have a silent partner,” he said. “Why would we want to be paying 100 percent?”

Teachers learning the sound of gunfire

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In an active shooter incident the sound of gunfire is often mistaken for something else — fireworks generally.

Police chiefs in Whitman and Hanson have advised school officials that, statistically, teachers won’t react in an emergency for 45 seconds to a minute because they can’t identify the sound of gunfire for what it is right away.

“They think it might be a car, or something else,” Whitman-Hanson Regional High School Principal Jeffrey Szymaniak said.

Those seconds could be critical for saving lives.

With that in mind, Szymaniak began a training program in April, along with school resource officers from both towns’ police departments, to educate teachers and staff on how to know what they are hearing in an active shooter emergency.

“We have a safety team which incorporates three building principals, central office, the chiefs of both Whitman and Hanson police and fire and their deputies,” Szymaniak said. “[Police chiefs] Mike Miksch and Scott Benton said about two and a half months ago ‘one of the things we’d like to demonstrate is what the sound of a gun … and the smell of a gun is like.’”

There was some initial push-back from some concerned about the potential for triggering PTSD reactions in veterans and trauma survivors among the staff, but Szymaniak said those concerns were addressed and alternate training will be made available where needed.

“I have a few in my building that I’m working with myself,” Szymaniak said. “They don’t have to be in a group. We’re looking at other types of simulations. We don’t have one yet, but we’ll make sure the teachers have an avenue to have that training, so to speak, without having to sit in a classroom by themselves when we do the training.”

The idea is to help teachers react more quickly in the event that an active-shooter incident occurs.

“We’re not inflexible,” Szymaniak said. “But we have to talk about it. It’s 2018 and sometimes we have to talk about bad things that happen in schools and prepare.”

The exercises began at Whitman Middle and Duval Schools as well as Hanson’s Indian Head and Maquan schools before April vacation and continued on Tuesday, April 24 at Conley School and Thursday, May 3 at Hanson Middle School.

The high school training is diffused among other school buildings, Szymaniak said, because the training has to be done when school buildings are closed and there are too many after-hours events held at the high school.

“I’ve gotten great feedback from Indian Head and Maquan, good feedback from Duval,” he said. “Whitman Middle gave us the first feedback that you couldn’t really hear well.”

He said high school teachers who had expressed concern have spoken to him directly.

The safety team discussed and agreed with the suggestion and met with the Whitman Hanson Education Association teachers’ union representatives and asked for their advice on how the teachers should be advised of the exercises.

“Their expectation was their teachers went through the training,” he said. “Because one of the questions I had and [Whitman Middle School Principal] George Ferro had was what if a teacher has had a situation where they don’t want to be involved because of a PTSD or because of an emotional issue?”

Kevin Kavka and Beth Stafford of WHEA were asked to reach out to building principals in such cases so some other accommodation could be made.

Lessons have been learned along the way in the course of conducting the training. In Whitman, teachers congregated in the cafeteria and Whitman Police officer Kevin Harrington demonstrated the firing of an AR-15 rifle in the hall and different parts of the lobby.

“It didn’t work as well as we had hoped it would because there was a lot of echo,” Szymaniak said. “So, lessons learned already, in Hanson — [School resource officer] Billy Frazier and local FD and PD were there — we met with the teachers in the library and then we just dispersed them to their classrooms.”

When Frazier and another officer walked through the hallways, shooting in different areas, the teachers found it more instructive.

“But they did say in some cases, ‘When you shot it off on the side of the building, and we were on this side, it sounded like somebody just dropped a bunch of books,” he said. “We’re just trying to get people sensory aware.”

The sulfur smell of gunpowder after a weapon is fired is also instructive, according to Szymaniak.

“Right away, you knew something was going on,” he said. “That’s the part of the training that we wanted people to engage in, not the fact that this could happen, but I’m trying to give you every tool we can to have you feel safe in your classrooms and be aware of situations.”

Szymaniak sent letters out to parents and staff ahead of the training to explain the reasons for it and how it would be undertaken, urging those with questions to contact him or building principals.

“I’ve had zero negative feedback,” he said. “Parents want it, too. They want to know what’s going on.”

School and public safety officials also plan in incorporating the exercise in next year’s Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evaluate (ALICE).

“When we used to do ALICE training, Billy [Frazier] would be out in the hall yelling different things and it’s not as real,” Szymaniak said. “This will be a bit more.”

Students will not be involved in the training but the issue will be discussed with them.

 

Ferro new assistant superintendent

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Whitman Middle School Principal George Ferro has been appointed an assistant superintendent of schools by an 8-0 vote of the School Committee on Wednesday, April 11. Members Alexandra Taylor and Steven Bois were absent.

Ferro has been a building-based administrator for 18 years, 14 of them as a principal.

He had been an assistant principal in Westport for four years and before that, was a teacher in New Bedford. He has been Mass. Principal of the Year and president of the Mass. School Administrator’s Association (MSAA) and is still on it’s Executive Committee.

“I’d like to thank the committee, I’d like to thank all of you here, I’d like to thank the communities of Whitman and Hanson, and I’d like to tell you that I’m honored, very excited — a little nervous, because I don’t know if I’m going to be a budget cut,” Ferro said. “I moved to this district for a reason. … The choices I’ve made for my family are for a reason, and that reason was to be the best principal that I knew how to be.”

He noted that the opportunity has come up a lot in the last nine years. But past hiring rounds were not the right time.

