HANSON – Members of the Finance Committee met with the Select Board on Tuesday, March 11 to brief the board on the budget they are looking to approve as a group, according to Finance Chair Kevin Sullivan,
“There’s a little more information in here than you all are probably aware of,” Sullivan said. “We’re trying to build a case for where we’re going in FY ’26.”
He said his goal, as always was to paint the picture of where town finances are in the current fiscal year, using numbers from either the Department of Revenue Office of Local Services or Town Accountant Eric Kinsherf.
The overall FY 2026 budget of $39,186,078 is showing roughly a $3 million deficit, including a 10-percent assessment increase from the school district. Kinsherf had pinpointed the deficit at $2,9 million on Feb. 25.
It would move the fire chief’s request for $348,000 to add personnel back into a budget line, for example.
“We’re increasing an average of 6 percent each year for the last five years,” Sullivan said. “However, it’s a 37-percent increase from FY ’21 to FY ’26.”
He characterized that kind of jump in the budget within five years is “pretty severe.”
Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett asked what portion of that increase was attributable to the school district. Sullivan replied, “a significant portion.”
Hanson’s general government budget for FY 2026 is up by 11 percent. Public safety budgets increased by 10 percent. Education is up by 9 percent overall, but 10 percent came from WHRSD and South Shore Tech showed a 4-percent decrease. The Board of Health budget increased by 24 percent in the salary line.
“We haven’t gotten to the bottom of it yet,” Sullivan said. “This is kind of the raw numbers. … I was shocked to see some of these in double digits.”
Recreation, however, continues to be in the red.
“They are no longer self-sufficient, they are no longer turning a profit … so that will be a hit to us, combined with an estimated deficit at the transfer station of $130,000,” Sullivan said. But that figure is not included in the 24-percent increase in the Board of Health budget.
“You can tack that number [$130,000] in as well, and it will look even worse,” he said.
While the Finance Committee has not officially voted on it, Sullivan said the general consensus of the committee is that the town should seek a $3 million override to close the operational budget deficit.
Based on a property valuation of $515,000, it would increase the tax rate by $752 per year. Hard numbers for all home values are on the Finance Committee page on the town’s website (hanson-ma.gov).
“That $3 million would include everything operational,” he said. “It would include bringing another shift of the Fure Department on board, it would keep everyone on the hours that were restored in October … the $3 million would cover everything. … It doesn’t prioritize one department over the rest.”
Kinsherf said the recommendation was “right on point,” reflecting modest improvement in the town’s fiscal situation and staffing levels.
“We’ve still asked people to put in austerity measures,” said FitzGerald-Kemmett. “It’s not like we’re in a spending spree, but it does allow growth in areas that we’ve identified that we need.”
Select Board Vice Chair Ann Rein asked what increase was being allowed for the school department.
Sullivan said a 10-percent school increase was calculated for W-H schools.
“And I’m planning for the worst,” he said. “We have had no luck in negotiating that number down.”
Revenue snapshot
Looking at incoming funds, Sullivan reminded the board that 93 percent of the town’s revenue comes from taxes. If you add personal property [excise taxes] that figure rises to about 95 percent.
“Commercial-industrial taxes account for very little in this town,” he said. “We always look for these mystery piles of money. They don’t exist, other than the value of your house.”
There is no new growth, and Sullivan said it is actually down slightly.
The average single family tax bill in Hanson increased by 12 percent in FY ’20 through ’22, that was the override passed at the time. It’s actually currently decreasing, according to Sullivan, who said “the increase is getting less.”
“I look at this as how are we keeping pace,” he said. “We’re great at keeping our taxes low, because we’re under the Prop 2.5 levy, the levy restricts us, we can only raise taxes that amount – it’s sort of this interesting shell game that you can go play with the assessors and the collectors, and they say, ‘We adjust the rate based on where you are.”
Where free cash is concerned, the town uses about 20 percent of certified free cash, but since FY ’23, use of free cash levels have steadily increased, Sullivan said.
“Historically we have used it for capital expenditures, articles. The things that a small town doesn’t have the money to do generally,” he said. “We buy police cruisers, we pay for conservation, we do all the stuff that our budget doesn’t let us do.”
Sullivan, who is vice president of the Association of Town Finance Committees, said he has been arguing with his peers to change the term “free cash.”
“We’ve got to work to change it, because it gives people a false sense of hope,” he said. “You want to save that ‘free cash’ so you can buy those police cruisers.”
Rein compared it to the “Peanuts” storyline of Lucy pulling the football away.
“But here it’s like putting the football back,” she said. “I wish we could not have that roller coaster.”
But Hanson has hit a point where it’s not sustainable as town expenses grow exponentially, according to Sullivan.
In FY ’24-25 the town used almost 135 percent of the previous use of free cash.
“We’re lucky that we had it,” he said. “We’re not going to have it always. There’s a limit – there’s an end and we’ve been lucky that the town accountant’s found some sources to load back to free cash. … Free cash can be a crutch for a lot of small towns.”
Select Board member Joe Weeks said the Finance presentation was great, because it shows people what the situation is.
“Statistics can be scary if you don’t know what they’re made of,” he said. “The more information, the more data that we can get out there, the more people can make an informed decision.”
“I think this puts us on a good footing for the future,” Sullivan said.
FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed.
“Perhaps we’ll even see some modest growth,” she said, noting that the Finance Committee has been meeting with department heads and vetting their requests against what their needs are.
“The majority of the Finance Committee is not thrilled about higher taxes,” Sullivan said. “We’re not higher tax people, we’re just coming to a point where we’re going to be hitting a wall.”
Budget survey
Town Administrator Lisa Green said a survey is being conducted through the town’s engaging of Bridgewater State University, focusing on the town budget and override. A link to the survey is available on the town website budget page (hansonbudget.com).
“As people answer the survey and submit them, BSU graduate students will be tallying the responses,” Green said. “This is really going to give us a taste of where the appetite is in the town.”
Paper copies of the survey will be available at Town Hall and will be mailed to residents at the expense of Bridgewater State.
Green: ‘People need us’
HANSON – Back an override or make deep cuts in the budget – that’s a decision being made in town halls around the state this year.
Hanson Town Accountant Eric Kinsherf, who said all town department and school budgets were in, told the Select Board in a budget update at its last meeting on Feb. 25 the facts of budgeting life in town today.
“I’m going to just cut to the chase,” he said. “The best thing for the town to do financially, and maintain all these services, the town would need to vote an override. I’m thinking $2.9 million, and – if that happened – we’d be able to fund this [he said, holding up a sheaf of department budget documents] and we would not be touching any of our reserves, like free cash and so forth.”
