WHITMAN – The Select Board on Tuesday, April 18 voted to declare three 9-month old pit bull puppies and their mother to be nuisance dogs, as much as a way to protect the animals as to control them while their owners have them trained.
The vote followed a hearing in accordance with MGL Ch. 140 Subsection 157 regarding the dogs owned by Jean Karger of 221 High St. Complaints have been received from Patricia Parent, Eric and Joseph Connolly, according to Chair Randy LaMattina.
Nearly every person testifying during the hearing stressed that these are very friendly dogs that are still puppies, even though they weigh more than 40 poiunds each. The neighbors’ concerns center on the dogs tendency to roam the neighborhood, and the way they jump up on people.
“Obviously we have to stop this behavior of the dogs getting out,” LaMattina said. He argued for imposing requirements that the dogs be on a leash whether on or off the property, until the animal control officers can work with the owners to create a secure kennel. The board also approved that requirement.
The board had considered requiring a dog run on the property.
Animal Control Officer (ACO) Joe Kenney cautioned there are tethering laws in Massachusetts that limit dogs to being tethered outside for no more than 15 minutes at a time. ACO Laura Howe said runs condition dogs to become aggressive.
Town Counsel Peter Sumners said the board could make a determination immediately or at the next meeting if they felt confident in doing so, but a written decision will still have to be issued.
“I would suggest if you haven’t had a chance to weigh all the evidence, you should take that opportunity,” he said, noting the board could also issue an interim finding that the dogs are either dangerous or a nuisance.
A dangerous dog is described by statute as a one that attacks without provocation causing serious injury or death to a person or owned animal or behaves in a way that would make a reasonable person concerned that an attack could happen. A nuisance dog that, by excessive barking or other disturbing behavior causes a reasonable person to feel it is disruptive to quiet peaceful enjoyment of their home, disturbs a sick person in the area or exhibits a threat to do so.
An owner of a dog deemed a nuisance can be ordered to take immediate steps to solve the problem. There are specific statutory authorizations involved if a dog is deemed dangerous, including restraint including when being removed from premises, confining to premises, removal from premises neutering or euthanasia.
Board member Shawn Kain said they could be considered dangerous for “recklessly having fun on High Street” where traffic is heavy, but he said he wasn’t sure that’s how the law reads.
“I don’t think we have a dangerous dog,” LaMattina said. “However, we clearly have nuisance dogs … disruptive behavior to one’s quiet and peaceful enjoyment.”
Howe said she met in October with Karger and her partner, who gave his name only as Raoul, and was told Karger had voluntarily surrendered nine of the 13 dogs she had then owned after a female she owned had puppies.
The 5-month-old puppies had not been spayed or neutered and had not been given their rabies vaccines and Animal Rescue League took custody the following day, reporting back that all nine had been given behavioral assessments, vaccines and were spayed or neutered and placed out.
At about nine months, the puppies are between 50 and 75 pounds now. They also recognize Howe and Kenney and “split the scene” whey they are called, making for a potentially more dangerous situation. They don’t chase dogs when the animals start to run, because the dog(s) would be running in fear, which could motivate them to bite or run into traffic.
“A few days later, we learned there were four dogs left on the premises,” Howe said, noting it was not a search and seizure or court involved,” she said, adding that it was explained Karger would need to obtain a license for a kennel because the town’s threshold for kennel designation is three animals, not four. “Eventually we caught … all four, and I held them until they got their rabies shots.”
She explained that the rabies shots were important, as rabies tests cannot be done on a living animal.
“Things just progressed from there,” Howe said, with the dogs running free on a regular basis. “It could be as much as every day. I have heard different reasons, I understand them, but animals can’t protect themselves. We sometimes have to go to extremes to protect the animals.”
She said this was an extreme case.
Howe said her recommendations are and always have been to have a secure kennel floor, of cement for example, and something with a roof “because they climb over everything.” The last time, Howe said electric fencing, as is used to train dogs, delivering a mild shock via a special collar, has been another thing they suggested.
Howe said she wasn’t sure if a cement floor was feasible because Karger and her partner do not own the property, they rent it. She added later in the meeting that the owners had provided proof they were buying a house in another town, but the purchase intended to be closed in January, did not go through.
“Their dogs are not in any type of bad situation other than roaming free throughout the neighborhood all the time, which is dangerous – not because they’re such aggressive dogs, because they’re not – but the mentality of a pack dog is quite different than one or two dogs, as well as they live on a very busy street,” she said. “Hopefully, we can find a solution.”
Select Board member Shawn Kain asked if there has not been any issue with bites, but Howe said that, while that was an issue concerning a dog they no longer own, it has not been a problem with the dogs in question now.
Joe Connolly of 226 High St., confirmed Howe’s assessment, and added that he has witnessed “multiple situations” in which the dogs have gotten out without a leash to run free and tie up traffic.
“For some reason or other, they hang out in the middle of the street a lot,” he said. “I find it very dangerous, because I often wonder why there’s a tie up of traffic – and, sure enough there’s a dog in the middle of the street.”