“Now I say OK this might be my time,” he said. “So what is it that I can bring you? I’m going to bring you me. I’m going to bring you honesty.”

Conley School Principal Karen Downey announced the recommendation from the search committee.

“I want to thank you, on behalf of our committee, for trusting us with that job,” she said. “It was a big job and we were glad to do it. We had an incredible group of people who came together to find the best person for this job.”

Downey was joined on the committee by Duval Principal Julie McKillop, Technology Director Chad Peters, and his fellow Central Office representative Lisa Forbes, Math Curriculum Director Brian Selig and five teachers including union representatives Beth Stafford and Kevin Kavka. Downey also sat down with Jeff Szymaniak, leaving the W-H principal job to become superintendent of schools, on what qualities he is looking for and the role he envisions for the new assistant superintendent.

“All the candidates we interviewed were good candidates,” she said. “But, by far and unanimously, there was one candidate who stood out above everybody else. We are really pleased, not only with the commitment, the enthusiasm and the knowledge base that George Ferro brings to our district, but we really loved his vision.”

She noted that the public has seen Ferro at School Committee meetings as a parent, taxpayer and WMS principal, but “what we saw in that room in the interview was George Ferro, assistant superintendent, and we were impressed.”

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner said that, when the search committee completed its work and Downey informed her of the unanimous decision, she and Szymaniak then spoke with Ferro.

“I think we are both very comfortable in recommending George Ferro as the next assistant superintendent,” she said.

He said he plans to support the vision of the new superintendent and work to move the district forward including an organizational flow chart and funnels of duties that have to take place so everyone knows what is expected.

Ferro said that he moved his family to Whitman three years after then- Superintendent of Schools Dr. John F. McEwan made him a principal because, “I believed in what this district was — or could be,” he said. He also wanted Whitman Middle School to be a great middle school.

As his family grew he made a commitment that his children would not attend W-H Regional High School so they could forge their own identities.

“I chose to put my family first,” he said. “When my son was a kid in my school and my daughter, I had to sit them down and tell them, ‘You will never get an award. You will never be an All-Star. You will never have somebody say you got that because of who your father is.’”

When his son was an eighth-grader, the teen had the choice to go where people would know him for himself and not as Mr. Ferro’s son — and he chose to go elsewhere for that chance.

“That also allowed me to be the person I am and still dedicate what I think is right, and what I think I know about it education to W-H.

While MSAA president, he unified the association to include administrators of all schools pre-K through 12, including charter schools if they wished to join. A year later, there are more than 2,700 members.

Ferro said he also wants to bring consistency and greater respect for teachers to the district.

The field of candidates for the position of WHRHS principal has been narrowed to three with final interviews and site visits to be scheduled.

The next search committee will be for principal of the Whitman Middle School.

SSVT phasing out collision repair program

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HANOVER — Changes are coming to the autobody program at South Shore Regional Vocational Technical High School — just as the industry and student interest in the field have changed over recent years.

The school’s Collision Repair Technology program is being phased out and combined with the Automotive program after the 2019-20 school year. Members of the SSVT School Committee voted to make the change at the Wednesday, April 18 meeting.

It does not mean that future students will lack opportunities to study collision repair at the school if that is the focus of their automotive interest, according to Superintendent/Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey.

“It’s my recommendation that we need to look differently at our Collision Repair Technology program,” Hickey said. “Given the fact that we’ve had some low enrollment, I’m looking for a different direction that would allow us to preserve some collision repair instruction as part of our Automotive program.”

School Committee Chairman Robert Molla Jr., of Norwell said he has discussed the issue with Hickey and program instructors.

“The only thing that will adjust our thinking is if the incoming class this coming year is overwhelmed with students for autobody,” Molla said.

Hickey has instructed the guidance department to discuss with students expressing an interest in collision on applications — and their parents — about how the program change will work. During exploratory weeks, a portion of the automotive shop time will focus on collision repair.

 “While there is a market for these jobs, it is not a market that seems to be sustainable with our high school audience,” he said noting one instructor is planning to retire at the end of the next school year and the other can be absorbed into automotive. Both departments have already begun to work on an integrated curriculum.

“When I went to vocational school, I had automotive and body shop was part of that,” Molla said. “With the new automobiles using aluminum, we’d have to put in an aluminum-type workshop in there. Aluminum doesn’t have the memory that metal does — metal, if you crash it, you can bring metal back but [with] aluminum, if it’s crashed it’s crashed.”

“It actually makes a lot of sense,” said Committee member Robert Heywood of Hanover.

The shop footprint and equipment will be preserved to provide space to help alleviate a chronic problem with a lack of adequate room in the Automotive program, according to Hickey.

“If we have [future] students that have an interest in collision repair, there’s a place for them to get a portion of that,” Hickey said.

The change also creates an opportunity to expand night school programs for young adults seeking collision repair credentials.

“If the local labor market requires this set of skills for entry-level … we should not be pigeon-holed saying that an automotive student should never, ever, ever be interested [in collision repair],” Hickey said. “If all of our local employers are talking about the difficulty of getting trained hires, why can’t we be a regional training center out of our adult-ed program?”

A closure plan, providing a rationale, must be presented to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), which Hickey has done. DESE has approved the plan.

“It’s [now] a matter for this committee to ultimately take up,” he said. The committee unanimously supported the proposal.

SERVICE PROJECT

In other business, the committee heard a glowing report regarding the school’s first-ever out-of-state community service learning project. Trip coordinator and Science Department Chairman Matthew Fallano and English Department Chairman John Scopeletti, who served as a chaperone, spoke about the trip.