An override amount could also go as high as $3.4 million, if new firefighter positions are included.
“It’s not an easy conversation to have,” he said.
“I think we need to have it, because people need to know, if we don’t pass an override, what’s going to happen – not in a threatening way, but in a factual way,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
That would bring the override question a $3.4 million one.
The board asked to see something more closely resmbling a final budget with harder numbers for Kinsherf’s next update.
Kinsherf argued there are two ways to decide the matter: Hold another department head working group session at Camp Kiwanee, as they did under the Madden Group’s strategic planning exercises; or give each department a dollar figure and ask them to come up with a budget to match it.
The bottom line is, if the override fails, the town would be see its reserves reduced to dangerously low levels and cutting services, Kinsherf said.
Town Administrator Lisa Green said the impact of an override failure would be devastating.
“All town departments, basically, are already operating on a minimal staff,” Green said. “So, this level of budget cuts is going to result in a loss of staff. The loss of staff is going to require office hours to be reduced significantly – 36 full-time employees will lose their jobs. That is taking most of the departments here in the town of Hanson, and putting them down to, maybe, one person.”
Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett asked if the $2.9 million included in those new positions Fire Chief Robert O’Brien Jr., has said his department needs.
“No. It does not,” Kinsherf replied, “That would have to be a separate vote.”
“In talking to the Finance Committee, they would like to have one amount,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, “Is there a way you could work on getting that [included]?”
Kinsherf said that, if the Select Board wished, he could add the approximately $348,000 needed for the Fire Department position into the override figure.
“I don’t think we’d have to raise all that on the residents right away,” he said. “I think the chief is going to get a grant for the first three years.’
FitzGerald-Kemmett said O’Brien doesn’t know if it will happen or not.
“There’s no easy way to even do it, because it’s going to be impactful” Kinsherf said, recommending, as an alternative, using $1.1 million from free cash and cutting $1.8 million from the existing requests, including the schools. He said it would be hard to identify that many budget reductions.
“Mathematically, that would work, and the $1.8 million would include the schools, because the [W-H] schools are asking for a $1.1 million increase. If the town departments had to take that whole $7.8 million, it would not be good,” he said searching for a word to adequately describe the impact.
Thinking of contingency plans, Kinsherf said, a $1.1 million draw from free cash would leave the town with $1.1 million in unappropriated free cash and $1.7 million in the stabilization fund – or all the town’s reserves – forcing the need to drain those reserves almost to zero if the schools insisted on the full amount of their assessments.
Board member Joe Weeks, knowing the Select Board has already asked the question – asked if the rest of the town’s operating budget is limited to a 2.5 percent increase, how big an increase does the W-H school budget pose for Hanson?
Taking the non-fixed budget, Kinsherf said he calculated the school increase to be about a 9-percent increase.
The schools make up 47 percent of Hanson’s overall budget.
“To be fair to the schools, their total budget is only projected to go up 5.7 percent,” Kinsherf said. “But they’re in the same situation as we are … their state aid is next to zero [in terms of an increase].”
FitzGerald-Kemmett said the Select Board has a limited, if any influence on how the School Committee votes on a budget. They’ve had discussions with the Committee on the effect of school increases on town budgets in the past, as well.
“We really haven’t had a lot of success in partnering with the School Committee and with the district on tempering the spending there,” she said.
She acknowledged that they have no control over how the school budget reflects the Committee’s role in funding the education of the town’s children, but asked Green how they could handle the money the Select Board does control.
Green repeated that about 36 full-time positions will be lost.
“Everything has to be on the table,” she said. “It’s unfortunate because, again, we’re already operating with a minimal staff. Many offices only have two people, some have three … but all departments are going to be impacted in some way.”
Green said voters have to be aware of how budgeting works.
“People don’t understand that, once these cuts are made, and they go to the Senior Center the next day to find it closed, you can’t just say, ‘Oh, I didn’t realize that was going to happen, let’s put the money back,’” she said. “It can’t happen like that.”
She explained that, once services are cut, they are gone until the town goes through the whole process to bring them back with funding.
“These are services – and [Senior Center Director] Mary Collins is a perfect example of this – people need us,” Green said. “They need town services. Maybe people don’t realize it right away. You might not need us today, but you could possibly need us tomorrow.”
She had another question for people looking for the services after an override failure.
“Who are they going to turn to?” Green asked. “It’s not just Senior, it’s Highway.”
Weeks said he wasn’t certain the town even has 36 people they can cut, and said they’ve been through this before. Last year, positions were cut, only to be brought back at the October Town Meeting.
“I remember being very adamant that I didn’t want to bring them back because I knew we’d find ourselves right back to where we are now, where we’re talking about cutting things again,” he said.
Kinsherf was asked what decimating the cash reserves in an attempt to balance the budget do to the town’s bond ratings, but he was also concerned what would happen if the town needed those cash reserves.
“This is a little like DEFCON 5 on the budget cycle,” he said. “Good thing we have the reserves, because, if not, it would be even worse.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett asked what would happen if there was a catastrophic event after the town had tapped into its reserves.
Kinsherf said the town would need special permission from the Department of Revenue Division of Local Services to deficit spend and would have to go before the Emergency Finance Board and most likely placed under some type of receivership. Bonding companies would also likely put Hanson on a watch list if its reserves were low.
“I don’t want to over-dramatize it,” he said. “That’s what it is.”
Asked how the town got to this spot, Kinsherf reminded the board of past use of free cash. His first year on the job the town used $478,000 of that one-time money to fund the budget. Last year’s budget was balanced using $1 million in free cash plus $1.2 million in unused article money from past years.
“We have to make up that $1.2 million this year,” he said. Realistically, he said the override would be good for about three years unless something structurally changes the way it does business.
“It’s a misnomer that, over the years the budget’s been mishandled,” Weeks said. “We are on top of it.” He lauded Kinsherf for finding funds where no one had thought to look before.
“It was underneath the couch cushions and underneath those cushions,” he said. “It is not a manner of mismanagement. It is not a matter of money mismanagement. We just don’t have the dollars.”
Budget certified for SST
HANOVER – The South Shore Tech School Committee certified the school’s $16.9 million fiscal 2026 budget on Feb. 12, and spent most of February visiting town select boards and finance committees to review the spending plan. Those visits concluded on March 6.
Superintendent/Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey noted that SST is obligated to certify a budget number at least 45 days before the earliest Town Meeting among its member towns, which is April 7 in Scituate.
The $16,944,649 budget figure was unanimously certified.
“By certifying the budget, the committee sets a ceiling,” he said. “The budget process is always moving forward and does not come to completion until we’ve secured at least six out of nine towns at spring annual town meetings.”