He pointed to Whitman’s leash law, and, while stressing that the dogs are very friendly, expressed concern that they could knock over an elderly person when they jump on them. He also said that, if he had little kids, “This would be whole different ball game, for me.”
Parent, of 220 High St., who has had several encounters with the dogs, has grandchildren for whom she is concerned. She also said she walks her dog on a leash and no longer walk past the property because her dog is so fearful. She said one of the dogs picked up her dog and shook it, and although her dog was not hurt, it is now fearful.
“It’s really not fair for us to be unable to use our neighborhood,” she said. “I feel sad [for the dogs in question], they look so happy when they’re running around, but somebody’s going to get hurt.”
Joan Butterfield, of 231 High St., wanted to start by saying the dogs are very nice and very friendly, but they are strong and jump up on people.
Adam Casey, 173 Pine St., described how the dogs leap over his four-foot high fence after he fixed the holes they made under it.
“It’s gotten to be the fact that they like to play at my house, and I understand that for dogs,” he said. “They’’re not mean dogs, but they are dogs and I do have kids. I just hope we can resolve this and get them contained.”
Raoul said he has had the fencing improved and has installed the electric fencing problem, but there were problems with it after the company’s owner moved out of state.
“They’re escape artists,” he said. “I’m trying my best.”
“We are human,” Karger said. “We do have the same thoughts and concerns that everybody else here in the room have.”
“I’m not comfortable that they can negotiate this in a way that’s safe for the dogs or the people around them,” Kain said. “I like the recommendation from Ms. Howe, but again, I’m not confident that they’re going to be able to implement the recommendation in a short amount of time.”
He said he is worried that a dog is going to be hit by a car sooner rather than later.
A neighbor asked why the dogs’ owners couldn’t walk their dogs on a leash and put them back in the house like everyone else does.
LaMattina asked how many times animal control has had to return the dogs home. Howe replied they are called once or twice a day and times and frequently three or four times a week and agreed they are escape artists.
“I feel they need a trainer at this point because they do not know anything at all,” she said. “That make it harder. I’m less concerned if they’re 10 pounds or 100 pounds, because a Chihuahua is more dangerous than, possibly, these dogs.”
She said it was not apparent how many pups they were initially dealing with because some neighbors were returning them home. Another concern is the pup’s maturing, as one of them appears to be in heat, which will lead to a dog fight as other behaviors come into play.
“I never say something, by law, under oath, of what could happen,” Howe said. “I am saying things that will happen because of animal behavior.”
She said she is willing to work with the owners on her own free time.
Salvucci asked what is needed to complete the electric fence and when it could be done. Karger said she would call the company the next day.
“I would suggest, until you get that done, the dogs don’t go outside,” Salvucci said.

After discussing school potential no-cost start time changes for almost a year, the School Committee rejected a proposal to further review the issue that has been a concern since 2012, for implementation in fiscal 2025.
That means nothing will be changing for the 2023-24 school year, but the issue will continue to be reviewed over the summer.
“We’re status quo for next year,” Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak said.
Member Glen DiGravio said his sense is the committee still lacks a consensus for what it wants to do.
“We need to have a unified goal,” he said. “That’s what we should do … make a goal and move on. At least we’d accomplish something.”
“I think we’re trying to eat an elephant in one sitting, and that’s not going to work,” agreed Hillary Kniffen. “Before we can look at start times vs. end times, we have to look at transportation.”
Obstacles include cost vs. no-cost options, transportation logistics, teacher contract impact concerns and some parents who are not in favor of extending the day, according to Szymaniak who recommended Whitman-Hanson “not do this for the school year 2023-24,” which would be funded in the fiscal 2025 budget.
Length of bus rides home is at the top of the list of transportation issues.
“One [reason] is with a superintendent hat on and one is as a parent,” he said. “If I’m a parent … we would have to modify our day care.” He said his family is dealing with a similar consideration in Pembroke schools, and his wife “would be more than a little upset” if they had to deal with that.
“As a superintendent, I think this is a viable plan for our students,” he said. “I think it’s a good option for us. I think it increases time at the elementary level to be [comparable] to all the schools in our area. Time with teachers is very important at the elementaries.”
But he also has to balance that against the concerns of teachers in the district who have children at home and have to adjust their day care decisions.
Vice Chair Christopher Scriven disagreed with the notion of a no-cost option if the idea behind it was to push out a decision to another fiscal year.
David Forth said he understood the no-cost option was merely a base point for discussions.
“What I’m looking for is a commitment from the committee to go with a modification and go with what we present,” Szymaniak said. “We’re not just going to spin our wheels.”
Putting the decision off at least another year will permit discussions with parents where there is some animosity or anxiety about bus routes now.
The benefits of a 6.5-hour school day include: increased student engagement; more meaningful educational relationships between students and staff; greater balance between academics and enrichment; increased teacher enrichment; a more effective balance between learning time and quality of instruction and increased social-emotional health of students.
Pitfalls include: attention fatigue; more time does not always mean higher test scores and it reduces the opportunities for extracurricular activities.
Szymaniac said the school district meets the DESE minimum standards at all levels.
