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McCue hired as new town Administrator

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HANSON — The abrupt resignation of former interim Town Administrator Richard LaCamera, who walked out in the midst of the Tuesday, April 12 Board of Selectmen’s meeting, was not immediately recognized for what it was by the board when it happened.

At the end of the meeting, Selectmen Chairman Bruce Young had expressed confidence that, when he calmed down, LaCamera would be back to work the next day. Young, too, had been so angry that he contemplated walking out of the meeting, but was convinced to stay.

It was not until members of the board found the note in the second-floor Selectmen’s office later in the evening that it was clear what LaCamera had meant when he had gathered up his files, saying, “I’ve had enough,” after the second of two contentious discussions about an audit of Camp Kiwanee.

“He did leave a message on his desk, saying that he was resigning immediately,” Young said Friday, April 15.

LaCamera’s last day had been scheduled for Friday, April 22, after he completed Town Meeting preparations. That was accomplished when selectmen voted to finalize and sign the warrants on April 12. He had submitted his 30-day notice a few weeks ago, Young said.

“He was there on a temporary basis, he served the town well and we have actually signed a contract with a new town administrator the following night (Wednesday, April 13) for a three-year contract,” Young said.

Michael McCue will begin serving as town administrator on Monday, May 9.

McCue and selectmen signed a three-year contract with an automatic one-year renewal and which returns an indemnification clause, such as the one in former Town Administrator Réne Read’s contract, during an executive session on Wednesday, April 13. Young said indemnification, required by MGL Chapter 258 Section 9, holds the town to indemnification not to exceed $1 million.

McCue has been most recently town administrator in Rochester and prior to that in Avon. He has also served as assistant to the Mendon Board of Selectmen and was himself a selectman in Mansfield.

Young declined to comment on why or why not LaCamera would suddenly resign. A request for comment from LaCamera was not responded to by presstime this week.

Immediately before his departure,  LaCamera had engaged in a heated exchange with Young over the chairman’s comments concerning drinking at Camp Kiwanee as the issue was being discussed as one of the safety and security concerns surrounding the Bluegrass on the Bog festival.

Two women in the audience had just given conflicting comments about drinking during the festival.

Event organizer Michael Foster said alcohol is not permitted at the festival, but a Hanson resident said she had seen drinking when she visited the festival last year with her two children, challenging Recreation Commission Chairman David Blauss’ statement last week that it is a family event. Another resident in the audience challenged that accusation.

“There was alcohol, I’ve seen it,” said Kristine Briggs Coose.

“Just because there’s a red Solo cup, doesn’t mean there’s alcohol in it,” the second woman countered. “I understand there’s a song about it, but it doesn’t always mean that.”

Young had said “people drink everywhere,” comparing any alcohol consumption at public events with restaurants to which parents bring children where there are bars.

“What comes to mind is you’ve got a bunch of drunks up there, walking around bothering people and accosting them and forcing people off the premises,” he said of the depictions of festival behavior. “There can be people drinking, but they can be civil, I mean people drink everywhere, almost, they’re not accosting people.”

LaCamera had then pointed out that police details are required.

After the discussion concluded, LaCamera confronted Young in an exchange difficult to hear in the noisy room as the crowd filed out, but which was picked up clearly by Whitman-Hanson Community Access microphones.

“You’re out of line, Bruce,” LaCamera said as people were leaving. “You were way out of line.”

“I’m out of line?” Young replied.

“You were way out of line,” LaCamera repeated.

“How am I out of line?” Young asked.

“Come in and see me tomorrow morning, because I’m probably leaving tomorrow,” LaCamera said, jabbing a finger in Young’s direction.

“How the hell am I out of line?” Young asked. “You’d like to tell me, go. Let’s do it right now.”

“Defending them and saying that drinking is OK?” LaCamera said.

“No, I didn’t say that,” Young countered.

“Yes, you did,” LaCamera said.

“I never said that. Never in the world did I say that,” Young said.

“I can’t believe it,” LaCamera said.

“Let’s do it right now,” Young said. “Let’s do it right now.

“We’re not going to do it right now,” LaCamera said.

Selectmen Kenny Mitchell and James McGahan urged a short recess to cool the air.

“He’s not going to accuse me of … I’m taking a short recess is right,” Young said, banging the gavel.

“Yeah, goodbye,” LaCamera said. “I’ve had enough.”

Whitman places override question

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WHITMAN — Whitman Selectmen voted 5-0 on Tuesday, April 5 to place a $1,726,588 ballot question for its share of the assessment increase in the $49,714,344 WHRSD operating budget for fiscal 2017.

With a successful override, Whitman’s assessment would be $12,719,345. The increase would be and additional $1.24 per $1,000 valuation of $357 on a house valued at $288,000 in Whitman.

The 20.15-percent local assessment increase includes an overall  3.5-percent hike inside the levy limit with the balance contingent on a Proposition 2 ½ override in both communities. The total increase outside the levy is $3 million, apportioned based on student population.

Whitman’s override article is separate — Article 55 — from the operating budget in Article 2, “to keep the process clean so people can see what is being asked for,” Town Administrator Frank Lynam said. Article 2 represents the increase inside the levy limit to provide level services to the schools.

“What the School Committee did was split what they needed,” said Selectmen Chairman Carl Kowalski.

