HANSON — Voters will see a proposed $1.8 million proposition 2 ½ override vote on the annual Town Election ballot on Saturday, May 15.

After an often-contentious Town Meeting held at the WHRHS gym on Monday, May 3, which drew more than 200 Hanson residents, budgets that can go into effect with or without the override were approved.

“We need the override to pull us out of a deficit that will not go away,” Finance Committee Chairman Kevin Sullvan said.

The crowd described by Town Moderator Sean Kealy as “larger than usual” observed a moment of silence for all residents lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Barbara Arena was designated as deputy moderator, who with her assistants, helped ensure no one who wished to speak was missed as Kealy was not on a raised dais did not want to miss any resident who wished to speak.

The Town Meeting voted to approve two versions of the fiscal 2022 budget, one totaling $29,508,290 as recommended by the Finance Committee, to take effect if the Proposition 2 ½ override fails and one totaling $31,363,245 to go by should the override be passed at the ballot box.

“We’re voting on two budgets,” Kealy explained. “One budget if the article does not pass and Article 5 if the override does pass.”

Former Selectman Bruce Young advocated an amendment to the budget under discussion of Article 4, based on the argument that the override is necessary because of the schools, not public safety or other departments. He urged moving the budget requests to department request level and take the difference from the school department, where it belongs.

“I can’t sit here in good conscience and support a budget like this, knowing that the reason for the financial crisis … is basically because of the passage last year of the amendment to the regional school agreement that took us from the percentage of pupils method to this year to the statutory, or wealth-based method of assessment,” Young said. “The override belongs in the department where the reason lies. That’s the only reason my amendment is being made.”

Finance Committee Chair Kevin Sullivan suggested people take caution before voting yes on Young’s amendment. He explained that the town had voted for the statutory method last year, despite its not being recommended.

“I don’t like the thought of people losing their jobs. It’s not a pleasant thing,” he said. “We had to make some tough decisions. We went through this budget, given the guidance that the overwhelming population of the town presented us with. We made these cuts, not lightly … I think if we have to cut these public servants, it means trouble for our town.”

But, Sullivan also warned that, if they start changing line items, it opens up a quagmire where it would have to go back to the School Committee and would lead to a 1/12 budget and a super town meeting.

“We carved this budget with care,” he said.

The School Committee can return items that had been reduced if the budget is returned to them.

John Zucco of Glenwood Place, said Sullivan’s statement means the School Committee runs the town.

“The School Committee doesn’t control us, it’s just the facts of belonging to a regional school district,” Sullivan said.

Whitman has agreed to the number, he added.

“We didn’t do this lightly,” he said of the Finance Committee’s recommendation. “Unfortunately, this is where we are. We need this override to pull us out of a deficit that will not go away. It will only get exponentially worse year after year.”

Frank Milisi of Brook Street argued that the regional school district brings “massive amounts of aid from the state,” but agreed that the two towns should have equal representation on the School Committee.

But he also noted that Whitman has to “pay a piece of this bill.”

“To say that this whole situation is because of the school budget is not an accurate representation,” Milisi said. “Did the school budget do something to make this happen? Yes, but it’s definitely not the only reason for this to be happening.”

School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes concurred with the Finance Committee and the Board of Selectmen. He said it is easy to say the situation is the School Department’s fault or to blame another town, referring to Whitman.

“These two towns have the lowest tax rates on the South Shore,” Hayes said. “I’m not in favor of huge tax rates, either, but if you want to continue services, there’s something of a misnomer that there’s something in this — it’s about a $1.85 million override for a municipality.”

Hayes said the school district has lost tons of employees over recent years, a situation getting worse all the time, while everyone blames the schools for budget problems.

“Police and fire have the same issues,” he said. “We are doing the same job — we service the biggest amount of people in town at 4,000 students roughly, employ the biggest number of people. …We need to continue on supporting all of our services.”

Joe O’Sullivan of West Washington Street moved the question, but Young was allowed to speak again before that happened. If the override passes, he promised to put a vote yes sign on his lawn.

Selectmen Chairman Kenny Mitchell said the town’s bills are $31,366,000 to run the town, there is only $29,516,000.

“The override must go through in order to maintain town services,” he said, urging voters to reject Young’s amendment, speaking as an individual, said there is a possibility of a super town meeting if the override fails and that it require a two-thirds vote of the entire School Committee to pass a budget. The school budget was approved by an 8-2 vote.

“If you watched the meeting, the two opposed wanted, likely, a higher budget,” he said. “The likelihood of a budget coming back to the School Committee and being reduced by $3 million-plus is extremely low.”