WHRSD’s school day is six hours long, according to Szymaniak, with the median day among area districts being six hours 15 minutes and the average six hours and 19 minutes. There are five Plymouth County districts with a 6.5 hour school day and four in which the school day ia from six hours 40 minutes to six hours 45 minutes.
The state’s average school day is six hours 45 minutes long.
Nationally there is only one state with a policy that school days be more than six hours long and eight requiring at least a six-hour school day.
Not all states make a requirement, including Massachusetts, where it is calculated not by hours of the day, but hours in a year.
W-H parents have been asking how additional time in the classroom would be used, he said.
“The additional time will add flexibility to the current schedule to allow opportunities for smoother transitions, independent time and social-emotional health,” Szymaniak said. “We don’t see an additional 20-30 minutes adding to [negative student] behaviors.”
School Committee member Beth Stafford said, putting on her old hat as a union person, around April vacation to negotiate the issue, she doesn’t think it would get passed.
“I think it would be a hard go, because there’s not a lot of time to have the people meet, negotiate and then ratify or not ratify a contract,” she said. That would take until June and that would be way too late to expect parents to be able to make the needed adjustments.
Member Fred Small agreed, saying putting it off a year would allow time for public meetings to get the parents on board.
“You recognize that there are a lot of concerns from the parents,” Member Michell Bougelais said. “There’s a lot that still has to be discussed, has to be worked through … so I want to just say thank you for not trying to push it through for September.
Dawn Byers thanked the Student Advisory Council who took on research illustrating the need for the change.
“I think we owe it to those student representatives and all the other students who have spoken out asking for help,” she said. “They’re asking for our help because they are in crisis, and we can’t ignore that.”
She expressed frustration that more time was being sought when the issue was first brought up last summer – to add 15 minutes to the school day.
She also asked what needed to be bargained in teacher contracts. Szymaniak said the start and finish time of each school is spelled out in contracts and any contract change needs to be bargained.
Kniffen cautioned that changes to the high school day “can’t come at the expense of our youngest students, and we can’t dismiss [needs of] our staff.”
She argued that rolling a change out over a few years might also be a solution.
Glen DiGravio asked if the teacher’s union has been brought into the discussion. Szymaniak said the district and committee have a good relationship with the union, and advance information that there is a wish to negotiate would be helpful.
WHEA representative Cindy Magahan said it was asked at the beginning of the year that the decision not be paced on the backs of association members, “and here we are.”
“You had months to talk about this and ask the Association to deal with this a matter of weeks before school is getting out is wrong, and we would have a better time selling this to the members …if we had that elementary uniform [start] time.’
Assistant Superintendent George Ferro also noted that the district’s perspective was to approach the change as a way to align the elementary schools, for help with staff coordination and professional development.
“The key in this is a no-cost option,” he said.
Scriven asked if some kind of staggard implementation could help families or staff planning around the impact of day care changes.
“Considering how things are and have been with budget implications, I think if we could roll it out over time, and lessen the immediate impact, that’s kind of where I’m coming at it,” he said.
Byers said she sees movement in the right direction if the intent is to provide equity, but she pointed to the transportation costs, including driver availability as problems standing in the way.

WHITMAN – The Department of Public Works is hoping history won’t repeat itself.
Eleven years after voters rejected an $8 million debt exclusion to fund the design and construction of a new DPW building, the town is trying again – with a warrant article and ballot question seeking to fund a build a “complete facility, including administration space,” which was not part of the last proposal.
The exact dollar figure being sought is not yet available.
The DPW hosted an open house on Saturday, April 1 – and are planning to hold a second one on Saturday, April 22, featuring a touch-a-truck area with DPW and Fire Department vehicles, for the kids; and free hot dogs and hamburgers.
The problems they pointed out are the same that confronted voters on May 7, 2012, plus a few more.
“The thing is, there’s no ‘no-cost’ solution for DPW building,” Parks and Highways Superintendent Bruce Martin, who said that, while there is not yet a firm number on the new building, it can’t be ignored as the problem it is.
“It’s out of code, it’s unsafe, all those things,” he said. “Every year we let it go [it adds up].”
Select Board Vice Chair Dan Salvucci said that, while there were open houses, video tours broadcast on cable access and newspaper stories, the difference this go-round is the advancing age of the building.
“No employee should be working in these conditions,” Salvucci said. “Will taxes go up for this building? Yes, of course, but the thing is this is something that the town needs.”
There are no shower facilities for water and sewer workers to clean up in after addressing situations such as main breaks, he noted. He also said it is needed to protect the town’s investment in expensive DPW trucks and heavy equipment.
“This is Whitman, we have water and sewer,” he said. “We’ve got the facilities of almost a city, as far as water and sewer are concerned.”
Now, as in 2012, visitors were able to see for themselves that the original green building, constructed in 1907, is inadequate for proper ventilation, has a poor electrical system, maintenance bays – featuring 1950s technology – are too small to work in and the building fails to meet OSHA standards. It is also the only shelter for expensive new equipment and is inadequate for that.
