From the start, commencement exercises at WHRHS on Friday, May 30 were a bit different – and not because of the brisk wind that threatened to send mortarboards airborne before the graduating class sat down.
Easily noticeable on the crimson graduation stoles worn by the seniors were bright green mental health awareness ribbons, and the first speaker on the program – Class President Francesca Ruffini helped explain why in her speech, a welcome on behalf of the graduating class.
“This class has been through so much together, and I hope we all learned something from each other,” Ruffini said.
As she concluded her speech, Ruffini addressed the presence of and “empty chair.”
“Scanning our crowd today, we are missing one of the brightest lights of people, and that is Ava Patete,” she said. “She was a light that lit up our graduating class – we all knew her, we all loved her and we will all miss her forever. Let us remember her today, especially on her anniversary and for many years to come.”
Ruffini personally asked the class to live like Ava: spontaneously, kindly and compassionately, She then asked the graduates and families to observe a moment of silence for her late friend.
“Let’s carry her light forward in everything we do,” she said.
It was a message of hope in community, echoed by a school official who spoke with humor about his anxiety, a valedictorian who had worked to overcome insecurity and a principal whose words had to be spoken by someone else, as he recovered at home from hip surgery.
Kindness, resiliency and hope were themes repeated by the speakers as they sent the Class of 2025 out into the world to forge their futures.
Focusing on the adversity the class has seen, and will no doubt encounter in their future lives, Ruffini also spoke of a book her mother gave her that helped her work through some of the toughest times she has so far faced in life.
“The book involves the theory called, the ‘let them’ theory,” she said. “’the let them’ theory reveals who people really are, and when you see them, show their true colors is when you choose what to do next.”
The upshot is to learn how to stop trying to get other people to meet your expectations – how someone treats you is how important you are to them.
“Instead of trying to change yourself, or even that other person, let them be who they are and let yourself be who you are,” she said. “Life is about finding people who value you for your true self.”
Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak kept to the message on the importance of mental health as he opened his remarks by repeating an anecdote from a previous graduation speech concerning the anxiety he feels, which is more intense before giving speeches and his wife’s reassurance.
He spoke about “The Power of You,” which means “showing up, even when it’s hard.”
“It means trying again, even when you didn’t get it right the first time, – or the fifth time,” he said. “It means being a Panther, not just wearing the red and back, but representing the strength, the pride and the heart of this school. … You’ve been building something powerful – not just knowledge, but character, not just skills, but purpose and not just memories, but mementoes – the power of you is not just in what you’ve learned, but how you’ve learned, how you faced adversity and kept going, how you’ve lifted others when they needed a hand and how you’ve asked bold questions or dared to be different.”
Valedictorian Patrick Hurley spoke on “Who We Are” and how one of the most important gifts the class had received from W-H has been a sense of community, which provide a foundation for who we want to be and how to get there.
“While that may seem like a given, for someone like me it took a bit longer than usual to really come to engage with that part of life,” he said. “I entered high school a far more reserved and insecure person than I am standing here, someone who perceived themselves as more awkward than anything else, and who felt stunted in their social life. While I doubt that that aspect of myself is completely gone, I’m overjoyed to be in a place where, looking out at you all, I see friends—people I’m fond of, whose aspirations to become teachers, doctors, engineers, artists, businesspeople, tradespeople, and so much more — I’ve come to know and understand.”
The health of a community, he noted, requires individual responsibility to make it the best that it can be, Hurley noted.
“As we set out into the world, there are going to be challenges far greater than anything high school had to offer. As you rise to face the difficulties of an increasingly complex and hostile world, I encourage my classmates to ask themselves who their community is,” he said. “Who do you trust and support, and how can you show that? What can you do to make your world a kinder place?”
Salutatorian Nolan Keyes, meanwhile, reflected on the meaning of success.
“Deep down, I truly do believe that each individual here has what it takes to succeed,” he said. “Success is not determined by others, but by yourself, and the different goals, aspirations, and plans for the future that you create. While I do believe it is important to dream big, I believe it is far more important to dream for yourself. Chase your own goals, find your own personalized passions, and make your own impact on the world.”
Selected from among her fellow seniors for the opportunity to speak for the Class of 2025, Karyn Stone spoke about “Your Moment” by enumerating the ways in which graduation is not one’s “moment,” the defining moment of one’s life.
“Because those things, as amazing as they were, don’t define you,” she said, explaining that high school and the accomplishments made there are just a chapter of a bigger story. “They are a part of your story, sure, but not your whole story. … Graduation is an incredible accomplishment, and we should all be proud. We made it through the early mornings, long nights, big tests, and even bigger doubts. We supported each other. We laughed, we learned, and sometimes we crashed and burned. But we kept going. So yes, celebrate this moment. Hold it close. But don’t let it be the finish line.”
School Committee Chair Beth Stafford injected some humor into the program as she spoke about memories, by putting on a fabric Pharoh’s crown as she addressed members of the graduating class she taught as sixth-graders at Whitman Middle School in 2019 – her last students before retiring.