The $3 million-plus figure represents the $1.3 million reduction to the operating assessment Young advocated, almost $2 million more in the whole budget would be affected, Howard explained.

Young’s motion was rejected by voters, with the original $29,508,290 budget Article 4 approved.

Article 5 was also passed after another heated debate between Young and Sullivan, with the $31,363,245 bottom line, including the $1.85 million override passes.

Sullivan said the override was aimed to prevent starting the next fiscal year in a deficit.

“Our job is to ensure the financial well-being of this town, looking at where we are and where we’re going,” Sullivan said. “The School Committee made some small cuts — in the grand scheme of their budget, they are small cuts — these cuts may not be there next year, so we looked at setting us off on a level footing for next year.”

Sullivan said the number presented to the town was what the Finance Committee felt was needed to put Hanson on a level footing next year, with any unencumbered balances going into free cash the following year.

Young expressed umbrage that $305,000 was being added to the School Committee’s certified assessment at Town Meeting. He sought to amend it to reflect the School Committee’s certified assessment of $12,646,118.

Town Meeting voters rejected Young’s amendment and approved Article 5 as presented in the warrant.

HANSON — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, April 27, voted to appoint Katherine M. Feodoroff of Mead, Talerman & Costa LLC as Town Labor Counsel for an indefinite term.

Feodoroff said she looks forward to the added responsibility especially during the “complicated time” Hanson is now going through.

At the same time, the board discussed policy revisions to access to town counsel in an effort to control legal costs. Feodoroff will now review the policy and the board will return to the issue next month.

“Since Leo Peloquin left, we’ve had some issues — I’ll just say it — with labor counsel,” said Selectmen Chairman Kenny Mitchell, who said he has been working with Feodoroff for six weeks on personnel issues.

With interim Town Administrator Lisa Green coming on board, he said some direction is required from labor counsel.

“Kate is great,” Mitchell said. “She gets right back to me. She explains things so you can understand it — in layman’s terms. … I think it’s the right move.”

Selectman James Hickey agreed, citing the marijuana grow facility issue as one she explained in terms that were understandable.

“I understood it because I read it about 10 times, but Kate put that very important question into simpler terms so that everyone could understand it,”  he said. “This isn’t going to come out right, but she doesn’t talk like a lawyer — she just talks like people talk.”

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett concurred, stressing Feodoroff’s responsiveness, but expressed concern that “it’s kind of a one-off appointment.”

There was no search/interview process, as has been the case for other appointments, FitzGerald-Kemmett said of what she was concerned was a Band-Aid approach. The board had also discussed and decided not to retain the same firm for general and labor counsel work.

“I really can’t express how much I appreciate working with Kate, but … do we have a responsibility to do some due diligence around cost?” she asked. “Do we have some responsibility to take a look at fee arrangements?”

Hickey said he views the move as one to get the town through the COVID-19 crisis, and then go through the RFP process for hiring new full-time labor counsel.

“We sat down, we had everyone’s information, and we did those interviews with all the firms we were looking at, and we did do our due diligence and we went trough the entire process — and we still made a mistake,” he said of the last labor counsel hire. “Now, with the way COVID is going, we can’t do that.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said she read indefinite to mean “pretty much forever,” but said, if the board’s intention is to revisit the issue as Hickey said, she would be “100-percent on board with this.”

Mitchell argued that Selectmen could look at cost, but that a town administrator’s working relationship with a firm is important.

Green said she became familiar with Feodoroff during sewage negotiations between Whitman and Brockton. Green is also a lawyer.

“Having a town counsel who is very knowledgeable and responsive is always extremely helpful, especially when something comes up where you need help right away,” Green said.

Selectman Matt Dyer said he agrees that for the immediate situation, Feodoroff should be hired in that role.

“We’ve got to have a little bit of direction on this, as far as contacting town counsel,” Mitchell said, noting that past practice has been to go through the town administrator or board chairman, but nothing was on paper.

“I’m not suggesting that Selectmen can’t contact town counsel — I’m not suggesting that at all,” Mitchell said. He wants the chairman or town administrator to know what is being asked so the question and its answer is known by the entire board to control duplication of effort.

Weekends and after hours calls should be limited to the town administrator or chairman, he said.

“We really need to scale it down as far as cost,” he said. “I think, if the policy is broken then the chairman should put it on the agenda for the next meeting and it should be discussed publically. I mean, we’re all adults here.”

If the inquiry is about the board chairman, and there is concern about confidentiality, then the vice chairman and the town administrator should be informed, Mitchell argued.

Hickey and Dyer agreed it was a good idea.