There was also a fire in the ceiling of the building several years ago, Martin added.
“It’s literally falling apart,” he said.
In 2012, then-Parks and Highways Superintendent Donnie Westhaver noted that the building was “built five years before the Titanic sank, to put it in perspective.”
It’s not getting any younger, DPW officials say.
“This building is smaller Martin said Saturday of the differences between the two plans. “We decided to bring the administration [offices] over just to get everybody in the same building and that building really isn’t accessible.”
The administration building was not included in the last building project proposal.
“We were actually going to get a lot more for the money,” Martin also said of the last plan. “Now, so many years later, we’re going smaller, but for similar money.”
Martin said the building subcommittee, which meets Wednesdays, has come up with the informational cards that can be handed out or mailed, and feature a QR code so people can view details of the project on a smartphone.
“How can we educate the residents?” he said has been the main discussion point. “Hopefully, we can get the message out. They’ll see all that or come down to one of the open houses and see what we’re working with here.”
The 2012 debt exclusion lost by 161 votes [293 in favor to 454 against] in a low-turnout election in which Westhaver faulted the turnout as much as the way the question was worded to voters.
“I think some people went to vote with Proposition 2 12 in mind,” he said. “People see that phrase and it scares them.” He argued that some explanation of what a yes or no voter would do was called for.
The $9 million project would have used $500,00 from stabilization; $200,000 in sewer enterprise and $200,000 in water enterprise funds in addition to the $8 million debt exclusion.
In the intervening years, additional soil borings and a site investigation were conducted [2017] to better understand soil conditions at the site. An initial foundation design and concept sketches for a new facility were created [2020] and a “shovel-ready” project passed at Town Meeting last year ad Construction Monitoring Services was retained as Owner Project Manager (OPM) in August and Helene Karl Architects was engaged to design the new facility in November.
The DPW Building Committee has voted to move forward with a concept that includes a complete facility, including administration space this year.

HANSON – Based on the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District budget certified on March 15, Hanson officials have “had to re-adjust some numbers” in the budget.
But working with interim Town accountant Eric Kinsherf, Town Administrator Lisa Green said they were able to bring the deficit down from $1.38 million to $616,000.
“We’re really working diligently to bring our budget down to a balanced budget,” she said.
The Select Board, on Tuesday, March 21 voted to close the warrant for the annual Town Meeting, which will be held on Monday, May 1. Placing and/or recommending those articles completed so far.
“We are in a cash crunch this year,” said Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett, who said she has spoken to Whitman Select Board Chair Randy LaMattina about the WHRSD budget.
“They are as concerned as we are with the school assessment being in the 7- to 8-percent [range], when we had very clearly expressed that the absolute maximum that we can pay is a 4-percent increase,” she said. “One of the concerns is that, over the last two years, the district has used one-time money – grant money – in the budget, so when we’re saying it’s a level-funded budget, that’s really not accurate. It’s level-funded plus the grant.”
She argued that keeping the budget at that level was really quite a large increase.
“With our very modest growth that we have in the town, this is beyond unsustainable,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We don’t have any sort of magic pill that’s going to change this.”
She is proposing a joint meeting between just the two select boards to talk about what finances look like for the town meetings and to find a way to speak with a united voice.
“Even with what Ms. Green has told us, that’s a large deficit,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We’re all adults and I think we know that means costs need to be cut and there’s only so many ways to do that.”
She said one of the things she has liked seeing this year is the way each town board has been reaching out to their counterparts in Whitman and vice versa “to calibrate.”
“This is the way it needs to be,” she said.
Board member Jim Hickey said, while he wouldn’t suggest leaving the schools out, he supported the two towns talking first and then going to the School Committee.
FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed.
“There are things we’re putting off doing,” she said. “We’re making modest headway, thanks to creativity and grants and hard work, but we can’t gut our town government, we just can’t.”
She also suggested the town has no time at this point to even entertain an override this year.
“The Whitman [Select] Board is a good board,” Vice Chair Joe Weeks. “They’re good people, so I don’t think this is in any way a controversial thing. People elected us to have conversations, especially difficult ones and find solutions, and not just kick the can down the road.”
The minute this year’s problem is solved, he said, they have to get to work on next year’s problems.
The board had voted during the meeting to strike four WHRSD capital requests from the warrant not recommended by the Capital Improvement Committee because the town does not have the funds to address them. The Capital Committee had about $350,000 to fund projects in the warrant.
“We really struggled to prioritize what we could, given that budget,” said Weeks, who serves on the Capital Committee, of the $350,000 they were allocated. “We recommended to the town $313,000 of the $350,000. The reason why we couldn’t get up over $350,000 because there wasn’t something that could bridge the gap in between those and we have a relatively conservative board that didn’t want to over spend what was given to us.”
He said the total cost of all the requests made for capital projects this year was about $25 million, and the committee was only able to spend $313,000.
“We were given line items with no way to prioritize,” said Board member Ed Heal, who also serves on the Captial Committee. He said no explanations about the requests were provided.
