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Schools discuss COVID testing, instruction

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The School Committee on Wednesday, Jan. 13, heard a lengthy COVID update from Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak, reflecting 41 positive tests among students, seven staff members and two coaches since school resumed after the holiday break.

There have been 35 staff members and 163 students — including both varsity and JV girl’s basketball teams, the girls’ varsity hockey team, the Hanson’s grade seven and eight girls’ travel basketball team and eighth-grade boys’ travel basketball teams — under quarantine.

Four district special education classrooms have also had to be quarantined.

“We are not seeing positive transmission, necessarily, within our student body,” Szymaniak said. “We have occasional cases of kids being exposed and then with close contacts, even through an extracurricular activity [or] an athletic activity, but not necessarily in our classrooms.”

The subseparate special ed classes were the exception. Szymaniak said the high school had been placed on full remote this month because of a shortage of substitutes to cover for teachers who were ill, quarantined, for other medical appointments or on long-term leave.

Sarah Wall, a Whitman resident and mother of 9-year-old twin boys and 7-year-old twin girls who attend Conley School and was hired during the past school year as a substitute teacher, spoke to the committee during the public forum about the lack of substitutes. She had been an elementary-grade teacher in Newton schools for several years.

Wall said she believes that low wages for substitutes is at the root of why there is a shortage. As she spoke, she was receiving a call to sub, she told the committee, noting that higher wages would lead to a larger more qualified pool of substitutes.

Szymaniak said the district’s goal has been to avoid full remote days as much as possible since August.

Students have been voicing concerns about the technical difficulties and distractions of hybrid learning.

“Coming from a student point of view, hybrid learning is very difficult,” student representative Anna Flynn told the Committee. “It is challenging to stay focused and understand material when there is so many distractions.”

Among the distractions students face are WiFi cut-outs, family members also at home, cell phones and electronic devices. She said her peers have told her that fully remote days are less stressful because everyone is online and teachers are focused on everyone at once in front of them on the computer screen.

“The longer lunch on all-remote days helps students stay focused when they go back to academic classes,” she said. “It has been widely known throughout the student body [has given] negative feedback on the topic of going back to school [on a hybrid schedule Jan. 14] many feel we should be fully remote for a longer period of time due to the concerns about the COVID-19 virus.”

Athletic Director Bob Rodgers admitted that the sports program has faced its struggles during the winter season.

“We’ve advocated that the Patriot League allow our teams to practice, but not play games, and move our games to the Feb. 22 Fall II season,” Rodgers said. He had hopes it could be done at least for the girls because there would be no other sports conflict, and argued the abrupt cancellation of games was upsetting to students.

“I’m a big advocate of the Patriot League bubble,” he said. “I don’t anticipate that we’ll play outside the bubble, however there are some teams in our league — because there are so many teams shut down.”

W-H shuts a team down if even one positive case is found and other team members are asked to get tested, Rodgers said, but other schools have other protocols.

Szymaniak said school officials have also been learning about the pool testing being advocated by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). His concerns include the number of people needed to administer the program and he is not certain if W-H will use it. Another concern is whether the communities are large enough to make pool testing an accurate tool.

Szymaniak is also concerned with another message sent by pool tests.

“What we don’t want to do is say, ‘There might be a test for you to come to school and test — we have a pool test — go to school if you have symptoms, and they’ll take care of you,’” he said. “Our parents have been doing an awesome job of contacting the school [when their children have symptoms] and it’s worked out relatively well.”

Staffing has been the main issue when asymptomatic students or staff receive positive tests following close contact with people outside school.

Like Whitman, which is buying rapid tests for staff only at this point, through the fire department for town employees, Szymaniak is looking into costs.

“That’s probably what we are going to do,” he said.

Pool tests are intended for both students and staff, which raises a question about manpower for conducting them.

If a person in the pool tests positive, a backup antigen test would be conducted, but if an additional test is needed due to no positive tests in an antigen follow-up to a positive result in a pool test, Szymaniak is not certain who would have to foot that bill.

Committee member Hillary Kniffen said cost considerations are not compatible with equal access issues surrounding public education.

“Testing is important and it shouldn’t be [that if] you can pay for it, you can get it,” she said.

Szymaniak suggested the Committee send a letter to state officials expressing that concern.

Member Dan Cullity asked about the vaccination plan, but Szymaniak said the state has provided no guidance about teachers yet, but unofficially “on the street” he has heard it may be February or March. It appears, however, that school nurses have been moved up into the first responder category.

Szymaniak said the district is working on the plan for the eventual return to school this academic year if it is safe as well as the plan for returning to school in September.

“April 1 is not a date that is set in stone,” he said. “There’s a lot of what-ifs in there, a lot could change.”

Green resigns from Whitman Post

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WHITMAN — Interim Town Administrator Lisa Green has resigned from that position as well as from her role as assistant town administrator, effective Feb. 5.

“It’s become apparent to me that there’s no growth opportunity for me here in this town,” Green said, adding she was pursuing a new opportunity. “The town has determined to go in a different direction, and I’ve determined it’s time for me to go in a different direction, as well.”

She thanked residents for giving her the honor of representing them over the past four years.

“It’s been a trip and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” she said.

New Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman starts on Monday, Feb. 8.

“I thought that we had a lot of good work done while you were here,” said Selectman Brian Bezanson thanked her for her work. “I know that you’re going to go places and do good things.”

