The School Committee, in a special meeting Monday night, unanimously voted to set a 15.1 percent increase — $3,349,712 — in the assessments to the towns in support of a level-service budget. The fiscal 2020 budget has not yet been certified.

Based on enrollment, Whitman would pay 59.82 percent, in dollars a total assessment of $15,273,983 — an increase of $2,003,798 over the current assessment. Hanson would pay 40.18 percent, a total assessment of $10,259,255 — an increase of $1,345,914 over the current assessment.

The proposed budget is up by 5.4 percent overall.

“I can’t see going backwards,” said School Committee member Fred Small. “I think it will be up to the taxpayers to decide and we should let them decide. I would urge everyone to support staying the same for another year, as horrible as that is.”

“It seems to me there’s an erosion of public schools,” School Committee member Robert Trotta said. “It’s a sad commentary on the way in which public schools are looked at. It’s a shame. I think public schools are probably one of the best investments for a community and I would be disheartened if we could not support these people that we have.”

He said he would not support less than a level-service budget.

“I would love this to include some programs that we were bringing back, but I know, realistically, it can’t happen so I’m not going to ask for anything less than 15.1 [percent],” said School Committee member Alexandria Taylor.

The Committee decided to wait for a full end-fiscal year accounting report before making a decision on whether to tap into excess and deficiency because that account is down to $961,237 at this time.

Of the $8,131,147 in costs for programs mandated by the state, only $2,100,957 of those costs are fully funded, leaving $5,067,542 unfunded or underfunded for the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District. [See tables, page 3].

“It’s not just Chapter 70 money, it’s not just the governor’s budget with funding regional districts and funding towns, it’s the under-funded and unfunded mandates that are bleeding our district right now,” Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said.

Special education costs have also increased suddenly in recent days, including one incident in which a teacher ended up in urgent care because of a bite from a student with “social-emotional and cognitive issues” and another student who was making suicidal threats. Between the two issues and transportation costs, the special education budget increased by $650,000, for which Szymaniak is hoping to use Circuit Breaker funds.

“These are our students,” he said, noting he has also been approached by parents asking when gifted and talented students would benefit from programs. “We do a lot of here … and now some of these under-funded and unfunded mandates are now taking away from the decisions we make educationally for our students.”

After district officials pared $292,000 from the budget over the last two weeks “without affecting any people” in the district. That figure includes a $197,000 savings in insurances, a reduction of $20,000 from the substitute teacher line, a cut to the Chromebook initiative approved last year by $53,000, a $2,000 reduction to facilities general supplies, $5,000 from instructional supplies and a class Szymaniak is currently taking — at $10,000 — is a one-time expense that won’t appear in the fiscal 2020 budget. The budget for legal costs was trimmed by $10,000, funds for the English Language Learners program were cut by $10,000, the summer school budget was cut by $5,000.

Before the cuts, the budget would have required a 16.4 percent increase to reach level service.

“The things that we’ve already cut so far, the $292,000 [in cuts] are not people, anywhere else, we are going to start cutting folks,” Szymaniak said.

He supplied the committee with breakdown of how potential budget cuts would effect general staff, supply and program funds as well as how assessment cuts would hit class size.

“[It’s] something we’ve really tried hard to keep under wraps, so to speak — not to hide anything from the public, but to not have people get nervous and bail, or leave, or decide to apply elsewhere,” Szymaniak said. He said there was also a concern that parents were already opting to send their children to other schools, such as South Shore Tech, parochial high schools or charter schools.

Hanson Middle School is forecasting that about 106 eighth-grade students were planning to attend WHRHS, with 27 accepted at South Shore Tech and six private or Catholic School applications out.

Whitman Middle School, meanwhile, with 201 eighth-graders, has reported that 34 have already been accepted at South Shore Tech, with another 20 on a wait list and 13 applying to Catholic school.

“Those numbers I haven’t seen since I’ve been here,” Szymaniak said. “I think the word is out that there might be severe budget cuts and our eighth-graders are seeking to go to school elsewhere.”

A level-funded budget, in which no increase to the bottom line would require program cuts, Szymaniak said 54 positions — or 48 people — would be lost in the areas of tech support, counseling, foreign languages, teachers and all three school levels, facilities, paraprofessionals, administrative support, the high school library, elementary music, reading and district leadership.

Education programs hit would include elementary math, music and science; middle school Spanish and related arts; electives; financial literacy; district curriculum coordinators and reading.

Class sizes would also be impacted with elementary and middle schools losing one teacher per grade level and the high school losing one teacher per department.

“I told district staff today that we’re going to advocate for our people and our programs, things that we’ve committed to that are in the best interests of our students and our communities,” he said. Both school choice, for students moving out of district, and charter school numbers are both up.

The School Committee on Wednesday, Feb. 27 supported a suggestion by Whitman Town Administrator Frank Lynam that they conduct talks with school union representatives, similar to talks he is having with town unions, as Whitman works to negotiate a two-year wage freeze.

It is part  of Whitman officials’ efforts to find a sustainable solution to a $3.5 million school budget shortfall. The School Committee was slated to meet with union representatives in executive sesstion Tuesday night.

A $2.5 million override and a debt exclusion for the remainder of the debt on the Whitman Police Station are also being considered by the town.

The committee also asked Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak and Assistant Superintendent George Ferro to provide them with a better idea how the $200,000, representing each assessment percentage, would effect the schools if there were cuts.

The school budget must be certified by March 13.

“We have a dire situation here,” School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes said. “We may have to hold Town Meeting. Is there any chance of that happening?”

Lynam said in order to kick the can down the road in that way, there has to be somewhere to reach for the funds and it isn’t there.

“Yes, Town Meeting can be delayed, but that only puts the region in a more difficult situation,” he said. “If we don’t act until June, and we go to a vote, we’re now into July before we know what the answers are and you’re now on a 1/12 budget.”

He said he intends to see a question on the May ballot, which has to be posted 45 days before.

“So we’re going to have to make some decisions in a couple of weeks,” Lynam said.

A wage freeze could save Whitman about $800,000 in school salaries, according to Szymaniak, who noted Whitman department head meetings have begun discussing the three proposed financial moves.