“They have just — just — returned,” Hickey said. “When I say just I mean they woke up this morning on in New Jersey. … I want to thank them personally for joining two other staff members and a group of students in what was our inaugural service learning trip.”

Fallano said the students impressed worksite leaders with their knowledge and OSHA construction certifications. He noted that SSVT students were able to problem solve and fix electrical issues and Allied Health students who joined the trip became “the greatest spacklers on the planet.”

“It was worth all the time and effort put into it,” he said. “It was extremely rewarding for them, it was extremely rewarding for us. … There was not one person that was not complementary of our students for their professionalism.”

Fallano added that homeowners also appreciated the students’ work. He thanked the South Shore area union and parents who donated to the cost of the trip and area residents who attended a fund-raising meat raffle.

Rockland Computer Information Technology senior Evan Dogu was honored as the Student of the Month. Dogu, who plans to enter the Air Force after graduation, is employed at a Pembroke data storage firm and is an honor student who has played center/linebacker for the football team, of which he was a captain, as well as lacrosse and is president of the school chapter of Business Professionals of America. He scored highest in the state on the BPA exam for computer technology and theory as well as notching a high score on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) of tests. He will represent SSVT at the BPA national competition in Texas later this year.

 9.5 percent assessment increase OK’d

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The School Committee voted to reduce the fiscal 2019 assessment increase to the towns to 9.5 percent over the current budget during a special meeting on Monday, April 23.

The committee also gave its final approval of revisions to the regional agreement. Both issues will go before voters at town meetings on Monday, May 7.

School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes took part in the meeting remotely by conference call, necessitating voice votes, and member Kevin Lynam was absent. Vice Chairman Fred Small presided over the meeting.

Hanson Town Administrator Michael McCue, who could not attend due to ongoing meetings with his town’s Finance Committee, sent an email to Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner Monday advising her that Hanson could go to 9.5 percent, but no higher.

“The town of Hanson will do its best to meet an overall assessment [increase] of 9.5 percent,” McCue wrote and Small read into the record. “Anything in excess of this amount cannot be supported by our FY ’19 budget. Additional reductions in the assessment are obviously helpful.”

At 9.5 percent, the increase to the budget, is $1,924,598. For Whitman that would mean $1,151,295 and Hanson’s share is $773,304 based on enrollment.

He said long-term strategic planning would be necessary before work begins on the fiscal 2020 budget, however.

“This is probably one of the more difficult things that we face,” said School Committee member Robert Trotta, noting the committee had initially debated seeking a 13.65-percent increase to include no-cost all-day kindergarten in the budget. “Obviously that would have been too rich for both towns, and I feel as though, as a School Committee member, going down to 9.5 is probably the right thing to do.”

An 11-percent increase would have added a special ed science instructor at each middle school as well as an elementary-level social worker parent liaison.

The 9.5-percent increase provides level services. A 5-percent increase would have meant the loss of 19 positions, according to Gilbert-Whitner.

“We have a very solid strategic plan and our plan tells us we need no-cost full-day kindergarten, it tells us that our foreign language program is not very strong,” she said, noting that new English, science and math programs are also needed. “It’s all going to cost money.”

Trotta said the School Committee sets assessments with what is best for the school system in mind, but it runs into town budget constraints.

“There’s been a lot of talk about starting this budget process earlier in the year,” he said. “It seems as the budget process as it stands doesn’t really seem to gel when it comes to this idea.”

School Committee member Steven Bois agreed, adding that budgets reflect what students need more than what the district needs — as well as providing other essential town services.

“I want a four-minute ambulance response, I want the best in our police personnel,” he said. “We hope that we can find a way to do this.”

School Committee member Michael Jones also wants taxpayers to realize the schools are struggling, too.

“There’s no new trucks, there’s no new employees, in this budget,” he said. “We’re losing this year. … This is not a step forward at 9.5 percent. In my opinion, it’s a step backward.”

“From my point of view, we’re providing the same services that we provided this year — nothing additional — and we’re eliminating a position from one of the schools that was there due to a bubble in enrollment,” Small said.

“It’s really got to be everyone coming together — all the departments — It’s good fire, it’s good police, it’s good schools. It’s not one at the expense of the others,” Gilbert-Whitner said. “We also have to push at the state level.”

Unfunded and underfunded mandates from state and federal legislation were again criticized.

“I don’t think the people that are making those decisions contact the people who would be impacted by [them],” Trotta said.

“I sit here again disappointed,” said School Committee member Christopher Howard. “I’m disappointed as a whole in where we’re at both within this budget process and where we are collectively with the towns. … It comes down to what should those communities look like?”

Hayes said both towns have been among the most supportive of the schools in the state.

“While 9.5 percent isn’t ideal, it’s probably as much as the towns can afford, whether we’re talking about police or fire or any of those people,” he said. “They’re very supportive of the schools and  the things that we do, so I would support the 9.5 percent 100-percent.”

In other business, Mass. Association of Regional Schools (MARS) consultant Malcolm Reid and Steve Donovan and MARS Assistant Executive Director Stephen Hemman attended the meeting.

Hemman outlined the next steps for the regional agreement at Gilbert-Whitman’s request.

Five or six original copies of the document will be sent to each town meeting with appropriate signatures of School Committee members and certified votes from each Town Meeting — if passed by the required majority vote — will be attached for submission to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for the commissioner’s signature.