He was joined by Selectman Chairman Dan Salvucci, who expressed his disappointment but that it was her decision.

“I would like to [express] my feeling of regret that she is leaving, but that’s her choice. She wants to further her career and that’s her choice the way she does it,” said Salvucci.

Green had applied for the town administrator position, for which Lincoln Heineman was hired on Dec. 22.

An update to the COVID policy for town employees means new guidelines for employees pertaining to extended sick leave and travel procedures.

The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Jan. 19 voted to replace current protocols with the existing policy, after several procedures and state and local health regulations were incorporated. Bezanson, whose wife is a town employee, abstained.

“The policy is really a compiled policy,” said Counsel Peter Summers. “You had several different policies addressing travel, addressing workplace procedures. This was an attempt to compile everything into one policy, along with some updates based on recent guidance from the state — DPH requirements — as well as review from your emergency personnel and your health personnel in town.”

Salvucci said Police Chief Tim Hanlon had some questions pertaining to emergency situations, as well as when an employee could be released from quarantine, that have been ironed out.

Another question from Union Steward Joanne Wing of OPEIU Local 6 regarding paid administrative leave or extension of leave allowed employees in other towns. The board can address a situation where an employee might run out of sick time on a case-by-case basis, said Selectman Justin Evans. The board had considered postponing action on late adjustments, until Selectmen could take more time to review the changes.

“Nothing here seems earthshattering or that different from what we’re already doing, it’s just codified and written down,” said Evans. “I think it’s prudent to vote this and get it in the hands of our employees.”

Summers said one part does involve procedure following workplace exposure to people who have recently traveled. Close contacts required to quarantine will either be asked to work remotely by their department head or be entitled to additional paid time off.

“I think there’s a difference between someone who is quarantining after close contact vs. someone who is really sick,” Summers said.

Whitman’s COVID-19 numbers are at 148 cases in various stages of quarantine and no new cases among town employees.

“I have not had any reports of any cluster of COVID cases,” Green said.

Hanson sees sobering numbers

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HANSON — The Board of Selectmen got a glimpse of preliminary fiscal 2022 budget numbers on Tuesday, Jan. 13 — and the picture they paint is not a positive one.

“We’re a little early in the process because this is one of the hardest things we’re going to have to overcome in the next several months,” Selectmen Kenny Mitchell said. “I don’t think it’s a big secret, but we have a shortfall in our up-and-coming budget.”

During the brief budget discussion, Mitchell said the issue would be coming up regularly at Selectmen meetings this winter.

Outside of some numbers not in yet, Selectmen are looking at a shortfall of  “around $2 million,” according to Town Administrator John Stanbrook.

Mitchell said his goal is to were to go over the options available to make up the shortfall and, if that is not possible, what town services would be affected.

“I think it’s more of a moderate assumption list of things that could happen,” Stanbrook said. “I think it could get worse, I think it could get worse … but it’s using pretty much every dollar that we have available.”

Saying the town just doesn’t have that kind of money available, Stanbrook said.

Before Thanksgiving, Mitchell and Stanbrook met with Town Accountant Todd Hassett and Finance Committee Chairman Kevin Sullivan and Selectman Matt Dyer on the budget. They met again Friday, Jan. 8.

Hassett said the town is looking toward about $108,000 in tax revenue from newly construction, noting it is still early for state aid numbers to be available, but most of the major lines have been level-funded.

“The state is still very challenged financially,” he said adding the town is looking for the state to approve a level-funded budget by the end of the month.

Local receipts, usually producing about $2 million from motor vehicle excise tax, will not produce a revenue forecast until the first payments come in later this month or in February to permit comparison to past years.

“In terms of a lot of other revenues, a lot of them are running well to our budget, but we’re not seeing a lot of excess,” Hassett said. “We’ve put about $700,000 into this year’s budget with one-time sources.”

Both the transfer station ($107,000) and recreation ($86,000) operations have been subsidized in past budgets and the operating budget was subsidized by $450,000 in free cash at the annual Town Meeting.

In the next year’s budget, the town is expecting to be using about $200,000 in free cash to fund HVAC work at Hanson Middle School. The five-year debt was approved when the town was in a better financial position.

The town has also received about $3 million in capital requests from town departments and the regional school district in a budget that “leaves very little for the town’s capital plan.”

“It’s unlikely that we will be able to move forward with many of these,” Hassett said. “I’m not sure how that will ripple trough over the next few years.”

COVID postpones special Town Meeting

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WHITMAN — Faced with difficult choice, the Board of Selectmen in a Monday, Jan. 11 meeting, voted to indefinitely pass over closing the warrant and setting the date for a special Town Meeting this month, backing the Board of Health.

Selectman Brian Bezanson was absent.

The decision came after an angry Fire Chief Timothy Grenno, who also serves as the town’s emergency management director, criticized town employees who failed to take COVID-19 seriously and reported to work despite testing positive — and forcing the closure of two town offices.

Interim Town Administrator Lisa Green had prefaced Grenno’s report on the most recent COVID cases in town by saying, “some of them are kind of disturbing.”

“It’s very aggravating right now,” Grenno said in following up an email he had sent the board earlier in the day. “Numbers are on the rise, we’re seeing anywhere from 10 to 20 new cases a day in this community. It is not a hoax, as some people may think it is — it’s real.”