School Committee members voted to have the entire committee, not just the bargaining subcommittee, meet in executive session March 6 with School District bargaining units about the issue.

“That was discussed at both department head meetings [held recently in Whitman],” Szymaniak said of wage freezes. “Nothing was finalized there. We still don’t have numbers if those things don’t come to fruition, so I can’t give the committee what that impact would be. If that impact is a zero for our budget that impact would be not good.”

Teacher Jill Kain said she would support a wage freeze, as she and other teachers have in the past, but said they need some indication that they are supported in return.

“We’re willing to give up what we need to to help,” she said of her family. “We have done it and I think there’s a huge portion that would do it again. … As the budget gets tighter, our support and our classrooms and our services get less. … If you ask the staff and they say no, I wouldn’t say it’s because they don’t want to help, I would say it’s more like they feel like we’re giving all we can and everyday we’re asked to give more with less.”

She felt that other town unions might say the same thing for the same reason.

WHEA representative Kevin Kavka asked about the schedule and format of Lynam’s meeting with the other unions. Lynam said the March 4 meeting would be his first with the collective group and that he intended to work collaboratively with them.

“I had [previously] gone to them and said, ‘this is a thought,’” he said.

Lynam said Whitman’s Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee have met — and he planned to meet with his FinCom again March 5 for the sole purpose of a line-by-line review of the budget. He also planned to meet with Hanson Town Administrator Michael McCue and Accountant Todd Hassett March 5, and had a tentative plan to meet with representatives from Whitman’s collective bargaining agreements on March 4.

“The key to all this is what we see for numbers,” Lynam said. “What happens if we do get an override, what happens if we don’t. There hasn’t been enough urgency in working those numbers.”

The biggest part of the process, Lynam said, was the ability to reach a sustainable budget.

“Sustainability means living within our ability to generate revenue,” Lynam said. “Right now we generate, in new dollars, $975,000. … It’s far short.”

He questions whether voters will support an override unless the town can present a clear picture that such a move will address the town’s financial problems for several years.

Both a capital plan and budget that are now in development will help make that case he said. The capital plan can’t be viewed as a five-year plan, however, because the town does not have the revenue predictability to support that.

“Here we are, I think 65 days from Town Meeting and we’re crunching numbers,” Lynam said.

Hayes asked Lynam if he anticipated having numbers before the committee meets again on March 13.

Lynam said he would have suggested numbers — representing budgets with and without an override — by that meeting.

“Without an override, the numbers are going to have minuses in front of them — for almost everybody,” he said.

School Committee member Robert Trotta asked if there was any indication about the town’s financial situation made evident before the district began the latest round of union negotiations last year.

“When the Town Meeting voted its budget last May, it was made very clear that we were appropriating money from a non-recurring source to fund the cost for debt payments in order to balance the budget and that, in order to move forward the following year we were going to have to increase the levy,” Lynam said.

The $1.2 million that is the bottom line of this budget and was $1.2 million more than we had to spend, Lynam said. The $975,000 in new revenue for this year is $225,000 short to start, plus a $2.5 million increase.

Trotta said those figures were not in his mind when negotiations began and asked if a meeting prior to contract negotiations could have been arranged to obtain that information.

“A thought for me would be if you had come to us and said we are going to negotiate, what are your concerns, you would have had that answer,” Lynam replied.

Salaries, however, make up only 39 percent of the budget increase this year.

“Conversely, 61 percent is being driven by things that either aren’t controlled or are uncontrollable,” Lynam said. “We’re in the same boat. … It’s a community problem.”

Fixed costs have been as great a budgeting concern as unfunded mandates for school officials, but there has been a bit of good news on that front. Szymaniak noted health insurance costs for next year — forecast to increase by 5 percent — could go up by as little as 1.5 percent, for a $150,000 savings, which would help the school budget’s bottom line. It will be voted by the insurance collaborative on March 11. But out-of-district special education placements, which looked to be decreased by $200,000 could end up being a wash because of transportation costs, Szymaniak said, noting that negotiations are continuing on that front.

“I’m asking the committee at this point to stay true,” he said. “We don’t have real numbers to say [what assessment percent will be offered]. I know they still have that zero ace.”

School Committee member Fred Small said a $3.6 million budget increase is unprecedented.

“I think it’s the perfect storm of a lot of things at the same time,” he said.

The committee’s request to see an indication of how each $200,000 in potential assessment cutbacks, raised a concern over taking an à la carte approach to the school budget.

Small said identifying where the district could work with a reduced budget would be “a good thing,” especially since excess and deficiency funds have been so tight with the adoption of a more exacting budgeting software.

“Finding money is getting harder and harder every year,” said Committee member Dan Cullity.

“If we get numbers and have to cut an assessment … we will look at programs and service and the last thing we want is to cut people,” Szymaniak said. “But I need to know if it’s $3.5 million or $2.5 million.”

But if the number is $2.5 million, $1 million would be in special education costs that could be reduced if the district could afford to maintain programs that keep students in-district and reduce costs overall.

“Anything lower than level-service will cut staff,” he said.

Committee member Christopher Howard said he was not interested in anything less than a level-service budget, but added that if voters don’t support it he would have to make “some hard decisions about where I am on the committee, in the community, where my kids go to school.” He said the community needs to understand the consequences of such decisions.

“Rest assured, that this committee and anybody whose watching will have a clear view of what things would look like depending on what the moneys that are available are,” Ferro said.

Cullity asked if the cuts meant services or people?

“It will be across the board K-12,” Szymaniak said.

Hayes suggested showing what each percentage would cut, raising the question of à la carte menus of potiential cuts.

“When we make and a’ la carte menu, that is a difficult way to educate children,” Ferro said noting he and Szymaniak were the ones qualified to make those decisions. “You’re going to get 10 phone calls from 10 people who don’t want that at that level, but want that at that level.”

Hayes said he wanted to demonstrate to the public the difficulty of the decisions they face. WHRHS Principal Dr. Christopher Jones expressed concern about how the committee wanted Szymaniak and Ferro to demonstrate the impact of budget cuts.