“To bring back some happy, funny memories, I thought I would add this to my outfit today,” she said. “I would start each unit in costume and this, of course is Egypt. I hope that when you look back at your years at school … that you have a lot of memories. … I would ask you to use these memories to help shape your future dreams. Even unhappy memories can affect how you go on about achieving your dreams.”
Reading Principal Dr. Christopher Jones’ speech – as he was home recovering from surgery — Assistant Principal David Floeck related Jones’ comments on dealing with anxiety and fear.
“Let’s be honest, success isn’t about living without anxiety, it’s about walking through it,” Jones wrote. “It’s about learning to pause. Breathe in. Breathe out, and take the next step anyway.”
Discomfort, Jones says, is not the enemy, it may be one’s greatest teacher.
“Growth doesn’t live inside your comfort zone,” he stated. “Dreams don’t chase you down, they wait in places that stretch you, scare you and require you to show up differently.”
Floeck, offered thanks to Class Advisors Daniel Moriarty and John Rosen for the hours they have dedicated to the senior class, Administrative Assistan Siobhan Horton and Megan McDonald for the herculean task of planning and overseeing the setup of the graduation ceremony and Chris Googins for his assistance in that work, Courtney Selig and the school’s counseling department for their unrelenting support for W-H students and Marcus Casey and Jason Cook for the audio and visual equipment setup.
He also recognized retiring teachers: Michelle Gentile, who taught history at the high school for 18 years and Rosen, who retires as a science teacher after 31 years.
The ceremony was broadcast live on Whitman-Hanson Community access TV, where it will be rebroadcast and on their YouTube channel at Whitman-Hanson Educational Channel – YouTube.
Whitman mulls uses for Park Street land
WHITMAN – What to do with the Park Avenue School building?
The Select Board on Tuesday, May 20 discussed whether the town wants to keep the property or is interested in selling it.
Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter said a discussion had been held several months ago, but was unsure whether or not to keep it, but needed to determine that in order for the attorney’s office to move forward.
“I think the consensus was … that the town wanted to keep that [property]” Carter said. “It’s a beautiful piece of land – there are rare trees there, and it’s just a beautiful park area, so I think we just want to talk about it again. What could we do with that land, and how could we fund it?”
She mentioned Community Preservation funds as a possible source.
“I asked for this to be added back to the agenda for tonight,” Select Board member Justin Evans said, noting that the consensus was to keep it for some time municipal use so that the lawyers could get the town released from the deed restriction that the land only be used for a school.
“I believe if we could come to a consensus as to what that municipal purpose was, they could move forward and attempt to release it so we could attempt to do something with the land,” he said. “My suggestion would be anything that we could fund with Community Preservation funds because that’s a separate pot of money from the budget, because money is tight.”
Looking into what other towns have done with CPC funds, Evans found that they had been able to fund demolition projects that helped further a recreation or open space project.
“If we had something that met those criteria, we could even borrow against those future CPC funds and start something sooner and get that old school out of the way,” Evans said.
“I love the idea,” said Select Board member Shawn Kain, suggesting that something along the lines of an amphitheater could be used for town recreation entertainment programs. Evans also mentioned potential uses as a dog park, which has been mentioned in town, or park land.
“From what I understand, the building does need to be razed because of the condition that it’s in,” Carter said.
Where ideas for use of the land is concerned, Evans said, “the more specific we can get for counsel, probably the better,” Evans said about potential uses. The historic trees on the site are a plus.
Noting that the property is a beautiful place where she and a lot of residents had gone to school, Select Board member Laura Howe put forward her support for a dog park, but in conjunction with a shelter, “Only because we need one,” she said.
She also noted that police departments and the public are losing touch with each other, so a K-9 or comfort dog unit headquartered on the site, but separate from a shelter wouldbring the police and community together.
Adding the dog park as an extra in that case, would provide some oversight against damage to the property, she said.
Previously conducted survey results will be available at the board’s next meeting to permit more detailed discussion.
Dirt flies for new WMS
WHITMAN – Under a bright sunny sky, Monday, May 19, with a wind blowing silt from where the actual construction of the new Whitman Middle School had already begun, W-H district officials, School Committee members, and elected and appointed town leaders gathered in one of the parking lots in front of the building to officially break ground for the new school building.
“Whitman Middle School will be more that just a building,” said Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak. “It will be a place where young minds in grades five through eight will grow, explore and prepare for their future. This school will be the hub of learning, creativity and community engagement – especially [by] using the new auditorium. It will be a place where students are encouraged to dream big, challenge themselves and discover their apassions.”
This was a day a a long time coming – somewhere in the neighborhood of seven year, since then-WMS principal George Ferro wrote up the statement of interest to the Massachusetts Building Committee. Ferro is now assistant superintendent.