Hanson Selectmen voted 3-2 on the same night to place a $1,241,141 article and ballot question for its share of the assessment, which would increase the town’s assessment to $8,956,207.

“Last year, when we did the capital exclusion [for school computer upgrades], it hit everybody in the third and fourth quarter because the first two quarters were estimated bills Lynam told his Board of Selectmen April 5 in a meeting broadcast over Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV. “I found that the town is allowed, if the vote is taken prior to July 1 — and sufficiently early enough to allow the assessor to plan it — if the assessment passes Town Meeting and passes at the election the assessor can vote to add that money to the assessments beginning with the first quarterly bill, so people don’t get two small bills and then suddenly get hit with the value of the override over two bills rather than four.”

Like some of his Hanson counterparts, Whitman Selectman Brian Bezanson asked if there were options to a single up or down vote on the issue at Town Meeting.

“I’m all for putting this on the ballot to let the people decide, because 150 people at Town Meeting … 1,000 or more people voting at the ballot box [gives] a better picture, I think, but it would be nice to give them a choice,” Bezanson said.

Lynam said that was not an option, as Selectmen had to certify the ballot question no less than 35 days before the election.

“This is our opportunity to vote to put it on the ballot,” Lynam said. “Only the selectmen can place an override on the ballot. What Town Meeting can do is condition that money. As I understand Chapter 71, when a region submits a budget you have only two options — yes or no.”

He said he views a menu approach impedes the district’s ability to set their numbers.

“We get to say yes or no, not ‘Here’s how we want you to spend your money,’” Lynam said. “You can have those conversations during the budget process.”

Once an override is voted, it’s good until the tax rate is set, according to Lynam. If a ballot question succeeds where a Town Meeting article fails, the sponsor (WHRSD in this case) has until September or October to seek another Town Meeting in an effort to obtain a successful vote in that arena.

“We have elected officials that run our schools, that we put in office to do the best thing for our kids, and if this is what they’ve decided then this is what they’ve decided,” said Selectmen Vice Chairman Dan Salvucci in favoring an up or down ballot question to let voters decide the issue.

Alcohol Policy

In other business, selectmen amended its updated Alcohol Enforcement Compliance Check Policy.

“In discussions with investigators from ABCC, they provided us with a pretty clear outline of how they approach and how they would view our approach to compliance,” Lynam said. “There’s no point in us having a policy that doesn’t meet all of their points, because if we do, we’d be at risk of not being able to support the decisions.”

The policy, with it’s minor changes, will be delivered to license holders by Police Chief Scott Benton.

Kowalski noted the state’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission had conducted a compliance check in Whitman the week of March 28 and found four businesses in violation for sales to minors — the Whitman Convenience Store, Temple Liquors, Jamie’s Pub and O’Toole’s Pub.

Bernie Lynch of Colonial Power, the largest aggregation consultant in the state, representing 42 of about 80 communities participating in electric power aggregation, which is the municipal procurement of power for residents on and independent basis billed through utility companies, discussed the program with selectmen.

Whitman is working on an aggregation program through Old Colony Planning Council. The program is offered on an opt-out basis.

Aggregation is being put before Town Meeting as a warrant article.

Lynch said the benefits of aggregation include choice, pricing stability, savings through competitive bid process, flexibility and the expertise of Colonial Power.

Towns can also choose the level of green product they select. Billing and outage management remain the same as current practice through aggregation with Colonial Power, Lynch said.

“We kind of improve on that — you can’t get any worse,” he said of outage management.

Hanson water clean up

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HANSON — A major weekend water main break to a six-inch pipe, which went unreported for an estimated three hours, caused black water to appear in sinks and toilets in some parts of town through Tuesday.

Selectman Don Howard, who is also a water commissioner in town reported at Tuesday’s Board of Selectmen’s meeting that people were confused about how to get the dark-colored water out of their system.

He said the next water bill will include a slip of paper outlining the proper procedures for any future incidents.

“If there is dark water in your house, don’t run it in the house and try to get rid of it,” he said. “If you have dark water … use an outside [connection] to drain the water off closest to where the meter runs into the house, therefore it doesn’t get all through the house.”

Howard said a lot of people were running indoor faucets to clear the water, and that was incorrect.

He said he was given a gallon jug of pitch-black water that settled clear in a matter of one day, leaving only a small amount of black particles in the bottom of the plastic jug.

“It’s manganese and iron, basically,” he said. “But it was so fine that it completely blackend the gallon jug.”

Howard said the direction of water flow forced the dark particles through the systems.

Water pressure dropped so low that people on High Street and the Whitman end of Whitman Street had no water at all.

“We faced it and took care of it and hopefully all the citizens of Hanson will be happy now that they’ve got clean water,” Howard said.

He said that, as of Tuesday afternoon, the only area still experiencing discolored water was on High Street, with three hydrants still open and running to clear the water, with the aim of it being cleared by 8 p.m.

Kiwanee contracts debated

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HANSON — Selectmen and Bluegrass on the Bogs producer Michael Foster came to some agreement on the need to negotiate insurance and police detail coverage for the annual festival during a second discussion on the event in as many weeks on Tuesday, April 12.

But also for the second time, tempers flared over concerns centering on Camp Kiwanee contracts and what parts of the conversation could have posed an Open Meeting Law violation, this time prompting interim Town Administrator Richard LaCamera to lose patience with some comments made during the discussion and to leave the meeting early.