“One of the reasons I decided to apply for the principalship here … is because of the educational vision of Mr. Szymaniak and Mr. Ferro and the reputation they have for moving education forward the way it needs to be,” Jones said. “Once you open a budget up to à la carte choices, as staunch as people want to be, people do have their own agendas and pick from different things and there’s a very real threat … even when it addresses the vision and addresses the priorities of the educational leaders, quite often it gets carved out from the vision of the educational leaders and gets eroded.”

WHITMAN — After hearing Finance Committee Chairman Richard Anderson say his board is “prepared to make some very difficult decisions about the future of this community,” Selectmen on Tuesday, Feb. 19 heard a sampling of the community’s priorities.

“Without a doubt there needs to be a significant correction here in order to give the taxpayers the confidence that we have a sustainable budget for at least the next five years,” Anderson said.

The 1,062 residents responding — 640 online and 422 via mail-in forms — to the Community Assessment Survey administered by Bridgewater State University’s Political Science Department and Dr. Melinda Tarsi give an indication of residents’ thoughts.

While complete results have not yet been released, and Town Administrator Frank Lynam would like to organize a public meeting similar to the one held last summer to introduce the project, Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski offered an overview of the findings.

“We like our town,” Kowalski suggested was the general conclusion. “People like living in this town. They want to improve the schools and the roads. … In general, I was enthusiastic about this survey, although in general it does present an interesting problem. It looks as if people like the services in our town, however they have some hesitancy to pay for it.”

Tarsi has forwarded the statistical data from the final report to the town and discussed them with Lynam. A more detailed, explanatory report is still being compiled.

“I want to give people a flavor for what it said,” Kowalski said of the data. “Eventually, what I see happening is this becomes the opening of some kind of five-year strategic plan, giving us a picture of what this town wants to be like — where it’s been and where it’s going.”

Of the respondents, 78-percent were 41 or older; 53 percent were male and 43 percent female, with the remainder declining to provide that information. There were 74 percent who have lived in town for at least 11 years; the largest block of those having been residents for between 31 and 50 years. Homeowners made up 47 percent of those completing the survey.

Parents of children attending Whitman schools now or in the past, made up 32 percent of those competing forms and only 28 percent of the 1,062 taking part in the survey have attended town meetings.

Most — 69 percent — thought Whitman is a good-to-very good place to live, but 71 percent thought entertainment options were very poor-to-poor.

Three-quarters said Whitman is a great place to raise a family, but 69 percent said it was a poor-to-average place to own a business.

“That’s something that we know, too,” Kowalski said.

The most important issues identified were: roads and transportation upkeep (31 percent); property tax rates (36 percent) and schools (36 percent). Fire, police and schools were the three most popular town services.

Only 17 percent thought the town should consider raising property taxes, with 47 percent suggesting the town’s fiscal problems could be solved by raising fees and license costs. Reducing departments by a certain percentage was the most popular method of cutting costs. Layoffs were not considered an option for survey respondents.

Attitudes about overrides were also surveyed, with 62 percent willing to support some kind of override, but only 19 percent would do it for total operations and 43 favoring the option for specific projects — 69 percent for schools, 56 percent for police, 56 percent for fire and 46 percent for DPW, but a new DPW building is not a popular cause.

“In a way, if we create the kind of town that they like living in, some of them will … think they have to move,” Kowalski said of the data. “The other thing we have to think about is how we’re going to get people to come to the polls with a positive frame of mind about overrides and debt exclusions.”

“It’s not about saving people and the dollars [connected to it] it is the service,” agreed Selectman Randy LaMattina, echoing a point made at a School Committee meeting. “We need to sell the service — the service of education, the service of our police and fire, the service of our DPW. I think as long as people realize that they are getting something for the dollar that they are spending, they will be behind this.”

Fields use policies

In other business, Selectmen voted to support new Recreation Commission field use and permit policies.

“A year ago the Recreation Commission directed me to come up with some sort of a policy and procedures [document] regarding field usages and a permit policy,” Recreation Director Oliver Amado told the board. “We’ve had issues with outside groups and the local groups — and these issues were numerous. Some groups thought that they actually owned the fields, kicking people off the fields.”

He and Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green worked on compiling the new policies and procedures, which had already been unanimously approved by the Recreation Commission.

Green said she adapted policies at work in several other communities.

“Hopefully it will alleviate a lot of problems that Recreation has faced in the past with different Whitman organizations having to do with confusion of who is allowed to use this field or that field,” she said of a new tiered system that will outline expectations and permit procedures.

“Any organization, whether town or outside, that uses our fields or facilities will have to sign this,” Amado said. Those that do not sign, will not receive permits.

  

WHITMAN — Arguing the necessity to “reset” the town’s financial process, Town Administrator Frank Lynam on Tuesday, Feb. 19 presented a budget analysis, including a proposed two-year wage freeze for town employees that — coupled with an override and a debt exclusion to take the police station out of the levy limit — could help create a sustainable financial future.

“It really comes down to a decision on what kind of community we want to be and where we want to put our resources, but there is no magic bullet here,” Lynam said. “If these ideas don’t work, then we’re going to have to downsize the municipal operations. There’s no other way to do it.”

Selectmen voted 5-0 during a joint session with the Finance Committee to authorize Lynam, along with Selectmen Scott Lambiase and Randy LaMattina, to begin wage freeze discussions with union representatives.

Lynam said he would invite a coalition of bargaining unit representatives — as well as the department heads for the first meeting — to begin a transparent conversation. When “brass tacks” bargaining gets underway, the confidentiality of negotiations would be respected.

“Growth is the key measurement [for that reset],” Lynam said. “We cannot fund multi-million dollar increases when growth is limited to $970,000 per year.”

The fiscal 2020 budget increased by $2.7 million over 2019. If the wage freeze, override and debt exclusion go into effect, it would mean a levy availability of $1,292,000 — $600,000 of which from free cash could be used for capital expenses and the remainder would be earmarked for the stabilization account.

Currently, the town raises $25,343,000 in revenue, with 89.2 percent of that coming from residential taxpayers, 5.3 percent is commercial, 1.25 percent is industrial and 4.13 percent is personal property.

