WHITMAN – Old Colony Regional Planning Council kept things in perspective July 15 as Whitman resident and Senior Planner for Housing and Public Engagement with the OCPC Jason Desrosier presented results of a 2024 Whitman survey at a public meeting at the Whitman Public Library Community Room on Tuesday, July 15.
“It’s been nice to work on a project that’s sort of in my own backyard,” he said, of the Council’s work on Whitman’s Open Space and Recreation Plan noting that he and his wife bought a house in Whitman in 2019 and his daughter attends WHRHS.
The session reviewed recent survey findings briefly, before discussing the 10-year action plan – essentially the OCPC recommends overall to preserve and conserve present open spaces acquiring more and mapping those areas.
The survey, held last fall to gauge residents’ attitudes toward land use proposals provided some expected results and a few surprises.
“There’s this idea that Whitman has limited open space,” he said, noting the survey bore out that notion’s hold on the community, but reality was something else. “Myself and members of the Open Space and Recreation Plan Steering Committee walked a number of the open spaces,” he said. “In some of these spaces, you forget that you’re even in Whitman,” he said. “However, is it marketed, is it communicated that these spaces are open – that they’re even there?”
Going over survey replies, Desrosier said 91 percent said they use the town’s open spaces at least once per month. They also point to common barriers to accessing those spaces – sidewalk conditions and/or lighting, inadequate signs or maps, limited awareness of existing spaces, minimal bike infrastructure and inadequate amenities such as parking, seating, water and bathrooms.
Community priorities include: recreation for teens and youth; trail connectivity and signs; beautification and maintenance; nature-based community events and safer infrastructure for biking and walking. Residents also named a skate park and a fenced-in dedicated dog park as their two top wants, followed by walking trails and nature walks; farmers’ markets and related events, community gardens, shaded seating and gathering spots, bike paths and bike racks – and clean bathrooms.
The most popular outdoor activities? Well, for 62 percent of respondents it was walking or hiking with a dog, while 57 percent said they would rather walk or hike after leaving the dog at home. There were 56 percent requesting playgrounds and 47 percent prefer field sports.
And the big question – does Whitman have enough open space for recreation? The vast majority say no – with only 31 percent of those ages 13 to 18 saying it’s adequate; 41 percent between ages 19 and 59 and 38 percent aged 60 and older. Only among replies from residents under age 13 felt there is enough – 57 percent of them.
The steering committee boiled all that input into 10 overarching goals [see graphic] – each divided into specific strategies while identifying the responsible group, department, commission, etc., and assigning timelines for those groups to achieve those strategies and finding funding sources such as grants. The entire discussion of the 10 goals and supporting strategies can be viewed on the WHCA-TV YouTube channel. Town Of Whitman Open Space & Recreation Plan – July 15, 2025 Public Meeting.
Part of the plan is to highlight and lift up the open spaces that already exist in town, but it’s also a prerequisite for the Mass. Division of Conservation Service Grants.
The Open Space and Recreation Steering Committee members are: Conservation Committee representatives Ed Winnett and LeAnne MacKenzie, DPW representative Bruce Martin, Planning Board representative Brandon Griffin and Recreation Department representative Ryan Tully.
The Open Space and Recreation Plan process has included public meetings, focus groups with high school students, meeting with seniors at the Council on Aging Senior Center and through impromptu discussions with random people enjoying Whitman Park. He also staffed a table at Whitman Day in the park.
“There’s been a lot of engagement,” Desrosier said of the plan which inventories the public lands, addresses public need and includes public comment. Open space includes Conservation land, forested and agricultural land, athletic fields, playgrounds, small parks, green buffers along roadways and/or undeveloped land of interest as conservation of recreational land.
The OCPC was established in 1967 as an agency focusing on comprehensive development in 17 member municipalities. Both Whitman and Hanson are member communities. “Old Colony Elder Services also comes under the OCPC umbrella.
“Whitman lacks the ability to create new open space, because of development and land use patterns … however, there’s opportunities to extend trails and connect trails in other parts of Whitman as well as other communities that surround Whitman,” Desrosier said.

WHITMAN – The inadvertent omission, or in one case, inclusion, of a vote by the full Select Board, of a few positions from the list of annual appointments voted during the June 24 meeting, led to one of the more whimsical corrective measures during the board’s Tuesday, July 8 meeting.
And then there was the film proposal for a story about a pre-teen vampire. But more on that later.
Select Board member Laura Howe was asked to leave the dais July 8,while the Board again voted on her, and a few other appointments.
Her reappointment, as animal control officer, field driver and pest control manager, had to be revoted.
“At our last meeting, we voted all of the appointments, and we were all sleeping at the time and we forgot that Laura was on that list three times,” Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski said of the June 24 meeting, “So, she actually voted to hire herself three times, which is not cool. It was a mistake. Inadvertent. What we’re doing now is just correcting it.”
The board re-voted 3-0-1, with Howe abstaining, to reappoint her.
Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter apologized that Howe’s reappointments were not separated from the rest of the list to avoid such a mistake, and pledged that would be done next year.
Select Board member Justin Evans was absent from the meeting due to family travel.
“It was completely inadvertent, and I appreciate your use of that language,” Howe said of the procedural error.
Howe apologized for the confusion, Carter apologized again, as did Kowalski.
“We all apologize,” he said.
The Board also voted to appoint William Hogan as assistant wiring inspector for a one-year term through June 30, 2026, as he had been erroneously omitted from the fiscal 2026 list.
The Select Board voted to appoint James Ewell as conditional inspector of buildings, building commissioner, ADA coordinator, advisory member to the Bylaw Study Committee, fence viewer, outdoor advertising division and zoning enforcement officer.
“This is the beginning of a discussion around what’s happening with the building Department,” Kowalski said.
Carter said Ewell is a certified local building inspector and has been Whitman’s assistant building inspector since 2019, has held a construction supervisor’s license for about 30 years and has operated his own business, Ewell Construction, for more than 25 years.
“I’m very pleased that Jim will be taking this very important role as conditional building commissioner and zoning enforcement officer for the town, and I look forward to working with him.”
After a letter was signed in executive session, he was beginning work in the positions the next day.
Ewell’s hiring was also approved.
The inspection rates for the assistant building inspector and building commissioners were also raised by the Board.
“This rate that I’m asking to be raised is just Tom Rubles’ rate,” Carter said. He is an assistant building inspector for Whitman, but is also a certified building commissioner for Rockland, which is his full-time job.