The certification allows no changes or amendments that would raise it.
SST is looking at the highest enrollment in school history with 685 students with more than 430 applications for the 180 freshmen seats next year.
Enrollment trends set the assessments to individual towns, with Whitman and Hanson, which have historically had among the largest enrollments, decreasing by six students in Hanson and 18 students in Whitman.
Based on the Chapter 70 formula, a three-year rolling average toward capital, transportation calculations, other costs and debt service as well as enrollment, down by 18 students next year, Whitman’s assessment will be $1,650,218 – a reduction of $143,109 from fiscal 2025 (1,793,327) –and with six fewer students next year, Hanson’s will be $1,042,487 – a reduction of $56,178 from fiscal 2025 ($1,098,635).
Chapter 70 aid increased by $51,648 and Regional Transportation Reimbursement is projected to increase by $185,281. The district will use $318,250 from the stabilization fund to cover the first year of debt for the building project.
Cost increases include $97,987 more in the Plymouth County Assessment and $173,819 more to fund health insurance. Additional bus routes and afternoon runs is expected to increase that expense by $72,000.
Reductions include a cut by $140,000 – to $90,000 for future vehicles.
More teaching positions will also be paid partially by grants:
An electrical teacher ($8,377 – 80 percent on the budget;
Horticulture teacher ($21,519, fully on the budget);
An English learner/special ed teacher ($34,383 – 76 percent on the budget) and a
Special education team chair ($33,654 – 51 percent on the budget).
A grant will also add $8,492 to increase time for a Culinary Arts aide.
Three fires in three days
WHITMAN — The Whitman Fire Department saved three residences from more extensive damage during a busy week of calls last week, with Fire Chief Timothy Clancy crediting fast response times and quick action at the scene with preventing a total loss to home and property owners.
“Our crews responded and acted fast to bring these fires under control,” Clancy said in a statement about the fires on Wednesday, March 5. “Damage at all three scenes was minimal for structure fires, but could have been far worse.”
No injuries were sustained at any of the fires, and no residents were displaced as a result of the incidents.
“The biggest thing was we were fortunate that we had staffing at headquarters that were able to respond, and he ability to have members available to respond to the calls immediately,” Clancy said. “I’m just fortunate [that], I don’t believe any of the ambulances were out, so to have the full complement of staff here to respond definitely made for a positive outcome.”
The trio of calls began with a deck fire at a house on 651 Plymouth St., on Sunday March 2 as fire crews responded to late afternoon fire at 5:58 p.m.
Whitman Car 3, Engine 243, Ladder 246 and Car 240 arrived to find a two-story, wood-framed single-family residence threatened by a small fire at the rear of the home that had extended to the home’s rear deck after briefly leaving a fire pit unattended, according to Clancy.
The homeowners told firefighters that they had a small fire in their backyard fire pit, about five feet from the deck, the chief states. The residents briefly left the fire unattended and returned to find the deck and several lawn chairs burning.
The residents immediately called 911 at 5:54 p.m. and attempted to extinguish the fire with a garden hose and small fire extinguisher, but were unsuccessful. The home’s five occupants and three small dogs evacuated the residence by the time firefighters arrived on the scene. They reported no injuries
Engine 243 quickly extinguished the fire. Ladder 246 crews entered the residence and found no evidence of smoke or fire extension into the house. Plymouth County Sheriff’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) responded to the scene to photograph the damage.
Fire crews extensively wet down and overhauled the fire damage.
Damage to the exterior of the home was estimated around $30,000. The home’s interior was not damaged, and the occupants were not displaced by the fire.
All Whitman Fire Department units cleared the scene by 6:37 p.m.
“We’re going to do another fire safety posting,” Clancy said. “All three of them were accidental. All three caused minor to moderate damage – one was mostly smoke, the other two involved fire.”
He said residents need to be more careful in the way in which they dispose of smoking materials and to remember to be vigilant when they have any outside burning going on.
“Follow the rules,” he said. “Have a hose in place. Do not leave a fire unattended and pay attention to the weather.”
Clancy said that, when the department approves burning permits, they do so at 10 a.m., the morning a burn is requested.
“People should be cognizant that weather conditions could change throughout the day.
Oven fire
The next day, Monday, March 3, Whitman Fire Department received a 911 call for a reported oven fire in a unit at 629 Washington St. at 7:09 p.m.
Car 3, Engines 242 and 243 arrived on the scene by 7:14 p.m. From outside of the four-story, lightweight wood-constructed residential unit over a commercial building, no alarms were sounding, and no flames or smoke were showing.
Firefighters manually activated the alarm to help evacuate the building. They went door-to-door to ensure all occupants were out of the building.
Firefighters entered the unit and found moderate smoke and the remnants of a small fire inside the apartment’s oven. The resident told firefighters that he was pre-heating the oven and did not realize there was a plastic pan inside.
After the oven started to smoke, the resident shut it off, called 911 and evacuated the apartment with his wife and cat.
Firefighters removed the melted plastic pan and ventilated the building’s adjacent hallways. The building was checked for carbon monoxide but cleared. Adjacent cabinets and walls were inspected, but no indication of heat was found.
Car 2 and Engine 241 arrived on the scene to assist. All units cleared the scene by 7:47 p.m.
The fire department reminds residents to check smoke and carbon monoxide batteries at the change over to Daylight Savings Time to ensure all alarms are in good working order.
Porch fire
An early afternoon fire requiring mutal aid from five nearby towns at 821 Washington St., resulted in an estimated $15,000 worth of damages on Tuesday, March 4. The 1:45 p.m., fire was apparently caused by the improper disposal of smoking materials.
The Holbrook Regional Emergency Communications Center received a 911 call from the occupant reporting that the front porch was on fire. Whitman Fire Department’s Car 1, Car 2, Car 3, Engine 243, Engine 242, and Abington Tower 1 responded to the initial alarm.
Light smoke was visible from the second-floor porch when fire crews arrived on the scene. Firefighters opened up the porch and found fire in the void spaces between the first and second floors. Deputy Chief Nicholas Grasso identified the blaze as a working fire.
Firefighters used two handlines to knock down the fire, bringing the flames under control within 20 minutes.
Mutual aid fire companies from the towns of Abington, East Bridgewater, Hanson, Rockland, and a Halifax ambulance responded to the scene. A Bridgewater engine covered Whitman Fire headquarters. The Whitman Emergency Management Agency Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) provided rehab services on scene. Whitman Fire was also assisted on scene by the Whitman Police Department, and the Plymouth County Sheriffs Department Bureau of Criminal Investigation Unit.
The cause of the fire was determined to be improper disposal of smoking materials. Damages to the home are estimated at $15,000.