“You can’t have the chairman of the drainage committee contacting Kate about some crazy problem,” Hickey said. “We need to cut our legal costs, big time.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed on most points, but is a bit hesitant about it because the town administrator works for the board and administrators usually have a close working relationship with town counsel.

“You could run into a political situation where you are stonewalled and you’ve got no recourse to do anything to get the legal advice that you need,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, admitting that would be a rare circumstance. She also said she would expect the chair to talk to anyone who overstepped one-on-one, but in a “public, humiliating way.”

Other boards should be required to obtain a vote of the board before consulting town counsel. Mitchell agreed on that point.

“I’d like to see this tweaked a little bit,” she said.

She liked the idea of keeping a log and informing the rest of the board of information sought to limit duplication of effort.

WHITMAN —  Fire Chief Timothy Grenno has submitted a letter to the Board of Selectmen signaling his intention to retire, effective July 9. Selectmen voted to accept the resignation with “utmost regret” during their Tuesday, April 13 meeting. The board also met with the Finance Committee during the session which unveiled the town’s fiscal 2022 budget.

Selectmen also began the process for finding Grenno’s replacement by seeking a fire chief’s list from Civil Service.

Grenno has been with the department since joining as a call firefighter in 1984, full-time since 1992 and promoted to lieutenant in 1999. He became fire chief Sept. 12, 2008.

“I had but two primary goals in being your fire chief — to assure all of  my members go home at the end of their tours and to leave the fire service a little better than when I entered,” Grenno wrote in his letter, read during the meeting by Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski. “I have fulfilled both those goals … now it is time to turn the reins over.”

Kowalski thanked Grenno for his 37 years of service on behalf of the board. Grenno thanked the board for its support, counseling, mentoring and discussions.

“You couldn’t ask for a better board than the one we have right now and I thank you very much,” Grenno said. “I walk away happy.”

Selectman Dan Salvucci, whose son had been a Whitman call firefighter, thanked Grenno and his predecessor for guiding him.

Kowalski quipped that it was, “Really a pleasure to have a chief who knew how to use punctuation when he was writing.”

Selectman Brian Bezanson thanked Grenno, not only for his career in service to the town, but for the last year and a half in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The town is grateful to have you and your department for the pandemic, and everything that we’ve gone through as a town,” Bezanson said. “We couldn’t have asked for better service and dedication while this tragedy has taken place.”

Selectman Randy LaMattina echoed that sentiment.

“The last year and a half probably was one of the most trying of your career and, without a doubt, you had this town ready to do the right thing by our citizens,” LaMattina said. “I don’t think there’s a doubt in anyone’s mind that we were ready if we were called on and that’s primarily because of you.”

Selectman Justin Evans, as the most recent member of the board, said his work as Fire Department liaison during COVID was eye-opening.

“Seeing all the work you’ve been putting in — and the whole fire department has been putting in — this last year-plus, it’s been trying for all of us, but I’m glad to have [had] you running the department and the Whitman Emergency Management Service,” Evans said.

Budget review

Getting down to budget business, Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman said Whitman, like many area towns has “reentered the red with respect to COVID-19” mainly due to clusters among school children, but that it would have an effect on reopening Town Hall and potentially on scheduling Town Meeting.

The budget includes $1,564,075 in requested expenditure increases over the $41.4 million fiscal 2021 budget, and actions taken to close the budget gap, including $603,300 in reductions to department requests.

The major budget cost-drivers are the $1.2 million school assessment increase, a $197,000 hike from Plymouth County Retirement and a $91,000 increase from increased enrollment at Norfolk Aggie.

New revenue is foreseen as $108,000 in excess overlay revenue and $50,000 in new real estate and personal property tax growth “based on conservative analysis.”

Projected state aid is a bit over $3 million at this point, minus $206,000 in expenses.

“There are funds in here for nominal raises for both union and nonunion staff,” Heineman said, including a slight increase in the salary offered for an assistant town administrator to increase the applicant pool by bringing the salary more in line with the market.

The town’s free cash balance is at 1,058,634, of which $594,000 is being asked to help fund the budget.

“We do not have sufficient free cash available to fund what we want to do in terms of capital [$956,000],” he said.

More of that work could be undertaken if the school district succeeds in using federal ESSER III funds to reduce it’s budget and, thereby, assessments to the towns.

Costs for the three high schools — W-H, South Shore Tech and Norfolk Aggie — as well as pension costs have continued to rise.

He said he was recommending a “semi-consolidated budget,” in which departments present requests by salaries in one line and expenses in another.

FinCom Chairman Richard Anderson said he appreciated the joint meeting with Selectmen, noting they have met with all town departments since last summer.