He said that, for a second time in as many weeks a town office had to be shut down, “because an employee went to work sick.” Last week, the collector’s office had to be closed and the DPW office is now closed because of a single employee in each office.

“This board has instructed town employees several times, as far as I know, that if you’re sick — if you don’t feel good, if you have a headache, if you have a sore throat — stay home,” he said. “But for some reason, ignorance plays out, and people just go to work.”

Grenno said he is passionate about the pandemic and asked Selectmen to consider the need to discipline employees who knowingly go to work ill and create a cluster of COVID infections.

“We’re a year into this, it’s not rocket science,” he said.

Grenno spoke of a conversation he had Monday with a DPW superintendent who has been doing everything right — staying away from friends, going on hikes with his wife away from other people and avoiding all other social interactions — yet he now has to quarantine for seven days because a coworker reported to work despite being ill.

“It’s pretty tiring and pretty aggravating, and it’s very irresponsible of the town employees who are doing this,” Grenno said. “They need to be held accountable.”

While Selectman Randy LaMattina said the town’s out-of-state travel policy for town employees needs to be updated, for the time-being that type of travel should not be allowed. He also firmly stands by a 10-day quarantine, mirroring the state’s policy.

Massachusetts has reached the “severe outbreak” status for the first time during the pandemic on Monday, Jan. 11,  according to data tracking nonprofit COVID Act Now.

“At this point, this is about minimizing risk, minimizing exposure,” LaMattina said. “There’s acceptable risk, and then there’s some that we don’t have to put ourselves out there for. … The increase we’re seeing is tremendous.”

In fire and law enforcement services, there is now about triple the number of cases than in the spring.

“We can help this problem,” LaMattina said. “Helping the problem is getting strong on the problem, and that’s what we need to do.”

A policy update is expected to be ready for a vote at the next meeting.

COVID vaccinations will begin to be administered to fire crews on Wednesday. Vaccinations for the town’s at-risk population will be set up at Housing Authority and some other sites during the winter and spring, with residents asked to consult their primary care physicians, pharmacies or other sources offerint the vaccine, until the general population is scheduled for a drive-through vaccination effort.

“Even if you’re vaccinated, you may still spread it,” Selectman Dr. Carl Kowalski and Grenno stressed.

Town meeting

COVID considerations were also behind the postponement of the special Town Meeting planned for later this month.

“I do not want to take away from anything on the Town Meeting warrant,” LaMattina said. “I think it’s all necessary. … I oppose having this strictly out of safety concerns.”

But, he noted, the Board of Health does not recommend holding the Town Meeting at this time, stating it is too dangerous for public health.

Selectmen Chairman Daniel Salvucci suggested that, if the DPW thinks to force main issues will not lead to a sewer main break this winter, the issue could go before the May Town Meeting.

“My fear is that we have a major break and we put contaminated material in neighborhoods,” Salvucci said, adding that Brockton may also fine the town.

“We’re talking about a sewer leak as opposed to gathering a group of people together, starting an event that gets several people sick and you have somebody die,” LaMattina said. “There is no life that you can equate to me in dollars.”

DPW Commissioner Kevin Cleary said he would have no issue with a postponement outside the fear of the unknown, and suggested reaching out to state and local conservation officials if there were questions.

“It’s not dealing with the unknown, it’s the risk of the known that I’m worried about,” Kowalski said.

TA contract

The meeting opened with an executive session during which the board conducted a strategy session regard to a three-year contract offered to new Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman. They returned to open session to approve the contract and announce he would begin work on Monday, Feb. 8.

“The salary is consistent with market values,” Kowalski said. “We have gone over all the terms of the contract and voted positively for it in executive session.”

The public vote formalized the approval.

Return to remote learning

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Parents and students in the Whitman-Hanson and South Shore Tech school districts moved to remote plans through Jan. 19 as COVID-19 positivity rates in their member communities have increased over the holidays.

Meanwhile, Massachusetts has reached the “severe outbreak” status for the first during the pandemic on Monday, Jan. 11,  according to data tracking nonprofit COVID Act Now.

In Whitman-Hanson, high school students were the only ones in the district moved to remote learning on Jan. 8 with a return to hybrid learning planned on Tuesday, Jan. 19, Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak announced in an email to parents that was also posted on the district website. Another post on Tuesday announced the school’s cohort B would return to a hybrid schedule Jan. 14.

“Teachers and students will follow the remote schedule that was used on Dec. 21 and 22,” Szymaniak said. “During this time of remote learning, we are also postponing all athletic practices and contests.”

Szymaniak said the district has taken all the steps necessary to reduce the chance of this situation occurring.

“We continue to adhere to DPH and DESE protocols, and while we have seen a significant increase in the number of cases in our town and within the school community, there have only been a few select cases that we determined to have been transmitted in the school community,” he said. “Nonetheless, the numbers documented are concerning and out of caution, I feel this is the correct step to take for the health and safety of our students and staff.”

SST Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey said the vocational high school is making a “slight adjustment” for the students on the academic week for the 14-day post-vacation window.

“I anticipate a return to a regular hybrid schedule during the week of Jan. 19,” Hickey said, noting he had advised parents on Facebook.

On Friday, Jan. 8, Gov. Baker said the Commonwealth will make weekly COVID-19 pool testing available to all schools and districts within the next month. The method is aimed at providing more safeguards to stop the spread of COVID while also giving school officials more knowledge about what is happening in buildings every day, he said.