Seven years later, Szymaniak, wearing sunglasses against the glare of the morning’s bright sunlight, strolled to a podium situated between two excavators – which suspended an American flag between the bucket loaders – to welcomed the small crowd of dignitaries.
“This event isn’t just the beginning of a building project, it’s the start of a new chapter in the educational journey of our students and a symbol of our collective commitment to shaping a bright future,” Szymaniak said.
He thanked state legislators, the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA), Whitman Select Board, the W-H Regional School Committee the WMS Building Committee, many parents, students and especially Whitman taxpayers, who supported the project both at Town Meeting and at the voting booth in 2023.
“I’d also like to give a shout-out to our former Facilities Director Ernie Sandland, Science Teacher Crystal Regan and … Ferro, for starting this project in 2018, writing a statement of interest (SOI) and submitting it to the MSBA for a new middle school for the students of Whitman,” Szymaniak said. “Together our vision, hard work and support has turned a dream in reality,”
Symaniak also recognized architect AI3, owner’s project manager Colliers, MSBA representative James McConnell and building contractor Fontaine Bros., who have worked on school construction across the state, according to McConnell.
He also said the new school is a testament to the strength of the Whitman community, representing the shared values of a commitment to education, equity and ensuring that every child has the resources they need to succeed.
“In the years to come, this school will grow to be more than a place of education,” Szymaniak said. “It will be a space that fosters collaboration, creativity and connection. … We envision a school that is not only academic, but rich in extracurricular activities, sports and the arts, offering out students a well-rounded experience.”
State Rep. Alyson Sullivan-Almeida, R-Abington, and a representative from state Sen. Mike Brady’s office brought certificates from both wings of the Great and General Court to present to citations of congratulations on the occasion from the state House and Senate, presenting them to Szymaniak and Whitman Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter.
Noting that, having been elected in 2018, Sullivan-Ameida said the WMS project has been at the forefront of legislative work for her for much of that time. She also honored the late School Committee member Fred Small.
“He was a strong advocate [for] the school district when it came to reaching out to my office and advocating for the town of Whitman and W-H Regional School District,” she said.
Building Committee Vice Chair Kathleen Ottina thanked the taxpayers who approved the school project as well as the members of the school building committee.
Ferro the offered brief remarks before guiding participants of the groundbreaking to their places.
“We’ve thanked all the adults,” Ferro said. “But we also remember that, because of the actions of the adults, students will get a brand-new education. … When we talk about a building, we talk about the life blood of that building, and that is the students and the staff that are in it.”
Taking on Hanson’s nip ban violators
HANSON – The Select Board on Tuesday, May 13 voted to take a two-pronged approach to enforcing the town’s “nip” alcohol bottle ban, on the books – but ignored by at least some alcoholic beverage retailers – since Jan. 1.
“The cleanest, best way to proceed would be to move down two tracks,” Town Counsel Matt Provencher told the Select Board. “When you issue a liquor license under Chapter 138, whether it’s a restaurant license or a retail [alcohol] license, you’re acting under power that the state legislature gave to the Select Board … as the licensing authority.”
Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said she would have Town Administrator Lisa Green work on a letter of non-compliance with a timeline of 30 days, after which the board approved the motion.
Those two tracks involve the placement of “reasonable conditions” on the issuance of a license, and the board can issue regulations that apply to licenses issued in the town.
“The first thing you can do is send these folks a notice that, based on their failure to voluntarily comply [with town regulations] … that you’re going to contemplate bringing them in for a hearing to determine whether their licenses need to be modified to include an expressed condition that they’re not allowed to sell nips,” Provencher said.
Licenses already awarded and not due to go into effect because the contracts didn’t have that because the law didn’t go into effect until Jan, 1, 2025.
The board can also issue a notice to hold a public hearing on some regulations that you’re going to adopt,” Provencher said.
“I’d like to do both,” said FitzGerald-Kemmett.
“I think we should do both,” said Committee member Joe Weeks. Member Ed Heal also agreed to that approach.
One of the retailers, Irwin Patel, apparently admitted to selling nips in violation of the ban during discussion of an annual attempt by various residents by citizen’s petition at Town Meeting. A 2024 Town Meeting vote had placed the ban on the books. [See related story]
I don’t care whether we ban nips or not,” said Town Moderator Sean Kealy, who had purchased a nip bottle at Hanson’s Village Mini-mart in April to use as a prop proving at the May 5 Town Meeting that the ban was being ignored. “What bothers me, what really disgusts me, is when people don’t follow the law that this Town Meeting passed.”
Kealy said he would be seeking a conversation with the Select Board about methods of enforcing the ban and for other issues on which Town Meeting took votes.
Town Administrator Lisa Green said she would work with town counsel and we’ll get the regulations together and, if a hearing is held she said she would comply with all of the regulations as far as hearings.”
Provencher said setting up a hearing would involve being authorized to send a letter to retailers noting she is aware that they haven’t been in complete compliance. If they were going to issue a notice of non-compliance hearing to determine whether their license should be modified, suspended or revoked.