“As a certified building commissioner, Tom has requested an increase to his inspection rate for Whitman, [and] I’m currently requesting the Select Board increase Tom’s current rate for inspections to $50 per inspection,” she said.
He has offered to assist the town with the issuance of permits and inspections during the transition time.
“He’s thinking he may be able to do 10 to 12 hours a week while everything gets caught up and addressed, because the precious building inspector had been out most of the month of June,” she said. “While his term ended June 30, I think there has been work that has accumulated that both Jim and Tom will attack and clear through it.”
The Select Board approved the rate to Rubles’ inspections.
Sharon LoPiccolo’s appointment as temporary treasurer-collector was also rescinded by a vote of the board.
LoPiccolo, who previously held the position of assistant treasurer-collector, was appointed to that position in November 2024, when the former elected treasurer-collector vacated the position, Carter said. That appointment ended on May17, 2025 – the date of the town election.
“Since the person who was elected to the position of treasurer-collector declined the candidacy, the Board reappointed Sharon as temporary treasurer-collector for one more year,” Carter said. However, the Town Hall union voted not to reserve LoPiccolo’s right to return to the position as assistant for another year. For that reason, she has decided to return to her position as treasurer-collector at this time.
“I just want to thank Sharon for stepping up as the temporary treasurer-collector for the town,” Carter said. “She has done a wonderful job in this very important role – it’s very fast-paced, and Sharon, you are true asset to the town, and we really thank you.”
Later in the meeting, the Board also voted to retain LoPiccolo on the town’s newly established Aid to the Elderly and Disabled Fund Committee, at the request of Chair John Galvin.
The Board then voted to appoint Debra Ó Broin as temporary treasurer-collector through next May’s Town Election, subject to successful negotiations. Ó Broin has worked for State Street for more than 20 years, having been promoted to several different positions while at that firm. Carter said Ó Broin has strong financial, analytical and customer service skills. The Whitman resident also plans to run for the elected position in May 2026.
The board also planned to discuss the particulars of the appointment in the executive session.
In other business, an of out-of-state travel request by Fire Chief Timothy Clancy and approved at the June 24 meeting had to be re-voted because the item had not been listed on that week’s agenda.
Clancy’s request would allow him to attend the Aug. 11 to 16 Fire Rescue International conference as well as the Executive Fire Symposium Oct. 10 and 11.
“At the last meeting, the chief did speak at public forum and the board voted it, but it was not on the agenda,” Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter said. “We’re just having it as an agenda item, revoting it.”
The Board members again voted to approve the request.
Npw, about that vampire …
Whitman will also become something of a minor film mecca, as the board granted permission to resident Tanya O’ Debra to film a “low-budget, independent film at a private residence,” July 21 to 25.
Board members were very curious about the film.
“I knew that question would come up,” Carter said.
“Half Pint,” is a short film about a an 11-year-old dork who is bullied at school and decides to disguise himself as a vampire to scare off the bullies.
“It’s gotten so bad that she can’t leave the house, so she acts out and elaborate vampire fantasy to take back control of her life,” Carter read from the film’s synopsis. “She orders fangs from an online Halloween store and calls her best friend, Henry, to assist her in a plan that backfires spectacularly.”
“Is it a true story, or just…” Vice Chair Dan Salvucci asked.
“Yeah, Dan,” Kowalski quipped before the board voted to grant it’s approval.

WHITMAN – A week after Town Clerk Dawn Varley’s attempt to publish the personal phone numbers of town officials in a press release concerning the decision to close the office on Thursdays, it is the phone numbers that are still being discussed more than the hours adjustment.
Ryan Tressel, of 210 Temple St., who serves on the School Committee as well as being the chair of Whitman’s Community Preservation Committee spoke about the phone numbers in the capacity of a private citizen during the Select Board’s public forum.
Noting that some of the vacancies on town committees were read at the June 24 meeting as well, he said the CPC alone has had vacancies for about two years.
“The reason I want to bring it up is because I want to tie it into the incident that happened last week, where on Monday, [June 30] your home phone numbers and cell phone numbers, as well as the Finance Committee’s were posted on the town website with a call for citizens to reach out to you with their complaints about the closing of certain town offices,” Tressel said. “This really bothered me for a number of reasons.”
With the exception of Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter, all those officials listed are unpaid volunteers and the town provides them with an email address and a chance to speak at their meetings’ public forum as opportunities for residents to voice their opinions.
“I thought the choice to put the private home and cell phone numbers on the website, while obviously, I’m sure, very annoying for you guys, I think it’s damaging overall for our town,” he said. “I think all of us probably know multiple people in town who are smart and dedicated and care about this town.”
But when people are asked to run for office, Tressel noted that few take that step. He and Select Board members Justin Evans and Shawn Kain all ran unopposed in the May election.
“By any other means, it seems like it was a threat to put the personal information up of committee members and Select Board members on the internet in that way, and I think it has a deleterious effect on people’s willingness to step forward,” he said.
While he wasn’t seeking any Select Board action, Tressel “didn’t want this to be couple days’ skirmish on social media and two lines in the Express.”
“I wanted it on the public record that this happened, and that I think, as a citizen and someone who does volunteer his time in this community, that I think it’s unacceptable,” he said. “This is not to say that I think you guys are immune from criticism. I think exactly the opposite, but that’s what this podium is for and what your emails are for – to be criticized, to be questioned, to have the choices you’ve made be examined publicly that way.”
Select Board Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski, said Tressel’s comments led into a couple of remarks he wanted to make during his chairman’s report.
“I was out of town last week, and off the grid,” Kowalski said. “Where I was, the internet was really sketchy so I was not fully aware of what Ryan was talking about as far as social media was concerned.” But he did have some conversations with Carter during the week and was aware that the town clerk published the personal phone numbers and addressed of the Select Board, Finance Committee and administrative officials.
“I thought that doing that was reprehensible, it’s probably illegal and completely out of line,” he said. “If it isn’t doxxing, it’s really close, because it was sort of threatening to the people who make those decisions.”
He also said that he liked Tressel’s remarks that speaking at a meeting is the forum for airing disagreements.
“There were more than two lines in the Express,” he said, noting the paper’s article covered the whole event, and very well, “ and that was partly because of Mary Beth’s talking to [the editor] when she heard that the town clerk was having that same message, wanting it to be published in the Whitman-Hanson Express.”
The Express did not publish the phone numbers.
“And the article covered a whole lot of other things that were involved in the situation,” he said. “That’s all I wanted to say. I thought I needed to say something as Ryan did.”