Town Meeting will not be permitted to change anything.

“This is the document,” Hemman said. “If one town wants to change something, then it can’t happen.”

Small also noted the agreement has been reviewed and accepted by the School Department’s legal counsel.

Hayes, who also chaired the revision subcommittee, thanked those who served on that subcommittee and otherwise assisted with the process.

“We had people from the town, we had selectmen, we had a lot of people who participated in this committee and did a tremendous amount of work,” Hayes said.

Gilbert-Whitner also thanked the MARS consultants.

“They’ve been with us all the way through the process,” she said. “We began this a year ago … going over an agreement that had been typed on an Apple IIe computer. We’ve come a long way with this — there were schools in it that are no longer in existence. I think this is a great document for the future.”

Operational override sought

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WHITMAN  — Selectmen voted by a slim margin Tuesday, April 24 to recommend a budget to Town Meeting that includes the entire 9.5 school assessment increase within the levy limit — and to call for an operational override to fund the $603,000 needed to fully fund other departments.

Selectmen Brian Bezanson, Randy LaMattina and Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski voted for the override recommendation with fellow board members Scott Lambiase and Dan Salvucci voting against.

A special election for an override question will take place Sturday, June 2.

LaMattina supported the operational override provided department heads be able to make a fair impact statement on Town Meeting floor, at 7:30 p.m., Monday, May 7.

During discussion, Lambiase and LaMattina had argued in favor of including 7.5 percent of the school assessment within the levy limit, placing the remaining 2 percent within an override.

Fire Chief Timothy Grenno, who spoke against an operational override said after the meeting that his cellphone was already blowing up with messages from angry members of the firefighters’ union.

“I think the board has put the town into a difficult position tonight in placing an operational override on town departments that are already strapped to fund one budget,” Grenno said. “I think it would work a lot better, I guess is the best way to put it, if everybody shared a little bit of the pie.”

He said he does not have a lot of confidence in the town’s willingness to pass an operational override.

School Committee member Fred Small, who attended the meeting in support of the assessment, pledged to support other departments in the effort to pass an override.

“I can only speak on behalf of myself, but you have my undying support for the override,” Small said after the vote. “It’s not our intent to pit one department against another, it’s just our intention to try and survive.”

A 9.5-percent assessment increase puts Whitman’s share at $1,151,295 and a 7.5-percent increase puts it at $908,000. If it were part of an override, it would grow by $22,700.

“This has to be coupled with a real understanding that next year we hit a real wall unless we make some progress [with budgets],” said Town Administrator Frank Lynam. He said the immediate course of action, should Town Meeting approve the 9.5 percent, would be to meet with department heads to determine what must be done to ensure a successful override.

The Finance Committee had come back to the Board of Selectmen with a recommendation to place 5 percent of the schools’ assessment increase, or $603,210, within the levy limit, which would have required an override to fund the remaining 5.5 percent — or $602,783 — for the schools. That represents $12,667,403 in the levy and $602,783 outside the levy limit. The total budget increase is 10 percent.

Fiscal 2018 began with a $30,382,000 budget, according to Lynam. This year, requests totaled $32,488,000. There were 29 articles included in the first draft of the warrant totaling $2,500,000 in appropriations.

Articles recommended inside the levy now total $828,433 with articles funded from other sources, including free cash, the ambulance fund, the police fine account and borrowing total $1,743,000.

“In preparing this budget, we removed 13 articles totaling $724,508,” Lynam said. “Each of the schools we’re participating in have significant increases.”

South Shore Vo-Tech, seeing an increase of 10 Whitman students, is up 8.9 percent, Norfolk Vocational-Agricultural is up 10.6 percent and WHRHS is up 9.5 percent in their assessments.

Salvucci, who also serves as the Whitman representative to the SSVT School Committee, stressed that school’s entire budget is only up 3.9 percent.

“The problem is half [the W-H] budget is funded by the state and that revenue is not growing,” Lynam said.

Small said the 9.5 percent assessment increase represents a 2.6 percent increase in the overall W-H budget.

“I am unbelievably uncomfortable with this proposition,” Kowalski said of the Finance Committee’s recommendation for a 5 percent increase within the levy for the schools. “It appears to be arbitrarily a 5-percent assessment and then hoping for a successful override to grant the schools the money they say they need to just keep things going.”

Kowalski noted a strong school system is what attracts families to settle in a town.

“Our police department and our fire department are both departments we can be proud of as a town,” he said to a large crown attending the meeting, including Grenno, Police Chief Scott Benton and Deputy Chief Timothy Hanlon. “They are also well-equipped and well-compensated — and they’re well-peopled.” He admitted that the DPW have routinely been budgeted as “the fourth out of four.”

Kowalski said the town’s budget needs to expand and an override is the only way to accomplish that.

“I’m totally uncomfortable, however, asking for half the money we want to give to the schools and they basically scrape by with what they have now,” I’d like to see the assessment go up. If that means that the Finance Committee has to go back and deal with the other departments and see what can happen there … then it has to go that way.”

Bezanson said he completely agreed.

“I know you’re shocked,” he quipped. “I’m not one for overrides. I’m not one for higher taxes … but why do we subject the schools, all the time, to being the ones that have to have the overrides?”

Bezanson echoed a frequently voiced position of Kowalski’s — “At some point, we have to decide what kind of community we want.”

Salvucci asked if discontinuing non-mandated busing could be a solution, but Lynam argued the money involved was such a small part of the total budget it would not have much effect, and that the bus contract does not allow the town to do much more than reconfiguring a small number of buses.