Providing the retailers notice of public hearings while the town prepares the Municipal regulations, will include a copy of the proposed regulations, and everyone will have the opportunity to be heard, Provencher said.
“Since we do have this being somewhat of a groundhog day, with the [attempts at repeal] continuing, and there is a potential that somebody Could submit a citizens petition to, yet again, repeal the nip ban,” she basically asked if they believed there was a bylaw.
Hanson passes $3M override proposal
HANSON – Hanson Town meeting voters are giving the town’s voters another chance to be heard on the proposed operational override to fund town departments and the schools.
Meeting at Whitman-Hanson Regional High School to accommodate a larger crowd, the Town Meeting voters agreed, by a vote of 230-118 to place the override on the town’s annual Town Election ballot for a Saturday, May 17 vote.
A brief informational slide presentation on the basics of overrides and town revenue sources, preceded Article 5 and Article 6, which encompass the fiscal 2026 town budget.
“Usually, we just vote on one budget, but because we have a Proposition 2.5 override on the ballot coming up May 17 … whatever we do tonight, that question will be on the ballot that day, and whatever the vote comes out will be what is done – whether we have an override or we reject it, Moderator Sean Kealy said.
The meeting then addressed Article 5 – without the override – and if the override passes, as it did, the Article 6 budget will be used. If the override is defeated at the ballot box, Article 6 will have no legal effect.
“[The budget] is entirely contingent on how the town votes,” he said.
Hanson Finance Chair Kevin Sullivan spoke frankly about the “serious budget challenges” Hanson faces, and why after an extensive review, the $3 million operational override has been recommended by his committee to maintain the services Hanson residents rely on every day.
Hanson receives 85 percent of its revenue from property taxes
“Under the limits of Proposition 2.5 our allowable revenue growth simply isn’t keeping pace with the rising costs of operating the town, especially in the face of inflation, contractual obligations and the increasing demands on our services,” Sullivan said. “This isn’t about funding new programs, this is about preserving the level of service that we have come to expect:”
- Police and fire departments, already operating with lean staffing and increasing call volumes;
- Town Hall, library, recreation and outdoor spaces, which provide vital functions for residents and businesses alike;
- School, essential not only for the education of children, but also for the town’s strength and stability.
“Without an override, we will be forced to make extremely difficult decisions, including depleting free cash reserves, which are largely meant for capital expenditures, or making deep cuts across every department,” Sullivan said. “The Finance Committee has scrutinized this budget. We worked with every department head. We’ve reviewed every line item. We have prioritized needs, not wants, but the numbers don’t lie, the gap is real and we can no longer stretch our limited resources without damaging the core of what makes Hanson work.”
He emphasized that the picture he painted was not intended to be a scare tactic, but is a fiscal reality.
The lower school budget number in Article 5 than was approved by the School Committee would have been a rejection of the school budget if approved, which only the School Committee has the authority to reduce and send back to the town.
Richard Road resident and former School Committee member Jim Armstrong said the state supplied 74 percent of the school budget until it convinced Hanson and Whitman to regionalize.
“Every so often we have to go back and remember we used to get spoiled,” he said. “We’re not anymore and we have to start paying our way, and that’s really what it comes down to, because the state’s not supporting us like they used to so over the years we’ve had to figure out how to get there and once in a while we have to do an override to get there.”
Another resident asked why the departments were linked together in the budget.
Sullivan replied that they were not, but to fairly budget, all departments were asked to cut their budgets by 5 percent.
“But if you say yes to the override, you’re saying yes to everyone equally,” she countered.
“The override is just a method for overcoming a monetary threshold,” Sullivan said. “It has nothing to do with the town departments.”
“I think what you’re asking is, ‘Why not separate [them]?’” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “Because we have gotten some feedback on that and we did look at that as a board in terms of how to present it.”
She noted that the town conducted an override just for the schools last year.
“That did not go well because … at Town Meeting, people got up and ended up eviscerating the Town Hall budget in order to fund the educational budget,” she said. As a result, small cuts had to be made affecting individual services like transfer station hours.
“This year, we had more than one department that really made a compelling argument, so it made sense to bundle it,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
“This is sort of resetting the baseline,” Sullivan, noting that $3 million is the largest override they’ve recommended. “For too many years we were too far behind.” The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education switched the funding formula and that left Hanson in a pretty significant hole, as well, which served to set the town even farther behind, he explained.
“This is resetting the number to get all the town departments the correct personnel that they want for the needs that we have and continue us on a path where, hopefully, we won’t need another override three to five years from now,” Sullivan said.
School Committee member Kara Moser, while stressing that the school budget is level-serviced, sought to explain why that department’s expenses keep increasing. For example, regional school districts are responsible for paying employee benefits, just as a municipality would and W-H employs 600 people who are eligible for benefits. Then there are the state and federal mandates for services the school district is legally required to provide – such as special education – and not all are funded – such as out of district transportation for homeless students. Students going to charter or some vocational schools are also not always funded.