He said the biggest hurdle was the fact that there was not yet a solid number from the school district, but said that while he has concerns about the consolidated budget approach, his committee has not yet had time to review the budget, which they had just received.

“We’re putting the onus on managers to manage properly,” LaMattina said. Kowalski said Selectmen also need time to digest the budget, stressing no vote would be taken that night on warrant articles.

Members of the two boards noted the budget document needs to be put before residents, and Heineman pledged to post it on the town website.

“It’s a little bit of sticker shock, absolutely,” LaMattina said. “We are providing more information than the townspeople have ever seen. …It’s going to be a matter of getting that information out, making sure people can see it.”

The meeting with the Finance Committee started with Kowalski reading a letter into the record at the request of FinCom member Kathleen Ottina, in which she expressed outrage that he had not ruled LaMattina out of order for remarks at the March 23 budget meeting with the School Department and School Committee.

Kowalski said he regretted that Ottina felt the need to write the letter but said he understood what she was talking about. He also felt the need to permit LaMattina to respond, since the complaint was about him.

LaMattina apologized for putting Kowalski “in the position where you have to feel the brunt of Ms. Ottina’s outrage over parliamentary procedure.”

He also affirmed for the board that “if the time should arise again that I should feel the need to call out a department head for unfactual statements or speak upon untruthful statements by an elected official” he would make every effort to be properly recognized before speaking and would try to make his point in a “less abrasive manner.”

Kowalski said he noted when watching the recording it was apparent LaMattina had raised his hand, but that it was not evident during the meeting.

Kowalski read another letter from the DPW Commissioners about their unanimous vote to proceed with the sewer force main project at an estimated cost of $14,471,950, including all construction costs, restoration of easement and replacement of manhole covers and other ancillary work.

Hanson Town Administrator John Stanbrook has been selected as the new business and finance director for the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District, effective July 1, pending successful contract negotiations.

Stanbrook has been serving as Hanson’s town administrator for the past year.

The School Committee, meeting Wednesday, March 31 met with the candidate for the position. Interim Director John Tuffy has been serving the district in that capacity since the departure of Christine Suckow.

Tuffy has worked with Stanbrook before, when Tuffy was business manager at Silver Lake Regional and Stanbrook served on the School Committee there.

Eight candidates applied for the position, with four brought forward to be interviewed by the search committee — made up of School Committee members Christopher Howard and Fred Small, Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak, Assistant Superintendent George Ferro and Tuffy — Chairman Bob Hayes reminded School Committee members.

“I think the elephant in the room is that you currently work for the town of Hanson, so now you’re applying for a position with the district,” School Committee member Dawn Byers said. “To me, that gives the appearance of a conflict of interest.”

She said she has concerns about that relationship and that people on both sides may have preconceived notions and expectations derived from the relationships that are “naturally created from your current position.”

“I don’t think this starts with a clean slate for our district,” she said.

Small asked who she meant by “some people.”

“I think the real problem is that more people are not asking questions about this interview process right now, to tell you the truth,” she said.

Howard said five people conducted the interview with Stanbrook, but if the committee believes it was a waste of time, they could conduct more interviews over and over again.

“I do think there was a process where there was a request for people that were interested in doing the interviews,” he said, noting he offered to give his spot to someone who wanted to be on the search committee more. He also noted there were no other qualified candidates.

“You charged me with finding the best possible candidate,” Szymaniak said. “Sometimes it will ruffle feathers in other districts, other communities.”

He said that Stanbrook was the best candidate from the available pool.

“The piece that came through from [two Hanson Selectmen Szymaniak asked] was character, character, work ethic, character, and numbers,” he said. “He’s a character man, he’s a numbers man, he’s trustworthy and he will work his tail off to do his job.”

Stanbrook said he consulted the Ethics Commission for an opinion and there is a disclosure on file with the town clerk’s office in Hanson.

Two candidates failed to show up for scheduled interviews.

Stanbrook said he was excited to apply for the position and to answer the committee’s questions. Of the two remaining candidates, Stanbrook received the search committee’s unanimous backing, according to Szymaniak.

“We did interview two candidates who were very qualified for the position,” Szymaniak said. “After discussion, the five of us recommended to you John as a qualified business manager who will help us, in my opinion, lead us with a solid business plan for the future — something that I think is desperately needed for this regional school district, something that we haven’t had in my tenure as a principal and a superintendent.”

He said the district has struggled to put forth a plan acceptable to both towns.

“I think John’s qualities in municipal finance, and his passion for school finance … he truly wanted to be a school business manager and, I’m going to say, he ended up on the wrong side of the tracks in municipal finance,” Szymaniak said.