Hanson hires new vets’ agent
HANSON – The Select Board on Tuesday, Feb. 25 hired a new veterans’ agent, making a tough decision between two qualified applicants.
In the end, they said it was one applicant’s on-the-job experience that tilted the scale in his favor – a “plug-and-play” choice, as it was described more than once.
The Board voted 4-0 to hire Thaddeus Nowacki currently a veterans’ service officer in Randolph since August 2024. Vice Chair Ann Rein was absent.
He has also worked in the private sector and has service with the Maine Air National Guard, the U.S. Air Force, the Mass. Army National Guard and has volunteered for the Randolph Veterans’ Service Office.
Kingston native Lindsey Fairweather is an Air Force veteran who graduated Silver Lake High before serving four years on overseas active duty supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, and has worked with Volunteers of America on veteran case management and veteran and family support through the VA and the state Department of Veterans Services as a program manager as well as the Veterans’ Benefits Administration as a disability rater. She has also served as operations administrator for the Rhode Island Veterans’ Home. She is also a lifetime member of the VFW and the American Legion.
She is seeking the position to give back to the community more directly, she said.
“We’ve had a little bit of turnover in this position,” Chair Laura FirzGerald Kemmett said. “We really need to have stability because it’s tough for these guys and gals to get comfortable with somebody … that their going to open up about their personal situation and share and get to the point where they’re going to ask for help.”
She noted after the interviews that she had meant for the time given each applicant to be equal, but said the board had more questions in clarifying how Fairweather’s job history could be applied to the position and the board’s concern for longevity in the position.
Fairweather’s extensive experience immediately concerned FitzGerald-Kemmett over how long she might stay in Hanson.
“I’m looking at your credentials and I’m thinking, ‘Why would this person take a part-time job in Hanson with the really amazing credentials that you’ve got?,’” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, “I’m thinking ‘Is this woman going to leave us after 15 minutes?’”
She asked if Fairweather was committed to doing the job if it continues to be a part-time position.
She said it is the kind of position she has wanted to do for a while – and had stuck it out for four rounds of interviews for a veterans services position that was ultimately never filled.
“I’m trying to fulfill what I believe is my duty,” she said, noting that, while she hoped it would mean more hours down the road, “If it stayed part-time, I would stay.”
Select Board member Joe Weeks noted that Hanson’s veterans had gone through “turnover after turnover,” and cautioned Fairweather that more hours were hard to guarantee in light of the town’s current budget climate.
Select Board member David George, himself a veteran, said he was concerned about Hanson veterans’ ability to count on Nowacki holding predictable office hours, even if vets would have to schedule a time to return if he was busy.
“I think most importantly to the veterans in Hanson is keeping on a timetable – a schedule – that you’re going to stick with,” he said. “Right now, it’s chase the veterans agent down.”
both applicants pledged to commit to that.
FitzGerald-Kemmet asked about the Heroes’ Act, signed by Gov. Healey last year that includes about $1.13 trillion of emergency supplemental appropriations to federal agencies, as well as economic assistance to governments at the state, local, tribal, and territorial levels.
After the interviews with the board, Weeks said he wanted to hear Town Administrator Lisa Green’s recommendation before he offered an opinion on who to hire. George and Member Ed Heal nodded their agreement.
“I guess we were really fortunate to attract two very accomplished veterans who want to work for the town,” she said, noting both have also stated they were OK with the part-time position. “Their focus is to provide services to veterans.”
For that reason, she thought both deserved to come before the board.
George expressed concern that Fairweather had served four years and was still a first lieutenant when she separated.
“Thaddeus spent his time as a crew chief, so he was either an E7 or E8 – this guy had some clout in the military,” he said, also suggesting that Hanson veterans would be “more comfortable opening up to” Nowacky.
“She’s a nice girl, don’t get me wrong, she’s a nice person, but I think he’s the better choice,” he said, noting Nowacki’s service as an enlisted man having served in Afghanistan and on the U.S. Border. “Do we have a lot of doctors and lawyers in Hanson? No, we have lot of working people in Hanson, and that’s what you’re going to get for veterans in Hanson.”
George also noted there would be no time lost in training Nowacki.
“My concern is a lack of focus,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “I feel like she’s done a lot of things and she could be good … but I don’t think we’re in a place where we could take a gamble that she’s going to work out, out of the gate, because we don’t have anybody to train her. I love her passion, though, she clearly has a heart for that job.”
Heal’s worry was that Fairweather is way over-qualified, while not knowing the basics of what this job entails.
“I don’t know enough about the job to know whether she would fumble or he would succeed – or vice versa,” said member Joe Weeks. “I will back the decision, because they report to you [Green]and they have to have a good fit with you. [But] if it was up to me, I know who I would hire, 100-percent, but it’s up to you and who you think is best for the town, but I will say I think we spent a lot more time talking to one candidate than the other, because they clearly had a lot of experience that would lend this town a new way of servicing and doing some outreach.”
Weeks said he likes it when people come with a plan and a vision and are able to articulate that, and he said one candidate did a better job of that than the other.
Green had recommended Nowacki.
Charter school challenge
The budget outlook for W-H schools was complicated by a move to increase enrollment at South Shore Charter School last week.
The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education – a different entity than DESE – had less encouraging news for the W-H school district, however, as it approved an increase in enrollment [by 225 seats over the next four years] for South Shore Charter School.
“The school’s growth plan is to increase enrollment from 1,075 students to 1,300 students beginning in FY 26 and to be completed by 2030,” Szymaniak said. “That affects not only us, but about 14 other communities where students go there. Remember, we pay tuition [for students going] to South Shore Charter.”
Other charter school districts were turned down for increases, but this decision affects W-H.
“Local superintendents sent a letter to the Board of Ed saying, ‘Please, don’t, especially in this financial climate,’” Szymaniak said. “They did it anyway. They voted 6 to 4 for it yesterday [Tuesday, Feb. 25.]”
He said W-H gets an increase each year for Charter School reimbursement through Chapter 70, but Charter School tuitions keep going up as well.
“It’s not a win for us.” Szymaniak said. “Some of the reasons parents were going to South Shore Charter was for kindergarten, because it was free. Our population at South Shore Charter has declined [due at least in part to W-H offering full-day kindergarten]. It’s a good school, don’t get me wrong, but anytime it affects me financially I want you to know.”
Norfolk County Agricultural-Technical High School’s tuition is close to $29,500.
“Ours is around $17,000,” he said. “But I’m never going to tell a student they can’t go to a certain school.”
Teachers at South Shore Charter do not have to hold a Massachusetts teaching license,” committee Vice Chair Hillary Kniffen said. She asked if that difference could be stressed by public school superintendents.