Two residents asked about the procedure if the override were to fail Town Meeting, but pass at the ballot box.
“We would go again,” Sullivan said. “We have another option to hold another Town Meeting and revote the override again.”
“It seems like it’s pointless to vote no on the override thing tonight,” one resident said. “Even if you are very, very against the override, you still should vote yes on six because the actual vote that kills the override is at the ballot – not tonight.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett said that may be, but it wouldn’t alter the town’s dilemma of having a school budget left unfunded.
“Ultimately that sends it back to the School Committee about whether they’re going to lower the budget or seek the same assessment,” she said.
Resident Mike DiCarlo of Indian Head Street made a motion to separate the school and public safety budgets into to override questions instead of one.
Kealy said the motion would be more properly made during discussion of Article 6, and that the ballots are already printed and cannot be changed.
Town ballots form up
With all the debate swirling around the Proposition 2.5 override question on Town Election ballots in both Whitman and Hanson, it’s been a comparatively quiet news cycle surrounding the rest of the ballot as residents head to the polls on Saturday, May 17.
There is only one contested seat in either town, and that is between incumbent School Committee members Glen DiGravio and Steven Cloutman vs newcomer Thomas Raffey Jr., in Hanson. DiGravio and Cloutman are both incumbents and Raffey is a newcomer who moved to Hanson in 2020, but who’s wife, Alexandra, a nurse who provides in-home care to disabled veterans, is a 2007 graduate of Whitman-Hanson Regional High School. Raffey, an electrician is a member of the IBEW 103, who has also worked for a year as a teacher at Central Catholic High School in Lawrence.
Raffey stated in his candidate announcement to the Express [see page 10] that both he and his wife are committed to giving back to the community.
“My civic involvement—serving on the Hanson Master Plan Subcommittee and currently as Chair of the Hanson Conservation Commission—has provided me with valuable experience in working collaboratively to address the needs of our community,” Raffey stated.
DiGravio and Cloutman, serving his first term on the committee have provided dependable representation to Hanson’s conservative residents on the committee.
While there is only one candidate for Town Clerk, it is worth noting that it’s a race that represents another kind of change, as incumbent Elizabeth Sloan is retiring from the post she has served in for 15 years. Newcomer Jessica Franceschini is on the ballot to succeed Sloan.
Other candidates on the Hanson ballot are: Edwin Heal, running unopposed for Select Board; Anne Merlin for assessor; incumbent Peter Butler for Board of Heath; Justin M. Robertson for Planning Board; incumbent Dianna McDevitt and Pamela French running for Hanson Library Trustee (vote for two); Michael A. Hunter for Hanson Housing Authority; and Gilbert Amado, Don Howard and Kevin R. Perkins are on the ballot for the three available seats on the Water Commissioners.
In Whitman, incumbent Stephanie Blackman, elected last year to fill a vacancy on the School Committee when Fred Small passed away is seeking re-election, as is incumbent Christopher Marks, elected last year to fill the vacated seat of David Forth. Other unopposed School Committee candidates are incumbent Chair Beth Stafford and newcomer Ryan J. Tressel, who said in an announcement to the Express last week that as the parent of an autistic child, Tressel is running, “so that every student, not every family, has had as positive an experience with school as we have.”
Other uncontested races on the Whitman Town Election ballot are: Emily T. Millet, running to fill a vacancy in the office of the Treasuer-Collectors Office.
Incumbent Select Board members Justin Evans and Shawn Kain are running unopposed for re-election; as are Christine McPherson running unopposed for assessor; Lauren A. Kelley and Margaret P. McEwan running for two seats the Library Trustees. Anne M. Holbrook is running for Housing Authority and Adam J. Somerville is seeking a seat on the Planning Board. Jamie L. Rhynd is running for unopposed for the Board of Health.
There is a contested race for a seat on the DPW Commissioner between incumbent Kevin Cleary and Mark A. Poirier and Thomas A. Pistorino.
And, of course, both towns will be voting on a ballot question about overriding the Proposition 2.5 cap on the tax levy to fund town business as well as the W-H Regional School Distrit.
A second ballot question in Whitman again asks residents about changing the Treasurer-Collector position from an elected to an appointed one.
RA panel to leave busing regs as is for now
The W-H Regional Agreement Committee on Wednesday, April 16, held further discussions about non-mandated busing, but ended up voting to leave the transportation section as-is for now.
During the session Chair Hillary Kniffen, she asked for feedback on the discussions at its last meeting. In February, she had asked members to present their ideas or opinions about revising that portion of the Regional Agreement.
“I think I know, based on what I’ve watched and seen, but for the record for people who are going to watch this meeting,” she said she’d like to hear them.
Hanson Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said her board has talked about it multiple times.
“The board’s view is that they do not want to present any Regional Agreement that includes this,” she said. “It doesn’t mean we wouldn’t talk about it at some other point, but now is not the point and now is not the time.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett said she felt the committee has made a lot of progress on a number of points (and) some members of her board feel particularly passionate about non-mandated busing, in particular.