FitzGerald-Kemmett also cited a concern over equity in the district that prompted the striking of an article to regarding capital improvement articles at Indian Head School.
“I wouldn’t want Indian Head doing something that we can’t do for the other schools that we have,” she said. “We’re in a budget deficit.”
In other business, Library Director Karen Stolfer gave an update on events and activities to the board, including the application for a construction grant, which will help with the library’s expansion needs.
There is no cost to apply, she said.
Board members voted to support the grant application.
There are two project categories for the 2022-23 grant, small populations [2,500 or less] and standard. Hanson is applying for the latter.
The library’s plans require 16,000 square feet, placing Hanson in the medium tier for their plan developed in 2018. Focused on need this time out, with nine to 10 grants planned, Stolfer said the process will be more competitive this time around.
The grant covers 50 percent of costs up to $100,000 and the town is required to appropriate up to $150,000. A letter of intent is due April 28, with a full application due by May 2024. Schematic designs are due in 2025-26 with construction due for completion in 2029
Stolfer is working on the required statement of need.
“I’m happy to report that people are coming back to the library,” Stolfer said, adding that they are borrowing items and the use of digital resources, which “skyrocketed” during COVID, is continuing. “We’re getting lots of requests from local organizations for our meeting rooms and, of course, one of our biggest draws is our programming.”
A lot of programs are being slated for school vacation week in April, including the annual Family Fun Day on April 21.
She also spoke of the Library of Things, a collection of nontraditional items, including metal detectors, puzzles, a laser levels and Roku streaming sticks that can be checked out.

The School Committee revisited the school choice issue on Wednesday, March 15, voting to accept school choice for all grades except 11 and 12.
Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak said the process would only be open based on student enrollment and class size.
He reported that district legal counsel Andrew Waugh reiterated that all school districts are school choice unless they opt out.”
A tie vote, like the one cast on March 13, would mean W-H is a school choice district “because the School Committee did not make an affirmative vote to opt out,” Szymaniak explained. “We need a 6-4 vote to opt out.”
Waugh made some further recommendations for the committee to consider voting again in hopes of reaching a 6-4 decision to withdraw from K-12 school choice for the school year 2023-24.
The committee again voted 5-5 on the opt-out option.
Waugh further recommended in such an event, that a motion establishing parameters around how the district should participate in school choice.
Szymaniak suggested the motion that the district withdraw from school choice in kindergarten through grade eight, and 11 and 12, while allowing it in grades nine and 10 – and for students in any grade, whose family moves out of the district as school choice – for school year 2023-24.
The committee then voted 9-1 to accept school choice for all grades with the exclusion of grades 11 and 12. Vice Chair Christopher Scriven voted against.
It was an amended motion at the suggestion of member Dawn Byers as questions began popping up about Szymaniak’s suggestion.
Scriven asked what the rationale was in allowing high school freshmen and sophomores but not any other grade, as well as the benefits of doing so and the considerations made in offering it.
“In grades nine and 10, those students have a fresh start in coming to school,” Szymaniak said, just like any other student at the high school. “That’s what we’ve done in the past. In grades 11 and 12 [administrators] have less control of that student, graduating from school.”
Where K-eight is concerned, Szymaniak said there just hasn’t been space for school choice students and the district has been more focused on lowering class sizes in those grades.
“That, for me, facilitates the issue that is most concerning to a lot of us that oppose this,” Scriven said.
Member Hillary Kniffen said if enrollment considerations were a reason for not taking school choice in lower grades, why not allow them in so they could become part of the community, which would negate that concern among opponents of school choice.
“It sounds like we’re talking out of both sides of our mouths,” she said.
Member Dawn Byers moved to amend the motion for school choice to be open to all grades, with a cap per grade based on enrollment.
“I’ve got one seat in second grade, I’ve got four seats in fifth grade, I’ve got seven at ninth-grade … We don’t have to accept 199 kids if they all want to come here,” she said. “We have the control as a district.”
A policy limiting class size could also be used.
Member Beth Stafford said she would prefer to cap it at 10th grade, because of the possibility and incoming student might not have the credits to allow them to graduate on time.
Szymaniak said he would be looking at keeping class sizes to 20 at the elementary grades, 20-23 in middle grades and 25 at the high school, in determining how many school choice students might be allowed in.
“Our high school enrollment this year in grade nine is the lowest we’ve ever had,” Szymaniak said, noting that where they usually have 270 students, this year they are looking at 230.
If the committee voted to open school choice for all grades, he would look at the numbers in order to announce how many students would be accepted and a lottery system would be used.
If students are looking for schools with good sports teams for their school choice plans, the MIAA requires varsity athletes to apply for a waiver and the receiving administrator and athletic director have to sign off on it, or that student-athlete has to sit out the year.
“You can’t deny [acceptance] unless it’s a drugs or weapons violation,” Szymaniak said of students with disciplinary issues. Otherwise districts are not allowed to ask why students are interesting in coming.
“We’re not even supposed to meet with that family prior to,” he said.
WHRHS Principal Dr. Christopher Jones said he is very pro-school choice, as it does a lot for the school, but he asked what consideration is given a parent who wants to choice two kids – one in ninth grade and one in 11th.