Pool testing permits the review of up to 20 swabs at a time, state officials said. Salem, Watertown and Medford districts have already begun using pool testing with encouraging results, according to DESE Commissioner Jeff Riley.

“This is something people have been working on for months,” Baker said. “The data around this is clear, that in-person learning is essential to kids’ education, developmental and emotional well-being, and we’ve shown we can control the spread of the virus in classrooms when the right steps are in place.”

Detailed guidelines for the state’s approach were developed in June 2020 by medical experts and endorsed by the Mass. Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics to support safe, in-person learning for all students. The commonwealth has also invested more than $1 billion to cover COVID-related expenses for schools, Baker said.

“Children, and especially high-needs children, have borne the brunt of this terrible virus as their lives, routines and educations have been upended,” Baker said.

Student achievement

Students and parents across the country, meanwhile, have begun turning to social media to lament about educational setbacks in remote and hybrid learning models, which Hickey admits is a concern.

“It is a challenge,” Hickey said. “But we’re meeting the challenge by teachers being very patient and flexible, and administratively and with our guidance staff, we’re also trying to provide some wrap-around support.”

Toward that end, SST is holding what they are calling a Saturday School on Jan. 16 to provide in-person help to catch up, if needed, in a socially distanced setting. Teachers also meet remotely with students for extra help during before and after school hours.

While SST’s in-person start times are staggered, starting at 9 a.m. on academic days, which permits teachers to meet with students between 7:40 a.m. and 9, to see a specific teacher or report to the lecture hall on remote days if they require some structure and routine even if they do not need extra help.

“We are in regular contact with all of the kids, whether they’re fully remote, or otherwise,” Hickey said.

Meanwhile, Hickey said SST is working on scheduling models for next year that will take every contingency into consideration.

“For us, one of the biggest indicators that I’ll be looking for is will the state and public health officials relax the transportation guidelnes,” he said. “If I can’t put more than 23 kids on a bus, I will be forced to continue the staggered schedule that we have.”

That and easing the social distancing regulations for lunches would be needed to allow a return to a “normal” schedule, according to Hickey.

“We will continue our partnership with the boards of health in Whitman and Hanson and monitor the cases for a safe return to school,” Szymaniak stated. “If you have any questions, please feel free to contact my office at 781-618-7412.”

COVID numbers on rise

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WHITMAN – The Board of Selectmen made a groundbreaking hire and heard a sobering update on COVID-19 in town during its first meeting of the New Year on Tuesday, Jan. 5.

Veteran Sara Lansing, who served nine years in the National Guard out of Hingham, was named as Whitman’s new Veterans’ Services Officer following interviews with her and applicants James Murphy and Brian Richards. East Bridegwater Veteran’s Agent Chris Buckley, who has been helping Whitman veterans during the absence of a VSO, conducted the interviews for the board.

The interviews and vote followed a sobering COVID update from Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director Timothy Grenno.

He reported 110 new cases of coronavirus over the past 14 days, bringing the number of positive cases — and contact tracing cases likely to become positive — in town to “well over 300.”

“We’re pretty much at a critical standpoint,” Grenno said. The 10.24 percent positivity rating from two weeks ago is now up to 10.5 percent and is expected to climb higher this week as town health officials await post-New Year’s Eve numbers.

“I can tell you that our local hospitals are all at surge capacity,” he said. “They’re transferring patients out every day, just to try to make room for new patients coming in.”

The patients his department is seeing are “very sick patients” as they are transferring more COVID-positive patients now than they were in the first wave.

“There’s no light at the end of the tunnel right now until we get past this next surge,” Grenno said. “In the fire service, we say that a smoke detector is your first line of defense for a house fire, well, in COVID your first line of defense is a facial covering.”

Grenno also addressed those who may believe the pandemic is a hoax.

“There’s a lot of non-believers out there,” he said. “I would suggest … they should go visit an ICU or CCU right now, because more and more people are dying every day. … It’s not good out there.”

The 22-year-old nephew of one of Grenno’s firefighters is in critical condition with COVID in an area ICU right now.

Grenno also asked Selectmen for four specific actions to better handle the pandemic, which the board approved:

• Authorization to hire a temporary, part-time administrative assistant to help with documentation, scheduling and reporting of all vaccination programs, funded by federal CARES funds;

• Appoint one Selectmen to serve as fiduciary authority, working with the treasurer/collector and Grenno for future CARES expenditures and any further stimulus funding. Selectman Randy LaMattina volunteered to serve in that capacity;

• Bring candidates on board to assist the Board of Health with procedures and Chairman Dan Salvucci suggested the Recreation office be used for now; and

• Return to the spring policy of no in-person inspections, outside training, extensive modifications of response policies, and closing the fire station to public access during this phase of the pandemic.

Grenno also said other town department heads should review their operations and ensure buildings are basically locked down and staff wear masks at all times.

Selectman Justin Evans also suggested that unused meeting rooms could be used for Town Hall staff to space out for safety during the pandemic.

“COVID is everywhere in town right now,” Grenno said. “The biggest thing is facial coverings. … We’re our own worst enemies. Quite frankly, if anyone gets up from their desk and leaves their workspace they should have a face covering on.”

Veterans’ Agent

Candidates were asked to outline their understanding of the veterans’ benefits provided under MGL Ch. 115, and their personal experience which would assist them in serving as VSO.