“I just don’t like it when they inflate seats, now.” Szymaniak said.
“I’m really frustrated right now, that we missed this, and took our eye off this,” said member Dawn Byers. “I’m going to ask superintendent, if anything comes across your desk in the future, could you share it with the committee? We are 10 people who could have advocated for this, and the vote was only 6 to 4 – that is so close.”
The acting commissioner wrote that he was not recommending approval of this request at this time. While the state is still without a full-time commissioner, the interim commissioner Russell Johnson resigned Feb. 25.
“This is so important and so dangerous for our budget,” she said.
“I can’t believe that they didn’t listen to the superintendent,” Chair Beth Stafford said.
“But, I can believe that,” Connolly said. “There’s a political push to undermine public education and put it into voucher, and this is the step – it’s more expensive, it’s less effective. … So, anytime you see this, we as those people who advocate for public education, and a great public education, [need to know]”
South Shore is a state charter school.
Szymaniak also updated the board on discussions at a joint meeting of the Whitman Select Board and Finance Committee on Feb. 25., expressing frustration with communication issues.
“Our numbers are not that far off,” he said, despite some points of disagreement. The next joint meeting in Whitman is March 25.
He also wanted to applaud the Whitman Finance Committee.
“The positive message about the schools was definitely heard by me and I wanted to share that with you,” he said. … “There was some good discussion of what the schools need and a couple [Select Board members] were saying the schools need more,” Szymaniak said. “Now, it’s up to the taxpayers to understand that and how it’s presented, but I think there’s a realization, at least verbally, that our budget is what it is – there’s not a lot of fluff and we’re not adding programs. It’s to sustain what we have now, to provide those programs so people aren’t going to South Shore Charter.”
He said the numbers received from an independent enrollment analysis is that W-H is leveling off at the elementary and middle level grades, but students are lost from eighth- to ninth-grade for the vocational options, because there is a national push toward vocational education and some are lost to charter schools.
“I’m an advocate of not using any type of excess and deficiency to balance the budget this year, because we don’t have it,” Szymaniak said. “The numbers we need to sustain what we have are the numbers I presented in February.”
He also stressed that Whitman officials were clear the override is being viewed as an operational override for the community and he appreciated having a seat at the table for the discussion.
Hanson committee member Kara Moser said she hopes the same invitation is extended by the Hanson Select Board.
State report card
While this district has still not caught up to the state average, it is making some progress in per-pupil spending, despite a decline in enrollment.
Assistant Superintendent George Ferro reviewed the district’s report card from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, issued to each school in the state and the district as a whole, during the meeting
“Just as a student’s report card shows how they’re doing in classes, the school and district report cards are designed to show parents and the community members how a school or a district is doing in various different areas,” Ferro read from a DESE explanation.
“They are written for people who are not necessarily involved in the business of education,” he said, noting there are also graphs involved in the report cards.
Topics covered in the report cards are:
• Who are our students and teachers? Enrollment of the school, demographic makeup and teacher information;
• Academic opportunities available to students?
• Student attendance and discipline;
• Outlook for student success after high school;
• Student performance on state tests;
• District school spending; and
• How the district is doing within the state accountability system.
The report is available on the DESE website under “School and District profiles,” Ferro said.
There are also responsibilities that state have.
“Once the report cards are online, it’s the school’s responsibility to provide a letter home to every person in the district … telling them exactly what to click on to see their schools.” he said. Once that letter is sent home, it must also be available through a link posted on the district website [whrsd.org] found on the district documents page. The 2024 report cards can be compared to previous years on the site.
If people have questions, they are asked to first contact a school’s principal – or the superintendent’s office for district questions.
School Committee Chair Beth Stafford asked Ferro if there was anything that stood out in the report to him.
“Although we talk about budget a lot, and we never have to add real programs – like more and more and more programs – we have steadily increased at least our per-pupil expenditure from the previous years of stagnation, so that was good to look at,” Ferro replied. “Also good to see were the drop-out and the graduation trends and the plans of our seniors. … It’s a better snapshot of the high school, because they provide more information for the high school students.”
For schools with lower grades, there isn’t, Ferro said, “a lot of ooomph.” But for families perhaps looking to migrate or consider moving to a new school district, it provides a good snapshot of what students need improvement and offers an idea why.
“Great job for the committee that did recognize that [the per-pupil formula at WH] was not appropriate,” Committee member Rosemary Connolly said. “We still have work to do.”
“It’s slow, but it’s moving,” Ferro said.
“And we’re moving in the right direction,” said Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak, noting there has been a steady increase in per-pupil spending from 2008 to 2024. “[But] we’re still not catching up to the state, and we’re not close to our technical or agricultural schools in per-pupil spending, but we’re not in the bottom five anymore.”
The district moved up from the bottom fifth to the bottom third, and Szymaiak to the middle of the road, at some point.
Sweezey named to key House and Joint committees
BOSTON – State Rep. Kenneth P. Sweezey, R-Duxbury, has been appointed to several key House and Joint Committees for the 2025-2026 legislative session.
These assignments will allow him to continue to advocate for public safety, economic growth, and environmental responsibility—three issues critical to the communities of the 6th Plymouth District. Representative Sweezey, who has a background as a law enforcement forensic scientist, is particularly proud to serve on the Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee. His experience gives him firsthand insight into the challenges faced by law enforcement professionals, and he is committed to supporting policies that keep Massachusetts residents safe.
“My previous work in law enforcement was a lifelong dream of mine and a point of pride, and I am excited to continue that work on the Public Safety Committee,” said Sweezey. As the son of small business owners and a former member of the Hanson Economic Development Committee, Representative Sweezey looks forward to his role on the Economic Development & Emerging Technologies Committee.
“I look forward to fostering a more competitive business environment in Massachusetts—something that is lacking at times—by keeping our small businesses in the Commonwealth and in the 6th Plymouth District,” said Sweezey. As the Ranking Minority
Member on the Environment & Natural Resources Committee, Representative Sweezey will focus on protecting the coastal communities he represents, like Duxbury and Marshfield. Recognizing the importance of responsible environmental policy, he will work to balance conservation efforts with recreation, ensuring that both natural resources and local industries are preserved for future generations. Additionally, Sweezey has been appointed as the Ranking Minority Member on the Labor & Workforce Development Committee, where he will advocate for policies that support workers, promote fair labor practices, and encourage workforce competitiveness.
“I look forward to continuing the work that former Representative Cutler has done and hope that the Undersecretary will partner to serve the 6th Plymouth” Sweezey said. “I am honored to receive these committee assignments and grateful to House leadership for this opportunity. I look forward to building strong partnerships and advancing policies that benefit both my constituents in the 6th Plymouth District and the entire Commonwealth.”