Szymaniak described Stanbrook as a “numbers guy” who he feels very comfortable working with.

“He will support our office well,” Szymaniak said. “He will support his people in my office well and I think he would support this district very well.”

Small said that Stanbrook is a very well-rounded candidate who combines a lot of strong experience from both the school and town sides. Howard agreed that Stanbrook is also strong with numbers and asked him to share how he came to that background.

Stanbrook noted he was finance director in Mansfield where he had also applied for and was a finalist in the search for a school finance post in that community. Before his final interview the Mansfield town manager was let go and he was asked to step in as interim as well as finance director and — for a brief period — town accountant.

“I was going this way when I was pulled the other way,” he said. “That’s what I like to do. That’s where my head is at. … I can do other things, and I don’t mind doing other things, I have other tasks that I could perform, but this is what I like to do. This is why I get up in the morning.”

After dealing with COVID for a year, Stanbrook said he took the time to address what he really wants to do.

“When the opportunity came up, I felt it was important to go for it,” he said.

Ferro said one of the things that drew the search committee to Stanbrook was his diversity and his ability to wear different hats while maintaining a keen focus on the numbers and the mission and vision of where the district needs to go from a financial standpoint. Tuffy said Stanbrook’s experience with school finance as well as town finance would be valuable to the district.

“He’s also been in our chairs as an elected School Committee member in the town of Halifax,” Small said. “He understands a little bit of what we go through.”

Byers asked about Stanbrook’s licensure for the position.

Szymaniak said Stanbrook’s license is ready for review and he had to take tests with DESE to accomplish that, which were not available because of COVID, once he took them he passed both tests. The no-shows were licensed in Rhode Island and Connecticut, respectively, and a third was not licensed.

Byers also asked about the qualifications of the other candidate interviewed by the search committee, but Szymaniak said he did not feel it was appropriate during Stanbrook’s interview.

She also asked what his current staff would say about his work style.

“I’m not a hard-core disciplinarian, but we get stuff done,” Stanbrook said, feeling his staff would support him. “I’m task-oriented but I feel we can do that with a general joie de vivre, you don’t have to be angry all the time.”

He has some experience with the MUNIS accounting system.

HANSON — The Board of Selectmen is looking at override options to close the town’s $2.18 million budget shortfall.

“People are asking how would you get to $2.18 million?” Town Administrator John Stanbrook said. “Should we go for the entire amount? Should we cut what we can [first]?”

The board will be meeting again on April 6 to finalize the budget.

Should an override fail, he said, the school district would have to cut about  $750,000 — with Hanson realizing 40 percent of the cut.

If free cash were used to keep the transfer station open, for example — $118,000 is needed — it’s a dollar that can’t go into the town’s budget. If retained earnings were used for the transfer station, it would return $60,000. No additional OPEB transfers would bring $25,000 back to the budget coffers; $616,000 in the budget would close the gap a bit more than has already been discussed; Ambulance receipts could mean another $100,000; overlay surplus holds another $215,000 with the potential to free up $200,000 toward the deficit; $20,000 in the tax title line is not needed this year; boosting the local receipts by $80,155 — or a 4 percent increase — would also produce deficit savings. Finally, cutting the town budget where it can be cut to the fiscal 2020 level, would bring back $847,053.

The $847,053 represents “real money and would mean real cuts” to police, fire, highway, Town Hall, Council on Aging, library and transfer station.

“All of those together would be the $2 million-plus amount that we’re looking at right now,” he said. Using free cash is using money the town won’t have next year, however, because the town would be cutting the budget as close to the bone as possible.

Stanbrook said the town cannot afford the 4-percent increase in the assessment sought by the school district.

“That gives us a $1.9 million deficit,” he said. “It’s really every dollar that the school district does not charge us is a dollar amount that we could use on the town side.”

He suggested the Article 4 budget line could be presented in two columns, representing the budget impact with and without an override. Or divide the two budgets between two separate articles.

Selectman Chairman Kenny Mitchell advocated for a single column, arguing that two columns would be too confusing.

“It seems to me as though this is an all-or-nothing [approach],” said Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett, asking if a tiered approach would be better. “I’m always afraid when it’s almost like you’re calling people’s bluff.”

She suggested counter-arguing for the need of an override.

“We haven’t taken this lightly,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “John’s crunched the numbers beyond crunching and there’s no way around it.”

Selectman Wes Blauss said a tiered approach has been tried before, and did not work well. He advocated providing voters with both options as a method for helping them decide.

Town Moderator Sean Kealy suggested the information could be provided to voters in a handout, because two columns in Article 4 could be very confusing.