Carter said her phone number on the press release was her business cell phone number. By the time the press release had been sent to the Express, the Finance Committee members’ phone numbers had been removed from it.
Carter had also sought guidance from town counsel on whether publishing personal phone numbers was appropriate.
“And you found out that it was not, and you contacted the town clerk and asked her to remove it from the town website,” Kowalski asked.
Carter said she first went to the clerk’s office to ask that the Select Board members’ numbers be removed, and Varley responded that it was public information.
“I said that doesn’t mean that, because you have access to it, you can post that kind of information,” Carter said during the Select Board meeting. She then asked if Varley had filed a public records request for the numbers and addresses.
“She said, ‘Maybe I did,’” Carter said. “I said, ‘Then I’d like a copy.’ And she said, ‘Well, no, I didn’t.’”
She then instructed Varley to take the information down.
“That’s private information,” Carter said, asking the clerk not to be difficult.
“She said, ‘Get me something from counsel,’” said Carter, who had received that information just that morning. She followed delivering the letter to Varley with an email again asking her to take down the personal information – this time instructing that it be done within an hour, or Carter would have IT do it.
“An hour and a half later, it was still up, so our IT department went in and removed the information,” she said.
Select Board member Laura Howe addressed another point that had been brought up.
“I have been asking, since I ran, for people to join [and run for office],” she said. “I was very disappointed – and I actually asked publicly, and that is no offense against my colleagues here, but there was two seats up this year and nobody ran [against them] this year,”
She said she was also pleased with how Carter handled the phone number situation, even though Howe, herself, has already “given my phone number to half the town,” as ACO.

WHITMAN – Town Clerk Dawn Varley has begun closing the office on Thursdays in response to budget cuts to her department, specifically her salary increase request of 14 percent and an operations cut of $16,000 tied to the number of elections in 2026 – a state and Congressional off year with fewer elections than 2024.
Social media in the community was busy discussing the matter Monday night.
Varley currently makes $80,000 a year, and has decided to close the clerk’s office an additional day per week, so she feels she is being paid at a part-time salary,” a post stated Varley had sought a 14 percent raise, which would have brought her salary more in line with clerks in area towns.
But, according to FinCom meeting minutes, Varley had raised the issues of pay disparity between her position and others on the South Shore as well as the “intricate demands of her job including town meetings and elections supervision and the frequent updates of the regulations governing them” during the committee’s annual review of her department budget requests on March 11.
She raised the possibility of cutting back hours without a budget increase, at which the committee had balked since the Collins Report placed the town clerk in the same salary category as the assessor.
The Finance Committee was also decreasing the department’s operations budget for fiscal 2026, a reduction in this line item is due to just one town election and one town meeting next fiscal year. Ms. Varley emphasized her role’s complexity, managing elections with 40+ workers and various updated regulations and legal requirements.
According to the minutes, of March 11, Varleye asked for the support of the finance committee to support her salary request.
“What is going to end up happening, and this is not a threat, this is a fact, I’m going to go down to two days a week,” she said. “You’re going to pay me part time; you’re going to get part time. I’ve been overlooked for so many years, and I don’t think it’s fair.”
As an elected position, the Select Bard cannot make a change to her position.
Varley reached out to residents to explain her stance.
“As a result of reorganization /reduction in staff and salary in the Town Clerk’s Office, I am forced to close its window for the first time in over 50 years,” she stated in a press release Tuesday.  “This decision does not fall lightly on my Heart but is solely the decision made by the Select Board, the Finance Committee and the Town Administration not to fully fund this office.”
Initially, she had included home telephone (or personal cell phone numbers) of members of the Select Board and Finance Committee, but Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter intervened.
“I have instructed the Town Clerk to remove this information from her recent posting immediately after I consulted with Town Counsel,” Carter stared. “I have also instructed the IT Department to remove the personal cell phone and home telephone numbers from the posting, if not removed by the Town Clerk.”
Varley then re-issued the press release minus the phone numbers.
Meanwhile, the Select Board, meeting on Tuesday, June 24, Finance Chair Kathleen Ottina, speaking for herself, as the committee has not met since the Town Meeting, expressed her own dismay at the announcement made at the start of the June 11 special Town Meeting, that the Select Board had voted unanimously to appropriate $150,000 from ambulance receipts at a fall special Town Meeting in order to restore $75,000 each to the Fire Department and Police Department for their fiscal 2026 budget.
Not only was that decision last-minute, there was no time to communicate it to the committee because of that, leading to “a great deal of consternation” among Finance Committee members.
“On May 17, the voters of Whitman voted overwhelmingly to reject a Proposition 2.5 override of $2 million,” she said. “The result left us with a $2,053,431 deficit that needed to be closed.”
The decision was then made to split the deficit – with the town paying 48 percent and the schools picking up the tab for the remaining 52 percent, which translated to $98,000 paid by the town and $1,064,000 by the school district.
“The town proceeded to close the gap by using $340,000 in free cash to pay OPEB and Plymouth County retirement, which we all knew about ahead of time,” she noted. “Now, this proposal to use $150,000 in projected fiscal 2026 ambulance receipts results in a deficit to the town of not the $988,000, but $498,665.”
Recalculating the deficit translates into a 32 percent debt deficit handled by the town and 68 percent handled by the W-H Regional School District.
“[That’s not the 68 to 48 that we agreed on prior to Town Meeting,” Ottina said. “Whitman-Hanson voted to cut the assessment by the $1,064,000 that we asked them to,” she said. “We aksed them to. They didn’t have to. We all know how we fund regional schools. They cooperated with us. I anticipate that future W-H school budget votes will not be so cooperative,” because this is not fair.”
In three public forums prior to May 17, residents were told that a failed override would lead to cuts to police, fire, DPW, Town Hall, Library and the schools and the voters voted no.
“I sympathize with the Police and Fire departments,” Ottina said. “I don’t want to see them undermanned. I do not want to see citizens’ health and safety jeopardized, but if voters do not realize the impact of a failed override because they don’t see what happens.”
A clerk missing from one or two offices does not impact their day-to-day living, Ottina said.
“I’m not calling for dangerous levels of manpower,” she added. “I’m simply stating this is not fair.”
Ottina said she trusts that the FinCom and Select Board will be able to work on Article 2 over the summer and that they can arrive at a solution that is “as fair as a $2 million deficit can be.”