Lansing had been deployed with her National Guard transportation unit in 2002-03 and has since been very active in the Duxbury American Legion. She is a past commander of the post and still an active member for the past 10 years.

Under her leadership the post went from struggling to among the top 20 in the state.

“I love working with veterans,” Lansing said. “I’m not currently working and I go visit veterans in Duxbury that are alone at home and just want somebody to talk to.”

She stressed that she would explain the appeal process if veterans are turned down for Ch. 115 assistance, as well as options through other avenues. She demonstrated her familiarity with the disability claims process and how she would manage the office budget.

When asked about how she would organize her day, Lansing said much of it would involve reaching out to veterans and organizing people who like to work together with the Legion and VFW to take care of veterans that need help.

“Once you’re in the military, you become part of a family,” she said.

Lansing is proficient in all Microsoft applications as well as QuikBooks, a level of comfort with technology neither Murphy or Richards claimed.

“I can learn almost any program on a computer,” she said. “If allowed, I would probably start a Facebook page for Veterans’ Services and I would do mailings [about events].”

She expressed a willingness to put in extra time, if needed, to catch up with back any paperwork.

In discussing their vote, Selectmen asked Buckley, Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green and Selectman Brian Bezanson, who formed the search panel, for their input.

Green said Lansing would be a good choice for Whitman.

“All three candidates are outstanding,” Buckley said. “If you’re asking me, as far as a full spectrum, I believe Sara would be a good candidate.”

Bezanson agreed, noting any of the three would be a good choice.

“I’ve always thought someone who works in town and lives in town gives them some skin in the game, however, I think Sara would be a good choice here,” he said.

Selectmen Justin Evans and LaMattina agreed.

“She impressed me,” LaMattina said. “But I also thought Mr. Murphy was good, too.

Selectman Dr. Carl Kowalski said it was a tough choice.

“I don’t think we could go wrong with any of the three candidates,” he said. “Sara is a breath of fresh air.”

An accountant for more than 30 years, Murphy has been the finance officer for the Legion and Sons of the American Legion in Whitman. He stressed his activity on parade committees and toll booth fundraisers as well as with the Marine Corps League. He also noted the photos of veterans events he has had published in the Express.

Richards has worked as a heating contractor and has experience with the VA claims process and has done budgeting as president of the Massasoit Veterans’ Club and a radio club he has belonged to.

A Look back at 2020

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Any attempt to recount the top stories of the past year seems to have its roots in five letters — COVIDThe COVID-19 pandemic took over in so many areas of daily life after mid-March that it’s sometimes difficult to recall a time it wasn’t a constant preoccupation.

But the year opened — and closed — with communities choosing new town administrators. In Hanson, Selectmen welcomed new Town Administrator John Stanbrook on board in January, replacing Michael McCue who had been removed by the board the previous summer.

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

Whitman ended the year by selecting Hanover Finance Director Lincoln Heineman — as Selectmen prioritized the town’s financial outlook — to serve as Whitman’s new town administrator.

Heineman and Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green were placed in nomination for the vote during discussion, prior to which Green excused herself from the Zoom meeting.

The board also voted to begin contract negotiations with Heineman.

Four finalists had been interviewed by Paradigm Consulting representative Bernard Lynch and the board during a lengthy session on Friday, Dec. 18, also conducted remotely.

Also interviewed were Millville Town Administrator Peter Caruso and Shirley Town Administrator Michael McGovern.

“To me, it was clear by the interview process and the paper résumés that, in my opinion, there was somebody who stood out to me,” Selectmen Randy LaMattina said of Heineman. “It was talking about fiscal policy, forecasting, models — where will we be in five and 10 years — and not only talking about these things, but having first-hand knowledge, actually participating in the development of these things, not just a seat at the table where you watched it happen.”

The towns were also busy from the start of 2020 dealing with the continuing debate over how towns should be assessed for the W-H Regional School District budget — an issue which preoccupied residents nearly as much as did COVID.

And there were presidential, state and local elections and a reckoning with systemic racism in the form of marches in both towns to protest the death of Gorge Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis, Minn., police officer, among other fatal encounters between Black Americans and police across the country.

Town halls, libraries, senior centers and any activities that could attract more than 25 people were canceled or rescheduled in light of a March state of standard procedure in Whitman and Hanson, until summer when Hanson returned to in-person meetings with masks and social distancing protocols in place. Whitman boards continued to meet remotely, however.

By late December, Gov. Baker had to reinstate controls on gatherings of 10 persons or more until Jan.10, 2021. Hanson Selectmen Chairman Kenny Mitchell, therefore suspended meetings until Jan. 12.

Schools turned to remote learning within days of Gov. Baker’s initial order, sending ChromeBooks home with students who needed them, as well as to-go meals for children on free and reduced lunch programs.

By the start of the 2020-21 school year, the district — as well as South Shore Tech — had developed hybrid plans in which pupils were rotated through school buildings and ridership was limited on school buses.

For those students, however, the lost extra-curricular activities and annual milestones such as a lost state final basketball game, proms and graduations, were what will be remembered.

The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association canceled the state finals as W-H was scheduled to play Taconic in the Division 2 state final last Saturday. It was the program’s first-ever state final berth. As a result of the cancellation, W-H and Taconic

were named co-state champions.

