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.

WHITMAN — The Feeney family is grateful this holiday season as they envision 2019 as a more tranquil year.

Their hearts are full of love for their three girls:  Shelby, 5, who has Charge Syndrome and twin girls Tamsin and Elyse who are six.

Settling in their newly renovated, handicapped accessible home Dan and Nicole are also expecting the birth of their baby boy Rhys (pronounced Reese) any day. The name is Welsh for enthusiasm.

Summing up the adventures of this past year the girls were eager to show off their new house. The playroom now an open floor plan with cozy spots for all three is accessible for toys and storage.

Charge Syndrome has significantly affected Shelby’s vision and hearing. She is diagnosed as deaf blind. She uses a gait trainer, which she can get in and out of by herself but she is developmentally delayed and walks only with assistance.

Although she will not continue to lose her current level of hearing and vision, it will not improve. Through occupational therapy they are able to maintain her present ability with hearing implants and glasses as well as strengthening her muscles.

Shelby and her family speak and use sign language to communicate. She doesn’t use Braille because of a tactilely defensive response. It has prevented her from wanting to touch things a common trait in Charge Syndrome.

She has a sensory swing that is supported by a ceiling beam for indoor play during cold weather and also for decompression. She explores her world using her other senses with a current favorite toy:  her yellow giraffe and a light up sensory board that sings.

Feeney hired a universal designer:  a company called Beige and Bleu who handled the functionality and aesthetics making the home truly accessible to Shelby’s needs. That work, along with an accessible van and travel for medical treatments have been aided by a Go Fund Me page (https://www.gofundme.com/shelbys-home-van-and-medical-trip) that has raised $44,891 of a $63,541 goal through donations by 298 people over the past 15 months.

“It’s amazing. It’s perfect,” said mom Nicole.

The days are long for Shelby who attends the Perkins School for the Blind. Her basic daily needs such as bathing; dressing and toileting will become slightly easier as they have the equipment to keep her safe.

A half bath with a full changing station allows Nicole to dress Shelby instead of laying her on the floor. With an accessible entry way there are zero thresholds throughout the house, which will allow her to use her walker freely. The insides of each doorframe are painted bright yellow for way finding.

The upstairs bath is fully accessible with a teak bench for her to be washed safely. She cannot care for herself so the burden is eased as both parents happily get accustomed to the new normal of proper equipment.

They no longer have to transport Shelby up and down the steep, winding stairs, which as she grows has become unsafe. She is buckled in a remote stair lift chair, which allows her to ride up instead of being carried.

Colors that assist with visional depth perception   were also used in blending color schemes and wood flooring.

Knobs are difficult for people with disabilities to operate so the kitchen has all pull hardware and lower level drawers for easier access.

The couple had a zoning board of appeals hearing in May after their story went public when a neighbor disputed their request to build a wheel chair ramp.  As a result there was an outpouring of support and donations of material and manpower to complete the renovations.  The family offered their thanks to local Whitman residents:  finish carpenters Bob Ells, electrician Bob Brown and Bellew Tile of Rockland who donated all the tiling for the upstairs bathroom.  There are several other anonymous donors who the Feeney’s also graciously acknowledged.

HANOVER — Vocational education costs for the eight communities making up the South Shore Regional Vocational Technical School District will increase by 3.1 percent, but that may not be reflected in local assessments when they are calculated early in 2019.

The School Committee heard Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey’s presentation of the proposed fiscal 2020 budget on Wednesday, Dec. 19.

The proposed $13,816,872 budget represents an increase of $414,933 and a total assessment decrease of $10,216,what Hickey terms, in essence a “level-assessed budget” at the aggregate level.

“At the end of the day, the most important number is, ‘What is the assessment to my community?’” Hickey said. Such final figures await the governor’s budget figures released in January.

As of Oct. 1, there are 645 students, 581 within the district towns and 64 out of district. Whitman, with 145 students, and Hanson, with 76, are among the four biggest of the eight sending towns. Rockland tops the list at 159 students and Abington sends 94. All but Rockland, have seen a decrease in enrollment. Whitman’s was down by three and Hanson by four. Rockland gained five students and Abington declined by 21.

“What I’m happy to say is that, due to the projection that we have relative to non-resident tuition that we are collecting this year and a projection on regional transportation that we will get — 70 percent — the entire increase will be covered by outside revenue,” he said. Hickey is confident, based on last year’s regional transportation reimbursement that it will be the case.