Serving Hanson’s seniors
HANSON – Council on Aging Director Mary Collins updated the Select Board on Tuesday, Feb. 25 by “introducing” them to some elder neighbors facing challenges board members may never had imagined being issues in their little town.
“Quite frankly, it’s good for you to hear once a year, some of the figures from the Senior Center,” she said. But many in the public have attitudes that can hinder the work the centers do, according to Collins, who listed some of the public’s reaction to the phrase “senior center:”
• “You’ll never find me in a senior center;”
• “I’m too young to go to a senior center;”
• “They don’t have anything that interests me.”
But when a crisis happens, regarding their health, their spouse’s health, possibly that of their parents or a friend, they turn to the senior center.
“It could be a change in their financial situation, getting behind in payments, or their refusal to burden their children with such worries,” she said. “Where do they go?”
When home modifications are needed for parents to move in, but adult children can’t afford to make those modifications, where can they turn? Problems in finding affordable housing – possibly from the loss of a spouse leaves a person fearful.
“They have a place to turn,” Collins said.
Senior centers help when physical limitations make preparing healthy meals too difficult, or the mailbox is overflowing with material from different healthcare providers as they turn 65 and it gets confusing. Where do these people turn?
“They turn to the senior center,” she said. “They turn to the Hanson Senior Center. Whether it’s through a call to the Town Hall asking for help; whether it’s directly to us, we seem to foster those kind of calls on almost a daily basis.”
Select Board members expressed their appreciation for the work Collins and her staff provide.
“You know we’re huge fans of the work that you do every day all day,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “You’re an amazing person and we’re lucky to have you. What can we do to help you?”
She said that the board does not want to see Collins or her staff get burned out, so, whether she need more part-time people, or whatever else she needed, FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
“If you have the conversation, it might not happen today, but we can try to build it into things and get you that additional support so you can continue to do what you’re doing and you might even be able to do more,” she said.
“Two services that are vastly underfunded [in Hanson] are veterans’ services and the Council on Aging, said Board member Joe Weeks. “That demographic is only rising, and veterans have always been underserviced. If you don’t ask, we can’t help.”
According to figures Collins obtained from the Hanson Town Clerk’s office 4,115 residents are over age 55. If the population is 11,000 that figure represents more than 37 percent of the population. At 10,000 residents it would be 41 percent of the population. Many senior centers want to keep up with the changing interests of people, such as technology and educational programs.
Weeks said Town Meeting is the place where the town decides where its money goes, and if departments don’t know to ask for it there, he doesn’t think it’s possible to get it.
Board member Ed Heal also thanked Collins for her hard work, adding he thinks he’s taken Collins and her department for granted because they are able to do so much.
“I know you need more help, but what you do is unbelievable – way beyond what one person should be doing,” he said.
“That is really difficult to do at the Hanson Senior Center because I have a part-time administrative assistant … a part-time outreach person … I have a van driver and myself,” she said. In 2024, the Hanson Senior Center delivered more than 4,500 meals to people, congregate hot meals were served to more than 1,000 and more than 6,800 people got transportation to the center and/or medical appointments.
Referral paperwork for SNAP and housing assistance paperwork was provided by Collins personally for well over 65 people last year, and the most time-consuming assistance provided by senior center staff and volunteers was for Medicare enrollment was proved to 398 individuals – 170 of them during the annual open enrollment period from mid-October to Dec. 7. That assistance saved those clients more than $91,000.
The weekly programs for community connections and entertainment are also very popular. A healthy aging program offered by Old Colony Elder Services on memory boosting last year was very well attended and a new education program offered this beginning in March, will be a six-week program on chronic illness and disease management.
Perhaps most needed was the Modular unit they recently obtained through a $300,000 grant, which permitted the much-needed Leah’s Club supportive day program.
“It was our one and only chance,” Collins said of the grant. “We’re not like the library – we don’t get that funding.”
The grant was designed for elder services organizations that had lost, or were thinking of starting, a supportive day program.
“We had a supportive day program for 27 years when COVID hit,” she said. “As a result of COVID and people having to not work during that period, we lost the program. …[Leah’s Club] is a group which was established to fill an unmet need that the loss of the supportive day program during COVID left in it’s wake.”
Collins and her staff were “very strongly aware” of people in the community with forms of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease whose families and spouses were trying to care for them and keep them safe.
“We started Leah’s Club simply because of this need,” she said, noting that one day supportive day Director Leah Guercio, 96, came to Collins and said they had to fill that void in services. Guercio and her young assistant are paid out of a formula grant.
“We have wonderful volunteers,” she said of Leah’s Club, which meets twice a week from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. “People are engaged, they feel like a human being again and gives their families a little bit of respite that they need.
Henry Monet’s Wednesday Dancing with Henry program is very popular with Leah’s Club and sends them out the door to the old song, “You’re My Best Friend.”
The grant helped address a big challenge in returning Leah’s Club, as well – a lack of space.
“People came out of the woodwork for Leah’s Club,” she said. “People can’t afford assisted living housing.”
Once the modular building was obtained, the senior center asked clients’ families if there was any interest in bringing it back up to five days a week. The answer was a resounding, “Yes,” even if they have to pay for it. That full-time service will return in May.
“It’s an answer for a lot of families,” she said.
Collins thanked public safety partners from the Hanson Fire and Police departments that keep seniors safe and go the extra mile by teaching seniors a CPR class, and the Hanson Food Pantry, which has set up a little free “store” in the center lobby for clients to help stretch their food benefits and may be shy about going to the main food pantry.
She also thanked the Friends of the Hanson Senior Center as well as Hanson Community Christmas for always caring for seniors in the community,
Whitman eyes override terms
WHITMAN – Voters will be asked to vote on an operational override of Proposition 2.5 at the Monday, May 5 Town Meeting and the Saturday, May 17 Town Election, but the amount of the override has not yet been determined as the town faces a current deficit of $2.5 million.
“The budget indicates that an override is definitely necessary to maintain level services,” said Select Board member Shawn Kain, who has been working with Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter and Assistant Town Administrator Kathy Keefe, during the Tuesday, Feb. 25 meeting.
Free cash, meanwhile, has finally been certified at $2.2 million and Kain credited the town’s financial policies with keeping projections tighter.
Later in the meeting, the Select Board voted to impose a soft hiring freeze of new municipal employees because of the town’s finances, requiring approval from the Select Board, town administration so they can decide if a hold needs to be placed on a position that might be eliminated.
Execptions include a veterans services agent, which is mandated by law.
Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak also attended the meeting. Select Board member Laura Howe was absent.