In order to raise $2.5 million, to make the town financially stable, the tax rate would have to increase from $15.38 to $16.90, increasing the median family household tax bill by $467.40.

“The challenge here is still one of making these budgets work,” Lynam said. “We have to contain our growth. We have to find a way for the larger departments to work within the limits that we’ve discussed.”

He argued the town needed a comprehensive budget plan that limits increases to revenue raised from each year, and said the task requires cooperation from all town departments in conjunction with the town’s financial team.

Conversations

Lynam also defended recent informal conversations he has held with representatives of the teacher’s union —with prior knowledge of both the superintendent and School Committee members [see related story page one] — as a talk about his concerns ahead of seeking Selectmen’s permission to start the dialogue on a wage freeze.

“I had said a couple weeks ago that I wanted to look into that, when I had a conversation … with the superintendent and assistant, [Selectmen] Chairman [Carl] Kowalski and the Finance Committee Chair [Richard Anderson], we talked about a couple of issues, one of them being kindergarten and another being the elephant in the room — our budget,” Lynam said. “I mentioned to them at that point that I believe we would be looking for wage concessions this year so it should not have been a surprise.”

He described the talks as casual conversations, in some cases, with people he has known for years.

“I have not met for bargaining purposes with any member of any union,” he said.

During those conversations, Lynam said he outlined the budget situation and his plan to seek approval for negotiating a wage freeze and that he would certainly reach out to the School Committee.

“If the School Committee took that as end run around them, they shouldn’t be,” he said, stressing there was no intention to do more than have a simple conversation about the town budget.

aiming to save

The proposed wage freeze is estimated to save $396,580.47 in town departments — including $2,538.49 from Lynam’s salary and $1,756.49 from Assistant Town Administrator Lisa Green’s salary. The School District wage freeze could add up to $780,000, based on Whitman’s share of the present assessment and this year’s wage and salary increases.

“Without making adjustments, we’ll be short $3 million … so, clearly, we need to do all this,” he said.

Kowalski agreed with Lynam’s account of the meeting, called by Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak to discuss a petition circulated about full-day kindergarten. Kowalski also said he was the person to bring up the question of whether the School District would be interested in a dialogue about wage freezes.

Anderson added that the Finance Committee agreed not to discuss the specific plan for wage freezes until the unions were informed that that was the direction town officials were thinking about. He said the second round of discussions with department heads would begin soon as they begin the work of mapping out a budget strategy, with an eye to meeting again with Selectmen on March 13.

“I think I speak for the entire board when I say that we’re prepared to make some very difficult decisions about the future of this community,” Anderson said, noting a “significant correction” would be needed to give taxpayers the confidence that the town has a sustainable budget for at least the next five years.

Town Accountant Kenneth Lidell explained that the budget analysis was based on annual town reports from fiscal 2015 through 2019, particularly the general funds expenditures lines, to reflect budget trends.

Lynam noted that increases such as 14 percent for police, 31 percent for fire services, 22 percent for public safety as a whole, 23.8 percent for general government and 34 for schools [34.7 percent for the W-H district, 32 percent South Shore Tech and 15 for Norfolk Agricultural] are unsustainable.

“Each of those budgets exceeds our ability to generally raise money,” Lynam said. “It doesn’t take a MENSA candidate to figure out that we have to make a number of adjustments in order to make this system work.”

He advocated talking to other towns in the South Shore region to seek budget controls.

Selectman Dan Salvucci, Whitman’s representative to the South Shore Tech School Committee countered that it would be very difficult for that district to hold on an increase for eight towns.

“I don’t know what the other communities are going through, but when you look at these numbers — education is expensive, I’ll grant that, but we have to pay for it from within our revenue stream and we’re not doing that right now,” Lynam said. “South Shore’s five-year increase is 32 percent. … The problem with these comparisons is, when the numbers are small, they don’t stand out as much.”

He said Chapter 70 money goes directly to the schools, which in towns like Abington goes into the town’s general fund for school use, but goes straight to regional districts. Lynam said it’s not as if the town wouldn’t contribute to the schools, but when the funds go directly to the regional schools it can look like the town doesn’t contribute — and they do.

pre-town meeting

Selectman Brian Bezanson suggested a pre-town meeting forum, perhaps at which town departments could staff informational booths on how the budget would affect them. A member of the Finance Committee suggested an idea that the board liked better — giving each department a chance to make a presentation to such a meeting.

Kowalski agreed, suggesting that — as Lynam had to him — that Article 2 is not always considered a budget document because it is generally seen first on the night of Town Meeting.

“There’s not enough time to digest it,” he said. “It becomes more real if there’s more time.”

Selectmen also voted, in the first of two required votes, to refinance some outstanding municipal bonds — for the police station — representing about $275,000 over the 11-year life of the refunding bond, in financial benefit to the town after issuance costs are paid.

School Committee, officials taking another look at level-service plan

The Whitman-Hanson Regional School District rolled out its level-service budget for fiscal 2020 during a public hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 6 — a $53,562,534 spending plan that increases costs by 5.6 percent without adding new programs or staff. Revenues are expected to come to $49,926,186. The current budget deficit is $3,636,348.

“Although it pains me to present a level-service budget tonight, we will always continue to move toward the greater for our students and for both Whitman and Hanson,” Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said. “This budget does not include new programs or positions.”

Instead, Szymaniak and Assistant Superintendent George Ferro have made adjustments for new curriculum materials, including a new math program and a continuation of the new technology program initiated last year. They have also restructured some positions and responsibilities to “maximize efficiency and create equity for all of our students.”

That could include, if the budget is fully funded, providing counselors at the elementary grade level.

Szymaniak reported that rising health insurance rates, contractual agreements for staff, transportation and custodial services as well as higher utility costs make up the $3,039,353 increase.

Unfunded or underfunded state and federal mandates cost the district $5,067,542. The strategic plan and fiscal 2020 budget are available online at whrsd.org.

The district has $961,237 in its excess and deficiency fund, and is required by law to keep 5 percent of the operating budget in reserve to fund unexpected expenses such as special education services.

The School Committee was scheduled to meet again at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 13 to further discuss the fiscal 2020 budget.

Szymaniak outlined the district’s educational and student social-emotional and staff development goals.