“To the point where – we didn’t take an official vote on this, but we did discuss it,” she said. “And I’ve had feedback from people that they wouldn’t even be willing to present any agreement that would include this.”
Kniffen agreed.
“We’ve made a lot of progress with knocking things off and I don’t think that all that work should be in vain,” she said of any effort to revise non-mandated busing regulations now.
Whitman Select Board Justin Evans said he brought it before that board before the last Regional Agreement session.
“They were, as you could imagine, in favor of making the switch and simplifying the transportation assessment process … even if we remove the change in how we assess now, there could still be a benefit to changing the way we send the assessments to the towns,” he said. “Even if the same calculation is performed, including that in the one assessment that gets sent to the towns.”
In that case, even if the amount in dollars were to go up the first year, there wouldn’t be the threat of voting it down.
“I’m focused more on the financial savings,” he said.
Hanson Finance Committee member Steve Amico said his committee has also discussed the issue and “are kind of in concert with the Select Board.”
“It was a discussion, but it wasn’t anything that was in-depth,” he said.
Whitman Finance Chair Kathleen Ottina said that, with a 50-percent rookie committee, so she said she simply informed them that there is a learing curve to understanding transportation costs.
Her committee has also not taken a vote.
Kniffen, who said she attended the last School Committee virtually, said her understanding was that the towns were split.
“I don’t want to make a Regional Agreement where one town feels strongly against something, [and] the other town feels strongly for something, because then it’s not going to go anywhere,” Kniffen said. “I don’t think that’s wise at this point.”
They had already added a provision into the Regional Agreement to look at it every three to five years, and determine of further revisions are neeeded.
“Right now is not the time to say, ‘Oh, and we’re going to add more costs. “That’s not the way to go to get anything sold,” she said. “I’m not comfortable saying, “Oh, we’re going ahead and changing things.”
“No matter how you clean up that language, the end result is convoluted,” Ottina said. “You’ve got one way of assessing mandated costs, and you’ve got a different way of assessing non-mandated costs.”
School Committee member Rosemary Connolly, however, said the message was clear that the message that came back from the School Committee meeting Kniffen referred to was that “they didn’t understand the breakout and the financial impact to the towns,” which is what the School Committee needs to be voting on the breakout and the total financial impact for them to revisit.
She maintained she would not be “budged for a second for political gains.”
Kniffen said the spilt between the towns on the issue was the reason she was not asking for a vote and did not think the RA committee should move forward with it.
“I think to keep insinuating that ‘people from the other town don’t understand,’ is incredibly insulting,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “Just because we don’t agree with a proposal doesn’t mean that we don’t understand it.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett maintained that she hasn’t said the issue is “forever off the table,” but there needs to be some recognition – if the towns are supposed to be partners – that Hanson has had “ a very tough pill to swallow” with the change to the statutory assessment formula.
“We can get into whether it should have been done earlier and all that,” she said. “[It] doesn’t really matter because that’s where we’re at now, and I can tell you it will detonate the relationship.”
She said she hears what Connolly is saying and appreciates her passion, but added, “My modus operando is, ‘do you want to be right or do you want to get what you want?’ If you want to be right, beat your breast and go on soapboxes and all that other stuff. If you ultimately want to continue with a partnership … then there does have to be some recognition that you can represent your consitituents, but do it in a way that does no harm.”
She said the $50,000 difference at stake is not a question of bankrupting one town for another.
Ottina said the Regional Agreement Committee has accomplished a lot so far.
“As much as I would like to propose language change for Section 5—Transportation, it’s not going to go anywhere. I’m pragmatic, but down the road we have to be careful about leaving non-mandated busing as a target on the warrant.”
She said it either has to become part of the schools’ operatin budget or, in future years, it’s a sitting duck.
Whitman Fire Lt. saves crash victim
WHITMAN — For firefighters, there are really no “days off.”
Chief Timothy Clancy proudly reported Monday, April 14 that an off-duty firefighter from the Whitman Fire Department jumped into action to help save a woman from a burning vehicle after spotting the aftermath of a crash on the opposite side of the highway in Raynham the day before.
At approximately 11:43 a.m., Sunday, Whitman Fire Lt. Brian Trefry was off duty driving on Route 24 southbound with his wife in Raynham, on the way to pick up his children from his mother-in-law’s home, when he saw smoke in the distance on the other side of the highway. When he got closer, Trefry saw a heavily damaged SUV that had caught fire, before pulling over and then carefully crossing both sides of the highway to make it to the vehicle.
Trefry then realized that a woman was trapped inside the vehicle, which was stuck in a ravine on the side of the road following a rollover crash, with a fire starting to spread from the engine compartment of the SUV into the surrounding vegetation in the area.