Selectman Jim Hickey agreed with Kealy’s suggestion.

“When you say this is what we’re going to have or this is what we’re not going to have, you’re talking jobs and you’re talking services,” Hickey said. He argued that the message has to center on what the town could be missing.

“When we debate the override — and it’s going to be debated — is someone going to make a presentation on de-regionalization, or at least speak to that issue, because I anticipate it coming up,” Kealy said.

Town Meeting, to be held at 7:30 p.m., Monday, May 3 at the WRHS gym as a priority one site, with an outside location at the high school as priority two.

Mitchell advocated for keeping the date and the original location at Hanson Middle School.

“Especially when you’re talking about an override, I think going to the ballot first before Town Meeting is a little deadly,” Mitchell said.

Town Clerk Beth Sloan agreed with keeping the meeting date on May 3. Her only question was how to fit people in the auditorium while observing proper social distancing if an override is to be discussed.

“I don’t have any objection to keeping it on May 3,” agreed Kealy. “Was there an argument for keeping it May 3 other than more people would be vaccinated by then?”

Mitchell said, so far as he was aware, that was the only argument.

“You’ve got to be thinking about overflow,” Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff said about the potential for a large turnout. “It really depends on what infrastructure you have at that building and I just don’t know.”

Sufficient technology would be needed to enable people in overflow rooms to hear and participate in the proceedings.

“I think our last July Town Meeting went very well and I think there is going to be an overflow crowd,” said Blauss. “I think we’re dealing with a large number of people, and I think that putting it on the field — it wouldn’t be able to start at 7:30 p.m. — rather than worry about where we are with vaccinations, which I think is still going to be a huge issue at the beginning of May, I think we should start off [acknowledging] last year worked great.”

Selectmen advocated checking with the School District to see if the Town Meeting can be held outside at the high school.

Kealy, expressing weather concerns, said the October Town Meeting held in the high school gym, worked well. He noted that social distancing could be observed there and the school has the proper ventilation to keep people safe.

“It may not be as good as outside, but outside would be tough because of the weather,” he said.

The School Committee on Wednesday, March 17 voted to approve and certify a fiscal 2022 budget of $57,572,579 — with an operating assessment of $16,575,019.22 for Whitman and $12,951,002.72 for Hanson — after non-mandating busing and some other costs, brings the total divided to $55,572,579.

“This is the beginning of sealing the budget process,” said Chairman Bob Hayes.

The votes were:

• Approve the fiscal ’22 budget at $57,572,579.40 with a vote of 8-1-1 [Committee member Fred Small voted no and Hayes abstained because his daughter teaches in the district.]

• Approve the operating assessment of $16,575,019.22 for Whitman with a vote of 8-1-1.

• Approve the operating assessment of $12,951,002.72

for Hanson with a vote of 8-1-1.

Committee member Dawn Byers asked for source material on the often-repeated assertion that once budget figures are set they cannot be increased — only decreased.

While he was not able to cite a specific law or regulation, Hayes said that  has always been the assertion and asked Business Manager John Tuffy for clarification.

“I’m not sure I agree with you,” Tuffy said. “I’ve heard that here a couple times and, perhaps we should talk to district counsel. I believe that, up until Town Meeting, the budget can change and the assessments can then change because the budget changed.”

But once a budget is voted, certified by the treasurer and delivered to the towns, the budget cannot go up by any action of the school committee. At that point, it would take Town Meeting action for that to happen.

“I can only say I hope the committee supports what we’ve added for increases this year,” said Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak. “I know we spoke about potential federal money — and I believe that federal money is coming — however, tonight’s the night I don’t have a check from the fed. Tonight’s the night where you certify a budget.”

Szymaniak said he believes the federal funding will be “significant” but doesn’t know specific numbers yet.

“I believe what we asked for is prudent, it’s fiscally sound, knowing that both communities have some financial difficulties,” he said. “I just need some clarity from both communities on what’s affordable.”

The district is using the statutory assessment formula only this year.

“My desire here is for accuracy,” Tuffy said. “This is not a policy statement. This is mathematics, and if there are any errors or issues, we can work them out and make some changes.”

Estimated non-mandated transportation figures and would likely change when the district gets better information about ridership.

“The total amount won’t change, but perhaps the distribution will,” he said.

The cost of the HVAC work at Hanson schools will also change, according to Tuffy, and will only affect Hanson’s assessment. The minimum local contribution has increase $795,538, with Hanson’s up $320,803 and Whitman’s up $474,735.