He also noted that 85 positions in the school system are funded outside the operating budget by federal grants.

“Some of those grants, I’m cautious, might go away when Washington decides to make changes in education,” Szymaniak said, noting programs such as Title I, Title IIA and IDEA (a special education program. Grants totaling $1,747,524 in Fiscal 2017 and were down to $1,646,256 by fiscal 2019.

Revolving funds involving full-day kindergarten tuition, pre-school, athletics user fees and the food services program also help fund the district.

Szymaniak said he has heard “buzz” that dyslexia testing is likely to be the next unfunded mandate to come.

“I think it’s actually a good thing to do, but I don’t know where the expenses are going to come from on some of the new testing that we may have to do,” he said.

State budget trends

State representatives Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, Alysa Sullivan, R-Abington, and state Sen. Michael Brady, D-Brockton, attended the meeting, with Cutler presenting a PowerPoint update of the state budget.

Overall, state revenues are expected to see “moderate growth” for fiscal 2020, according to economic forecasts, with December and January revenue data at 2.7 percent below becnhmarks, Cutler reported.

“That’s a bit of a concern,” he said.

Gov. Baker’s budget, while up by $42.7 billion, or 1.5 percent, level funds regional school transportation at $68.9 million and McKinney-Vento homeless transportation at $9.1 million. Chapter 70 is seeing an overall increase to $5.1 billion — up 4.2 percent, but sets minimum per-pupil funding at $20.

Cutler said the minimum per-pupil increment will be one of the areas of the local legislative team’s focus this term.

“We want to make changes to the state budget that are going to most directly impact our districts [and] our schools that we represent,” Cutler said. “We’ve led the charge to try to do this increase minimum per-pupil increment) on a statewide basis …  This is the key driver for our foundation budget.”

W-H’s Chapter 70 trends have increased less than 1 percent per year for the past four years and is expected to go up only .3 percent — to $24,739,620 — in fiscal 2020, due, in large part, Cutler said, to the fact that the aid is based on enrollment.

“Even though we’re adding to the big pie, we’re not necessarily seeing that translate to the local school districts like W-H,” he said of a trend that is affecting suburban districts all across the state. “It really is tied to enrollment.”

Special education Circuit Breaker funding is up by 1.4 percent to $4.5 million in the governor’s budget. Special education transportation, which costs the district close to $1 million is not reimbursable under the federal formula, Szymaniak said.

“Legislators are working to make changes on those line items,” Cutler said, noting the Chapter 70 formula is also being looked to as well as a task force on educational mandates.

Community concerns

“Thank you for presenting a level-service budget,” said Whitman resident Dawn Byers of 20 Russell Road, noting the loss of certified librarians at the elementary schools four years ago. “It’s so important not to lose any programs.”

She stressed that there are still no gifted and talented programs available in elementary and middle school grades and too few language classes at both the middle and high school level.

“I know of area high schools that provide Mandarin [Chinese] and Arabic foreign languages,” she said. “That’s not in our budget right now but it would be wonderful in the future if that would be something that we could add.”

She also said rolling the high school start time closer to 7:30 a.m. would be preferable and asked for clarification of the kindergarten revolving fund so “people don’t read that and interpret it as something that is being put on top of this budget.”

Szymaniak explained that universal full-day kindergarten has been a district priority for six years, but that tuition is charged for families who can afford it in the meantime, bringing $452,289 into a revolving fund, which pays for four teachers and seven paraprofessionals. Within the operating budget $462,775 funds five teachers and two paraprofessionals.

To go to a district-wide full-day kindergarten, the budget would have to increase by $631,732 covering three new teachers and three paraprofessionals as well as eliminating the $452,289 revolving fund, Szymaniak said. It would cost almost $1 million in the operating budget if that were done next year. He did not include it in the fiscal 2020 budget because he knew the towns were facing financial challenges.

“I don’t think there is a person on this committee that doesn’t support all-day kindergarten,” Chairman Bob Hayes said. “It’s how do you fund it when you’re in a difficult funding cycle as we are.”

Szymaniak also noted a push at the state level to require no-cost all-day kindergarten, but as an unfunded mandate unless the state opts to finance it.

“We’re getting buried by unfunded and underfunded mandates,” he said. “[DESE is] not adding things to add things, it’s for the good of the kids … and for the educational process, but some of the stuff that comes out and we put in there’s a definite cost and it’s pulling away from the education of our students.”

“It’s not an equitable situation for all the students of Whitman and Hanson at this point,” Ferro added, noting the issues that Dyers had mentioned earlier.

 

Whitman: ‘In override position’ in face of FY 2020 budget challenges

Whitman Town Administrator Frank Lynam advised the School Committee at it’s Wednesday, Feb. 6 budget roll-out meeting that a level-funded school budget will place Whitman in an override position.

“My guess is we’re going to see a combination of things this year in what we present ultimately for a budget,” Lynam said. “It will involve a request for an override. It will involve cutting some services. Ultimately, unless we find the voters very responsive and very supportive, those cuts will be system-wide.”

That means cuts to town departments as well as the schools. Identifying the needs of the district and towns and creating a sustainable way to address them is needed now, he advocated.

The level-service $53,562,534 fiscal 2020 school budget now carries a deficit of $3,636,348.

School Chairman Bob Hayes noted that the panel has tapped excess and deficiency for anywhere from $500,000 to $750,000 in past years to help close the budget gap, and did not recommend the latter amount for fiscal 2020 as it would leave little for fiscal emergencies.

The district has $961,237 in its excess and deficiency fund, and is required by law to keep 5 percent of the operating budget in reserve to fund unexpected expenses such as special education services.

“We have one bite at the apple with both towns,” Hayes said. “We know that both towns are rather close and tight dollars and cents-wise.”

Each percent in the assessment is equal to about $221,835 Hayes noted, with a 16.4-percent assessment required to balance the budget without making cuts, tapping into excess and deficiency or considering an override.

“Everyone is keenly aware of where the two towns are right now,” Lynam said, advising the committee that 16 percent isn’t going to happen.

