WHITMAN — The town of Whitman awakened with heavy hearts Wednesday as they learned that a local family has been involved in a fatal crash in Florida, claiming the lives of three family members.

Julie Smith, 41, and her mother — grandmother Josephine Fay of South Weymouth were both killed along with daughter Scarlett Smith, 5, of Whitman. All three were pronounced dead at the crash scene, according to reports.

The family was on February vacation in Orlando.

The fatal crash occurred Tuesday around 5:30 p.m. in Osceola County, Fla. The crash is actively under investigation, according to Florida Highway Patrol Public Affairs Officer Lt. Kim Montes, in a prepared statement.

The multiple vehicle collision occurred on the southbound side of Route 429. The van the family was in rolled over after it was struck from behind.

Shane Smith, 43, of Whitman along with the children’s maternal grandfather William Fay, 76, of South Weymouth were released from the hospital on Tuesday night.

Two other daughters, Shalie, 10,  and Scarlett’s twin sister Skylar, 5, were also released from the hospital.

Jaxon Smith, who is 11, remained in critical condition on life support Wednesday morning as of press time.

Additional support of state troopers and a victim advocate were assigned to the family, according to Montes.

More information, including comments from the Whitman Hanson School District and services for the community, were expected to be announced Wednesday afternoon.

W-H school officials outlined two possible budget packages — a required spending plan of $55,017,938 to provide level services and a $57,492,938 recommended plan that seeks to restore or add programs and teachers either cut or not included in fiscal 2020.

“Gone are the days of the worksheet with ‘this is the increase we want … and this is a 1 percent increase, this is a 2 percent increase on that sheet,’” said Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak. “We don’t do that sheet anymore with the statutory formula.”

Last year, cuts made to balance the budget put it below level service in terms of programs.

The budget presentation and hearing was held Wednesday, Feb. 5.

“There’s been quite a bit of conversation, dialog, emotion about the school budget and the method of assessment,” Szymaniak said about the process that began in August 2019. “Many people worked both publicly and behind the scenes to put together this presentation here, using the statutory method.”

He noted that officials in both towns’ administrative offices, select boards and finance committees have been meeting and discussing ways to make the fiscal 2021 budget work for the students of Whitman and Hanson.

“This isn’t the only piece of information that will be available to the community and the School Committee,” Szymaniak said of the PowerPoint printout and budget worksheets made available to the committee and audience members at the meeting.

“We are currently working on feedback we received last year concerning a history of our line items,” Szymaniak said. “That document will be available and I ask people to be patient.”

The required budget would represent an overall increase of 4.94 percent, or $2,592,200. The recommended budget would increase the bottom line by another 4.72 percent, or $2,475,000 — a total increase of 9.66 percent, or $5,067,200.

Local assessments for the required budget would mean $11,903,983 for Hanson, with $200,345 in non-mandated busing; $141,080 in capital/technology for Hanson school buildings and $292,252 for high school debt service. Whitman’s assessment would be $14,974,512, with $300,016 in non-mandated busing and $427,648 for high school debt service.

Local assessments for the recommended budget would mean $12,894,973 and $16,458,522.

“The recommended number includes everything that we are looking for as a regional school district now and in the next five years,” Szymaniak said.

Required expenses include salaries (52 percent or $29,693,543), pension costs, regular day transportation, custodial services, utilities, health insurance, trash, special education transportation and tuition, facilities and curriculum costs. Non-salary expenses, which make up 48 percent of the budget total $27,799,395. Of that figure, $5 million represents under-funded or unfunded mandates.

Per pupil costs of $12,740 put the district at 19th from the bottom in the state, compared to Abington at $13,461; Rockland at $15,567 and a state average of $15,952. The district has been as low as fifth from the bottom in past years.

Revenue sources, meanwhile, are $28,249,836 (51.03 percent) from assessments, $25,200,534 (45.52 percent) from net state aid, $1,313,976 (2.37 percent) from grants, $450,000 (.81 percent) in Circuit Breaker funds and $150,000 (.27 percent) from local receipts.