“I’ve had enough,” LaCamera said after the discussion had concluded, as he gathered his files and left.

The Board of Selectmen had also met with the Recreation Commission and its Administrative Assistant Nicole Campbell during the Tuesday, April 5 Selectmen’s meeting to discuss a departmental audit, contracts and procurement policies.

Prior to that at-times heated session, Selectmen Chairman Bruce Young read a statement into the record admonishing that the purpose of the discussion was to “address going forward, as soon as possible” issues highlighted so far by the town’s annual audit.

Last week LaCamera had also sited liability concerns he had about Bluegrass on the Bogs, stemming from lack of insurance and alcohol consumption, the permitting of RVs onsite in violation of camp rules, trash disposal, septic demands, staffing shortages and a failure to arrange for police security details.

Those issues were discussed Tuesday night, with Fire Chief Jerome Thompson Jr. and Police Chief Michael Miksch asked to attend. LaCamera had also discussed the festival concerns with the Board of Health earlier in the evening April 12.

Chiefs consulted

Recreation Commission member James Hickey said he had spoken with both chiefs Thursday, April 7, and reported they had found no incidents recorded in the logs during the festival weekends over the last three years.

“With any event up there, the Fire Department’s concern is access,” Thompson said. “Some things have arisen about this event, but they were quickly taken care of as far as any permits for tenting or storage for propane.”

He said he does an inspection the Friday before an event and a few times during the course of it.

“I’ve had no issues any time I’ve gone up there prior to the start of the event — or any event — and had any code issues or anything I wanted corrected,” he said.

Miksch said he does have some concerns, not only about access and parking for the festival, but indicated there have been issues with other events at Camp Kiwanee. His biggest concern about the bluegrass festival centered on it’s rapid growth over the last three years from about 300-600 over two days to an estimated 1,000 expected this year.

“The way, from a police standpoint, that I have to look at things is what is the venue, what is the audience and what are the factors, such as alcohol, that are involved,” he said. “That really changes things.”

Foster replied he can help control the issues of concern Miksch cited. This year, the festival will feature 22 bands from the six New England states and New York City.

“I’m the perpetrator of this event,” he quipped. “I have complete control over the number of people that come. I pre-sell tickets online and I can shut things down at any point, which is what I did last year.”

Foster said alcohol is not permitted at the festival, but a Hanson resident said she had seen drinking when she visited the festival with her two children, challenging Recreation Commission Chairman David Blauss’ statement last week that it is a family event. Another resident in the audience challenged that accusation.

“There was alcohol, I’ve seen it,” the first woman said.

“Just because there’s a red Solo cup, doesn’t mean there’s alcohol in it,” the second woman countered. “I understand there’s a song about it, but it doesn’t always mean that.”

Miksch said he had not seen incidents during events with an alcohol license, unlike after-event drinking.

“You’re putting a liability on the taxpayers,” he said. “You can’t have it. We have rules that say you can’t have it.”

If alcohol is permitted, detail officers would be required, Miksch said, and Foster agreed.

The town’s insurance agency is reviewing the festival’s insurance policy at LaCamera’s request to determine where it needs to be supplemented for alcohol consumption on grounds, cabin rentals, possible assaults or sexual abuse and indemnification to hold the town harmless.

He suggested that earlier planning next year might help.

“It’s gone so smooth for so many years, that nobody’s really brought up many concerns so we haven’t had the urgency before,” Blauss agreed.

The discussion that set tempers flaring this week began after Selectman James McGahan asked for LaCamera’s clarification on concerns he had expressed April 5 about the responsibility for signing rental contracts at Camp Kiwanee. McGahan did not see where the Town Administrator Act came into play on the issue.

“I thought we were supposed to be talking solely about Bluegrass on the Bog,” Hickey said of discussion on by-laws governing that point.

“We’re talking about bluegrass,” McGahan said. “This function’s coming up, we’ve got to get it resolved this time. You’re [LaCamera] talking about changing it because you’re going to add the indemnification into it, and I see nothing in writing, specific in terms of who’s supposed to sign it.”

LaCamera, Blauss and other Recreation Commission members had entered a back-and-forth debate on the bluegrass festival issue at the April 5 meeting until McGahan objected the range of discussion was in danger of violating the statement of intent Young read at the start — and perhaps the Open Meeting Law, as the festival had not been specifically mentioned on last week’s agenda.

That was when it was decided to place the festival discussion on this week’s agenda.

Contract process

“I’ve looked at Chapter 30B up and down and I can’t find where it says whose supposed to sign contracts,” McGahan said this week. He asked for clarification on that point while the insurance policy is being reviewed. “I think it’s so vague that we’ve been doing it this way so that’s why we’ve been doing it this way.”

LaCamera said that is not the case and that every contract concluded by the town should go through the town administrator and selectmen.

“One of the problems is the by-laws are out of date,” he said, adding they are out of synch with state statutes. “They need to be completely rewritten and I was not going to undertake that while I was here.”

Young sought accurate information about where contracts go after rentals are signed. He said a check with a restrictive endorsement stamp should be stapled to a signed copy contract and forwarded to Town Hall where the rate should be cross-checked to flag any inconsistencies.

“If all that had been in place, a lot of stuff we’re talking about now never would have happened,” Young said. “It would have eliminated half the things in this audit report.”

LaCamera said last week that over three years, instead of being charged $4,500 to lease Camp Kiwanee, the production company has been charged $1,000 — and was charged $2,500 this year.