“You’re going to have to assess what your minimum abilities are,” he said. “It is extraordinarily unlikely [16 percent] will happen. It would be great to see it, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

School Committee member Fred Small said it therefore falls to the board to ask for only what they need and pointed out it is likely that universal free all-day kindergarten is not something that can happen this year.

“The only way we’re going to implement this is you’re going to have to cut,” School Committee member Dan Cullity said of the prospect of adding all-day kindergarten to the school budget. “We’re not going to see that from taxpayers because of the way that override went the last time … there’s no way the towns want to pay for this.”

School Committee member Steve Bois recalled past information that parents make the school choice decision based on where they can attend all-day kindergarten and never return to the WHRSD.

“We are losing students that will never come back to our district because we are charging $3,200 for a family to come to school here,” Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak confirmed.

“Short of an override, which isn’t going to happen, for just pre-k/k, we’re going to have to seek help otherwise,” Cullity said. “We’d love to jam this in there just to get it going, but when you’re looking at a $3.6 million deficit it’s hard to sell to the folks because it’s not just parents [making the decision].”

Whitman resident Marshall Ottina of 100 Lazel St., reminded the committee that of 438 districts in the state, W-H is one of only 47 not presently offering all-day kindergarten, and asked if any districts that had implemented the program, had to pull it back for lack of funds in subsequent years.

“It’s like jumping off the bridge, you can’t get back up,” Small said to illustrate his belief that once, implemented, such a program could not be withdrawn.

Lynam argued that the towns will have to decide community-wide what is important and how they get there.

“I’m not an advocate for overrides, but I am a realist,” he said, “I’m really frustrated when I hear people say, ‘No, we’ll never do an override,’ because that’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

He noted that, six years ago when then-Superintendent Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner posed the question of about how to close that budget gap and, when an override was advised, asked how much to seek.

“I said, if you’re going for an override, go for all of it,” Lynam said of what would have been a 14.5-percent override question. The committee went with a 6-percent override that “flew through” instead.

“My response then was, ‘fix the problem while we have the opportunity,’ but we didn’t,” Lynam said. “We took a short-cut because we were worried about whether a 14.5-percent override would pass. I honestly believe whatever we presented would have passed … because people were aware of the need.”

School Committee member Robert Trotta said the panel always finds themselves trying to close gaps at the last minute.

“How do we improve? I don’t know,” he said. “The funding system in Massachusetts doesn’t work, the federal government impacts us with their mandates and we have state testing that impacts us.”

Committee members were also cognizant of the needs of other departments.

“We’ve got policemen handling guys with guns out there,” Small said. “God bless those guys. You’ve got firefighters running into burning buildings, you’ve got the DPW out there on the roads with the ice.”

Lynam said the problem is that, while the state is going through the same budget process, they have more revenue to spread around. The towns of Whitman and Hanson have fewer avenues through which to collect revenue.

WHITMAN — State Rep. Alyson Sullivan, R-Abington, said that “time management” is the key to her success during a wide-ranging interview Monday, Feb. 4, with the Express. The busy final-year New England School of Law student, 30, who has been a working student for the better part of her adult life, is now also officially a full-time legislator.

Sullivan was sworn in Jan. 2 as the representative for the 7th Plymouth District which includes all of Whitman, Abington and several East Bridgewater precincts.

“I’m still new at this,” the lifelong Abington resident said, but has already sponsored several bills, co-sponsored dozens and has set clear priorities, such a tackling the opioid crisis, criminal justice reform and responsibly dealing with school budgets.

Sullivan has been appointed to several legislative committees for the 2019-2020 session by house leadership. She will be a member of the Joint Committee on the Judiciary, the Joint Committee on Mental Health, Substance Use and Recovery as well as the House Committee on Personnel and Administration, according to her office.

In Whitman in particular, which is facing tough school budget cuts, she said she is meeting with local officials, including selectmen, to see what she can do to alleviate the crunch, although she admits she doesn’t have all the answers.

She said she has also reached out to lawmakers, both state representatives and state senators from both parties to work on local aid and school district issues.

She says that bipartisanship is important to her, in order to get things done on Beacon Hill, and that she will work closely with state Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, who represents the 6th Plymouth District, which covers all of Hanson, Pembroke and most of Duxbury, and shares the Whitman-Hanson School District with her.

Sullivan has said that she wants to work to change the formula, known as Chapter 70, by which state aid is distributed, using the state’s budget surplus and rainy-day fund to pay for school funding.

“I ran on a platform of not raising taxes,” she said, but wasn’t sure where to make tough choices when it came to spending, yet. “I’m still only four weeks into my role; I’m still learning really how to be a state representative.”

“We don’t have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem,” she noted.

Sullivan also addressed the opioid issues affecting the state.

“One issue in particular, the opioid epidemic is affecting every corner of our commonwealth. It is impacting so many communities and I look forward to get to work on this critical issue right away,” Sullivan said through a statement.

She highlighted legislation she sponsored that would allow Plymouth County Outreach (PCO), the county-wide coalition of police and health care workers that provide support to those that suffer from substance use disorder, their family members and loved ones to be able to be trained immediately on and have access to Naloxone, known under the tradename Narcan, the life-saving opioid-blocking nasal spray, in the immediate aftermath of an opioid overdose.

Currently PCO only refers those in need of Nalaxone to a social services organization, she said, such as Brockton Area Multi-Services, Inc. (BAMSI) which trains people on and distributes the medication for free, or to local pharmacies, which depending on one’s insurance situation, charge for the medicine.

“This will [eliminate] a step,” she said.

Sullivan addressed questions both about supervised injection sites, which she is noticeably cautious and “on the fence about,” arguing that they don’t address the underlying issues of substance abuse disorder, as well as medically assisted substance abuse treatment in the corrections system, both of which she said she wants to look more into before taking a position.

Sullivan said she had already toured the Plymouth County Correctional Facility, as part of her interest in substance abuse and criminal justice reform and spoken with officials and inmates there, including those in detox units.

Regarding the issue of money and politics, her campaign committee raised significantly more money, almost half from the state GOP, than her Democratic opponent, Alex Bezanson, which she did not dispute.

“You have to raise money to get your message out there,” she said.

