The School Committee on Wednesday, April 22, again failed to set a fiscal 2021 budget figure as the assessment formula impasse continues.

The committee voted 5 to 4 against setting a budget number of  $55,320,238. Committee members Steven Bois, Dawn Byers, Dan Cullity, Fred Small and Alexandria Taylor voted in favor of Byers’ motion for a $55,320,238 budget, including the return of four teachers cut last year. Christopher Howard, Michael Jones, Christopher Scriven and Chairman Bob Hayes voted no. Member Robert O’Brien Jr., was not present. Hayes said his no votes were because of expected information from the state by the end of the week.

“There’s no ‘win’ in this, this isn’t a game,” he said. “We’re trying to do the best we can and there’s 10 of us.’

Two-thirds of the full committee must vote in favor of a budget for it to pass.

In the fiscal 2020 budget, the bottom line was $52,425,738. The required budget without the added four teaching positions is $55,040,237 — a 5-percent increase equating to $2,614,499.

Small moved that the budget be set at $55,040,237, which was also rejected by a 5 to 4 vote. Bois, Cullity, Small and Taylor voted in favor of the lower number with Byers joining Howard, Jones Scriven and Hayes in voting no.

Taylor asked if she was correct in her conclusion that there was no number Hanson members would support unless they heard something different from the committee regarding an assessment compromise.

“That is true,” Jones said. “Until Whitman makes a deal with our selectmen, we’re not going to vote yes.”

“Excuse me for being rude, but I think that’s extremely irresponsible,” Taylor said. “We need to set a number.”

“That’s your opinion,” Jones said. “You’re going to set a budget that Hanson’s going to oppose and [for] years and years, that’s going to have negative effects on our district. We’re looking at the bigger picture.”

Taylor said she is losing patience with the committee, even as she sympathizes with Hanson’s position. Howard has asked for the assessment discussion to be placed on this week’s agenda.

Byers opposed the lower figure as failing to address class size requirements before the schools reopen in the fall to students returning for the first time since mid-March.

“I believe setting this budget does meaningfully protect our students, because what it does is tell Commissioner Riley that we believe in what our students need,” Byers said in support if the $55,320,238. “We know what they need, we know what our teachers need, and that’s what we’re voting for.”

Cullity argued waiting another four or five weeks to set a budget would accomplish nothing, reminding the committee that its job is to set a budget that the towns are charged with voting on it.

“I’m not saying this is it, and it can’t change,” Cullity said about the budget number. “We shouldn’t be taking things away from the kids. We’ve got to throw it at the towns and see what the towns say.”

Small agreed, arguing that setting a budget now would not avoid a 1/12 budget, but towns need information.

“I firmly believe, based on the new information from the superintendent, the changing times, the $53 million and change as a budget is the bare-bones of what these kids need,” Small said. “To do anything else … would not be a responsible act. Let’s give the towns the number.”

Howard countered that he would like to see an agenda item next week that allows a vote on rescinding the statutory assessment formula, allowing Hanson officials to come up with a compromise. He argued that Whitman’s take-it-or-leave-it attitude would decimate the district.

“As a committee, we have to put forth that [budget number] to the towns to vote on it,” Cullity said. “But we can’t keep taking away from the school system. We have to set the goal and give them what we think the children of the region need.”

Whether both towns approve that budget number is not up to the School Committee, their job is to inform the tows as to what the schools need.

“We still need to get a budget out of committee,” he said, arguing a compromise is unlikely this year. “Then, if it’s denied, it’s brought back to us again to discuss, but hen we really have to take on a bigger role of what is going to happen to the future of this school district.”

While agreeing that the committee’s role is to support the district as much as possible, Scriven, like Small, Cullity and Byers, a Whitman resident, argued there has not been a concerted effort in good faith from Whitman to come up with a compromise.

Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak. “The challenge is … we’re getting conflicting guidance with COVID and the fact that town meetings are moving around … on how a 1/12 budget will look for regional schools.” Some towns within regional districts aren’t going to have town meetings until June or July, if they can have them, he related.

Because schools will not reopen for the rest of the year, Szymaniak is compiling cost estimates from facilities, athletics honorariums for spring varsity coaches who have been working to keep students engaged. But he expects to see savings in athletics, regular building cleaning costs and utilities.

“We just don’t know those savings yet,” he said.

Whitman Selectman Randy LaMattina had asked in a letter to Christine Lynch of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) about the problems in agreeing to a budget, specifically whether if, under a 1/12 budget, Whitman could end up providing more payments than last year, ultimately giving the distict more than level-funding in fiscal 2021.

Lynch responded that many, if not most, regional school districts will be operating under a 1/12 budget this yea, and that DESE would soon be issuing guidelines to help districts and member towns navigate the process.

The commissioner of education would set a budget that is, generally, not less than the previous fiscal year’s, but member assessments would change from the previous fiscal year due to changes in minimum local contributions, enrollment shares and potential changes in state aid.

Further guidance was expected to be issued Friday, April 24, prompting Hayes to schedule another School Committee meeting for Wednesday, April 29 (after the Express goes to press).

Szymaniak said he may be able to recoup costs of COVID-related expenses from cleaning and safety equipment, but it takes time to process state and federal paperwork. Because van drivers who work with North River Collaborative are furloughed, he also expects a 50-percent savings in special education transportation costs for the remainder of the school year. North River teachers are still working and paraprofessionals are either engaging with students or working on required professional development benchmarks and are being paid, even while the students are not being transported.