At about $100,000 Medicaid reimbursements seem on par with previous years and the district expects to use about $600,000 in Circuit Breaker funds to offset the budget. Last year, $700,000 was used.

Projected regional transportation reimbursement is $697,269.

Interest income to the district is at $20,000; school choice revenue is estimated at $246,000; and charter school reimbursement is expected to be $124,000.

Costs for students going out of district through special education placements and outgoing school choice and charter school students are included in the budget lines, according to Tuffy.

“Obviously, we’d like to have an infinite pot of funds that we can draw down, but it’s good to take a step back,” said Committee member Christopher Howard. “Two years ago we basically spent a year on assessment methodology and this last year we tried to keep the wheels on the bus as a result of COVID … there are so many pieces that we could look at in terms of pulling this thing together.”

He suggested that the committee begin, perhaps during the summer, going through what things they would like to see and work toward working them into the budget a year from now.

“I think this is really good, given where we are — where we’ve been and what we’re going to do — and I support what you’ve put together,” Howard said.

Whitman Town Administrator Lincoln Heineman said an override is not being considered for his town this year. Hanson, however, is looking at a significant override.

“Hanson is driving the bus this year, as from a financial perspective,” Heineman said. “I think it’s important for a school budget that includes an assessment that will pass an override in Hanson.”

Byers said that is a “dangerous conversation” to have.

“I feel the towns have been driving the bus on our school budget for decades and, essentially, that’s why we’re at the bottom [in per-pupil spending],” she said. “At this point the committee has a duty to consider the students’ needs first and put forth a budget that meets our needs and the towns will decide how they fund it.”

Committee member Fred Small said every town is different, but that the district has been lucky to have received more in Chapter 70 funds over the years than other towns and districts, but noted that annual increases for Chapter 70 aid W-H has been miniscule.

School return
update

Szymaniak also gave a re-entry plan update, noting that the facilities department has been working to place desks in classrooms with proper spacing and showing principals what the configurations look like. Assistant principals and school nurses are measuring all distances to ensure social distancing regulations are met on a geometric basis to aid contact tracing, if it is needed.

Whitman officials reached out to the district and told school officials that they will use CARES Act funds to help purchase the desks for Whitman Middle School required to group students at the proper distance, because trapezoid-shaped tables require pupils to face each other from within three feet apart

Assistant Superintendent George Ferro said the district had received 314 bus change requests as of March 16, but said 98 percent of them were from parents calling to confirm they are driving their children to school.

“What it [now] looks like on most of our bus routes is two to a seat and the bus routes look manageable,” Ferro said. New routes will be updated on the infinite campus web portal, under transportation, this week.

Enough middle school students are signed up for in-person learning, that live-streaming of classroom work will not be necessary except when administrators deem it an extenuating circumstance not limited to COVID.

“There safe operation of school is taking place,” Ferro said. “There is a return to normalcy, just like, hopefully, next September.”

The School Committee, on Wednesday, March 10, conducted a line-by-line review of the proposed fiscal 2022 school budget.

Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said the $57,572,579 budget — down by about $300,000 after the spending plan was examined line by line.

Another meeting was set for Wednesday, March 17 to vote on the budget and assessments for the towns.

“That’s a different number than was presented two weeks ago,” Szymaniak said. “It’s lower. We made some adjustments, we found some errors in the line items. … This has been a really challenging year, especially in personnel, because we have people all over the district working remotely, we’ve hired a lot of folks and we had some double numbers.”

He said he feels very comfortable with the new number, which is more accurate.

Szymaniak also reported that the W-H Regional School District is set to reopen Monday, April 5, a reentry plan the School Committee voted to accept.

Wednesdays would be half-day instruction with the remainder of the day set aside for teachers’ professional development, which the committee approved 9-0-1, with Hayes abstaining because his daughter teaches in the district.

School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes said the budget line items would be presented for discussion as they are at Town Meeting, with committee members asked to place holds on lines they wanted to question or discuss.

Holds for questions were placed on some costs and reviewed when the committee reconvened for a special meeting on Monday, March 15.

Those holds included: teacher salaries; elementary instructional materials; general supplies; photocopier supplies; SPED teacher, SPED paraprofessional and speech salaries; guidance salaries; library supplies; athletics salaries, supplies and equipment maintenance; graduation expenses; co-curricular acting salaries; central office business/finance clerical salary; tuition to other schools; school choice; tech services salaries; health insurance; SPED tuition to other schools; district liaisons and police detail expenses; transportation contracted services; facilities contracted services building maintenance, emergency repairs and supplies; and other supplies at various schools.