Programs included in the recommended budget are returning four teachers cut last year and an additional 10 teachers to return foreign language and reading services at the middle schools. It also includes new programs — a robotics program the BRYT medical transition program for students returning from mental or physical health hospitalization at the middle schools, expansion of special ed programs, as well as full-day kindergarten and adjustment of the school start time.

Szymaniak said some items on the recommended list, such as all-day kindergarten and a change in start times are not things he is looking to incorporate into the budget this year, but he also wants to outline programs and materials the district needs.

The high school also faces and issue about capital items reaching end of life, such as phone wiring, which has not been addressed once the school was built.

“When I say we are going on Amazon to fix things, we are,” Szymaniak said. “We’re at end of life for support.”

The governor’s budget came out two weeks ago, and District Business Manager John Tuffy is part time, which limits the time he could spend on those figures.

Tuffy explained how the state calculates the district’s foundation budget of $40,719,547 and required district contribution of $20,274,291.

He also went through the state-required steps toward calculating the statutory assessments. The budget figure, less reimbursement, aid and tuitions determine the net budget — $26,452,087 or a $52,357,657 budget and subtracts the required minimum local contribution — $9,328,114 for Hanson and $11,117,142 for Whitman — to determine the total to be assessed, $6,006,831. Divided by the towns’ enrollment percentages, Hanson’s assessment is $2,405,135.13 and Whitman’s is $3,601,831 plus non-mandated transportation costs, additional operations and debt service costs for totals of $12,104,327.84 for Hanson and $15,274,529.16 for Whitman.

“The hope was to show you the method that we have, give you the chance to think about it — certainly the finance committees and the town administrators — and the, perhaps, respond to questions from the towns or the school committee,” Tuffy said.

Szymaniak said all the budget information will be posted on the district’s website.

“What we really wanted to present was the here and now, what we’re looking for and [where] we’re looking to go in the next few years,” Szymaniak said.

Enrollments, meanwhile are decreasing — down from 4,104 in 2015 to a projected enrollment of 3,755 in 2021.

“Decreased enrollment means a decrease, potentially, in state aid,” Szymaniak said. “We’re fighting that battle of losing kids.”

He pointed to vocational schools for those programs as well as charter schools and school choice because of full-day kindergarten. Smaller families are also a factor, Szymaniak said.

Staff reductions in fiscal 2020 included 9.2 teaching positions, six paraprofessionals, one special ed out of district coordinator, three duty aides, a central office staff member and one person from facilities. Three elementary counselors were added, bringing the net staff reductions to 19.2.

Additionally, $590,000 was taken from excess and deficiency and $290,000 was cut from supplies to help balance the budget.

“I also want to be careful talking about the two towns and what they can afford,” said School Committee member Dawn Beyers. “It also comes down to what they can afford.”

She said that 96 percent of the state’s kindergarten pupils attend full-day kindergarten, in Whitman 60 percent of kindergarten pupils attend a full-day program.

“We’re losing kids because of all-day kindergarten, and we lose them for the duration,” said School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes.

State grants offered to set up such programs ended in 2016.

“You have teachers in this district who are working hard day and night, weekend and night, because we don’t provide them as a school district with what they need, research-based in 2020 in order to teach students effectively, in my mind, as the assistant superintendent,” George Ferro said.

WHITMAN — Town Administrator Frank Lynam updated the Board of Selectmen about WHRSD audit process on Tuesday, Jan. 28, expressing concern about the emergence of a group that is, perhaps seeking to develop a method to de-regionalize the school district.

“I could not be more opposed to that concept,” Lynam said. “This audit would not have any relationship to that type of an analysis. We simply want to understand how the money comes in, how it’s allocated, what the growth factors are and see if we can project out.”

Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski agreed that getting the information the audit would supply is extremely important, but cautioned that no one should take it as an expression that the board favored de-regionalization.

“We’re still firm in our stand that the statutory should be used this year,” Kowalski said he told Hanson Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett in a phone conversation. “We are also not in favor of de-regionalization.”

He said FitzGerald-Kemmett understands the situation and is trying to get through a difficult time in her town with some “dicey” input from some of the members of her town about the relationship between the towns.