The last day of school became a drive-by affair as teacher and staff stood socially distanced outside schools as rising students were driven by to wave and receive tokens from teachers.

On June 27, SST seniors, received their diplomas on a touch-free basis during a drive-in ceremony at the Marshfield Fairgrounds, a precursor of some national political rallies in late summer and the fall.

W-H’s graduation was delayed until July 31, and, even then, some students’ exposure to coronavirus forced a change from a socially distanced in-person graduation to a drive-up ceremony.

One by one, members of the senior class and family members who could fit in a single vehicle drove up to the school’s front entrance. They picked up their diploma from a low table and approached the spirit rock where they posed for individual photos with Principal Dr. Christopher Jones, Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak and School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes.

But there was good to be found, even amid the COVID pandemic. Police drive-by birthday greetings for kids, notes of encouragement left in Whitman Park and literal signs of support for community food pantries helped buoy spirits.

On Sunday, April 19, a steady parade of vehicles stopped in front of the LaMattina house on Whitman’s River Birch Circle all morning. They stopped long enough for Randy LaMattina or his wife Michelle to load something in the back before driving away. Residents were taking delivery of 18X24 Whitman Strong lawn signs, designed by 14-year-old Claire LaMattina to benefit the Whitman Food Pantry. She raised more than $15,000 in the project.

Things were less harmonious on the town and school budget front. A project grappled with since the fall of 2019, drawn out even further by pandemic-induced delays in town election and town meeting schedules. Town meeting quorums were reduced and sessions were held outdoors — an arrangement that also had to work around limited time windows around darkness and mosquito activity.

In Hanson, a $800,000 Proposition 2 ½ override failed by a vote of 1,121 against to 712 in favor during the June town election. Opponents argued the School Committee did not have the necessary two-thirds vote to post the article in the first place.

Financial decisions by both towns and the school district, to trim where possible and, a compromise formula helped both towns pass budgets, including school spending at midsummer town meetings.

“The budget is built on the assumption that we meet in the middle, in a transition from the current [school] budget method … to the statutory method, which is what most communities in Massachusetts that are regional are using,” Whitman Town Administrator Frank Lynam said in July.

Whitman voters unanimously approved the assessment compromise for the school budget before moving on to the school budget during an outdoor Town Meeting in the blistering heat at WHRHS ball fields Monday, July 27. The $15,367,392 school assessment line item in the Article 2 budget was also approved unanimously. Hanson voters also approved the amendment to the Regional Agreement governing the assessment formula, two days later to fall into line with the vote taken by Whitman. They also approved the Selectmen’s recommended school budget 434-83 and the budget as a whole, based on the Selectmen’s recommended budget of $11,214,177 — at Town Moderator Sean Kealy’s motion — after the assessment article passed.

The advent windows of Plympton, UK

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By Charmian Evans
charmianevans@hotmail.com

PLYMPTON, England — Well, its been an interesting Christmas this side of the pond. The wartime spirit has been brought out in our village. The pubs and church might be shuttered, restaurant dining a thing of the past, but the sense of Christmas has not been dimmed.

At the beginning of the month, we organised a village advent calendar. People volunteered to decorate their windows as a living calendar. As the days passed, the street lit up. Bear in mind the newest house is about 150 years old, most 500 or so, and they’re built on a road that was put in in 1140, so the place looked pretty special.

Lockdown has brought out ingenuity and creativity in spades. Windows have had railways running round, angels flying, spectacular nativity scenes, the lot. One owner rigged up music to trigger with outside movement to co-ordinate with a Santa scene. That’s all fine, but he forgot to turn it off at night and every fox, car or cat triggered the booming tones of “We Wish You A Merry Christmas”

In the UK  earlier in the year we had “Clap for Carers” every Thursday when people would stand on their doorsteps and clap, whack a saucepan with a wooden spoon, anything to show we were thinking of those brave people who are in the front line dealing with the big CV.

So I had the bright idea of doing a doorstep carol service. Simple. I circulate the carols on the village What’s App and we all start chirruping at 6.30. Nope, not that simple. “We need a starting pitch”  said one. “The words vary, as do the tunes, which one are we singing?” said another. “What about those that don’t have What’s App” cried a voice.

Zoom, it seems, was the answer. So we set up a link. I then found the music to carols – but I had to find the words to synchronise with them. Have you ever researched how many variants there are to some of the best known carols? Let me tell you, there are loads.

I’d checked the weather forecasts. The night was to be clear and cold, perfect for our lanterns to shine, our Father Christmas Hats to add colour.   All I can say is that if my copy is as inaccurate as the weather predictions, I’d never work again. The rain fell in stair rods.

But we’re British and we man up to such occasions. Bravely, we took to our front doors and those of us that could, linked into zoom and those that couldn’t just joined in with printed words.

Bill Gates I’m not. Too late we realised, as people started to sing, that the zoom speed varied. So we had people singing the second verse as we were starting the third, and so on. Our sheet music turned to papier mache, but did we care? No – thanks to our wonderful publican who became the star of the show. Braving the Niagara-like rain he brought out hot mulled wine, socially spacing to serve it. Boy was it strong. By the second serving we were singing anything that came into our heads, wet through and huddling in the front door.
On Christmas Eve, locals got together and ingeniously turned an old pick-up truck into Santa’s sleigh. He came through the village with his team of, I have to say, rather portly and elderly elves who dished out enough sweets to the excited kids to ensure they would be running round the house until midnight.