“There’s a number of concerns that I have, that I know the police chief has, the Board of Health has about this festival,” LaCamera said. “This is not a nonprofit organization, this is a company that is looking to make money.”

A former Recreation Commission member argued its purpose is not to make money, but that it does through rentals and that it should be used to subsidize recreation. LaCamera argued between salaries and expenses, “it’s pretty much break-even.”

The town’s auditor — Lynch, Malloy, Marini LLP — has made some suggestions and comments concerning documentation of employee work hours, integration of the Camp Kiwanee computer system into the town’s system, adherence to the fee schedule for rental facilities, improved tracking of receipts, the need for an inventory log and a better process for issuing beach passes.

LaCamera was also taking a “closer look at some of those issues” at the auditor’s recommendation. Those issues, Young noted, were not up for discussion last week.

Computer integration with the town system has already been addressed. A time clock, as is already used at the beach area and other town departments, is required by federal and state law and will be installed at the Camp, LaCamera said.

Auditors also noted “multiple instances” in which groups paid a reduced cost to rent camp facilities without authorization “in accordance with established policies and procedures,” and recommended a secondary review of all contracts. Gaps were also noted in the numbered sequence of receipts, prompting auditors to recommend an investigation.

A mother’s message

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Taylor Lee Meyer was a popular member of the softball team at King Philip Regional High School in Wrentham.

The 17-year-old had some tragic plans for homecoming weekend in October 2008, however, posting on her Facebook page that her status on the last night of her life was “getting shattered” at private parties, according to her mother Kathi Meyer Sullivan.

Taylor had drowned that night in only two feet of swampy water after stumbling off into the woods following an argument with a friend during a night of underage drinking. She left devastated parents and two brothers — one older and one younger.

“My daughter passed away because of poor choices,” Sullivan said. “But every single day there’s someone out there who learns something new because of Taylor.”

Sullivan brought her story, “Taylor’s Message,” to a Whitman-Hanson WILL-sponsored town hall program on substance abuse Monday, April 11 in the Dr. John F. McEwan Performing Arts Center at WHRHS. The event was co-sponsored by the Brockton Area Opioid Abuse Prevention and was followed by a panel discussion featuring Stacey Lynch of CASTLE, High Point Treatment Center; Whitman Police Chief Scott Benton and Hanson Police Officer Bill Frazier; Mary Cunningham, a young adult in recovery and Ryan Morgan, principal of Independence Academy, a recovery high school. Morgan is a former assistant principal at Hanson’s Indian Head School.

“What we try to do at school is talk about these issues,” said W-H Principal Jeffrey Szymaniak after Sullivan’s talk.

Sullivan and the panelists agreed that parents need to speak to their kids about wise choices, and to check up on their social media activity.

“This is a huge problem,” said  Hanson Police Chief Michael Miksch. “All I can say is spy on your kids. … If you’re not going to watch them, somebody else will.”

“Speak to your kids,” Sullivan said. “Tell them you want a phone call, to let you know they’re OK. Make them accountable.”

Frazier outlined how he drives home the message, in an age-appropriate manner, that social media posts are forever.

“There’s lots of things I wish I did differently,” said Sullivan in a talk that ranged from wistful humor to tearful recollection and remorse. “I raised my [then] 10-year-old a lot different than I raised Taylor.”

That close supervision had not prevented her younger  son from experimenting with marijuana, but having learned from her daughter’s tragedy, Sullivan arranged for the boy to have a three-hour heart-to-heart talk with police after he turned in his paraphernalia.

As she spoke to an audience of about 150 parents, adolescents and members of the community, an enlargement of Taylor’s graduation portrait was behind her on the stage — a smiling, blond-haired girl in a beige sweater that Sullivan said “is not my kid.”

She preferred wearing baggy sweatshirts and sweatpants.

“Taylor was a cute little mess,” she said.

Sullivan pointed to a slide show of photos from Taylor’s homecoming weekend, pictures she has since received from Taylor’s friends.

She told of how one of Taylor’s friends had arranged to purchase alcohol for homecoming parties and that the 17-year-old had attended two house parties where alcohol was served, before heading out to the party in the woods where the fight with a girlfriend happened.

Sullivan spoke of her regret in not having called Taylor to check up on her, and that of others who had encountered the teen during the homecoming events. One of those people was a mother of one of Taylor’s softball teammates who noticed the girl had been drinking but did not call her mother after Taylor assured the woman she wasn’t driving.

“Please co-parent together,” Sullivan said.  “Make that phone call. … If ever something is off just make that phone call.”

It took 600 volunteers and public safety officers two days of searching to find Taylor Meyer’s body.

“She had crossed a river up to her chest in the freezing cold, she walked in mud up to her knees, she had no shoes on,” Sullivan said of her daughter’s effort to find her way out of a wooded swamp before drowning in two feet of water. “She was all alone. … As her mom, I can only pray that she fell asleep.”

Sullivan said when she speaks to high school students she stresses that Taylor’s death was 100-percent preventable had she had made better choices.

She said after her daughter’s death, “I had to decide to be happy. It’s not easy to do and I tell everybody something in your life is going to hit you like that and you’re going to have to make that choice to be happy.”