Kowalski said he reminded her of the budget cycle a couple of years ago when Whitman thought it could only do 5 percent and his board’s “most fiscally conservative member,” Brian Bezanson said Whitman should just give the towns what they needed. Within the levy limit, using free cash, Whitman came up with about $800,000 to match what Whitman needed to match for the children.

“We are partly where we are today fiscally because of that move that we made,” Kowalski said. “Whitman has shown that it is interested in the health of the school system. It has shown it by making a sacrifice when it was hard to make it. That is a fact, and that ought to be clear.”

Since 2017, Whitman has sacrificed $3.3 million.

“We’re not asking for it back, we’re not assigning blame or responsibility for what happened,” Kowalski said. But it’s a thing that happened — and it hurts, quite frankly. It hurts to hear from a town we’ve partnered with for a long time that we are hard or we don’t care. We all know that we do. We’ve shown that we do.”

He thanked Selectman Randy LaMattina for getting on top of the issue a couple years ago and for getting the town in a position where the town can look forward with some clarity.

“There are some misguided, misinformed statements going on on social media right now that speaks on our current relationship and in our standings,” LaMattina said of the meetings he, Lynam and Selectman Justin Evans have had with Hanson town administrators, FitzGerald-Kemmett and Selectman Matt Dyer. “There has not been much progress, but there is no negativity and we are going to meet again.”

The group’s consensus is to wait until after the School Committee meeting Wednesday, Feb. 5 when the fiscal 2021 budget is presented.

Lynam said the audit is looking for information, but not to assign blame.

Both Lynam and Kowalski lauded the efforts of Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak to work through the crisis.

Lynam was slated to meet on Wednesday, Jan. 29 with budget managers to review and update submitted budgets to “hopefully bring forward a budget that will conform to the guidelines the board voted last week.”

In other business, Selectmen voted to approve seeking an exam for the open position of fire chief when Chief Timothy Grenno retires.

Lynam met with Civil Service representatives last week at a Mass. Municipal Association conference.

“As of this moment, we do not have an exam for fire chief,” Lynam said. “It’s important for the board to know that it reserves its rights in the event that we don’t have a timely opportunity for an exam, should we need one.”

The board may seek a written exam through HRD, or return to a previously discussed option of an assessment center. He recommended that a written exam be sought.

“It doesn’t mean that our current chief is going anywhere, it simply gives us a list from which to appoint in the event he does leave,” he said. “We should always have a standing list.”

Once the list is issued, it is good for two years.

Lynam announced that the town was notified on Friday, Jan. 24 that changes need to be made to the flood plain in order to continue the town’s participation in the National Flood Insurance Program. Selectmen approved sending the recommended bylaw change to the Planning Board for review and hearings.

WHITMAN — Prior to a joint meeting with the Finance Committee Tuesday, Jan. 21, the Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to accept the report and budget recommendations from the Budget Override and Evaluation Committee to avert a fiscal 2021 Proposition 2 ½ override. It was the only item on the agenda before the joint session with the Finance Committee.

All but one had the unanimous recommendation of the BOEC, and were based on the recommendations of the findings reported by consultant John Madden’s review of town finances.

“All of these measures defer the inevitable,” the budget committee’s report stated. “Even if all recommendations are adopted, an override will most likely be required in FY 2022, albeit a much smaller one.

BOEC Chairman Randy LaMattina said the key factor Madden determined to be at the heart of Whitman’s financial situation was where the operating budget — with an annual increase of 4.86 percent — is growing.

“He notes that school growth, from 7 to 8 percent, are not the norm,” LaMattina said. “His recommendation, and there will be a vote later on in this meeting, was to restrict operational growth to somewhere between 2 to 2.5 percent and a school assessment of 5 percent. … They’re not concrete numbers, there may need some adjustment here and there, but these are what he considers the norms for surrounding towns and towns meeting our demographics.”      