“While those numbers still don’t provide any guarantee of what happens with each individual community, at least at that level, we’re able to strategize how to best deploy those available dollars,” he said

Hickey cautioned that assessments could increase a bit despite drops in enrollment.

“We’re going to say to each town, ‘this is your assessment,’ and it’s going to be based on the non-resident tuition we’re going to give back to them … and getting 70 percent [Chapter 70] reimbursement,” Hickey said Thursday, Dec. 20.

Whitman and Hanson could see increases in assessments but Hickey does not expect even  those assessments to be wildly different.

SST creates zero-based budgets, beginning each fall with classroom supervisors and department heads building a budget from nothing. “Nobody feels that, if I got $50,000 this year, I just have to add a couple of percent and call it a day,” Hickey said. “We start at zero and the way it works is, if you need it, it will be there.”

If there is a “big ask” in the budget, Hickey said it is in a $720,000 request for capital projects including $60,000 for flooring abatement/replacement in the cafeteria and a renovation of the boys’ locker room in the 1962 wing; $230,000 to add to the stabilization fund; and $430,000 for fields upgrades.

“We have an influx of money — one-time increase of that tuition — better to couple it with one-time capital expenses rather than over-building operating expenses that you then have to maintain over time,” he said. There are also no requests for major vocational equipment in the fiscal 2020 budget.

The fields work would involve drainage improvements to the practice field and baseball field, which have both been in poor condition for awhile. Once the improvements are made, the new horticulture department will be key in maintaining them.

“We have deferred maintenance on exterior needs so as to prioritize the building,” he said. “But the timing is right for such a undertaking.”

There was a setback in planning for needed renovations and expansion plans, however.

While the school’s master facilities plan is underway, the district was again passed over for Mass. School Building Authority (MSBA) funding assistance and will be resubmitting a Statement of Interest for funds next year.

At its December board meeting, the MSBA approved only 13 of 56 projects proposed by 70 school districts across the state, Hickey announced.

“But in calling the MSBA … the feedback that I got was that the level of detail we have provided is more than sufficient,” he said. A walk-through done last summer by an MSBA group, while not a guarantee, could lead to a follow-up visit next summer and provide evidence of the information in the district’s past SOIs.

“We have to continue to ask,” Hickey said. The stabilization fund will be used to fund any feasibility studies involved in future invitations into the MSBA core program. “That was the initial reason for starting the stabilization fund several years ago.”

The stabilization fund has grown over that time to a level where it can be used, if necessary to fund larger maintenance issues that might crop up, but Hickey said he sees no reason to tap it now.

Personnel requests for the year are low, with only a part-time school resource officer, a JV golf coach and stipends for after-school music and art program advisers included.

The $11.78 million in projects on the Master Facilities Plan are not being addressed in the 2020 budget.

“Having a stabilization fund is very important, but under no circumstances do I see this as anything more than our local version of OPEB (other post-employment benefits),” Hickey said. “We’re attempting to make a good effort to fund for things in the long-run, that we’re going to need. … But for now, I don’t see any crisis and so we’re not going to ask for something we don’t need.”

Staff spotlight

The School Committee also heard an update on the new Horticulture and Landscape Construction program during a Staff Spotlight on the department’s new instructors Tom Hart, who helped start the program last year, and Cassi Johnson.

Both are graduates of Norfolk County Agricultural High School and the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at UMasss, Amherst.  Hart was a landscape operations student at Norfolk, and earned a associate’s degree from the Stockbridge School and a bachelor’s degree through the university, taking jobs with commercial landscaping firms after graduation.

“We’re really excited about this new program,” Hart said. “Our ultimate goal for the future is to get these kids involved in small outdoor projects on the school grounds … getting involved in the industry and, essentially, growing the program to what we want it to be.”

Johnson focused on ornamental horticulture at Norfolk and earned an associate’s degree in horticulture from the Stockbridge School and a second associate’s degree in business from Massasoit Community College. She also worked with golf courses and interior landscapers and flower shops and was a manager in the floral department at Wegman’s, and earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Southern New Hampshire University when she decided to pursue a career in education.

“We definitely have a focus with landscape instruction, but we also get to touch upon things like greenhouse management — we have a greenhouse going up — and floral design,” Johnson said, noting the hope with the latter is to participate in a lot of community events. “We have a lot of ideas … and we’re just looking forward to building the shop and gaining more students.”