“I would tell that parent it’s not an option for that 11th grader,” Szymaniak said.
In other business, Student Advisory Committee members gave a slide presentation on their findings from an outreach survey of students in all five district schools regarding multiple line items in the FY 2024 district school budget.
Students were strongly in favor of some change in start times, with Indian Head students in Hanson supporting an earlier start, Duval students nearly unanimous that some change was needed.
“A majority [of Duval students] informed us that they woke up at 7 a.m., and just watched TV or played video games with the time they had before school started,” the survey found. At Indian Head, “many told us they had busy lives afte school, and it was difficult to get to extra-curricular activities while getting home [from school] around 3:30 p.m., every day.”
Conley students also preferred an earlier start time.
Getting off a school bus in the dark during the winter wan another source of dissatisfaction with the start times.
Opinions were more mixed for Hanson Middle School students, where the older ones preferred an earlier start and younger students preferred a later start time, but there was little demand overall for a change. Whitman Middle School students, meanwhile, were split over a slightly different start time,versus no change.
A majority of high school students supported a later start time.

The School Committee, following its annual public hearing on school choice participation on Wednesday, March 8, tabled action on school choice pending an opinion from counsel on available options after members split down the middle on the issue.
The district must vote by June 1, or it accepts K-12 school choice by default, as, without at least a 6 to 4 vote either way, the district will take part in school choice.
A motion by Committee member Fred Small to accept school choice for grades nine and 10, with kindergarten through grade eight open, at the superintendent’s discretion, only to siblings of those high school students enrolled through the program, was deadlocked 5 to 5.
Voting yes were Small, David Forth, Beth Stafford, Dawn Byers and Steve Bois. Voting against were Christopher Howard, Christopher Scriven, Hillary Kniffen, Glen DiGravio and Michelle Bourgelas.
Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak noted that school choice is open to all schools and that all school committees must vote to close a district to school choice, or limit its participation, stating their reasons for doing so before June 1. The vote would have to be whether or not to close the district to school choice.
“You’re voting not to do something,” Chair Howard said before the discussion began.
Szymaniak also noted that athletics has also been the subject of conversation centering on school choice in the past, and provided committee members with a list of current choice students, where they are from, the sport they play and which are former W-H students whose families moved out of town, but who wanted to stay to graduate from WHRHS.
“It’s a data point … just to see where we’re at,” he said, adding that, of 45 school choice students, 34 are high school students and 12 are identified as playing a sport.
From a purely financial viewpoint, Whitman Finance Committee member Kathleen Ottina noted district enrollment has gone down 15 percent since school choice was first accepted in 2012. She argued that, eliminating a program that increases enrollment would bring even greater scrutiny on the district budget than they are currently seeing.
“In the past, we’ve closed school choice to every grade, except grades nine and 10 and students who were staying in the district if they chose to move out,” Szymaniak said. “We didn’t have school choice grades one through eight or 11 and 12. We chose to close those grades because of enrollment. Last year we chose to close all grades to the district.”
He added that there are financial implications to the decision before the committee talks about budget or approve an assessment.
Vice Chair Scriven asked, if the district votes against accepting new school choice students, does that mean students whose families move out of the district would be unable to continue attending W-H.
In those cases, Szymaniak said, he would ask the superintendent of the new district if they are willing to pay the costs of such students to continue at W-H.
“They don’t have to,” he said. “If it were choice, they’d have to do that. It would be a conversation [otherwise].”
Szymaniak said he already has a parent asking about that now, but he has held off contacting the Pembroke superintendent until after the committee votes.
Stafford asked about the circumstances of the nine non-high school students now attending W-H schools under previous school choice votes. Szymaniak explained they were in-district students before their families moved.
“That would kind of be a stipulation, I would think, for anything we would do,” she said, but she expressed concern that it was “picking and choosing who gets to stay.”
She said she has heard from a parent with a child in the district now, but they are from a different town – and are on the list, but are not in sports.
“They have a child in seventh or eighth grade and wanted to come but can’t if we vote no and she was very upset about that, because her older child has had a wonderful education here and the other child is not going to [be able to] do that,” Stafford said. “We have a lot more students here [on the list] who came here for a reason other than sports.”
She said committee members have to be careful about arguments that school choice students at WHRHS are taking opportunities for playing sports with kids they grew up with, since the same could be said of high school students whose families move to town when they are in those grades.
“Whenever we discuss things, we have to be careful of our choice of words,” Stafford said. “I don’t even really care about the money issue. My point is, look at all the kids who came just for an education.”
She pointed to girls’ soccer seems to be the main concern regarding soccer, and said no students have been kept out of AP courses because of school choice students.
Kniffen said she spoke about the issue last meeting and stands by her comments, advocating that students moving to W-H in their freshman year, obtain a waiver from the MIAA to be cleared to play a sport.
“Whether we want to admit it or not, sports are the thing that develops culture and community for the students at this school,” she said. While she agreed students weren’t kept out of AP classes, Kniffen said 30 kids in an AP class “isn’t great,” either.