The recommended moves include:

• Restructuring of the ambulance account without taking needed funds away from the fire department;

• Moving funds from the motor vehicle fine account into general townwide operations;

• Use of sewer/water indirect costs to offset costs within the town budget article at Town Meeting;

• Controlling town operations increases to 2.5 percent of the overall budget increase and education not to exceed a 5 percent assessment increase;

• As a financial policy, refrain from using free cash to fund ongoing expenses;

• Seek funding for the feasibility study for a DPW building project;

• Funding the $750,000 for the first phase of the Whitman middle School Project (Finance Committee member John Galvin and Fire Chief Timothy Grenno abstained from this vote at the BOEC meeting);

• Development of a strategic plan for municipal finances; and the

• BOEC’s recommendation against seeking a Proposition 2 ½ override.

School Committee member Dawn Byers spoke about her dissenting vote favoring an override after Selectman Dan Salvucci asked for the reason for that vote.

She said that, while she saw a lot of information on how to infuse more money into the town’s operating budget, she saw no expenditure reports for how the new revenue would be distributed.

“I know that the schools did cut from their budget last year, so I feel that to recommend not having an override this year doesn’t serve the people in our community, the families in our community, working families in our community. I think we need to recognize our true expenditures with our real revenue.”

LaMattina said nine votes against seeking an override spoke to the dire nature of the move.

“We know we have a middle school, possibly, on the horizon, we know we have a capital service project,” he said. “We do not know what the number is for the school district. … If we look at our history, 5 percent will not be sustainable for the schools — we get it — they will need an increase.”

He said the town is trying to get through this year, working with Hanson.

“I think this override will be the last time we can ask taxpayers for money for quite a long time,” LaMattina said. “We better get it right.”

Moving into the joint meeting with the Finance Committee, the session reflected Finance Chairman Richard Anderson’s introductory remark that, “undoubtedly we will disagree on some of the paths” to get town finances where they need to be.

Town Administrator Frank Lynam advocated identifying the town’s budget tolerances as a first step in preparing a budget with a 2.5 percent increase limit as the goal.

Finance Committee member Kathleen Ottina advocated more transparency in that process.

“Right now, the general public in Whitman does not know the details of what was involved in last year’s decision to stay under an override,” she said. “The closed-door meetings, I understand, involve less formal discussions than when you televise, but they have to be open to the public so they know what’s at stake.”

She also questioned how an override could be taken off the table when they don’t have all the numbers yet, and argued it does not take six months to educate the public on the need for an override.

Lynam said he would be “hard-pressed to find 100 people that would regularly be interested in what’s going on, that doesn’t mean we don’t provide it.”

Most of what he does at the meetings is working with a calculator and the town has committed to a more open and fluid approach.

Ottina said she appreciated the difficulty, but said information coming out of the meetings should be publicized. Lynam agreed.

Finance Committee member Rosemary Connolly urged that a working group could ensure the budget is accountable to the town’s budget survey conducted last year.

Finance Committee member John Galvin, who also served on the BOEC, disagreed that a working group meeting was necessary, because the FinCom is charged with hashing out that information and bringing it to the people at Town Meeting.

Anderson said that, if the next step is for the Finance Committee members to follow up with budget managers, “I think we’re in a good place.”

In discussing the Capital improvement plan, Lynam said the wording for any article would be tricky.

“We’re going to have to work out that process,” he said. “It would be a big change from what we’ve done.”

The capital committee will be holding its next meeting in the first week of February.

Noting that WHRSD is the biggest part of the budget, Anderson brought up the issue of paid school transportation.

“I think this is a discussion that needs to take place,” he said. “It’s time to consider alternate funding sources and maybe address some of the schools’ needs.”

School Committee member Fred Small, who attended the joint meeting, said students on the Superintendent’s Council had said last week that the early start didn’t bother them.

Connolly said early start times generally affects boys more than girls, and the Superintendent’s Council members who spoke were all female.

They also did say the time change was hard for them in the beginning, as well.

Lynam cautioned that the issue raises a myriad concerns, particularly when school doors don’t open before a certain time, which causes a hardship for working parents.

“Massachusetts has the earliest start time, generally, across America and we are one of the earliest within Massachusetts,” Connolly said. “We also have to think of how effectively our money is spent.”