On his way over to the vehicle, Trefry looked around for something to bust open the window to free the woman, finding a boot on the ground and then trying to break the glass, causing a “spider crack.” Then a woman on the scene offered a window punch, which also failed to break the glass. Finally, Trefry was able to pry open the unlocked door, despite the dirt from the ravine that was blocking it.
“I had to move some dirt around, but was able to get the door open a bit, enough to grab her,” Trefry said. “At first it was a struggle. Luckily, I pulled her out. She was conscious, but I noticed a little blood. Me and another gentleman moved her about 30 feet away to get her away from the fire, so when it took off it wouldn’t affect her. I checked the back seat to make sure there was no one else inside the vehicle. Then there were a couple of nurses who showed up, along with State Police, and they started rendering aid to her.”
Trefry is used to helping people escape from the wreckage of car crashes while at work, but this was the first time he did so while off-duty.
“I’ve never been in a situation like this,” he said. “It definitely wasn’t on my Sunday morning bingo card. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.”
Trefry was able to carefully cross all lanes of the highway to get to the woman but had to signal to drivers to brake for him.
“It was definitely crowded. People were slowing down for the accident and looking.” he said. “I put my hand up to get people to stop, and I was able to slowly make my way over. I climbed over the guardrail and did the same thing on the northbound side.”
Any one of his colleagues from the Whitman Fire Department or their fellow firefighters from around the state would have done the same, Lt. Trefry said.
“It’s what anyone in the fire service in Massachusetts would have done,” said Trefry, who became a full-time firefighter in 2012. “I’d like to think we all would have done the same thing.”
The Raynham Fire Department also responded to the crash and quicky extinguished the fire. The Raynham Fire Department stated that the vehicle rolled over, before catching fire amid the vegetation on the side of the highway.
The vehicle operator was then transported by a Raynham Fire Department ambulance to Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton in stable condition.
“I’m hoping she’s alright,” Lt. Trefry said.
Without realizing a fellow firefighter was involved, the Raynham Fire Department thanked the good Samaritans who helped the woman escape from the burning SUV.
“Their actions certainly made a difference and may very well have saved the driver’s life,” said Raynham Fire Chief Bryan LaCivita.
After the rescue, Massachusetts State Police stopped traffic to allow Lt. Trefry to return to his vehicle on the other side of the highway.
Whitman’s Chief Clancy said the episode is an example of how the members his department are dedicated to aiding the public at any time – on duty or off.
“I’m very proud of Lt. Trefry, as I am of all our firefighters,” Clancy said.
Whitman kicks off 150th celebration
WHITMAN – As the lights of the out-sized Toll House Cookie – crafted by South Shore Tech students in 2013 – sparkled on the stage of the Spellman Center on Saturday, April 5, Whitman 150th Chair Richard Rosen welcomed those attending the kickoff diner to the first of the events celebrating the town’s sesquicentennial.
The cookie, created to top off the 75th anniversary of the Toll House cookie by Whitman’s Ruth Wakefield, when the town held a First Night celebration ending the year and welcoming 2014 with a “Cookie Drop” in the frigid night of Whitman Center [See end for trivia].
The Toll House was among the many past and present business Rosen featured in his keynote address.
Noting that, at the 125th celebration in 2000 a guest speaker rose to give a speech, apparently covering Whitman’s history from the “Ice Age to the Present,” and it caused a bit of discomfort.
“By the time he got to the part where the ice was melting, I saw that people began to fidget,” Rosen said in the speech recorded for rebroadcast and streaming on WHCA-TV and on the cable access YouTube Channel. “After about 45 minutes, people were sticking forks in their eyes. I do not want to see anybody lifting a fork while I’m speaking tonight.”
He did speak about history – but from a different chapter: the flourishing business community Whitman once enjoyed as the “backbone of our town.”
While there are businesses in town that trace their own histories to the 1800s and 1900s, Rosen’s focus was on “history that many of you remember.”
“I want to talk about the history that’s fading – and I want to make sure its preserved,” he said.
While reciting a long list of businesses that included every manner of commerce except used car dealers – “because we have to be out of here by morning.” – Rosen started with the oldest business in town, D.B. Gurney.
“David Gurney is here representing the eighth generation of Gurneys” in a business started in 1825,” Rosen said. “Harding Print, that’s still in operation, goes back to 1891.”
Beginning with shoe manufacturers, to tool and dye companies, news stores, bakeries, emporiums supplying kids with penny candy … “We had a bunch of funeral homes,” he said, Rosen’s list was an oral timeline of changing business climates and fortunes in Whitman and the national and global marketplace.
“We had lumberyards, believe it or not.” he said. “A lot of these things, people don’t remember, didn’t know about and don’t exist anymore – and that’s what I felt [was] important to bring up.”
At one time there were five new car dealerships in town. McLaughlin Chevrolet, established in 1922, is still one of the country’s oldest Chevrolet dealerships still run by the same family.