“It is so important that we take care of our own,” she said, noting the district receives $5,000 per school choice student and it costs more per student to provide and education. “It does not provide opportunities, it takes them away.”
Michelle Bourgelas echoed Kniffen’s points.
“We talk a lot about equity,” she said. “How does school choice offer equity to our W-H high school students?”
DiGravio asked if any school choice students had disciplinary problems at their home district schools.
Szymaniak said they have to take the students who apply so long as there are spaces for them under school choice, but said there are “ways to have a conversation with families,” including the requirement that the parents are solely responsible for transporting the students. If there are more students than school choice spaces, a lottery is held.
While there have been school choice students who have posed disciplinary problems, they tend to move back to their home districts.
“In my tenure the number of students presenting disciplinary cases has been slim to none,” Szymaniak said.
Byers, who supports school choice noted that a fair number of W-H sports teams are no-cut, with volley ball – with one school choice student – being an exception.
“It’s the right thing to do to be inclusive,” she said.
Howard’s main concern was that the money coming in with school choice students doesn’t fully cover educational costs.
“When I have students in front of me, I don’t care if you’re from Dighton-Rehoboth, W-H, whatever, I’m going to give it all to you, and I know a lot of people say the same,” said WHEA president and history teacher Kevin Kafka, who noted there are five staff members tied to partial funding through school choice.
Like Stafford, he cautioned people to be very careful in linking a process to a legal process. There have been no investigations or proof that school choice has been used improperly.
Forth, who attended WHRHS with school choice students said such students become part of the community and made an impassioned argument on their behalf.
“They’re not a ‘school-choice kid,’ they’re a Panther,” he said, noting that students also come to W-H via move-ins, the foster care system or McKinney-Vento – which requires homeless students placed in shelters out of town to be transported back at district expense to attend school in their home districts – or English language learners. “They either are impacted by the district, or they contribute … they enrich our experience, they are our peers. They’re not ‘someone from another town.’”
In response to a question from Committee member Small, Szymaniak said school choice students do not have a great impact on class size because the 45 students are spread out across grade levels.
“Class size at the high school is very good with the exception of foreign language,” he said. “I think it’s been a good thing for our school … but I also hear where people are.” He said if a student lost a specific opportunity, such as a part in a school play, as a parent he would be upset.
“To me, this is an issue of community and access,” Scriven said. “The relationships that we nurture, and the people that we interact with on a daily basis in our community really, really matters for a lot. … Kids in our community should be our top priority.”
He argued that it is the average student that is most negatively affected by school choice.
In other business, the committee heard a review of budget numbers, their impact on the district’s hold-harmess status and possible ways to use excess and deficiency funds to improve the towns’ assessment figures. No changes have been made to the budget from the previous week.
“I thought it would take a lot longer to get out of hold harmless than it looks like we’re going to, because we just made up a substantial amount of it in one year alone,” Business Manager John Stanbrook said.
When the district comes out of hold harmless, Chapter 70 funds should increase to the district,” Szymaniak suggested, adding that the district had thought it would take until FY 2028 to get this far. Stanbrook agreed.
“We get credited more [toward emerging from hold harmless] for English language learners, low-income students and [increased] overall enrollment, and from going to half-day kindergarten to full-day K,” Szymaniak said. “There was a definite increase in our foundation budget, which then lowered our hold harmless.”
Howard noted it has decreased from about $4 million to $500,000 to $600,000.
“When we talked about it last year, no one expected a jump that big,” Howard said. “So there’s some cause for optimism going forward.”

In June 2022, as the school year wound to close, the senior class members were not the only ones looking ahead to the next step in life. W-H music teachers Devin Dondero and Donald Legge were also ready to close the books and try something new.
Life, sometimes cruelly, has other plans.
Shortly after his retirement, Dondero was diagnosed with late-stage bladder cancer.
Tonight, Thursday, March 2 – from 6 to 9 p.m. at the high school library – the Fine Arts Department at WHRHS will host a fundraiser to help defray some of the medical expenses involved in that battle with cancer.
The concert, art raffle and reception – which Dondero plans to attend, according to Instrumental Music Teacher Brian Rowe.
Rowe asked that anyone who finds themselves in close proximity to, or wishing to greet Dondero at the event, wear a mask to protect him from further illness. Dondero had just received medical clearance to attend on Monday.
“As a school community, that has been devastated with the news, of his health, because he’s probably one of the healthiest and most athletic guys I have ever met,” Rowe said. “He’s one of those guys, where his health is his wealth and music is his passion.”
Both Dondero and Legge, at the time of their retirement, planned that the next chapter was a chance for more opportunities to perform — jazz trombone for Dondero and guitar for Legge — as they awaited, bringing their musical journey full circle.
Both majored in music performance, and taught to pass on their love of music.
They would be giving some lessons, yes, but performing was their main focus. Dondero, who also plays bass, is part of a blues trio for bass, but said the trombone gigs pay better.
“I think we realized at the stage of our development here as music educators, it was the time to go,” Dondero said at the time. “For two very important reasons — it’s going to be better for the department because now they’re hiring three people, which is really good because that means the department will take a huge step forward.