During the panel presentation Cunningham, sober for two and a half years, outlined her descent into addiction beginning with alcohol abuse and experimentation with percocet, which led to heroin within a month. Morgan described the recovery high school program offered at Independence Academy and Lynch outlined the recovery treatment process.

Reaching out

Benton and Frazier talked about the role of police in substance abuse prevention and community outreach as well as law enforcement.

“We recognize, as a community, that this is a public safety and public health issue,” Benton said. “As a police department, we’re obviously on the enforcement end of it, but we’re also a resource for education to help and let’s address it together.”

Questions from the audience ranged from the details of the Social Host Law (adults are criminal and civilly liable for underage drinking parties on their property) to parental controls on social media, communication with kids on trusting what might be in candy offered by acquaintances to the implications of a ballot question to legalize pot.

“There’s going to be huge marijuana money going after it, just like big tobacco,” Morgan cautioned about the effort to legalize marijuana. “The thing you have to drive home with your adolescents is it affects their brain differently than it would a grown person’s brain.”

The program was broadcast and recorded by Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV.

“This is going to take everybody together to work at this,” Benton said.

‘If I Only Knew’

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Whitman Hanson WILL is hosting “If I Only Knew,” an evening of awareness and education aimed at curbing destructive decisions by young people at 6:30 p.m., Monday, April 11 in the Dr. John F. McEwan Performing Arts Center at WHRHS. The program s co-sponsored by the Brockton Area Opioid Abuse Prevention Collaborative.

The main presentation will be “Taylor’s Message,” by Kathi Meyer.

Kathi’s life changed on one October morning in 2008 when she was informed that her 17-year-old daughter Taylor had drowned in only two feet of swampy water due to underage drinking and poor choices.

A panel discussion follows featuring Stacey Lynch of CASTLE, High Point Treatment Center; Whitman Police Chief Scott Benton and Hanson Police Officer Bill Frazier; Mary Cunningham, a young adult in recovery and Ryan Morgan, principal of Independence Academy, a recovery high school.

Audience members will have the opportunity to ask the panelists questions following their presentation. Resource information will also be available. For more information visit Whitmanhansonwill.org.

School questions placed

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By Tracy F. Seelye, Express editor
editor@whitmanhansonexpress.com

[Correction]

HANSON — Both towns will be voting on contingency, or “lump sum” articles at town meetings to fund the fiscal 2017 school budget, which depends on a single override question passing at the ballot box should town meeting voters support such a move.

While Whitman Selectmen were voting to place a $1,726,588 ballot question for its share of the assessment increase in the $49,714,344 WHRSD operating budget on Tuesday, April 5, Hanson Selectmen were discussing their options with town counsel in a meeting attended by the School Committee, its attorney and an overflowing crowd of interested residents.

With a successful override, Whitman’s assessment would be $12,719,345.

The 20.15-percent local assessment increase includes 3.5-percent hike inside the levy limit with the balance contingent on a Proposition 2 ½ override in both communities. The total increase outside the levy is $3 million, apportioned based on student population.

In the end, the Hanson Board of Selectmen voted 3-2 to place a $1,241,141 article and ballot question for its share of the increased assessment, which would raise the town’s assessment to $8,956,207. Selectmen Don Howard, Kenny Mitchell and Bill Scott voted to place the contingency article while James McGahan joined Selectmen Chairman Bruce Young in preferring a tiered question. That option would have broken the override total into several layers of financial options for funding the school budget.

Town Counsel Jay Talerman and School Committee attorney James Toomey agreed last week via conference call that the tiered option is legal, but Talerman cautioned it could have “unintended consequences.”

“My experience with pyramid overrides — take it for what it’s worth — is it doesn’t usually work out the way you think it would,” he said. “There are a lot of unintended consequences. The no votes tend to pile up pretty quickly. There’s a lot of uncertainty.”

The state recommends an explanatory phrase that the highest amount voted yes to on a pyramid, or tiered, question will be the operative amount.

That was a main reason McGahan found a tiered question preferable.

“There’s a lot of pressure here tonight for us to vote it one way,” McGahan said of the contingency article and question. “You don’t understand that, with the pyramid approach, there’s a good chance you could get the $1.2 million. It’s something to think about.”

Young had framed some sample questions for Selectmen to discuss, including one that offered funding choices from between $1.2 million down to $1,000. He did not support the contingency question for that reason.

“I believe people should have a choice,” Young said. “I represent all the people in Hanson. I support education in the town of Hanson, but I like to go with a choice of what people are willing to give back to the school system.”

Resident John Barata asked if a tiered approach would become the “new norm” for overrides in town. Young replied the only reason it was being sought now is because this was the first time the option was explained to them. McGahan said it was unlikely to come up much in the future.

Selectman Don Howard, a Hanson resident since 1948, said he built his house in 1960, eight years after graduating high school from the Indian Head School — and has seen three children and six grandchildren attend W-H schools.

“I feel, as an adult, I’m responsible for the children in our town,” Howard said. “All the [tax] money I’ve spent, I’m glad I spent it. … There are a lot of people in town that don’t want to pay for the schools, and I understand that, because the tax burden in town is getting quite high. … I believe in doing everything for the children.”

Had Hanson Selectmen approved the pyramid question while Whitman’s voters were faced with a contingency question, it would send the question back to the School Committee — just as would happen if one town approves an override while the other defeats it. The School Committee would then recertify its budget and has the option of coming back with the same figures.