He listed cleaners, tax preparers, a “slew of attorneys,” King’s Castle, several businesses on Bedford Street, real estate businesses, pharmacies, jewelry stores, a draft board, farms, furniture storms, doctors’ and dentist’s offices, insurance companies, hardware and clothing stores, electrical businesses, builders, beauty parlors, florists, plumbers, oil firms, mechanics and auto parts stores, a “ton of grocery stores” and several miscellaneous businesses.
“Of course, we had the world-famous Toll House on Route 18,” Rosen said to applause.
He had opened his remarks by thanking his committee.
“I’ve been involved in many committees over the last 40 years,” he said. “This one is probably the best one I’ve been involved with.”
He also gestured to an empty table that, he said, would be full in a couple minutes.
“That’s the Fire Department table and, unfortunately, prior to our sitting down to dinner, the Fire Department had to go fight a house fire,” Rosen said. “But they’ll be here shortly.”
In fact, the firefighters arrived while Chair Mary Joyce of the Historical Commission was beginning her remarks, and she lead the applause to welcome them.
During her remarks, Joyce provided an update on project being done around town with grant funding that the Commission had been acquiring for the town, including funding obtained, in collaboration with the Fire Department and the Whitman American Legion, to renovate the WWI memorial arch at the fire station on Temple Street.
Thar work is expected to be completed by June 8 – when the Whitman 150th Road Race is slated to begin by passing through the arch.
Joyce said the commission is also working with high school students conducting interviews with a number of town seniors for an oral history to be broadcast on radio and WHCA-TV through April 2026, releasing an interview a month.
A grant from the Mass. Historical Commission, with matching funds from the Community Preservation Committee, is also funding an inventory of historic homes in Whitman. An early September ceremony is planned for presentation of a full documentation of their property, as well as plaques for the homeowners to hang on the street-facing side of their homes.
“All of these projects will provide a visual and audio record of what was before for generations to come,” she said.
Rosen presented to Select Board Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski a certificate of special Congressional recognition of the town’s anniversary from U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, Kowalski also accepted proclamations or citations on behalf of the town from state Sen. Mike Brady, D-Brockton and from state Rep. Alyson Sullivan-Almeda’s office and from Register of Deeds John Buckley.
All were dated March 13, 2025 – Whitman’s official anniversary date.
Plymouth County Sheriff John McDonald, DA Timothy Cruz and Clerk of Courts Robert Creedon also offered brief remarks.
Toll House Trivia – How many years has Whitman celebrated First Night and the cookie drop?
Town budget numbers reviewed
After meeting with Select Board and/or Finance Committee members from Whitman and Hanson during the previous week, district officials painted another gloomy picture of the school year to come without an operational override for both town and school budgets.
“No matter what, Whitman needs $2.4 million to balance for next year,” Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak reported to the School Committee at its Wednesday, March 26 meeting.
“Without that override in Whitman the number is very sobering to us,” Szymaniak said.
The overall WHRSD proposal, after all, is $66,306,206 at a 5.6 percent increase – the contingency budget, based on current figures without an override, would be $64,306,274 or a 2.19 percent – a $2 million reduction.
“Based on the budget we received from Whitman … in their contingency budget, if the override doesn’t pass, we are asking them in our 2026 proposed operating assessment, for $20,982,307 – a 9.65 percent assessment increase,” Szymaniak said. Whitman’s contingency number is $19,759,924 – a 3.26 percent assessment increase, or $1.22 million.
The contingency budget in Hanson, without an override the district would be asking for $16,452,000 – a 9.87 percent increase. Hanson’s contingency number is $15,674,746 – a 4.67 percent assessment increase.
“Overall it would be a $2 million cut, if the overrides do not pass,” Szymaniak said. Who said he has had “very good” conversations with finance and select boards. “Both towns are seeking an operational override for everyone.”
“What I got was, it’s an operational override to exist with level services for both communities,” Szymaniak said. “I’m not hearing, at least from the Whitman side, that there are add-ons – Hanson may, as far as fire and services. … But $2 million is breathtaking to start.”
Committee chair Beth Stafford echoed Szymaniak’s observations about the across-the-board cuts Whitman was expecting would be necessary if the override failed.
“It certainly was not any pitting one department against another,” she said. “It was overall, everybody across the board, this is what’s going to happen.”
While a three-year Whitman spending package would carry them through with a $4.25 flexible number with increments of: $2.4 million to fiscal ’26, another amount to FY ’27 and another amount to FY ’28, Szymaniak explained.
“That will carry us through, as well through FY ’28, to the numbers that [Business Manager Steven] Marshall has appropriated through the Whitman Finance Committee and the Select Board, as far as numbers that would sustain our budget – and potentially add to our budget moving forward, depending on how things shake out with the state,” he said.
No decision was made by the Whitman Select Board that night (March 25), but after the joint session with the Finance Committee, FinCom members unanimously voted to support a one-year override.
“But no matter what, Whitman needs $2.4 million to balance for next year,” Szymaniak said.
“The three-year would carry them through – and I think it’s 4.25 with a flexible number with an increment of 2.56 in February of 2026,” he said.
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