While Select Board member Shawn Kain said he obviously respects Ottina’s opinion [see guest column, page 7] he sees a difference between a $2 million deficit and how it’s spread out so services that have to be cut are evenly distributed.
The view at Town Meeting was likely that most of the revenue was going to the schools and very little was going to public safety.
“I feel the difference in those perspectives is where we feel the big rift in our community,” Kain said noting that how funds are distributed in ways that are both equitable and do the least harm is difficult. “Just going back to the drawing board early and thinking about strategies, I think, would be helpful.”

The School Committee has voted in favor of a new schedule of sports user fees at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School.
“We still don’t have a budget,” said Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak, filling in for Athletic Director Bob Rodgers who was away in Las Vegas at a poker tournament that had long been planned, to speak for the Athletics Department.
“I told him, if he wins, he’s going to solve our problems today,” he said.
Szymaniak and Rodgers had been in close contact on the issue all week, and Rodgers had drafted a proposal that is outdated already.
“[That’s] because we worked on a new proposal … to lower that fee structure” between Monday, June 16 and the School Committee meeting on Wednesday, June 18. “It’s higher than it was, but more amenable, I think, in a bad situation.”
To balance the budget, Szymaniak encouraged the School Committee to approve the proposal he and Rodgers drafted that increases sports user fees for this year, with the plea made by Rodgers in a phone call that morning – “if the budget looks better, we want to reduce those fees.”
“I hope,” Symaniak had replied, knowing there are more retirements scheduled for next year, “and, if we can get ahead of the game, we will.”
Hanson’s special Town Meeting was slated for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 25 in the Dr. John F. McEwan Performing Arts Center at WHRHS.
“It’s imperative. Imperative, imperative that we get a quorum and hopefully pass a budget, so [Business Services Manager Stephen Marshall] doesn’t have to fill out umpteen documents for the state before July 1,” Szymaniak said.
“The user fee proposal, although not great, is different from the $500,” he said.
When we were looking at $500 and still reducing the athletics budget by $250,000 … but through some fund-raising and what Mr. Rodgers thinks we can do, based on students, I’m looking at a $375 first sport, $250 for a second and $100 for a third, with a family cap of $1,200.”
Fees are not delineated based on how much or whether they are a money-maker for the school, Szymakiak said.
“That’s not something we’ve done since user fees were enacted, except for the sports that are more expensive – which is hockey,” he said.
Ice hockey will go from $200 to $400 for varsity players only and the “outrageous cost of ice time right now might even still minimize the amount of ice time they can purchase,” Szymaniak said. “That [fee structure] should get him close to that $250,000 without cutting any sports. We won’t really know that until [Athletics First Night] and we can get some enrollment numbers.”
If a certain enrollment in sports is not reached by then, it is up to Rodgers to figure out how the district is going to run certain sport – similar to the way some sports were eliminated from the budget in 2008.
“We don’t want to do that,” Szymaniak said. “I think sports are invaluable. Everything extra curricular in our district is invaluable for our students that don’t love academics – that don’t love coming to school. … We want to minimize the cost, but there has to be an impact felt district-wide due to the lack of an override and the fact that, right now, we’re looking at a $1.75 million deficit from the proposed budget.”
But, Szymaniak warned, if the district goes on a 1/12 budget, all sports are of the table for September.
“I can’t have a football team when I’m going to RIF another 24 teachers,” he said. “I’ve heard, and I’m sure members around this table have heard, ‘You’ll just figure it out anyway, There won’t be any real cuts.’ This is real. $1.7 million is real. Last year was $1 million. We got by – by using some free cash and some different things, but we got by. This year, I can’t get by.”
“I hate this,” said member Glen DiGravio. “This stinks, it absolutely stinks, but it’s the position we’re in. … but, it’s like Hillary said, if we’re going to be the bad guy and do this, we have to be the bad guy the whole way through, because there has to be consequences to pay.”
He said that, if kids think they can get away without paying, no one is going to pay. But he also argued for hardship provisions as well as more fundraising avenues, such as an always open dedicated GoFundMe account.
“As bad as this is, I do think there are ways to get through this,” DiGravio said, adding he was willing to donate right away.
Member Stephanie Blackman also had some suggestions, such as intramural rather than freshman sports, and allowing sponsorships of teams.
Rodgers also wants to establish his own kind of scholarship program for students who can’t afford to pay a user fee or can’t work out a way to work it off. There also some residents who have donated money in the past toward the scoreboard or other needs.
Vice Chair Hillary Kniffen said the district should require that scholarship funds be deposited in an interest-bearing account with students only provided with partial scholarships.
“You’re going to wipe out that scholarship fund,” she said if scholarships paid user fees in full. She also said a payment plan has to be signed off on before a student goes out for a sport.
She also suggested a fee structure that takes into account that sports like football are more expensive than those like cross-country. Szymaniak pointed out that football also brings in revenue for the school and the fee structure takes that into account.
Jennifer Roback, 879 Bedford St., Whitman, speaking during the public forum about sports user fees.
“I’m deeply concerned about the recent cuts approved at Town Meeting,” she said. “While I understand the town has spoken, I continue to struggle over the way education is weighed against other departments in this town. Education is not simply another line on the balance sheet, it is the foundation of our children’s future.”
Highly qualified teachers, not software or other “minute-fillers” are decisions of long-term consequences, not short-term inconveniences she said, noting that she is the parent of a special education student as well as one enrolled in the high school’s Pathways Program and a third in elementary school.
“I understand that we all rely on vital services like emergency response and public safety, but cuts to education affect far more than the moment in time that may affect an entire generation of students,” she said, also expressing dismay that $500 user fees per activity are being considered, arguing that such a move puts undue pressure on working families.
“For many students, [sports] are a pathway to scholarships and college opportunities,” she said.
“What’s more troubling is this fee applies only to students attending our district,” Roback said. “While those who attend [South Shore Tech] or the [vocational-agricultural schools] are not asked to make comparable fees. Why is that?” She charged that it not only inequitable, it’s unfair and advocated renegotiating regional agreements with vocational schools is necessary to make sure W-H students “are not placed at a disadvantage simply for staying in our own schools.”
“We risk creating a system, where only families with the means, can afford to let their children thrive,” Roback said.
Asked this week about student fees at South Shore Tech, Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey said his students already pay for uniforms for classes, exploratory shops and their ultimate shop choice, as well as work boots and some tools – the cost of which is why some unions or employers award tool scholarships to seniors joining their ranks or workplace.