“It appears that the Finance Committee is looking for direction on this,” Kowalski said. “I would like to see this board give them a little bit of direction.”

LaMattina noted that Selectmen made it very clear to the Finance Committee the previous week that 5 percent was not an acceptable number for the school assessment increase.

“We made it very clear we didn’t want to see less than 7.5 percent guaranteed going to the schools,” he said. “I’m saddened that this was even presented in front of us because this is a complete 180 from what we talked about showing more fiscal stability and ttying to do the right thing — not only by the schools, but by every other department in town. I’ll tell you right now, there’s no way I’m supporting 5 percent.”

LaMattina said he felt they provided sufficient direction last week.

“At some point, we have to come up with a number and maybe and override is going to have to be on both sides,” Lambiase said. “There’s going to be a lot of pain felt on both sides.”

“I think the citizens will do the right thing,” Bezanson said, noting the town has long been one of the more financially stable communities on the South Shore.

Lynam said that, while not enough, 78 percent of new growth funding has been used to finance school budgets.

“The problem is, we’ve been allowed to build a budget that’s not sustainable without our partner in the budget, and that partner being the state, continuing to contribute,” Lynam said. Much of the School Department’s costs, such as utilities and retirements, are not controllable, either. “We’re creating an us-and-them and that’s not the way to fund an operation. It may also be an issue of what area is more sensitive to the voters.”

During the discussion, Grenno asked if, in effect, the town was being asked to vote a second time on the $310,000 override passed last year to add three firefighters to the department.

“I get what the schools are looking for and what maintains basically what they are doing now and helps us further the school district,” Grenno said, noting his son attends W-H schools and he thinks highly of the districts’ quality. “But you’re basically playing Russian roulette with all the other departments in town.”

He said he did not understand the logic.

“If the schools need the money, then I support them, let’s go for an override and let’s support the schools and get them their override,” Grenno said. Lambiase agreed that the schools have to have a dog in the override hunt, too.

“Otherwise, there’s no incentive for the schools to participate in this,” he said. “And they’re the ones that can convince the town that we actually need this — we need it on both sides.”

Kowalski and Bezanson said they have been hearing about departments being pitted against each other for 14 years.

“We’re still looking at a small section of the town [government] to cut up, to make it up if this override doesn’t work,” Lambiase countered. “That’s just not going to work, it would be devastating.”

Small said the citizen in him “understands exactly where you’re coming from. The School Committee member has a little bit of blinders and I want to fight for every single thing that we can do for the schools.”

School panel delays final assessment vote, mulls suing state

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When the W-H Regional School Committee convenes a special budget meeting at 7 p.m., Monday, April 23, it will be decision time on the assessment increase to the towns.

In the meantime, the committee voted at the Wednesday, April 11 meeting to seek legal representation, on a contingency or pro bono basis, to determine if the panel could or should sue the state for the past 10 years of underfunded regional transportation reimbursements that the state requires, but does not fully fund. They are also seeking other area regional school districts to join in such a lawsuit.

“We need to do something, we need to try something,” School Committee member Fred Small, said in support of his motion, arguing the funds owed could be as high as $400,000 per year. “To do nothing is not an option.”

The April 23 meeting was scheduled to permit more time for more focused discussion before a vote, as well as additional talks with town officials in the interim, without delaying a School Committee vote on a final assessment too close to the Monday, May 7 town meetings.

The percentage can remain the same or be reduced, but cannot be increased as the budget has already been certified. Every percent cut from the budget cuts three positions.

An 11-percent increase was voted when the committee certified the fiscal 2019 budget on March 20 — a $1,387,777 increase in Whitman and an $840,705 increase in Hanson over last year. Without that assessment, the school budget is in deficit by $2,228,482 after transferring $450,000 from excess and deficiency. After conferring with the town administrators and finance committee members last week, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner said the increase could come down to 9.5 percent with a cut of one position at the Conley School — where there had been an enrollment bubble that has moved through the grade levels — and if proposals for adding a special ed science instructor at each middle school as well as an elementary-level social worker parent liaison were scrapped from the budget. The Conley position cut lowers the budget by $90,000 and the other moves could save about another $300,000.

Hanson Town Administrator Michael McCue said his town could potentially handle a 7-percent increase, while Whitman Town Administrator Frank Lynam said a 5-percent increase is as far as his town could afford to go.

“I want to express my appreciation to Ruth and her team for the conversations we’ve had over the last couple of weeks,” McCue said in urging the committee to seriously consider Gilbert-Whitner’s recommendations. “Both towns are obviously, and unfortunately this seems to be the case every year, struggling in terms of meeting the assessment that the School Committee has voted.”

Excluding the enterprise fund that exclusively finances sewer and water projects, Whitman’s budget is $31 million.

“I have 5 [percent]. I know where I can get the extra money,” he said. “If we went to 7, then I would have to do some other things, but I could still get the money. If we go to 9 or 10, we’re changing the way we do business in the town because that’s the only way I can make it work.”

“We do not want to eviscerate the schools but we also do not want to eviscerate our towns,” McCue said. “The town of Hanson cannot support an 11-percent increase without some draconian cuts that I don’t think anyone in either town wishes to see.”

It would take an increase of $370 to the median single-family household in Whitman to meet the 11 percent assessment increase, Lynam said.