“Devin was a respected member of our school community and was especially beloved by his music students,” said Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak. “Although his diagnosis is devastating, I’m hoping this event can ease some of the fnancial stress that he and his famiy are feeling.”
Rowe is one of those younger people, taking Dondero’s position at W-H.
“To see a guy go through something like this and battle with cancer again,” Rowe said.
Dondero had faced cancer once before and beat it.
He said the school community learned of Dondero’s illness a couple weeks ago, noting his students felt the full brunt of the sad news when they returned to school after their weekend.
“Definitely the morale of the band room was low,” Rowe said, noting he and new choir director Gregory Daigle along with the parents’ organization, W-H Friends of Music, the idea for the benefit evening was developed.
Rowe described the event as an evening of raffles, art and music.
Baskets made from items donate by local businesses and organizations will be raffled as well as student artwork from design classes. Culinary students are creating refreshments to serve and sell, as well, and music students will be performing.
“Anybody can take part,” Rowe said. “It’s a raffle-oriented occasion and we are also providing a live QR code we’ll be sending out to parents and the community that they can donate virtually through, in case they are unable to attend.”
The event will be taped for rebroadcast over WHCA-TV and, Rowe hoped it could be livestreamed on whca.tv.
‘We’ll be having a great night of music, art and food that will [honor] a guy who worked so hard to bring fine arts to the community,” Rowe said. “The students who are performing today and are giving their time, are really a product of his hard work and his dedication to the community. This is really a great testament to him for what he’s brought to us and we’re hopefully going to make a sizeable dent in some of his medical costs – to keep him happy, keep him healthy for as long as we possibly can.”

HANSON – Sometimes the damage you can’t see is worse than that you can see.
The Hanson Multi-Service Senior Center has found that to be the case after pipes frozen during this month’s polar cold snap resulted in a flooded floor when those pipes burst.
Director Mary Collins had planned on some repairs, covered by the town’s insurance and the ability to use the rest of the facility because the rest room was still useable, would mean no interruption of services to the elder population.
Then came some bad news – followed by some good news – that changed Collins’ plans.
The bad news: “We’re on the road,” Collins said last week. “We had some damage done by water as a result of a pipe that burst during our last cold spell.”
The good news: That road is leading to Camp Kiwanee’s Needles Lodge, which had been offered to the center initially. Programs will begin at Kiwanee on Monday, Feb. 27.
“We’re incredibly grateful to Dori Jamieson, who is the administrative assistant as well as the Camp Kiwanee Commission, for reaching out and offering the facility” she said, also extending thanks to Select Board members, Town Administrator Lisa Green, and the police and fire departments for their assistance.
“They have been instrumental in staying on top of it,” Collins said. Facilities Director Charlie Baker and Senior Center custodian Mal Hession reported the burst pipes at 5:30 a.m., Monday, Feb. 6 to her and turned off the water to prevent further damage. Security cameras showed the pipes had burst at about 6:30 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 5.
“Because he was so quick about the phone call, I was able to reach out to Charlie Baker and he, in turn, called the plumber,” she said. “When I arrived that morning, the plumber was already here.”
She also said local Inspector Kerry Glass has also been incredibly helpful.
“To me, it’s a testament to how our departments work so well together,” she said. “The library has been incredibly supportive of us in general, because they know how much everything that we do here means to us.”
Collins had been initially concerned about damage to the walls that she could see.
“But then, there was a lot of other things that we couldn’t see,” she said.
Hanson’s insurance carrier, MIIA came quickly to assess the damage by a claims adjuster, who, in turn had a remediation team travel to the center to conduct tests.
“That’s when we realized how widespread it was,” she said.
Water damage will require complete replacement of some walls, while others only sustained damage as high as a few feet up from the floor.
“They speculate that it will be about a two and a half week period that we will be at Camp Kiwanee,” she said. “Plans are in place with Camp Kiwanee as well as our IT Director Steve Moberg, He’s been on top of it and has made arrangements for phones and our computers, so we don’t anticipate any stoppage of services that we can provide.”
All regularly-scheduled services and programs will continue as usual.
The library has also had to make decisions about certain activities that used the Senior Center on weekends, Collins said.
An animal program that had been planned for the Senior Center on Feb. 24 had to be moved to the smaller library Community Room.
“It may be a tight squeeze for them, so that’s where the concern is,” she said. “This has impacted everyone, but – again – we will be available by phone. We are going to continue to provide our services Medicare applications, you need to discuss fuel assistance, we’re there.”
Meals on Wheels will be delivered to Kiwanee for preparation and packaging for volunteer drivers to distribute from there. Pre-packaged meals have been ordered for the Tuesday and Wednesday congregate lunches, held at Kiwanee.
There is handicapped parking available, and assistance will be available and visible, Collins said.
The company contracted by MIIA to do the repair work will come in and do the required demolition of damaged area, removal of debris and the rebuild, starting Friday, Feb. 24, when they will start identifying what needs to be moved into a storage pod.