Sports user fees are also under study at SST, “possibly as a proposal in our fiscal ’27 budget, in part because we’ll be entering a time period that we’re going to have increased costs because we’re going to lose access to all of our playing fields [as the new building is constructed],” Hickey said. “We’re going to have to do more off-campus, away travel.”
While it is not a done deal, Hickey said it is something he is looking into. With more towns joining the SST region, it also helps decrease assessments to Whitman and Hanson as their SST enrollment drops a bit – but more towns could also mean more sports participation as the school will be faced with stretching dollars.
“It’s probably going to mean we’re going to need some sort of fee structure to be able to add more programming, or other needs.” he said. “We’ve had costs that are just part of being a vocational student, but now we may need to keep that structure and possibly have a sports fee structure, as well.”
Whitman Finance Committee Chair Kathleen Ottina also spoke during the public forum, thanking them for the difficult work they did in helping come up with a balanced budget for the towns.
“Having grandchildren in the system, I am devastated by the cuts in the classroom, especially the interventionists who have been eliminated,” Ottina said. “I’m also concerned about the user fees, but I want to acknowledge the hard decision that you folks made, whether you voted for or against the budget cuts.”

WHITMAN –The budget is balanced, but the town’s free cash account is a little worse for wear [see related story] after Whitman’s special Town Meeting on Wednesday, June 11. Hanson takes its turn at settling the school budget next – the town budget was already approved, both with and without an override at the May 5 Town Meeting.
Hanson has set its special Town Meeting on the school district assessment for 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, June 25 at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School. The location had to be changed because the Hanson Middle School auditorium has been booked for a dance recital that evening.
Whitman’s special Town Meeting began its business June 11 with 117 voters. A quorum of 100 was required.
Select Board and budget working group member Shawn Kain updated Town Meeting on a discussion held during a meeting of the board before Town Meeting convened.
“I’m unhappy with the way public safety kind of landed with this budget,” he said. “To address that – to try to take the edge off the cuts to both police and fire [as] they are part of our strategic plan, listed as a priority to the town, it was obvious after article 2 came out that we crossed a threshold that they were not comfortable with, for that reason, this was the proposal that we discussed and then voted on.”
Kain noted that, right now, the ambulance account takes in a “healthy amount of money.”
“If we decrease ambulance runs, staffing, then we’ll obviously take in less revenue, which would be foolish,” he said.
Instead, the Select Board is voted to use $150,000 from ambulance revenue toward staffing for both police and fire departments, while working with the Police Department to look at other ways to add to the shifts where they are currently lacking.
“I don’t want to bend the rules of finance, obviously, in a way that’s going to put us in a difficult situation, but this seems to be an obvious solution that’s a compromise, but also in the best interests of public safety, our priorities and financially,” he said.
Fire Chief Timothy Clancy explained that losing two firefighter/EMTs – whether temporarily or permanently – would reduce the second ambulance availability to about half the time. He estimates the department’s ambulances could bring in $1.4 million this year.
“You could see a revenue cut of $700,000 if we only ran one ambulance,” he said. “They came up with a solution of $75,000 to police and fire … there’ll be another revenue source that could possibly of making us whole in another special fall meeting.”
He argued for the second ambulance by reminding the voters of how many lives they save, “and shame on me for not publicizing ig enough.”
“I will tell you, not only as the speaker of this, but they have saved me once and I’ll be forever indebted for that,” he said.
To cut the two positions would not only decrease revenue, but would also increase the department’s reliancce on mutual aid, increasing the wait time in a medical emergencies due to the reliance on mutual aid for many communities in the area.
“It seems like I was just here yesterday, speaking to the same group of people,” said Select Board Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski. “We had a very interesting Town Meeting in which we agreed to fund our departments to the best of our ability by the use of an override. Unfortunately, that override was soundly defeated at the polls, so we’ve had to do some work between that Town Meeting and this special Town Meeting.”
Kowalski said the Finance Committee, Select Board and schools are now “in a position where they all agree on what we need to do tonight.”
“That’s not something that always happens around here,” he said. ”I have to give particular credit to the Superintendent of Schools, Jeff Szymaniak, who’s done something that isn’t done very often also, and that is to agree that the assessment to the town can be lowered some, to make this year one that we can get through, even though it’s going to be difficult.”
Once again, alluding to his days as a student reading the “Wizard of Oz,” as a text to how one handles change and – in particular, Dorothy’s friends who couldn’t feel or couldn’t think or they couldn’t act with any kind of courage, but ultimately learned they had thosee qualities within them all along.
Voters at the Town Meeting of a few weeks ago, remembered a motto, “Use your head and follow your heart, and act with courage,” he said, adding that this Town Meeting would do the same.
“Whitman always does that, and I hope they do it tonight,” Kowalski concluded.
As Town Meeting convened to complete the business of voting the Article 2 budget for fiscal 2026, Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter reminded voters that since that at May 5 Town Meeting, the town faced a $2 million deficit. Since the override failed, she noted that the town has been faced with making several difficult budget reductions.
Carter also thanked Szymaniak, and the School Committee for voting the week before, to certify the reduced operating assessment suggested by the town in the amount of $19,917,569. to lower the assessment by $1,664,730.35 for Whitman to an assessment of $19,917,568.65 – or the 4.086 percentage – and lowering Hanson’s amount by $677,333.92 to $15,775,031.08 – or 5.344. The district budget will now be $64,564,205.55 – or a 2.596 percent increase over last year, and we will need to reduce by $1,742,070.64.
“This reduced assessment, certified by the W-H Regional School Committee, equates to a 4.09 percent increase over last years’ operating assessment to the town,” she said, also thanking other town officials, department heads and members of the budget for their cooperation in presenting a balanced budget to Town Meeting.
“Every budget reduction that was made, was done only after careful consideration and analysis,” Carter said. “After department expense lines were reviewed for possible reductions, we then looked at those positions that had increased from part time to full time in the past several years ro determine which positions could revert to part-time status.”
Salary reductions made were: see list from last week
Whitman now has one administrative position in the assessor’s office unfilled – in a three-person office. In the three-person Town Clerk’s office one position has not been funded. The Police Department budget was cut and two officers’ positions plus another $90,000 or so as currently not funded. Two firefighter positions were not funded and the building inspector was informed that day that his full-time job would now be a part-time job. The DPW was another department where two positions were not funded. The Health Department administrative assistant’s hours were reduced, another part-time clerical position at the Council on Aging was not funded. The Veterans’ Service offcer was also reduced to part time.