COMMUNITY IMPACT

“Frankly, I’m concerned about the viability of our communities,” he said. He said that, as bedroom communities, the only thing Whitman and Hanson have to offer prospective homebuyers is the quality of life, a significant part of which is the quality of town social structures, especially the schools.

Lynam said that while he personally would be willing to pay an added $440 on his home as a result of an override, he does not think enough others in town would support it for an override to pass.

He also expressed concern with towns’ ability to sustain an average 4-percent budget growth from the school district with no help from the state.

Small asked if a 7-percent commitment could be made if an override was needed for the rest. Lynam said he would have to explain to his residents why an override would be necessary and it would have to be one to fund all town operations, including schools.

McCue also stressed that the towns are committed to educating the children in their communities, but must also be able to fund some requests of other departments as well.

“We find ourselves faced with a very significant challenge in one of the most difficult budget deficits in recent history,” Whitman Finance Committee Chairman Richard Anderson said. “The reality is that the town cannot financially support the budget that was presented by the district earlier this year.”

He added that the Whitman Finance Committee has not yet voted any recommendations for the town budget, but at its April 10 meeting “it was generally accepted” that a 5-percent assessment ($623,402) increase could be recommended — but even that amount “represents a significant challenge” for the town, he said.

Lynam said even that percentage would be “absolutely devastating” to Whitman as it represents 76 percent of this year’s new growth.

“As Yogi would say, ‘[It’s] déjà vu all over again,’” Lynam said. “It’s easy to say we’re going to do better next year. I think we’ve been saying that for 15 years — and then the act of governing happens, the act of education happens … and we start doing all the things we have to do to make our world function and the budget sits back there a little bit.”

He said Whitman has contributed an average of 83 percent of town growth to the school budget, which he said sounds great.

“The problem is, our growth is a terrible number,” Lynam said, noting it averages between $250,000 to $300,000. “Neither Whitman nor Hanson has industry. Neither Whitman nor Hanson has an opportunity for rapid and strong growth.”

A “phenomenal” jump in growth last year, which saved Whitman’s budget according to Lynam, was from National Grid, which came under the personal property category and is not sustainable, Lynam said. That $92 million figure has already amortized over two years by almost $30 million and will be gone in three or four years and while, the tax revenue it generated still exists, it has shifted from commercial to residential property.

School Committee member Dan Cullity said Whitman’s decision to fund the new police station within the levy limit about the same time state Chapter 70 funds began to decrease in 2007 created a “perfect storm” of budget problems.

“With that happening, the schools began getting rid of things left and right,” he said, suggesting the towns had not provided sufficient financial backing, to which Lynam took exception.

The total impact of budget increased in all other departments is 2.1 percent, while the schools increase was 4.2 percent.

“I don’t have an office that’s overstaffed,” he said. “When I make cuts in personnel costs I may be closing offices.”

School Committee member Kevin Lynam suggested Cullity’s question was more a political than management one.

“Only the voters can go and vote for a tax increase,” he said. “Short of that, you’re talking about reallocating the money, changing the pie chart. … Maybe that should be on the table.”

LEGAL OPTIONS

School Committee member Robert O’Brien Jr., prompted Small’s idea for a lawsuit when he asked how much the district loses each year to unfunded or underfunded mandates from the state. He pointed to communities pushing back against plans to bring towns under OSHA oversight.

“Towns have to push back because it happens in the public safety sector all the time,” said O’Brien, who is Hanson’s deputy fire chief. “You want [us] to do something? OK, but the state’s got to fund it.”

School Committee member Robert Trotta pointed to teacher strikes and protest marches in West Virginia, Oklahoma and Arizona as evidence that educators are finding support in their demands for adequate state funding.

While not opposed to taking legal action, School Committee member Christopher Howard urged the amending of the motion to see if other regional districts might join in the effort.

“Going it alone may be a challenge, but I do think its time to come up with something,” he said. “We talk about the same thing over and over, year after year.”

Small’s only concern would be the potential for receiving a watered-down settlement and said he would start making calls the next day.

Gilbert-Whitner said the other option would be seeking legislation that permits regional districts to charge for transportation.

Whitman Selectmen, Fincom weigh ‘what-if’ scenarios

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WHITMAN  — In a joint meeting with the Finance Committee Tuesday, April 17 — which involved some heated exchanges between Selectmen and Finance member Shawn Kain — officials discussed the town’s ongoing revenue problem and how to balance the fiscal 2019 budget.

Town Administrator Frank Lynam has already “X-ed out” 20 articles from the annual Town Meeting warrant, including those seeking new DPW vehicles, public safety radio, data terminal and radar equipment and a reduction in requests for police cruisers and another which reflects a change to the approach in repairing the library roof, as well as some schools maintenance articles. Some others, including a new utility vehicle for the Fire Department, are in question.

“You’ll see the articles that we went through and said, ‘Can’t do it’,” he said. “What I’m saying is we’ve gone bare-bones and there’s a danger in this because we’re now removing items that involve capital maintenance.”

It also leaves the town’s budget still $1 million short, Lynam said.

“Some of these are critically important,” agreed Finance Committee Chairman Richard Anderson, noting his committee had not yet voted on recommendations. “We’re going to look at budget scenarios that may reinstate some of them or that may actually remove additional ones.”

Selectmen plan to continue that deliberation on Tuesday, April 24 following the Finance Committee’s work in the interim and a special School Committee meeting at 7 p.m., Monday, April 23 when its members are expected to make a final vote on assessments to the towns. Recommendations on annual Town Meeting warrant articles will be voted on next week. The annual warrant must be posted by April 30 for the May 7 Town Meeting.