During the election Sullivan was working as a legal assistant in the Executive Office of Administration and Finance, she said.

“During the campaign I [personally] could not raise any funds … I was a state employee … other people raised money for me,” she pointed out.

The state Republican Committee donated $37,163.95, consisting mostly of funds from outside the district, out of $88,235.30 raised for her during the election campaign, according to state filings. That represents about 42 percent of the total funds raised.

There were also 15 $1,000 donations, the maximum donation amount allowed by law for an individual. Without the donation from the Republican Committee, Sullivan would have had $51,071.35 in the bank.

Bezanson received only $1,000 from the state Democratic Committee, and five $1,000 donations. He raised $54,464 in total. (He donated $1,000, as well, to his own campaign.)

“The support from outside the district doesn’t concern me,” she said. She added that her family is well-known— her father, Michael, is a former acting Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives director under President George W. Bush, a former Plymouth County district attorney, former federal prosecutor and in fact held his daughter’s 7th district seat in the early 1990s— and that people believe that she has the best interest of the commonwealth at heart.

Sullivan said her priority was to be an independent voice for the district and the state as a whole.

She said she is not a particular “type” of Republican, although she acknowledged that she was a minority as one in Massachusetts. She said she supports President Trump, calling him “my president” with a slight grin on her face, and that she respects anyone who runs for office, but doesn’t agree with him on everything. Nor does she agree with Gov.  Charlie Baker or the Republican Party on everything, for example, tax increases, she added.

“I’m trying to look out for everyone within the district,” Sullivan said. “I’m here focusing on Massachusetts, I’m here focusing on my district, so that’s where my focus remains.”

HANOVER — Preliminary assessment figures released by South Shore Tech during a School Committee public hearing on the fiscal 2020 budget show Hanson’s assessment likely to be $1,006,520 — up $9,167 or .92 percent — and Whitman’s $1,604,997 or 3.1 percent — up $48,293 — from the current budget year.

The assessment increases are lower than they might have been due to a proportional share of a $321,531 jump in non-resident tuition, according to Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey.

“We consider that to be a revenue source,” he said. “We tell the towns, as we plan for next year’s budget, making the assumption that this money comes in, we’re going to use it to offset the budget.”

Those funds, collected on a quarterly basis, and deposited into an account for the following year’s expenses. Hickey said that, without the non-resident tuition funds, the assessments would have been “a million dollars higher across the eight towns.

“We would be bringing forth a budget that has a 3.4 percent overall increase, yet the total amount of dollars that we are assessing the communities would be $92,444 less [than fiscal 2019], Hickey said at the Wednesday, Jan. 23 SSVT School Committee budget hearing. “Does enrollment play a role? Yes. Is it a clean formula? We know that it’s not.”

State Chapter 70 aid is expected to increase by $105,547 along with increases in non-resident tuition and regional transportation reimbursement up by $80,000 — or 70 percent of transportation costs, according to preliminary figures from the governor’s budget posted that day.

“The assumptions that are being made in these numbers are, first that the governor’s Chapter 70 number would be used,” Hickey said, adding that the non-resident tuition number has remained the same as earlier estimates. “We can make projections for each town

Only Abington and Hanover, among the district’s eight member towns, can expect to see reductions in assessments, which are linked to enrollment.

“The news worth sharing this evening is, based on the governor’s budget proposal from earlier this afternoon, we would realize an increase of Chapter 70 aid in the vicinity of about $100,000,” Hickey said. “I would take that, while it’s preliminary, [as] good news.”

The highest increases are in Rockland, up 4.54 percent, and Cohasset at a 4.5-percent hike.

Whitman Selectman Dan Salvucci, who is the town’s representative to the SSVT School Committee, said he presents per-pupil costs based on the assessment divided by the number of students at Town Meeting, as well as the capital costs for building projects that are also included in the town’s assessment.

“These are preliminary assessments,” Salvucci said. “When is the hard number being reached?”

Hickey said it would be likely an action number at the February meeting.

“We know this is going to be the beginning of a four or five-month conversation,” he said.

student update

In other business, Assistant Principal Sandra Baldner presented an update on co-op education and college acceptances of SST students.

There are currently 58 seniors employed in co-op programs, having logged 10,794.02 hours logged and an average hourly wage of $13.22 for total combined wages of $142,725.52 as of Jan. 23.

About 15-20 juniors are working at jobs that could lead to co-op placements by Feb. 4, with more than 60 more expressing interest in finding placements soon, according to Baldner.

About 50 employers include fuel companies, electricians, auto mechanics, lumber yards, towing companies, auto body shops, tire shops, HVAC companies, bakeries and retail food outlets, health care firms and municipalities, among others.

The horticulture program does not yet have juniors and seniors so they will not yet be placed in co-operative work.

“I noticed that some of our graduates from years ago will be hiring students, as well,” said School Committee member Robert Molla of Norwell.

So far, 18 students — nine females and nine males in nine programs — have already received 41 acceptance letters from 29 colleges or universities, 14 in Massachusetts.

“We are only in January,” she said. “There’s a long way to go.”

Salvucci suggested that business cards be made up for school staff and committee members to leave with companies that are hiring.

“A lot of times I’ll see “Help Wanted” [signs] and I’ll talk to the manager who says they’re looking for someone for the kitchen or whatever and I would give them my South Shore Vo-Tech card,” he said. “I’m thinking maybe we should have cards with a number to go to the direct office for co-op students printed up so we could give them out … and get more seniors out there working.”

School officials said that could be done.

“We know people,” Hickey said of the graphic arts shop.

One of the priorities of Vocational Coordinator Keith Boyle is co-op placement, Baldner said, adding his information could be included on the cards.

When she updates the college acceptances later in the spring, Baldner said she will also include information on students going straight to work after graduation.

“I’d like that to be an equal celebration to students going on to college,” she said.

Hanover Committee member Robert Heywood asked if students going on to college are staying within their shop subject or going in different directions. Baldner did not have specific data beyond saying that some do and some don’t.

“I started in wood technology and ended up in law enforcement, so life takes you in different directions,” Heywood said. “I was just curious, walking out this door, where were they going?”

Hickey also wants to continue asking college-bound students to what extent the school prepared them, especially if there was something students might feel the school did not do.