By the time the nearly two and half hour meeting was over, however the building inspector position was returned to full-time in the budget as was the Veterans’ officer, based on the assertion that a part-time VSO is a violation of state law.a
“What is being presented this a balannced fiscal 2026 Article 2 budget,” Carter said, noting that both the Select Board and the Finance Committee recommended passage of the article. “I urge you to vote the Article 2 budget as presented this evening.”
Finance Chair Kathleen Ottina $2,053,431 had to be cut from the budget in the wake of the May 17 landslide defeat of the $2 million override sought to fund both town and school budget deficits.
“We had 25 days to develop a new budget,” she said, noting the defeated budget had taken months of work.
While the town cannot impose a cuts on the W-H school district, she said the Finance Committee proceded with a 48-52 percent split on deficit disribution, hoping the School committee would reduce the assessment to the town by just over $1 million, while the town’s share was just under $1 million. She, too, lauded Szymaniak and the School Committee for the “very difficult decision they made” to cooperate with the town’s recommendation.
“You didn’y have to, but we’re between a rock and a hard place and there weren’t any easy choices,” Ottina said.
To pay the $988,665 town deficit, free cash was used to pay its OPEB oblihgations and donation to the Plymouth County Retirement expense. That left $648,000 to cut from the remainder of the town’s line itemsi n Article 2.
Carter and department heads then worked to producea budget that maintains services the residents expect, while minimizing the number of employees who would lose their jobs.

A sometimes heated discussion over how and how much to fund the regional school budget in the wake of failed overrides roiled the School Committee meeting on Wednesday, June 5 – until Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak recognized Whitman Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter.
“Today was a bad day, but tonight was a bad night here, and it’s difficult for all of us,” Carter said, listing some of the news she had to pass along already, to town employees.
Whitman now has one administrative position in the assessor’s office unfilled – in a three-person office. In the three-person Town Clerk’s office one position has not been funded. The Police Department budget was cut and two officers’ positions plus another $90,000 or so as currently not funded. Two firefighter positions were not funded and the building inspector was informed that day that his full-time job would now be a part-time job. He rejected the cut in hours and began looking for another job and said, “Good luck finding a part-time building inspector,” he told her. “He’s out as of July 1.”
The DPW was another department where two positions were not funded. The Health Department administrative assistant’s hours were reduced, another part-time clerical position at the Council on Aging was not funded.
“Veteran’s service director – I had to contact him at a conference away for the week – he just started with us, doing an excellent job, we just hired recently, I had to call him and tell him I was cutting his hours back as well,” she said. One part-time library technician position will not be funded and she “zeroed out” expenses and salaries for the park and pool, which means the entire Recreation Department is one person. While the director Kathleen Woodward’s salary has been kept, she now going to try funding the pool program with the revolving fund, but will have to cut back or cancel the Fourth of July events and the Easter events, but has already collected money toward six weeks of the summer program, so she’s going to try to manage that with most of the budget cut.
Before opening to the assessment discussion, Szymaniak had noted that it would focus on Town Meeting and election results, and information that had since been relayed to him from both communities and added he had a recommendation for the committee.
“My recommendation for the committee tonight is to lower the assessment by $1,664,730.35 for Whitman to an assessment of $19,917,568.65 – or the 4.086 percentage – and lowering Hanson’s amount by $677,333.92 to $15,775,031.08 – or 5.344. The district budget will now be $64,564,205.55 – or a 2.596 percent increase over last year, and we will need to reduce by $1,742,070.64.”
The board ultimately voted to support the recommendation, 8 to 1, with Hill abstaining.
Carter urged the Committee to support Szymaniak’s recommendation.
“Before I made any of these cuts, I had already gone through the budget,” Carter said. “I had already gone line by line and cut all the other lines to a bare minimum. When I say there is nowhere else to cut and that these will be felt by all – it’s terrible. This is drastic and anything more is going to decimate the town.”
Select Board member Justin Evans agreed, noting that, with anything less than Szymaniak’s recommendation, he said, he sees a hard time passing a budget.
Hanson Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald Kemmett, while speaking for herself, said her intention is to set a special Town Meeting before the end of the fiscal year, so the district does not end up under a 1/12 budget.
“This is a financial failure on the town’s level, and to keep accepting it is unconscionable,” School Committee member Rosemary Hill protested. “You cannot do this and say that you’re for teachers or education.”
The School Committee was supplied with a list of 23 positions being cut district-wide.
“I did not name names,” Szymaniak said. “I put buildings to those folks, totaling a reduction in force of three people. We’ve done a nice job of trying to do what’s best to eliminate unemployment.”
Thirteen staff members will be transferred to positions now open because of resignations, retirements and non-renewals or that are currently being filled by long-term substitutes. Positions still open for the 2025-26 school year that need to be filled are an ASD program teacher, a PACES program teacher, multiple inclusion teachers, a school psychologist for a year, an occupational therapy, a speech therapy, chemistry, math and English teachers.
Chair Beth Stafford said that is a point that is often confusing to people – 23 positions does not necessarily mean 23 people. She pointed to the Superintendent’s explanation, but she added, the positions being cut were ones the district added after COVID to help students achieve.
“It really is, to me, disheartening to see that we’re losing our interventionists and some of the position teachers,” she said. Library aides being cut at the two middle schools was also had because they hadn’t had a librarian for years. The WIN (What I Need) program, too, has been successful at the high school has also helped improve grades.
Member Stephanie Blackman noted that cuts to interventionists will also mean more work for teachers, which she doesn’t see as fair.
“I understand the thought process behind every cut on this piece of paper,” Committee member Christopher Marks said. “I hate every single one of them. … But I also understand that that there’s some level of compromise that’s going to have to happen at some point.”
“There is no good solution here, no matter what,” member Glen DiGravio said.
Kniffen said she is opposed to cutting curriculum and they will have to look elsewhere to cut that $400,000. She also recommended holding to the minimum local contribution the state requires from the towns.
The initial proposed operating assessment to Hanson was a 9.87-percent increase, and for Whitman, 9.65-percent increase. Hanson’s minimum local contribution to the state for fiscal 2026 is 7.5 percent, so W-H’s additional assessment is really about 2 percent, according to Kniffen. Whitman’s increased by 7.1 percent.