Four special Town Meeting warrant articles were recommended by a 4-0 vote of Selectmen — Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski was absent — and 7-0-1 votes of the Finance Committee — with Kain abstaining. A fifth article involving town speed limits was recommended by Selectmen.

Right now, Whitman Selectmen are weighing the options between three “what if” scenarios involving the tax impact of each one.

“I would be really opposed to an override that funds part of the deficit and doesn’t fix the problem,” Lynam said.

‘WHAT IFS’

Based on a $16.01 per thousand tax rate, tax bill using the current value with stabilization added, based on a median single-family home worth $278,400 would be $4,596.38 per year with a 50-cent per thousand increase or $139.20. Calculating the current value and adding the school assessment increase would put it at $4,667.12 per year with a 79-cent per thousand increase or $219.94. The current value with both amounts would increase it to $4,821 with a $1.31 per thousand increase or $364.70.

“That’s a fix that solves the problem — for this year,” Lynam said. “But we haven’t solved the problem and with due respect to people who think we have to do more planning, we have a revenue problem.”

That median single-family annual tax bill is now $4,457.18.

“I don’t think any of us are seriously recommending that W-H accept 5 percent,” Lynam said, reminding the board that Whitman is not the only town player involved in the school budget. “We’re probably not going to do 7.25 [percent].”

The town is also taking a serious look at the $381,357 cost of non-mandated busing. While it would not likely be eliminated, discussion will continue to center on subsidizing only part of it.

There are currently 775 students who ride the bus and live outside the 1.5-mile mandated busing radius around schools, putting the per-student cost at $493.

A user fee of $165 per year per student is being looked at to help reduce the cost of non-mandated busing by one-third or $86,245. The School Committee is also looking into a possible suit against the state for unpaid regional transportation funding. [See related story].

“Again, the title of this document is “What If?” so none of these things are etched in stone,” Lynam said. “It’s merely a suggestion for another way to reduce some of the cost that the town is experiencing from non-mandated busing.”

School Committee member Fred Small said the impact of decisions parents make based on user fees will help in calculating how bus routes can be reconfigured and how much would ultimately be saved.

“I think the impact is greater at the high school with people not riding than at the elementary schools,” Small said.

Selectman Brian Bezanson questioned the fairness for large or low-income families. Lynam said non-mandated busing fees only impact families not entitled to a ride in the first place.

“We did set this up and they are counting on it,” Bazanson said. “It’s become a common practice.”

Finance Committee member Marion Mackerwicz said that, as a parent, she appreciated Bezanson’s words but didn’t see the problem.

“If it comes down to will they get an education or if we’re going to cut teachers, I think that walking can be seen in a positive light and I think we’re looking at that,” she said. “We have to look at what creates revenue — the schools do, busing doesn’t.”

But Bezanson questioned if the savings would be enough to improve education. Small said that staggering school start times has already saved the school budgets about $400,000 a year.

“That would be something we’d love to see back to normalcy, but for now it’s just not in the cards,” Small said. “You could establish a family threshold so it would only cost X-amount of dollars per family.” He also suggested a financial need waiver could be considered.

“We’re trying to present this in a way that is mindful of everybody’s interests,” Anderson said.

Lynam said Selectmen had set a 2-percent guide for increases in non-contracted salaries, and requestors who exceeded that were “communicated with” and advised about that position.

ONGOING TALKS

“This is very difficult,” Selectmen Vice Chairman Dan Salvucci said. “We haven’t seen anything like this since 2 ½ went in. … No way am I a fan of doing layoffs … I will not even consider that, me personally, but I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

“Whether it is 9 percent of 11 percent, the budget is devastating to the town,” Lynam said because of constraints of Proposition 2 ½ and the makeup of Whitman’s largely residential tax base.

He argued that the quality of the schools is one of the most important factors in maintaining that tax base.

“We have been fortunate, over the years, to have a good, well-balanced school system, but we’re beginning to lose it,” he said. “We have less services, we have limited language arts in middle school. … When the schools come in and present a budget, what they’re trying to do is meet the basics.”

Anderson said it is important to continue that discussion.

“We obviously have a unique situation,” Anderson said. “While we’re waiting for the schools to certify a budget number, we still have to move forward with recommendations for the rest of the budget.”

He said time is not on the Finance Committee’s side and agreed more time is needed to work on the budget next year.

Lynam and selectmen also argued that the real solution can only be found at the state level.

“We’re not in a unique position here,” said Bezanson, while acknowledging that the town could have acted sooner when state local aid funds were reduced. “There are many other towns in this commonwealth that are in the same boat and that boat is sinking.”

Selectman Randy LaMattina, among other issues, advocates restructuring the police station debt to free up about $860,000 from the levy limit and sees the damage done to the school budget from underfunded regional transportation mandate.

“But I will not strip-mine departments to fund another,” he said of the school budget, while advocating more than a 5-percent assessment increase. “Something needs to be done and it has to start with the people in this room.”

HEATED EXCHANGES

Kain then weighed in with his request to create a strategic capital plan, focusing on Fire Chief Timothy Grenno’s budget requests and recent comments in response to Kain’s last appearance before Selectmen to advocate more responsible budgeting.

“I really hadn’t intended to reply, but I’m going to,” Lynam said, noting he appreciated Kain’s enthusiasm and efforts to stress his points. “You are part of a committee. This discussion occurred in your committee. You have been zealous about establishing a capital plan this year.”