Should that occur and the towns split decisions a second time, the issue would go before a so-called Super Town Meeting.

Ironing out some of those wrinkles is why the two boards sought out legal opinions.

“We narrowed the scope of what you all can talk about and discuss, in terms of whether it’s a single number or a few different numbers,” Talerman said of the conference call.

He said the menu option discussed last week was ruled out as something better used for municipal overrides and Town Meeting votes only on the school budget’s bottom-line figure.

“The purpose of the ballot question isn’t to appropriate anything, it’s just to increase your levy limit,” Talerman said. “Attorney Toomey and I are in agreement that you can’t confine the schools’ line items in their budget.”

He said using the menu option, as explanatory material would be instructive for voters, but added the schools must be able to spend their bottom-line figure where it is most needed.

“There may be an opportunity below the ballot question to provide some explanatory material, subject to the restrictions of the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, but I’m concerned — and I think Attorney Toomey is concerned as well — as to putting [the menu of Student Success budget elements] it in a ballot question itself,” Talerman said. “I think there’s plenty of opportunities to educate the public.”

A School Department breakdown of where new staff hired under the Student Success budget shows an equitable distribution between the two towns.

“I think that’s terrific,” McGahan said.

After reading into the record some social media posts critical of some of the selectmen, McGahan said he did agree with one post arguing that if the public is expected to trust the School Committee regarding the need for the Student Success budget, they should also trust selectmen on how to fund it.

“I don’t think those comments reflect every single person in this room,” School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes said. “I don’t think there’s anybody on the School Committee … or any of the citizens of the town who don’t trust every single person in this room.

Hayes noted that, as an elected board, the School Committee’s job is to advocate for the education of children.

“The citizens of the town don’t know the system’s broke if we don’t come forward,” he said.

McGahan suggested selectmen are also elected to do the School Committee’s job as well as governing the town, which elicited a loud chorus of disagreement from the audience.

“I have the right to care about what goes [on there],” he responded. “I’ve got three kids going to the schools, too — just like anybody else — as a citizen, absolutely, but also as a selectman to make sure that our kids are taken care of in our schools.”

Hayes acknowledged that all public officials are doing the best they can to help schools but that the towns people should have the opportunity to vote on whether or not they want to fund that mission, as voters are the ultimate funding authority.

 

 

 

Schedule, diploma changes Ok’s at W-H

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Next school year will mark the beginning of a change in class schedules under the program of studies and how some diplomas are earned at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School.

The School Committee has approved the proposals by Principal Jeffrey Szymaniak, which change the high school schedule from a trimester to a full-year semester system and implements a “Diploma B” program for approved students struggling academically.

“It’s a solid program,” he told the committee on March 16 about the schedule change. “But it’s a change in our program of studies this year that directly affects the Class of 2020, indirectly affects the Class of 2017 for next year, and ’18 and ’19 — and there’s a grandfather clause.”

Students sign up for seven or eight classes, but only five meet each day. The full complement of classes meets within seven-day rotations. Seminar returns to the schedule every afternoon, as does the senior’s end-of-day period for Community Service Learning internships and senior privileges.

He explained that students in the latter two classes have already earned up to 36 credits.

“It’s just a little bit of a tweak, not taking away any rigor in our classes, giving kids the opportunity to have one teacher in a core subject for the entire year,” Szymaniak said.

Courses will no longer be valued at two credits per trimester, they will be four credits per full-year course and two credits per semester, Szymaniak explained to the School Committee. The current trimester system requires106 credits for graduation, but that will change to 96 credits for the class of 2020.

“Balancing that out, looking at all the other schools in the area — and I look at Duxbury, Silver Lake, East Bridgewater, Scituate — keeping in line with them, we’ve moved to four credits for a full-year course and two credits for a semester and 96 credits to graduate,” he said. “If I’m a diligent student and I take seven classes … I can even fail a class here and there and still make our graduation requirements.”

The schedule change has had its critics among some students and parents. Two underclassmen, requesting their names be withheld, recently contacted the Express about their concerns, including the number of classes required, confusion about a rotating class schedule and weekend AP classes. The latter has been a fact of life already, according to Szymaniak, who would like to see them return. He cited day-long AP seminars that have been attended by W-H students all over the South Shore, and expressed a wish to have the staffing to offer them here.

“We’re no different than anybody else as far as class time,” Szymaniak said. “Teachers have to instruct in a different way — they’re still going to cover content, but they’re not going to have as many hours in a day to do that.”

The class rotation thereby closely mirrors a college class schedule.

“Next year’s juniors and seniors will have experienced two schedule changes in the past two years,” one sophomore said. “There have been two petitions to have the schedule just stay how it is, both of which gained quite a lot of signatures, but the principal paid them absolutely no mind.”

Szymaniak said this week that the petitions had been withdrawn by student organizers after he met with them before he had a look at the documents, and he explained that the previous change, which suspended seminar period was necessary following the reduction of five teachers following budget cuts.

Another student pointed to the confusion from the class rotation as his main concern, and Szymaniak conceded there would be some confusion at the outset.

“I’ll concede they did some things right,” the student said. “My biggest concern would be that [classes rotate] every day, which would be fine if there weren’t two classes dropping throughout the week.”

“It’s going to be a little confusing at first,” Szymaniak said Monday. “But it’s something that’s familiar [in other schools] on the South Shore.”