I meanwhile had to think of the turkey. I’m so ingrained with feeding the 5,000 at Christmas that it’s impossible for me to do small. The home delivery grocer probably spent Christmas in hospital with a hernia, while I’m looking balefully at the remains of an 18 lb turkey. We’re only allowed six people over the Christmas period. One of those is a vegetarian. So if any of you make it my way during the year, there’ll be no surprise about what you’re eating.

We celebrate Boxing Day, a national holiday, on the 26th December. It’s an odd name,  though today could be apt with the Amazon deliveries we get. One explanation is that it comes from the days when servants were given their presents in boxes on the 26th –  the first working day after the 25th. The tradition of giving gifts for service extended beyond servants too, and included tradesmen such as milkmen, butchers and so on.

Another theory is that it’s named after the custom of priests opening alms boxes in churches after Christmas. The poor and needy benefitted from the monies collected on the run up to Christmas and apparently some churches still open these boxes on Boxing Day.

Until the CV, Boxing Day is a day for nationwide leisure. Sales start in the shops, and it’s a major day for sporting activities. For others like us, it’s a day to hunker down, enjoy presents, and in our case, eat Turkey, lots and lots of Turkey……

Season’s Greetings to All!

Heineman picked as Whitman TA

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WHITMAN — Selectmen on Tuesday, Dec. 22 voted to hire Hanover Finance Director and Treasurer-Collector Lincoln Heineman to serve as Whitman’s new town administrator.

He would succeed Frank Lynam who retired in mid-October.

Heineman and Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green were placed in nomination for the vote during discussion, prior to which Green excused herself from the Zoom meeting.

The board also voted to begin contract negotiations with Heineman.

Four finalists had been interviewed by Paradigm Consulting representative Bernard Lynch and the board during a lengthy session on Friday, Dec. 18, also conducted remotely.

Also interviewed were Millville Town Administrator Peter Caruso and Shirley Town Administrator Michael McGovern.

“Bernie expertly asked them questions in what seemed like 75 hours [Dec. 18] and revealed a lot about each one of them,” Selectman Dr. Carl Kowalski said. “I was impressed with all of them.”

He joined with selectmen Randy LaMattina and Justin Evans in voting for Heineman based on his strength in financial matters. Heineman has worked with the state Office of Administration and Finance, the Inspector General’s Office and the Scituate Advisory Counsel as well as his work for Hanover.

“To me, it was clear by the interview process and the paper résumés that, in my opinion, there was somebody who stood out to me,” LaMattina said of Heineman. “It was talking about fiscal policy, forecasting, models — where will we be in five and 10 years — and not only talking about these things, but having first-hand knowledge, actually participating in the development of these things, not just a seat at the table where you watched it happen.”

Selectman Brian Bezanson and Chairman Dan Salvucci favored Green for her knowledge of the town and what they saw as the board’s loyalty to her. LaMattina countered that the board owes the town to select the strongest candidate, leaving friendships out of the equation.

After Heineman was selected, the board voted again to make Heineman’s appointment unanimous.

The full interviews, in addition to the Dec. 22 Selectmen’s meeting, can be viewed on the WHCA-TV YouTube channel.

“I thought all candidates brought plenty to the table — everybody had their strengths and weaknesses — and I think we probably couldn’t go wrong with any of them,” said Bezanson. “We’ve made a commitment and an investment to Lisa Green.”

Bezanson argued that former Town Administrator Frank Lynam had been charged with training Green, hired to be his assistant, in all aspects of the job.

“I think that we showed faith in her then and, while maybe she has some shortcomings in the financial part, I believe if she were to get this job … and we hired an assistant town administrator who was proficient in financial aspects that she was deficient in, it would create quite a team.”

Speaking first during the discussion, nominated Green — possibly to a short-tem contract at first — to give her the chance to prove herself in the job.

“We had faith in her then, we [gave] a commitment to her then, I believe that we should do that now,” Bezanson said.

Salvucci moved to second Green’s nomination, which drew a point-of-order objection from LaMattina, who noted the chairman cannot second a motion without first passing the gavel. Salvucci at first suggested passing the gavel to Lynch, but Lynch noted it should be passed to another board member. Kowalski assumed the gavel long enough to allow Salvucci to second Bezanson’s motion, before noting the process was intended to give each selectman an opportunity to speak before nominations were made.

Kowalski congratulated Paradigm for the process, which brought four good candidates before the board for final consideration.

Like Bezanson, Kowalski said he has known Green both as a Selectman and an assistant town administrator for a number of years.

“She is someone who is capable and does a good job,” he said. But he said he was pleasantly surprised by Caruso after he interviewed, as he had questions about Caruso’s résumé, which showed a lot of experience with startups as well as in the position of town administrator. McGovern’s experience with vocational schools in the Lowell and Nashoba region was also impressive, according to Kowalski, but found him to be a “Lowell guy, a city guy.”

LaMattina noted that Heineman has knowledge of South Shore Tech.

“Lincoln Heineman, on the other hand is a real star,” Kowalski said. “He has a unique way of looking at finances and he’s done some things that have been unusual and very successful. He’s a South Shore guy,” Kowalski said. “One of Lisa’s qualities that makes her so desirable is that she is a Whitman person.”

LaMattina agreed with Kowalski, but stressed what was important when the search process started for his primary goal.