But he added it was made clear to Kain and the Finance Committee in February that the town was not prepared to build that.

“I really enjoy your comments about capital improvements because right now we have no revenue source for capital [work],” Lynam said, raising his voice. “The one revenue source we might have … is committed to paying for a debt that already exists. So, if you’re the guy that has the answers, tell me where it’s coming from.”

Kain argued that there is a misconception that a plan is only needed when there is financial growth.

“We need a plan when there is not growth,” he said. “When we’re in negative feedback loop we’re in triage. The plan tells us what to do. People need to see that we’re in triage, they need to see the financial trends and see what we’re struggling with so that this is an open, transparent process.”

He said the job of Lynam and the Board of Selectmen is to set priorities.

“I think that’s what a leader does,” Kain said arguing that Selectmen should meet weekly until at least 10 p.m. to create budget policy. “We’re in crisis and we need leaders who are going to have swift, decisive action to help us get out of crisis. We don’t need passive leadership right now and I feel like we’re getting passive leadership.”

Board members took strenuous objection to that characterization.

 “You have the answer for everything but you haven’t given one damn answer yet,” Lynam said. “You talk about manuals. Tell me how that’s going to increase money, I want to hear it.”

 “It doesn’t matter how we got here, we’re in a problem,” said LaMattina at another point. “Your solutions right now, although I agree with some of them — I agree with some of the practices, do not solve the problem right now. As the appointed and elected officials in the town, we need to solve the problem and not argue with each other.”

Mackerwicz argued there should be ways to develop revenues in town and that guidance should come from Selectmen.

“They voted for you to provide that guidance,” she said.

Bezanson later in the meeting said he was offended at the charge that the board lacks leadership and he found it “humourous” that Kain followed his comments critical of passive leadership with abstentions on the special Town Meeting warrant articles.

Keeping future in balance

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HANOVER — “So, life is going to punch us in the face.”

As they walked to their first booth at South Shore Vo-Tech’s ninth annual Credit For Life Fair Thursday, April 12, one student summed up to her friend the day’s lesson with her own take on the program’s motto — “If you don’t have a plan for your money, someone else will.”

The object is to help students avoid getting a financial “punch in the face” from life.

Credit For Life is intended to be a practice session for the realities of budgeting before being faced with the need to do so when it counts. It’s a chance to get financial do-overs, and sometimes they are needed.

Rockland Trust Hanson Branch Manager Karen Sharon, a Whitman resident, said there are two common mistakes most students make during the event — they don’t realize they may not be able to afford a new car right away and that budgeting $25 per month for spending money won’t get them very far. Rockland Trust is the program sponsor at SSVT.

“We’ve been telling them for four years what’s involved in the real world. The Credit For Life Fair, with two months left before they graduate, gives them that one concise, complete simulation — that there are a lot of difficult, challenging and exciting decisions they’re going to have to make,” Superintendent/Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey said the timing of the program is part of its impact.

“This is when the senior countdown begins,” he told the seniors during a breakfast gathering in the school cafeteria. “Clearly, we’re sending you a message that you must always have money in your budget for Dunkin’ Donuts and coffee.”

In a more serious vein, he told the largest senior class in school history that they harbor more potential wealth, based on learned skills, than any other group of high school seniors on the South Shore.

“Generating wealth is only half of it,” he said. “[Planning] what you’re going to do with this money, and in what disciplined manner you are going to use this wealth, is essential.”

He urged students to applaud event planner and Math teacher Mary Farmer and the business and Parents Association volunteers staffing booths to help them calculate the funds needed for food, housing, transportation, insurance, credit lending, education and even luxuries and unexpected windfalls or liabilities.

Students’ budgets had to balance and be reviewed by teachers or Rockland Trust offcials at the event’s credit counseling center.

Student Council President Rosa Gachia of Whitman, an Allied Health student said she hopes to become a surgeon and was interested in the cost of the higher education she will need. She has been accepted at three colleges and universities.

“I’m hoping it will help me learn how to manage my money better,” she said, noting her Credit For Life job assignment and income was as a licensed practical nurse (LPN). “I’m hoping this will at least give me an idea of the path I need to take moneywise, because I know I’m going to be in debt a lot because of the schooling and the amount of years and not enough money for it.”

Students were assigned a job title, gross and net annual income figures and charged with making financial decisions with an eye toward maintaining a balanced budget at the end of the event.

Hanson Automotive student Calvin King was looking for some pointers in balancing his credit and savings.

“Trying to get the car was kind of a pain,” he said, but he was one of the prudent ones who opted for a used vehicle for his first purchase. He found “all the math you have to do” to be an eye-opener.

“It’s a lot,” King said.

“The fact that everybody needs a house at some point” was a sobering reality for Hanson Computer Information Technology student Michael Andrasy, who was going it alone on that decision during the event. “I haven’t really calculated it yet, but [the budget’s] going pretty good,” he said. “I’m just out to learn about what I’ll need in the real world.”

Cheyenne Chaplin of Whitman, a Collision Repair Technology student, learned at the Reality Check wheel that even good surprises have a downside.

“I got Patriots tickets, but have to pay for parking and tax,” she said. “I’d like to see how [the event] relates to real life.”

And real life for these students, some of whom are directly entering the workforce, is two months away.

“The timing is perfect,” Hickey said. “We have more students out on co-op[erative learning] than ever before. We have more students working part-time jobs or otherwise in the workforce.”