He noted students have just registered for next year’s classes under the new schedule, so there has been no concrete feedback from them or parents as yet.

“I think parents want continuity,” he said. “They want their kids to have a teacher that they know for all year.”

Diploma B approved

The School Committee also approved a Diploma B designation for students who are approved for it.

“I’m an advocate for all kids in our school,” Szymaniak said, noting the district offers a Community Evening School, based on credits, with a separate graduation ceremony. “What I see now is a core group of kids — probably 15 to 20 per grade — that are not college-bound, that are not tech-bound, they want to go in the military, they want to work, they want to go to Massasoit. Our Diploma A has requirements that some of these students find really challenging to pass, foreign language in particular.”

He stressed that the Diploma B designation is in no way a form of tracking students, but is based on a program in Hull. Szymaniak altered the program for W-H, requiring 92 credits to graduate compared to the 82 to 86 credits Hull High School requires for a Diploma B. The additional credits W-H requires would be in elective courses.

Students would be no different from other WHRHS students at regular commencement ceremonies and all diplomas look alike, but transcripts would carry the Diploma B designation.

It is not meant as an easy out, however, Szymaniak cautioned. Four years of English, three years of math, science and social studies, and attempt at foreign language and other credits will be required.

“Every eighth-grader entering the high school is a Diploma A student,” he said. “At the end of freshman year — sometimes sophomore year — things happen.”

At that time, Szymaniak will meet with at-risk students and their parents to discuss goals and solutions. If, at the end of sophomore year a student is still in grade recovery, Diploma B will be discussed as an option.

“Everything’s fluid,” Szymaniak said, explaining that Diploma B   students could always switch back over to Diploma A. “Some of my students go to CES and then transfer back in.”

On record, more storage is needed

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WHITMAN — Say you needed an old file from Whitman Town Hall. Depending on its age and subject matter, it could either be close at hand or require a search of file cabinets or temporary file boxes in offices all over the building — if you are lucky.

A tour of file storage locations shows records filling old vaults, spaces under exterior and interior stairs, the two stories of former book stacks in the wing of the building that used to house the library, boiler and storage rooms, and the cells of the former police station.

They are also stored in a custodial closet containing an inaccessible, but working, toilet that must be flushed once a week lest the water evaporate and cause a buildup of sewer gases. More are kept on the landing and steps of the second floor behind the auditorium.

“What I’m seeking to do is install a record carriage system so that we can store a large quantity of records in compact spaces,” Town Administrator Frank Lynam said of a Tuesday, March 22 vote of the Board of Selectmen to authorize a warrant article for $53,000 to seek funding for the project. “It would enable us to place records that are very haphazardly placed everywhere in the Town Hall and kind of bring them together and organize them, inventory them and have them where they are accessible and reasonably secure. Right now they are in every nook and cranny of the building.”

One of the storage systems will be placed in the selectmen’s office, allowing access from two sides and will compress files to fit more into the space. Four more will be placed in a room behind the lower Town Hall meeting room that is temperature and humidity-controlled to adequately protect records.

“It’s a short-term solution,” Lynam said. “It’s a good solution for five years or so. At some point, we’ll have to have a more viable solution, and I think [the key] is actually getting the state to come into the 21st Century and accept the concept of electronic archiving.”

Lynam had also discussed the situation with the Buildings, Facilities and Capital Expenditures Committee on Thursday, March 3.

“One of our worst traits, or characteristics, is record storage,” he told the committee. “We’re not in compliance with state law in terms of how to preserve records and we’re not in compliance with good business practices on how to secure and protect those records.”

Lynam contacted the state storage system contractor, Delegate Systems, to conduct a site visit and provide a design and estimates on a solution. Their initial quote included $14,864.75 for rotating storage in the selectmen’s office, he said.

Among the problems the system would help solve is the long-term storage of personnel records, according to Lynam.

The state archivist has told town officials that some records, including minutes from meetings, which must be easily retrieved as hard copies, cannot be digitized. Under current state law, for example, e-mails exchanged between public officials must be printed out with hard copies kept on file.

About 20-to-30 percent of files can be stored electronically, but is an expensive project, Lynam cautioned.

“And it won’t replace the need for storage,” he said. “They (state archivists) had consistently rejected it because their concern was, if we create a file today, will we be able to read it 20 years from now. Paper is constant.”

During the five to seven years of secure, organized filing that the new system will buy for the town, Lynam suggested perhaps some method of long-term accessibility to digitized records could be developed. The problem, however, is here now.

“In the big picture, this is not a lot of money to address the issue we’re addressing,” he said.

“I think it’s way past due,” said Building Inspector Robert Curran, a member of the Buildings, Facilities and Capital Expenditures Committee.

Member Christopher Powers voiced support for a more long-term solution, such as electronic storage.

“We’re eventually going to end up there,” Lynam said. “This is something happening all around us and we’re going to be part of that movement.”

Override options opinion sought

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HANSON — Lawyers for the town and Whitman-Hanson Regional School District are expected to meet Thursday, March 31 — along with Selectmen Chairman Bruce Young and School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes — to review the legal options open to the town regarding the form and procedures for a Proposition 2½ override ballot question in a regional school district.

The meeting is aimed at providing the answers selectmen need to vote on placement of the override article on the Town Meeting warrant or directly to a ballot by the Tuesday, April 5 deadline.