“That was somebody I could count on to continue on the road of financial recovery and stabilization that this board has set … in motion,” he said.

LaMattina said Whitman faces a tough financial year and needs to continue on the path of finding solutions through policies and procedures as well as economic development knowledge.

“We need a fiscal policy,” he said. “It’s where we are lacking.”

Evans agreed that Heineman was the best choice.

“Really, we had a ‘choose your own adventure’ situation when we first saw the résumés and heard the candidates during interviews,” he said, while crediting Green with her capacity and commitment to further her education in the job. Evans said he hopes she stays on and learns from Heineman.

“I was taking notes on things he has done in Scituate and Hanover that he might bring to Whitman,” he said.

For his part, Salvucci was concerned about the “jumping around” to different jobs on the part of Heineman and McGovern. He suggested the town accountant could teach Green anything she doesn’t already know.

“I like townies,” he said. “I like to promote from within.”

He credited Green with being a hard worker who has already shown capacity for improving her skills.

COVID update

In other business, Green updated the board on positive COVID test results for the previous two weeks.

“Interestingly enough, Whitman is not the lead in this race,” Green said. “We seem to be right in line with our surrounding towns — our neighbors.”

There were 142 positive test results for that period, or an 8.71 percent positive rate. Abington, meanwhile, saw 183 positive tests, or a 9.8 percent positive rate. With 105 positive tests, Hanson is at 9.61 percent and Bridgewater’s 316 positive tests puts that town at 6.90 percent. East Bridgewater’s 149 positive tests puts them at 8.42 percent and Halifax is at 8.29 percent with its 73 positive tests.

“COVID seems to be running rampant around all of the communities right now,” Green said, noting the new state restrictions going into effect between Dec. 26 and Jan. 10.

She said Town Hall employees are required to wear a mask anytime they leave their desks and walk around the building. Selectmen voted to approve the restictions.

Whitman is requiring any employee with a potential exposure must notify their department head immediately, that official then must inform the town administrator or interim who then notifies the Board of Health. The level of contact will be evaluated to determine the time frame of the exposure.

Exposure of 15 minutes or more is deemed to be at risk and the employee is required to quarantine for 10 to 14 days. The Board of Health then follows up with contact tracing.

“Each case has its unique factors,” Green said. “At least this protocol will let the employee know who they should contact first and then we go from there.”

Kowalski emphasized that the Board of Health are the people who should be giving advice to Selectmen.

“People in Town Hall need to follow it,” he said, adding that just wearing a mask when employees leave the office may not be enough. He advocated for requiring masks anytime someone leaves their desk, even if it is just to go somewhere else in the office.

“This is not a good time,” Kowalski said. “It’s time to remain extra vigilant. Masks and social distancing make a big difference, but they have to be used consistently and not really at people’s choices at whether they feel comfortable doing it.”

LaMattina concurred, noting the Town Hall is a 100-year-old building with “not the greatest air flow.”

Evans urged preparing for the possibility that Town Hall staff could be required to work remotely from home, as well.

Selectmen also voted to call for a Civil Service list to open a place for Whitman at the police academy.

SEMLEC mourns search/rescue officer

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TAUNTON — The Southeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (SEMLEC) joins the entire emergency responder community in mourning the death of Taunton Police Officer John Borges, who died Dec. 24 at age 49 after battling COVID-19.

Somerset Police Chief George McNeil, the control chief and head of the SEMLEC Search and Rescue Unit (SAR) recalled Officer Borges as the “glue” that held the team together and one of the region’s preeminent experts on search techniques.

“Officer Borges worked the midnight to 8 a.m. shift, and when there was an active search for missing person, he would regularly stay past his shift and continue to work, on his own time. He didn’t even put in for overtime,” Chief McNeil said. “I have been a police officer for 34 years, and I learned new things every time I worked with Officer Borges. He was excellent at his job — the job of finding lost people.”

Officer Borges was one of the founding members of SEMLEC SAR in 2003 and remained on the team through multiple control chiefs and leadership charges in Southern Massachusetts. He possessed a wealth of knowledge on missing persons cases. He was a search and rescue instructor who trained other first responders in the region, including state officials and first responders around the nation. He was also an expert and instruction in Incident Command Systems (ICS).

Chief McNeil recalled a case from 2009 in which a man went missing during a particularly cold night. There was a language barrier with the man’s family, as they only spoke Portuguese. Officer Borges was fluent in Portuguese and was able to bridge the communications gap with the family, an essential task that helped lead rescuers in the right direction. They found the man and reunited him with his family.

“We were involved in many searches together, and when SEMLEC deployed for a search and rescue mission, the people of South Eastern Massachusetts could count on Officer Borges to be there, coordinating the effort to find a loved one,” Chief McNeil said. “He made our communities safer.”

According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, nearly 180 police officers have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. this year. These are people who cannot abide by stay at home advisories and cannot always be socially distant.

SEMLEC is a mutual aid consortium comprised of resources from the police departments of 30 cities and towns. We respond when requested by a chief of police to assist with search and rescue, special events, or major crimes. We also draw on some of the most talented police officers in the region to form the SEMLEC SWAT Team, which deploys when needed to save lives and protect the citizens of southeastern Massachusetts. Members are all sworn police officers from one of the 30 member communities. Our units respond only when called by one of the 30 chiefs of police in our region.