The Select Board and Finance Committee will be meeting to discuss the issue further at its Tuesday, March 25 meeting and to schedule some public information forums in April.
Kain on the budget, said that he favors a smaller, short-term override, with the possibility of further overrides being necessary.
As of now, both boards are leaning toward a one-year override.
FinCom member Mike Andrews also said it would be advisable to put their cards on the table and let taxpayers know ahead of time it might not be just a “one-shot deal.”
“We may need to come back,” he said.
“That’s my concern,” said FinCom Vice Chair Mike Warner. “If we do an override right now, and we just meet the deficit, that means you’re guaranteeing you’re going to have an override next year.”
He said a move that would help any decision on an override, is to mandate a five-year plan from all departments, citing one the DPW has created.
Select Board Vice Chair Dan Salvucci said there is no guarantee that departments would be able to stick to a five-year plan.
“I want to make sure that we’re not positioning this conversation around this school as the reason for this override,” Winter said. “There are other things … that we know have to be done.”
He said he does not believe there’s time between now and May to come up with a projection for a multi-year ask of that magnitude.
Select Board Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski asked Kain if he could have two scenarios – for a one-year and a three-year override – ready in a couple of weeks. Kain said he could do that, as they have already done a one-year, and could have some in some detail, by March 25.
An informational contingency budget will be worked on by a working group between the town administration, the FinCon and Kain as informational tool.
Finance Committee Chair Kathleen Ottina opened the discussion with her statement on the budget before Kain provided a brief budget update.
“Tonight’s a big meeting to inform the finance committee on updating the current situation – I know what it is, but my committee members don’t,” she said. “I’ve looked at the school budget. I’ve analyzed [it] and I’ve sent [Szymaniak] my copy of the analysis with 32 questions.”
Ottina noted that Whitman, as a community, as a town, completely supported [SST’s] building, were very excited about it, and they also excited about the fact that SST is introducing two new programs. For veterinary technician and plumbing.
“This is going to offer students in the 21st century, opportunities that they don’t currently have,” she said. “But when it comes to the W-H Regional School district, there was not an awful lot of support from some corners of the town for the new middle school building, despite the fact that it was desperately needed, and yet it passed – and yet there are no new programs, despite the impact of the current budget, there are no new programs in the WH school budget.”
The middle school language program is not being returned, and no robotics courses are being offered, Ottina noted.
“No future thinking … to offer our kids to have more of them stay in W-H, so I think, when we come to making decisions about how we fund the schools, we as a community have been very generous and very supportive of the schools over the years, but we need to keep in mind that we’re only going to retain the kids if we provide an equitable education for all of them.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more,” said Kowalski.
South Shore Tech Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey was meeting with the Finance Committee that evening following the joint meeting with the Select Board. Szymaniak will present the school budget to the Finance Committee on March 11.
Ottina, who had been attending meetings remotely of late, due to illness, said she has been working “behind the scenes” and also met remotely with Carter to keep on top of the town’s financial situation. She had contributed a couple of spread sheets during that time analyzing how things are going for the town financially.
“The key point … is the $993,176 – the amount of new revenue over last year that we can use toward the operating budget,” Kain said. One of the Select Board’s fiscal priorities is to put 10 to 15 percent of free cash into capital stabilization this year, Kain added. Another 10 to 15 percent is being eyed for stabilization.
After processing the budget figures provided by the W-H School District earlier this month, coupled with the town’s budget forecast in December and updated revenue figures for the town and its expenditures, Kain offered a brief revue to facilitate discussion.
Whitman’s “solid number” for the $797,975 as the 2.5 percent, plus $200,000 in new growth, puts the town’s projected levy limit at $32,916,982, with excluded debt of $4,346.763 and receipts form other sources at $10,872,308 brings the maximum allowable levy at $10,872,308 for a total revenue of $48,136,053.
After charges and offsets are calculated the available funds are $47,410,216. The town also used $509,000 in free cash to balance the budget at last year’s Town meeting.
“Switching over to expenses, that Plymouth County Retirement figure is a real killer,” Kain said. At $363,000 it represents an 11-percent increase. “That’s a huge increase that’s very difficult to account for.” Medical insurance is also up 7 percent. With Carter’s support, Kain said he would like to place another $200,000 from free cash to offset the major liability at Plymouth County Retirement.
“We do not support using free cash in the operating budget,” he said, explaining it as a short-tern use for the next five years, but recognizing that the schools are in a tough situation, the board recommends using $140,000 of the meals tax that was otherwise going to be used for OPEB, dedicated for educational purposes.
The other post-employment benefits liability would instead be funded with $140,000 in free cash.
Carter added that Town Hall needs an accounting software package to replace the current one, which is approaching end-of-life, and Fire Chief Timothy Clancy has been talking about a new fire engine, which could cost $1.8 million.
“In order to have money for these huge expenditures, we really need to be consistent,” said, endorsing the placement of 10 to 15 percent of free cash into capital stabilization, as well as the 10 to 15 percent into regular stabilization.
The Select Board agreed with the stabilization moves.
“When towns get in trouble is when they stop putting money into stabilization,” Select Board member Justin Evans said.
W-H’s assessment – at $1.8 million increase is 9.65 percent and SST’s assessment is actually down as Whitman’s enrollment is down and the overall enrollment at SST is stable.
The town’s salary increases at 2.5 percent is the placeholder, he added, noting that all town unions are currently in negotiations.
Expenses based on figures available in December were basically “zeroes across he board,” Kain said, adding expenses that must be paid into Article 2, to provide a little more realistic picture of where expenses need to be even with “a really sparse budget.”
Kain said the new growth figure is less than the town typically anticipates, but added that the feedback they are getting is that building is down a little bit.
“I feel pretty strongly that I think we should have a small override, one year, that we show the public how we’re sacrificing, as well,” Kain said. “Because of the debt the town has incurred with new building projects, people are going to feel the burden pretty significantly with that, and it’s understandable. To recognize that, the appropriate step forward – just my opinion – is a smaller override, one that is more palatable than adding significant services.”
Ideally, Kain said he would support a multi-year override, but he’s having a problem with the town’s ability to predict how much that would be over, say, five years, to a high degree.
“We have some unique variables in Whitman and Hanson that make it really difficult to project out that are beyond our control,” he said.
Kowalski said he had been supporting a multiple-year override, until he listened to Kain more carefully.
“I think I agree with you,” he said. “What you just described might be the way to go.”
Evans, however, said he thinks a multiple-year approach is the way to go.
“I don’t know that we have the numbers today,” he said, but didn’t think it would be too difficult to “get a good ballpark figure,” noting that the school district’s projections are available, the board can make some assumptions how on contract might go and other expenses within town departments for a three-year override, based on those assumptions. Getting beyond that, Evans did see forecasting problems.