Most buses arrive at the school empty because parents already drive their children, she said.

Finally, Lynam discussed the MSBA grant invitation for a Whitman Middle School project, requiring a vote at the May Town Meeting on whether to call for funding for a feasibility study. Components of that study will include demographics, utility and design.

“I don’t see anyone ever approving us renovating that building,” Lynam said. “If we’re going to do something there, we’re most likely looking at a new building.”

The first step is the assessment of need through a feasibility study which can be funded out or either a debt plan, free cash or a one-time capital override.

“I was persuaded that the feasibility study will give us the information we need to present to the public,” Lynam said.

WHITMAN — Animal Control services will be taken over, as the initial responsibility for oversight by the Board of Selectmen and Town Administrator in the new year.

The change will be in force until a “more suitable plan” can be developed, Town Administrator Frank Lynam informed Selectmen at the Tuesday, Dec. 17 meeting.

“The Board of Health has notified us that they wish to — can I use the word reneg? — on their acceptance of managing the Animal Control Department, as of Jan. 1,” Lynam said.

Animal control has traditionally been managed by the Police Department.

“We obviously have to do something fairly immediately,” Lynam said, noting there was not much of an option available for reassigning it.

“When we did this, there was a considerable increase, monetarily, to that department for this specific purpose,” Selectman Randy LaMattina noted about the Health Board’s oversight. “I would just like us to be aware of that and figure out a direction.”

Lynam said he would discuss the financial ramifications of the change with the Finance Committee.

“Since [the Board of Health] is an elected board, we really can’t direct them to do anything, but we’re recognizing their decision to — I’m looking for a word — to relieve themselves of the animal control process and that has some impacts,” Lynam said.

Selectman Brian Bezanson asked if the financial aspect was not something that was more properly up to the Health Board Chairman and Finance Committee to decide.

“There has to be some decision made somewhere,” Lynam said. “The Board of Health is the appointing authority for the health agent, the budget is voted annually at Town Meeting and there are certain responsibilities that we all have when we vote and adopt annual budgets, so that’s a discussion that has to happen.”

Lynam said the Board of Health maintains it needs a full-time health agent, animal control notwithstanding.

“Like any department, a case has to be made for supporting the budget that you request,” he said.

As Hanson Selectmen have approved $30,000 for its share of the $60,000 cost for a joint town hiring of an independent auditor for the School District’s operating costs, Whitman Selectmen authorized planning for an expenditure not to exceed $30,000 for the town’s share.

“It’s a lot of money, but there’s a lot of questions,” Lynam said. “As we speak [Dec. 17], I don’t know where the money’s coming from.”

He has asked the town accountant to “look at all of our numbers” to figure out from where the $30,000 could be drawn.

The type of firm selected may hinge on what they are looking for — whether the numbers add up or where the money is spent, according to Lynam.

“Those are two different types of audit,” Lynam said. “We’re trying to understand what the basics for spending are and how we’re affected going forward.”

Lynam said the town has identified its costs and what its trends have been over the last five years, with the result being they are saying there is a structural deficit for fiscal 2021of at least $1.7 million.

“That’s without the numbers that were thrown out by the school [district Dec. 11],” he said. “We have to start somewhere.”

Bezanson said the audit could be viewed positively, especially if it verifies what the school district has been saying.

HANSON — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, Dec. 17 discussed updated information and concerns surrounding the ongoing school differences with Whitman surrounding  assessment formula for W-H Regional Schools.

Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett and Selectmen Matt Dyer were slated to meet Wednesday, Dec. 18 with Whitman counterparts and town administrators to further discuss a proposed compromise assessment approach for the W-H Regional Schools.

The board’s agenda Dec. 17 included discussion on the costs of de-regionalizing and of the assessment issue with Town Counsel and possible next steps.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said the Dec. 4 meeting of the new Regional Agreement Committee concluded with a vote to temporarily disband [see related story] the panel to permit discussions on a smaller scale to facilitate negotiation. She said whatever is discussed in the smaller sessions would “absolutely be brought back” for discussion by Hanson Selectmen.