“This is not a proposal that’s going to make anybody happy, but I don’t understand how we as a School Committee can propose a budget increase that is less than what the state is telling the towns they minimally need to pay,” she said. “I think that 7 percent number … the state is saying, ‘You must minimally pay this percentage more from what you paid last year,’ then I think that those are numbers we should go with. I think that that’s fair, I think that is not us – the School Committee – but it is going to be turned around to be us, the School Committee … But it’s so important to have the facts out there and these are the facts.”
Because W-H is a hold-harmless district, it’s minimum local contribution thresholds will continue to increase, Kniffen reminded the Committee. But her bigger concern was saving curriculum.
“We cannot cut curriculum that we literally just got,” she said. “Curriculum doesn’t make great teachers, but it makes sure everyone in the third grade [for example] is on the right track and we’re pacing at the same rate.”
Curriculum cuts are also in the works – especially at the elementary grades where the district has lacked programs linked to middle schools for 20 years. They may have to look toward state “free curriculum” which carry a cost for training faculty, so it is not really free.
“I believe we put forth a budget to both communities, we asked the communities to vote on that budget, and they told us where they were at,” Szymaniak said. “I don’t believe that we have a sound educational budget. This reduction takes away a lot of what my administration has done since 2018, but it’s the number I think we need to work with tonight. I fear a 1/12 in the month of July and the month of August and school will be drastically different in September, if we’re still on a 1/12.”
Business Manager Stephen Marshall then calculated two different assessment changes, using Whitman’s numbers and saving curriculum would bring the budget increase to 3 percent variation on a level-service budget, or a 6-percent increase for Hanson ($578,554.23 more) and a 4.89-percent assessment for Whitman ($909,465.23 more) for a level-service budget of $64,488,020.84.
Using Kniffen’s suggestion of basing the town’s increases as in addition to the minimum local contribution thresholds, Hanson would see about a 7-percent increase ($427,252.32 more) and Whitman’s would be an 8.1-percent increase ($671,624.19 more) in a total budget increase of 3.618 percent for a budget of $65,207,398.
Szymaniak said a benchmark of a 3 percent overall annual budget increase has been a district goal for several years.
“Can we vote on that right now,” DiGravio asked, and made a motion to do so for the 3.618-percent increase ($65,207,398) based on Kniffen’s suggestion. He later changed his mind and backed Szymaniak’s recommendation.
“Whitman Select Board member Shawn Kain, a member of the town’s budget working group, agreed the budget confronting the district makes for a difficult conversation.
“Hearing some of the cuts that are going to occur is terrible … terrible, terrible. Over the last 15 years, following the budget pretty closely, this is not good news,” he said. “I think the tension I’m feeling, though, is we could have the same conversation about the police and fire department, or the [other] departments in town and it would be as heart-breaking.”
While the School Committee is confronting a budget that continues to be educationally unsound, Kain noted that Whitman has flaws in public safety that the town must deal with now.
“It’s not something I could support, and I don’t say that lightly,” he said, noting that, if Whitman had to reduce the town budget by $600,000 in addition to what they’re cutting now that the override failed, would be devastating. Right now, $800,000 of the $900,000 Whitman has raised in new revenue is going to the schools.
“We’d have to lay off more people that I couldn’t really justify,” Kain said. “It’s terrible, but that’s the situation we’re in,” Kain said.
The district provided its initial budget, maintaining level services, although not educationally sound, in February, he said of the budget timeline. The School Committee then approved a level-service budget and sent an assessment to each community to support that budget. Both towns had communicated early that they could not support the assessment as presented without the support of a Proposition 2.5 override.
School district administrators and School Committee members were invited to meetings with the select boards and finance committees in both towns. Whitman passed its budget at their May 3 Town Meeting on the contingency of an approved override. Hanson passed its budget Article 4 the same day, however the school budget line was not the figure voted by the School Committee. They passed Article 5, containing the correct assessment number, which was contingent on an override.
Informational meetings about the override were held in both towns to which school officials and committee members were invited. Taxpayers voted on the override in the town elections May 17, overwhelmingly voting against an override.
Whitman is holding a special Town Meeting at 6 p.m., Wednesday, June 11 to see if voters will approve a new article 2, and are waiting to see if the School Committee votes to send the same assessment or to reassess.
Hanson, to date, has not set a new Town Meeting because they have an approved budget in Article 4 from May 5, but the School Committee must approve it since that was not the assessment provided to the town. Hanson’s Select Board planned to take up the assessment discussion again on June 10 and awaited the School Committee’s vote.
Szymaniak circulated in the Committee member’s information packed an email from Hill repeating her comments – with more detail – asserting that the district legally has an approved budget, citing regulations of the Department of Elementary Education (DESE).
If the district does not have an approved budget, the DESE commissioner will place W-H on a 1/12 budget, until a budget is approved by both towns. It would, in effect be a cut of $3.375 million to the proposed operating budget and it reverts back to the district’s fiscal 2025 numbers (last fiscal year).
Calculating the cost of unemployment, the real cut is $3.03 million, and Szymaniak said he would have to administer 48 reduction in force (RIF) notifications.
In Whitman, a 1/12 scenario would increase the district budget by 2.596 percent and assesses Whitman at 4.086 percent and Hanson would see a 5.344 percent. The Hanson scenario and increases the district budget by 1.525 percent, assessing Hanson at 3.594 percent and Whitman at 1.933 percent.
“Tonight, I believe we need to listen to what the taxpayers say and lower the assessment,” Szymaniak said. “I also believe we do not have an approved budget, and we need an approved budget by July 1. To not have a budget only RIFs 48 staff members and I cannot, in good faith, hire for critical vacancies.”
Szymaniak also advised that, if the Committee believes that something illegal or inappropriate had been done by either town in this process, the district would consult legal counsel and take action in the future.
“Any litigation now will stall our process and place us in a 1/12 for an inordinate amount of time and hurt our students,” Szymaniak said.
Hill maintained that, “We have a budget, so there wouldn’t need to be a 1/12 budget,” after Szymaniak’s lengthy explanation to the contrary.
“The towns disregarded the district and school finance document … after trying to do something similar to this last year,” Hill continued, saying she has reviewed multiple towns that challenged a similar budget scenario. “In five different school [districts], the schools were correct. What we voted was a bill … To move forward with this vote means we lost the opportunity to save 24 teachers.”
She accused the towns of tricking the School Committee into moving forward without doublechecking, added that no one from the Committee voted for anyone to negotiate with the towns, anything different, or give a different number than was voted by the School Committee.
“They went rogue,” she said. “This was a rogue behavior.”
Conceding that there are things like capital project that can be done within the budget or delaying staff reductions under a 1/12 budget, Hill said, she argued it would be a choice on the administration’s part.