“We could probably pencil in 10 percent for pension increases, 7 percent for health care increases – it seems like it’s going to continue to stay high,” he said.
Finance Committee members seemed to agree a shorter-period override would pose less of a burden on taxpayers, but have not discussed it a their meetings.
Challenge ahead on special education funding
Mandated services for special education students – and the future of federal funding and grants to pay for them as well as other programs offered by the school district – have become a source of concern for educators during the current budget season.
Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak on Wednesday, Feb. 12 outlined the budget pressures and concerns facing school districts during a period of uncertainty at the federal level.
“We’re presenting a budget here and I want people out there to know, we get money from the Department of Education in Washington, and it’s $1.4 million,” he said.
The school district receives $1.8 million in grants from both state and federal funding, not included in the budget. One of the revenue sources for the overall budget that concerns Szymaniak is federal grants. The IDEA 240 special education grant [a little over $1 million] and A 262 preschool grant carries $41,000.
“I’m just reading what I hear and what comes down from the state,” Szymaniak said. “We received something from our attorney that there’s no cause to be alarmed, but just be mindful.”
Vice Chair Hillary Kniffen also noted that the district is legally responsible for providing the services to students, and the state doesn’t give enough support.
“What we do here – we do a lot, and I can’t say enough about our teaching staff our support staff, our paraprofessionals – working really hard for our students during difficult times,” Szymaniak said. “People are uneasy about a lot of different things.”
A federal Title 1 Grant [$375,000], among the Title 1 through Title 4 non-competitive entitlement grants the district receives from the Department of Education, is passed to districts through Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).
“One of the things that is concerning, a little bit, is the federal grants. … There has been some talk that they’re going to eliminate the funding source from the fed,” he said. “It concerns me. Right now, it’s in the budget – it’s $1.4 million in our budget (the Title 1 and IDEA 240 grant funding). If it goes away, I don’t know where we’re coming up with those funds for our students That’s something we’ve had for forever.”
Grant 147/644 is a high school internship grant. Other grants promote safe and healthy learning, vacation acceleration academies, 21st Century grants, an innovation-career pathways grant and a 710 grant which reinforces education and student health.
Szymniak said that, if the district relies on grants, “And I think it’s pretty clear here, that we do,” either they end up moving staff around, cutting staff or not providing those programs.
“We pay teachers out of that,” he said. “Some of the 21st Century grants are those special programs after school for some of our students at-risk, so it’s not only the course of the school day.”
Member Rosemary Connolly asked if all federal funding is iffy.
Last week, a televised video of a White-House governor’s conference with the president, showed him threatening Maine Gov. Janet Mills with elimination of federal funding for her state if she refuses to comply with his executive order banning transgender women from competing in women’s sports.
“See you in court,” Mills replied.
Atop the W-H fiscal concerns are district-wide special education programs and services, he said.
“We start servicing our students at 3 years old,” Szymaniak said. “If a student qualifies in our preschool for special education or has qualified for special intervention services, prior to age 3, we have to support that student and those student need.”
That can mean everything from speech, some students are autistic, some are medically fragile, there’s a wide variety of special education needs begin at 3 years old, he noted.
There are autism support rooms, integrated classrooms where students receiving some special education services are in classrooms with students tuitioned in, like peers at the preschool level. A therapeutic learning center for emotional impairment is among elementary school services along with TLC program at both Conley and Duval, ASD programs, PACES (a program for developmental and intellectual disabilities) and a language-based program for students not necessarily fully integrated and in need of support.
At the middle school level, TLC (a program that helps students who have had prolonged absence due to illness or injury, return to the school routine), ASD, PACES and the language-based program.
“You can see, trickling up from age 3, if you need services, we are there to provide those services,” Szymaniak said.
PACES continues at the high school, allowing students to graduate out of the program and, if need be, attend the post-graduate program – servicing students from age 18 to 22.
There are also dual-certified teacher in special education-science as well as in history, English and math, in an academic learning center (ALC), for students who may need some support, but not necessarily a fully integrated program during their high school years.
The district also employs nine speech pathologists and two assistants. Three occupational therapists, one certified therapist assisting and four board-certified behavior analysts (down from five last year), who help students with behavioral issues in the classrooms. A contract service provider is available for students who need physical therapy.
An average of 19 students attending collaborative programs at area agencies such as North River Collaborative, costing $82,310 per student, which are not negotiable prices. The total cost of the collaboratives is $1.9 million.
There are 250 English learners are also enrolled this school year.
“The law says, and our district does, try to create an environment of least-restrictive classroom setting for our students,” Szymaniak said. What’s written in a student’s IEP (individual education plan) determines where a student will be placed. Being a member of the collaboratives saves the district about 15 percent on tuition.
The district also has a residential placement at a cost of nearly $430,000 per year. Circuit-breaker covers up to 75 percent of the coverage over that.
Another 18 students are enrolled in private, out-of-district placements.
“Private placement tuitions have gone up extensively post-COVID and we don’t really have control over that,” Szymaniak said. That total is about $2.8 million, about $160,000 per student, he said, noting the figure is lower than some other districts. An additional $2.3 million has been estimated to be the cost of transportation to those programs.
“That’s more expensive than Harvard,” member Glen DiGravio said. “That’s the greatest education in the world.”
“We actually have lower-than-average special ed costs,” Connolly said. “But it’s still expensive. One of the stressors that we want to look at, is what is the appropriate price tag to educate a child, and are the towns actually paying that appropriate price tag? … Sometimes we get into, ‘How do we get it cheaper?’ as opposed to what is the most effective education we could provide.”
The district plans to add an ASD program at the high school in either FY 2027 or 28, in an effort to provide services to middle schoolers aging out.
“We want to keep our kids home,” Szymaniak said. “We don’t want to send them somewhere – a residential placement or a residential or private school – one, because of cost; but, two, we want to keep them with like peers here in district,” he said.
The state is budgeting $1.3 million for those costs to W-H,” School Committee member Dawn Byers said.
Szymaniak said the district is not alone in the budgeting gap for special education, adding that schools are struggling to afford it.
“Our goal is to provide every student an opportunity to be successful in our district,” Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak. “The goal of this budget is to keep as-is – not to add more, because based on the data that we have … we’re doing a decent job.”
He said that, in his opinion, students get a pretty good education in a budget that, comparable to other districts, is lower.
Aside from illness, flu, RSV, noralvirus and COVID are all circulating again; changes in the media and other volatile components of society, Szymaniak assured the community that W-H students are “well taken care of both academically and socially.
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