Member Dawn Byers sought explanation of per-pupil spending and how many teachers are funded by each school’s salary line, class sizes and whether the increase account for steps, lanes and any salary increases that might be agreed to during negotiations.

“We have a lot of money that we’re spending and we need to be sure we’re spending it wisely that we’re targeting these dollars where we should,” she said.

Szymaniak explained that teacher salaries could not be discussed in detail due to contract negotiations, but that School Committee members could discuss them in executive session. He did say that steps and lanes are calculated in as well as an earmark for contract negotiations.

He said that, while still low, per-pupil expenditures have increased in recent years.

“Any time I saw anything kind of change, just looking to understand the why behind it … [I’m] just looking to understand the reason for the bump,” Member Christopher Howard said of his questioning special education costs and salary lines.

Director of Student Services Lauren Mathieson said the TLC program, which reintegrates students to classes following any hospitalizations, as well as a speech program at Indian Head. The number of behavioral specialists, speech therapists and paraprofessionals has also fluctuated at schools.

Byer’s questions on numbers of children in the TLC program drew a caution about privacy from Szymaniak and Hayes.

“Students have a right to confidentiality,” Szymaniak said. “By saying how many, that could potentially put their names out there.”

“I believe that we hire the superintendent because he has a license and we have to have some sort of trust,” Hayes said. “We hired the SPED director and [Assistant Superintendent] George [Ferro] for the same reason. … We have to have some sort of faith in what goes on with our leaders.”

Member David Forth asked why salary lines were divided by school rather than grade level. Business manager John Tuffy said it was largely past practice.

Szymaniak said general supplies are building-specific and needs based.

Copy costs have decreased with technology use, but some of the funds in the line can be used for technology costs as well as paper copying.

School Committee members also asked for specifics about the “other expenses” line for WHRHS, which Principal Dr. Christopher Jones said includes Community Evening School and the Ingenuity program, association memberships for teachers.

Howard suggested that, in future any way of providing more detail than the heading “other expenses” would be better.

“We’ll probably ask the same questions in another year when we see other expenses,” Howard said.

An increase from the $17,000 budgeted for the 2019 graduation and $30,000 in the proposed budget is intended to cover added expenses, such as a sound system, for holding graduation outside.

Reopening

Assistant Superintendent George Ferro said the district is going to be using student desk configurations that permit the proper social distancing for student safety. He said the purchase will use internal funds, but noted school officials are working with the towns to determine if there is more COVID relief funding available to reimburse the schools.

Szymaniak said the timing is more an issue than whether the funding would be available.

He also sought to clarify state information on reopening.

“The media is misquoting the Commissioner [of Education Jeff Riley] right now,” said Szymaniak, who described the result as a lot of phone calls from “really nervous parents.”

Commissioner Riley said on Tuesday, March 9 that he will not be accepting asynchronus learning time from hybrid models or remote models.

“People who are in our remote program automatically said, ‘Well, the commissioner said no remote is allowed,’” Szymaniak said. “We have a solid remote program, which is acceptable by DESE in our return. On April 5, as of today … all my parents who have wanted to stay remote, stay remote. All my parents who wanted to move from remote to in-person have notified their principals.  All my parents who wanted to move from hybrid to remote should have notified their principals.”

He said the K-12 remote program is in full swing. In K-8, is the classrooms they have had since September and nine through 12 is live-streaming.

“It’s OK, nobody has to worry about it — nobody needs to panic,” he said. “You can stay remote if you choose to stay remote.”

Student representative Anna Flynn noted that the prospect of returning to schools has “crossed the minds of everyone” in the W-H community.

“I have heard from many of my classmates that they’re nervous that people will not follow through with the respectful way to wear their face masks and [observe] the rules of social distancing,” the junior class member said. She reported that students have expressed to her that they want to see stronger consequences for improper mask wearing.

Flynn also noted concerns about how lunch periods will be conducted.

Ferro said lunches will be six feet apart, but will be using different areas.

“These questions have caused students I know to opt out of the full return and remain in full remote [instruction] online,” she said. “I believe that W-H has the knowledge and consideration for what the results will be when students return in April.”

School Committee member Christopher Howard said he appreciated Flynn’s sharing the student perspective with them.

“I think, for all of us, we’re a little disconnected — moreso that we’d like to be at this point — so I appreciate you coming to these meetings and sharing what’s going on,” he said.

School Committee member Dawn Byers, who is also the mother of two WHRHS students, also thanked Flynn.

“The students’ voice is important for us to hear, as well as [for] the students to hear you representing them,” Byers said.

Another challenge will be making sure the district gets all its ChromeBooks back to be used in classrooms, while students staying with remote learning able to retain the devices for at-home learning.