Vice Chair Hillary Kniffen said she reached out to DESE’s regional governance office about the budget process because she had questions about how the School Committee’s assessment was placed on both town warrants. She said Michele Griffin of that office pointed her to the Prop 2/5 regulations, which states “contingent appropriations may be used for appropriations for operating budgets, capital projects and regional school assessments.”
“Right now, Whitman doesn’t have an appropriated number for the schools, so if we go on a 1/12 budget, Whitman does not have money appropriated to pay that bill,” Kniffen said. “So, if we leave tonight and don’t have a number for Whitman to present at their Town Meeting, Wednesday [June 11], we are in way worse shape than we are right now.”
She termed that a major concern she has, so she advises the committee’s time was better spent discussing the actual budget instead of the process.
Moser agreed that the committee’s time would be better spent evaluating where to go from here.

WHITMAN – When Whitman convenes its special Town Meeting at 6 p.m., Wednesday, June 11, voters will see a warrant with only three articles – a revised Article 2 budget, and two articles dealing with union contracts for the police and fire departments, if they have been finalized by then.
The Select Board in a meeting lasting just over nine minutes, discussed an update on the budget and Town Meeting.
“It’s a very short warrant,” said Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter, who described the union contract articles as placeholders as of the May 27 meeting, before the board voted to approve the warrant and voted in support of Town Clerk Dawn Varley’s request to appoint checkers for the June 11 Town Meeting.
Select Board member Shawn Kain said that the budget working group has been fine-tuning “the numbers that we’ve been sharing all along,” since the override failed at the ballot box during the May 17 Town Election.
“There’s nothing out of the ordinary, there’s no big change, just the final numbers after they’ve been fine-tuned,” Kain said.
Finance Committee Chair Kathleen Ottina had been “kept in the loop” and Carter recently reached out to Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak to advise him of an “assessment cut” – a decrease in what had been proposed – of $1,064,765.
“In order to make up the deficit, the district is asked to cut a little over $1 million,” Kain said. “On the town side, we’re asked to cut a little bit under $1 million. What that looks like for a percentage of the budget moving forward is a 4.01 percent increase to the school and a 1.62 percent increase [if all things were bundled together on the town side]. Just to give some comparison and a bit more comparison on that … if you took the new revenue that we have this year, for fiscal ’26, compared to fiscal ’25, it’s about $830,000 … of that $781,000 is going to the schools.”
Kain said the budget group wrestled with it several ways, and they feel they have come up with a fair compromise.
“The schools need to look at their budget real good,” Board Vice Chair Dan Salvucci said. “I don’t want to put this town in danger by eliminating staff – especially fire and police. … The whole town is important, we serve, what? 17,000 people?”
DPW office
building
Carter also provided a brief progress report on the DPW building.
During an appearance by Whitman Food Pantry officers at the May 27 meeting, a question was asked about the square footage of the building, she explained. The pantry, operated in partnership with the St. Vincent dePaul Society, has expressed interest in using the building now serving as the DPW’s administrative offices.
“I sent a letter off to town counsel, after last week’s meeting, just to see what the steps would be if we want to move forward with either selling or leasing the property,” Carter said, noting that she had received a list of things to do, had already begun and would provide more information at the next meeting.
On the main floor, that area is 1,980 square feet.
“There is [also] the full basement, “ she said, which puts the total building space at 3,960 square feet.
Salvucci offered some advice for the Food Pantry staff: they should go checkout “all aspects of the pantry building to make sure it fits their needs.
“I hate to have them get out of one place and get into that place [and encounter problems] or it’s still not big enough, or it’s not handicapped accessible or something like that” Salvucci said. ”I think they have to take a real good look at it.”
Any improvements needed to bring it up to any code requirements involved “would be on them,” he argued.
“The town hasn’t made any decisions yet on any direction,” Carter said.
In other business, the Select Board voted to appoint Sharon LoPiccolo as the town’s temporary treasurer/collector.
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Despite some concerns voiced about doing so before a budget has been approved, the School Committee approved continuing school choice for the 2025-26 school year because of a state deadline requirement.
In the end, continued participation in school choice was approved on Wednesday, May 21 by a vote of 8-2.
“From a purely financial standpoint – well, maybe not purely financial – what I’m wondering is if, as we in the coming weeks are discussing potential cuts to our district services, whether that would be a disincentive for students to be coming in to us and an incentive for more of our students to leave,” said School Committee member Kara Moser.
“Right now, my main concern iss we do not have a budget,” said Vice Chair Hillary Kniffen, who said she generally opposes school choice.
Massachusetts mandates that each school district is open to school choice unless they vote to opt out. Whitman’s program isn’t grade-specific, but is based on where space is available.
“Unless we close to school choice, any student from any neighboring community can come to our school,” Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak said, later clarifying that students from any town in the state could attend W-H, so long as they provide their own transportation.
“If we decide to close to all students or close to certain amount of students (grade level-wise, we can do that at School Committee meeting, but that doesn’t mean that a student in W-H can’t go to any other school that’s open to school choice,” he said.
Currently, there are 76 students attending W-H through school choice and there are 50 students from Whitman and Hanson attending school in other public school districts.
Between 2012 and 2015 years, however, W-H’s school choice numbers had increased, and then became stagnant, and now are in decline,
“We’re not getting the kids we were getting in 2012,” Szymaniak said, “We’re just not. … When we publicly come out and say we’re in a budget crisis, people are choosing not to come.”
The number of students accepted at WH, is based on recommendations from the building principals of how many spaces they have available, with sending districts paying a larger portion of costs for students on individualized education plans (IEPs) and picks up the cost for severe IEP situations requiring out-of-district placement.
Per-pupil school choice students cost $5,000 and W-H per-pupil cost is $17,500. Despite the apparent cost differential, Szymaniak said there are expenses, including administrative costs at work there. School choice students bring in funds to help the budget particularly in covering W-H’s own cost of students leaving the district under school choice.
If W-H were to close to school choice students, those already attending W-H are permitted to stay until they graduate and, Szymaniak said, W-H is always open to students who wish to graduate with their class should their families move to neighboring towns.
“When they come here, they are our students,” Chair Beth Stafford said, underscoring Szymaniak’s statement that the district cannot deny the right of a school choice student due to behavior or absences when they come to W-H.
The father of an autistic child said his son would benefit from attending W-H, which he said offers “one of the best special education programs on the entire South Shore.”