“The discussion was how we should move forward with the regional agreement and it was made abundantly clear at that meeting that Whitman was going to go statutory this year,” she said. “The way the composition of the School Committee [stands], with the 6-4 — six Whitman votes to four Hanson — the fact that we’ve had DESE weigh in and all … more than likely, regardless what the School Committee voted, ultimately we would end up with the statutory formula.

The statutory method takes into account a town’s minimum per pupil expenditure designated by DESE — the minimum local contribution — which fluctuates based on inflation, wage adjustment, town’s total earned income, property values and municipal revenue growth. Anything in a budget over the minimum local contribution goes to the regional agreement, based on pupil population, for any other operating expense.

There is no requirement for unanimous agreement by both communities to use the statutory method.

The agreement/alternative method uses strict per-pupil representation to assess the communities, the method currently used by the district. Both communities have to pass the assessment methodology prior to the budget distribution or at town meeting in order to use this method. If one town does not vote the budget forward and the other does, it does not constitute unanimous agreement for the method to be used.

FitzGerald-Kemmett reported that Whitman Selectman Randy LaMattina would be willing to enter into an agreement calling for a statutory formula for fiscal 2021, after which the towns would discuss a transition to a full statutory assessment system.

Going forward, Whitman Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski said he favored opening the agreement to something of a hybrid formula that would not be fully statutory nor alternative.

“I don’t know what that looks like,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “Part of that is the school audit that both towns have agreed to fund.”

She sought to clarify that the audit is to provide information the towns need.

“If we’re being asked to write a check, we need to know what that check is for, pure and simple,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “It is not a value judgment, it is not an indictment of anybody. We have a fiduciary responsibility to have transparency into the way the money is being spent.”

She pointed out that, were the schools not part of a region, that transparency — as with all other town departments — would be easier to achieve.

Dyer said the audit had no connection to any suspicions about school finances.

Every year, we choose a department to audit,” he said. “This is just regular business.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed, but admitted the impetus was also a need for more information. She described the towns’ relationship as currently siloed where the schools are concerned, and that the audit could lead to help the towns get onto the same page.

“They’d be sitting at our department head meetings on a weekly basis and they’d be talking to one another,” she said. “We’re trying to level that playing field and get that level of information we’ve got from the other departments in town.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said the board has also been receiving a lot of questions about whether de-regionalization has been considered. It will not be figured out by the May Town Meeting, she said, stressing that people want to know what the structure and cost would be and the whether or not the town would benefit from it.

“I don’t have any of those answers right now,” she said. “My sense is that de-regionalization is probably not a viable — and certainly not a short-term viable — solution right now, but it’s something everyone deserves to have us look into, so we will look into it.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett asked Finance Committee Chairman Kevin Sullivan at what point his board should be looped in.

“Ultimately, FinCom has to play the hand we’re dealt, based on what the schools provide in their budget,” he said. “It’s a little bit discouraging to me that they’ve shown such a high increase already in December.”

He pointed to the $2.5 million in recommendations are an indication that an even higher budget increase than in previous years.

“We’re throwing things like full-day kindergarten right on top,” Sullivan said. “Is this the best time to do that? If they eased into this a little bit more, I feel we could make this work. … But I feel like we’re hammering it down now.”

He argued it could motivate some residents to dig in and refuse to support any budget.

“I’ve gotten some very strong and loud feedback about the fact that, not only are we looking at the struggle of how the assessment will play out, but now we’re  tacking on pretty large increase on top of that,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “They’re doing what they think they need to do.”

In other business, the board discussed a “No Knock Policy” against door-to-door solicitations, in which a list is drawn up and disseminated.

Police Chief Michael Miksch has noted a problem with such a policy concerning maintaining the list when people move or property is sold and the First Amendment considerations of group such as religious or political canvassers. He also noted the 2020 Census will be sending people door-to-door.

Miksch recommends that those who do not want solicitors knocking on their doors should post “No Trespassing” or “No Soliciation” signs, which the police can enforce.