Selectmen also voted 4-1, with Selectman Don Howard dissenting, to select Michael McCue as the new town administrator pending the completion of a background check and successful contract negotiation.

Young had consulted the Department of Revenue (DOR) website at mass.gov/dls to determine what options might be open to the town and suggested one of two multiple-question overrides might best suit Hanson as it approaches the WHRSD budget for fiscal 2017.

“Basically, [MGL Ch. 59 Section 21] for some reason, makes the Board of Selectmen the appropriating authority, not the Town Meeting, for the placement of ballot questions,” Young said. “It also gives the Board of Selectmen various options as to how those ballot questions may be placed.”

A “menu” override would break the Student Success budget’s 20 program segments, approved by the School Committee on March 16, into separate questions from which voters may choose the ones they are willing to support.

A “pyramid,” or “tiered” form breaks such issues down into two or more funding levels. The traditional contingency article would have Town Meeting vote on May 2 regarding placement of a single funding question on the ballot.

The question is would either option to a contingency article — written concerning local school districts — be legal for a regional district?

School district counsel James Toomey argues it is not legal and town counsel Jay Talerman had not yet offered an opinion, which Young has sought.

“We need a complete and accurate picture of what the selectmen can and can’t do in relationship to the proposed assessment and subsequent override,” Young said of his request to Talerman. Young indicated the tier, if not the menu option, may apply based on Talerman’s preliminary review.

“The second section … explicitly provides a Town Meeting must act on the total budget and is prohibited from allocating from among accounts or placing any restrictions on the appropriated money,” Hayes read from an email from Toomey. “I think the vote has to be up or down, whether we like it or not. It’s a budget that has been voted upon by an elected body,” Hayes said.

Selectmen were referring to voting options on a Town Election ballot.

Former Selectmen James Egan agreed with Toomey.

“I’ve had a little bit of experience in this area,” Egan said. “The School Committee determines how to spend the money, it’s the role of he Board of Selectmen to determine how to get the money. You can’t do what [Selectman James McGahan] is saying about tiering and making choices … that is not the role of a Proposition 2 ½ override. … You don’t have the right to determine how monies are spent.”

Young said he agreed with that, and it’s why he questions the menu option.

McGahan favors a menu option because he said he does not believe an “all-or-nothing” ballot question would pass in Hanson.

“I personally don’t like the override approach,” McGahan said. “It’s too risky.”

He said on Wednesday morning that voters need to know in which of the towns additional teachers and security cameras included in the budget request will go, especially in view of declining enrollment in Hanson schools.

“If we’re going to support this, this, this, but not this and not that — it’s defeated,” Interim Town Administrator Richard LaCamera cautioned about voting in a different manner from Whitman, which would send the budget back to the School Committee. “A lot of those options that are in this 2½ ballot question only apply to local school districts. Most of the options having to do with the tier structure … doesn’t work in a regional school district, unless the School Committee accepts a lower amount.”

The W-H Regional School Committee unanimously voted on March 16 to transfer $750,000 from the excess and deficiency fund and to set a 20.15-percent increase to the towns’ assessments in support of a Student Success budget for fiscal 2017. With the assessment increase accompanying the Student Success budget, the total fiscal 2017 operating budget sought will be $49,714,344.

Hanson’s share of the operating assessment is $8,956,207 — with $1,241,141 subject to an override vote — based on student population and Whitman’s is $12,719,345 — with $1,762,588 subject to an override vote.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner stressed that the budget’s bottom line has increased only 1/10th of a percent and will actually fall short of level service without an override.

For Whitman voters, an override would mean an additional $1.24 per $1,000 in valuation [$336 per year on the average home value of  $270,940 to $558 on homes valued at $450,000], in Hanson, it would mean an additional $1.13 per $1,000 in valuation [$331 per year on the average home value of  $293,500 to $509 on homes valued at $450,000].

LaCamera said Hanson officials are proposing a 3.5-percent assessment increase, a figure, which would support the level-service school budget.

McCue chosen

Selectmen approved Michael McCue of Mansfield as its selection for the town’s next town administrator.

Young and McGahan reported they had each taken a finalist — Young checking McCue’s references and McGahan checking Sarah Smith of East Bridgewater — asking a dozen identical questions for each in conversations with all references.

Both said they received nothing but glowing responses for each candidate, but selectmen preferred McCue’s experience. He is currently town administrator Rochester, a post he has also held in Avon, and has served as an administrative assistant to selectmen in Mendon, as an Economic Development grants officer in Walpole and was a selectman in Mansfield for six years. McCue had been a finalist for Hanson’s former executive secretary position about 12 years ago when Michael Finglas was hired, and his parents have lived in town for about 20 years.

Young said he wanted “the best of the best” for the job.

“I lean, personally toward someone with more experience,” agreed Selectman Bill Scott.

McGahan said he struggled with his decision, and lauded Smith’s initiative in attending some selectmen’s meetings during the process.

“I liked her attitude, I like the way she conducted herself,” he said. “But I do think, if you’re looking at the résumé, if you’re looking at the experience, I would echo what Bill said.”

Selectman Kenny Mitchell concurred, but Howard voted for Smith.

“She’s new, she’s young and vibrant and I think she’d make a good candidate for the town of Hanson,” Howard said.

The board also voted to have a Norwell private investigation firm conduct a background check including a nationwide criminal,  civil and financial search; employment verification; academic degree confirmation and a nationwide media, news and public data search.