“In the years we’ve asked that question, I haven’t had anybody  say anything sizeable in terms of the experiences or the content, which is good,” Hickey said. “We just have to keep asking that question.”

HANSON — In a brief meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 15, the Board of Selectmen approved the provisional appointment of full-time police officer David Munn.

Selectmen Jim Hickey and Wes Blauss were unable to attend the meeting.

Police Chief Michael Miksch said the appointment was necessitated by a pending vacancy in the department as Sgt. Gene Andrews has given notice of his plans to retire in December.

“The past two people that we hired came with academies already,” said Miksch, noting he is working to get Munn, who has applied to be an officer in the past, into a spring police academy class. Munn is currently a full-time public safety dispatcher for the town for five years.

Munn is a combat veteran of the Marine Corps who has served a tour in Afghanistan in 2011, is a lifelong Hanson resident and graduate of South Shore Tech.

“I like his background,” said Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “I like the fact that he’s been in that dispatch role and he is also a veteran … and then he’s going to go off to the academy. It just really seems like a great fit.”

Miksch praised Munn’s loyalty to the department and work ethic as well.

“If we can’t fill a shift, he’s stepped up to the plate and taken it,” Miksch said. “He’s been a great employee.”

The provisional hire would be contingent on his also passing a medical and psychological exam, background check and other tests and exams required by the department.

Selectmen Chairman Kenny Mitchell said he is familiar with Munn and lauded his character, especially in light of his work as a dispatcher.

A discussion of Green Community Grant applications was tabled until the Tuesday, Jan. 22 meeting.

A resident attending the meeting to request the lifting of “no trespassing” restrictions on Factory Pond, was informed the board could not discuss the matter as it was not on the agenda, but Town Administrator Michael McCue said he would seek an opinion on the issue from town counsel.

Selectmen approved a one-day liquor license request for a birthday party at Camp Kiwanee Jan. 19.

WHITMAN — The Finance Committee has been hearing dismal predictions of layoffs and reduced services as a result of even a 3-percent budget cut from almost all town departments in November and December — with projections of a 6-percent cut being even worse — as it has met with department heads in planning a fiscal 2020 budget.

Only the School District has yet to file a specific impact statement, but that is expected by the time it formally rolls out a budget next month.

The Finance Committee reported on the status of meetings with department heads at the Tuesday, Jan. 8 meeting of the Board of Selectmen.

“We appreciate the opportunity to present this information,” Chairman Richard Anderson said. “This committee … started the budget review cycle three months early with a very specific plan — to evaluate this community’s economic distress in fiscal 2020.”

He then provided a thumbnail outline of each department’s impact forecasts [see box at right].

“We’re looking for sustainability,” Anderson said.

“We have to get this information out that these are the impacts,” Selectman Scott Lambiase agreed.

Initial meetings with the departments have been held, and more are planned, to evaluate the impact of 3- or 6-percent cuts to level-service budgets.

“These percentages were not arbitrary,” Anderson said. “They were based on the estimate of a $1.8 million [budget] shortfall for this fiscal year.”

The Finance Committee has also been updating Selectmen on a regular basis to inform them as well as the public for a “clearer understanding of the need to improve communication with all the stakeholders in this process,” according to Anderson.

“I think we’re getting a comprehensive look at what these funding cuts would mean to the town,” he added, noting there is still two weeks of work ahead of them.

Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski said the forecast was “sobering, but not unexpected” and asked about suggestions the Finance Committee might have.

Anderson said that, while they continue meeting with department heads, while developing a draft Article 2 budget with which to work in the second round of meetings.

“We need several different budget scenarios,” he said. “We can’t be caught at the last minute, as we have in years past, with no battle plan.”

Town Administrator Frank Lynam said there was a bit of good financial news — meals tax revenues were up to $166,000 from $140,000 and National Grid has finally worked with the town in time to obtain the grant for LED conversion of streetlights, which should be completed this month, which will “have a meaningful effect on our budget,” at a $35,000 savings.

But Lynam also cautioned that a power-share agreement to rebate 22 percent of electrical costs through National Grid, won’t be realized until the third quarter of 2019.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said.

National Grid’s property tax boost to the town is amortizing at a rate where the benefit will disappear in two years, and the tax burden is already shifting to homeowners.

“This board has to take a solid look at freeing up levy space,” said Selectman Randy LaMattina. He again argued for moving the debt for the new police station and Town Hall/Fire Station renovations to a debt exclusion. Officials agreed that, while funding the work within the levy limit seemed right at the time, things have changed.

“The town needs to look at some type of long-term investment back into the community,” he said. “I think the taxpayers will help us out, but we need to help them out.”

Lynam agreed.

“There’s no question that some expenditures have to be reduced,” he said. “The question is how do we do it in a way that makes sense. … To continue operating the kind of town that people are living in and happy to be in — we’re going to have to spend some money, there’s no way around that.”

Finance Committee Vice Chairman David Codero also reminded Selectmen that voters at the 2018 Town Meeting voted to spend $800,000 of capital stabilization funds to provide pay increases for department heads and capital spending.

“Infusing a budget with money from outside sources is not a solution,” he said. “That one-time money is no longer there. … I emplore the Board of Selectmen not to take another kick-the-can-down-the-road type of strategy this year. It’s not a great solution.”

School Committee member Fred Small said transportation reimbursement to the district is up a bit and the Maquan closing is beginning to be calculated.

If social media commentary is to be believed, as Selectman Brian Bezanson reported, there is no appetite in town for an override of any kind.

“You might get 1 percent who are in favor of any kind of increase. Period,” Bezanson said. “If you expect them to just stand in line, lock-step and go for whatever we can come up with … you’re not going to get the support for it. I believe they are tapped out.”

Lambiase said Bezanson was probably right, but the board still has to put a plan together.

Lynam and Kowalski reminded the board and residents “screaming on social media” that the town’s tax rate and actual tax bills are lower than those of surrounding communities.

The Bridgewater State Community Assessment Survey’s 19 percent — or 1,037 residents (632 online, 405 on paper) — has been completed and will be available for review as a value statement of the town’s residents.