Cafeteria workers were being furloughed on Monday, April 27.

Now that school is out, the lack of preschool and kindergarten tuition will create a deficit in those programs.

Small asked if other school budget lines were being examined for potential cost savings.

“We’re going to look at everything, not that it’s official,” Szymaniak said about the decision to keep schools closed. “We will have some savings. I just don’t have those dollar figures now.”

Byers suggested that, when the 450 Chromebooks out on loan to students are returned, the district would likely be faced with repair or replacement costs for damaged units.

“Not only repairs and replacement, but we’re going to have to clean them,” Hayes said. “It doesn’t sound like much, but the cleanliness of these buildings is all going to come into play before September.”

Assistant Superintendent George Ferro raised the question of what schools would have to do if student desks have to be placed six feet apart in September.

A 1/12 budget based on fiscal 2020, could result in the loss of 48 more people, including unemployment costs, with an impact on class size across the district, Szymaniak said.

“Coming off of a timeframe where kids haven’t been in a classroom since March, that’s a tremendous effect on student learning in this district,” he said.

“I think it’s best that we hold off and get as much information as we can,” said Scriven. “The more we educate ourselves, the better.”

A committee reviewing the regional school agreement has agreed, in principle, that a statutory assessment to the towns is the likely result of its work, has begun the task of negotiating a compromise path by which to get there.

The W-H Regional Agreement Amendment Committee, a subcommittee of the W-H School Committee, met remotely for it’s first session via Zoom Meeting Wednesday, April 15.

School Committee Vice Chairman Christopher Scriven, of Whitman was elected as chairman, as subcommittees are generally chaired by a member of the School Committee.

Scriven opened the meeting by seeking for suggestions within the charge of amending the regional agreement that could help resolve the current impasse on the school budget.

“If we look at the exiting regional agreement, the language around the apportionment of operating costs … presently spells out the agreement methodology that I think everyone on this call is fully ware of,” said Hanson School Committee member Christopher Howard.

He suggested a phased approach of specific language within the agreement to create a framework that would enable the two communities to move past this year after focus only on that issue until the budget is settled.

“Then, after the budget cycle, or concurrently, we work toward fully working through the agreement itself,” he said.

Howard said just tweaking the last revision is not enough, but that the new committee must look at too many issues to re-examine them all at once.

“What I would propose is a phased approach,” he said.

Whitman Finance Committee Chairman Richard Anderson, also a member of the RAAC, said he was unable to adequately convey his disgust at the School Committee’s inability to agree on a budget yet. He reminded the panel that the Whitman FinCom has stated publicly before that it will not support any assessment calculated by any formula other than the statutory method.

“I’ve been tasked further by the full committee to publically state that this Finance Committee will not recommend any phased implementation or any other financial consideration that causes us to pay Hanson’s bills,” Anderson said. “I would say I am opposed to any recommendation for changes to the regional agreement that would effect that type of a change.”

Hanson Citizen At-Large member of the committee Bruce Young said it was his impression that, in order to be on the panel, that he should be willing to compromise to help reach an agreement.

He agreed to keep an open mind on the issue.

“If you take a hard-ball approach and say, basically, this is going to be statutory or nothing, or basically this is going to be a percentage of pupils or nothing, then … there would be no way in the world that I would want to be on that committee,” Young said. “I’m looking for a fair compromise.”

He noted that Hanson would like to continue to operate the assessment split the same way as has been done for the past 60 years, and he recognized why Whitman would favor the statutory method, which benefits Whitman by about $1.5 million. Young agreed with Howard that an average of the two methods — which puts the towns at only $500,000 to $600,000 apart — is a better place to start.

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

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

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

Hanson Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said that, while she can appreciate where Anderson is coming from, he is one member of the RAAC.

“If the majority of the committee is willing to work on some type of compromise … we’ve got to start someplace,” she said. “Without compromise, I don’t even see why we’re meeting.”

Whitman Citizen At-Large member Christopher George said any compromise must be carefully drafted, assuming a compromise is possible.

George presented the argument that a statutory assessment was the likely end result, and that the work of a compromise would involve how the towns arrive at that point. Howard, FitzGerald-Kemmett and Young all agreed that the argument had merit.

Local assessments are not permitted to go down, he noted.

“We should outline the goals of this committee before we get too far into this conversation,” said Whitman Selectman Justin Evans, also a member of the RAAC. “Even if we were able to send something to DESE tomorrow, they’ve got a lot going on right now. They’re probably not going to be able to approve anything for the next two months.”

He cautioned that any compromise agreement reached for this budget cycle would have to fall under the current regional agreement and Chapter 70 rules.

“To be honest, my objective was to get past our [budget] impasse, and however we need to do that legally,” Scriven said. “We can meet as often as we need to.”

After the subcommittee reaches an agreement, it must be approved by the full School Committee and sent to DESE for approval and ratification by the towns. Anderson likened it to an “exercise in futility,” as he did not think it likely that either town would accept any type of compromise that includes its town departments supplementing their budgets with budgets of a member town.

If an average for compromise were to be used, he advocated going back over the past six years that Whitman has overpaid — a figure he put at closer to $4.2 million — as a starting point.

“In my estimation, the compromise has already taken place and [Whitman is] still on the losing side,” Anderson said.

Howard argued both towns have benefitted financially from the regional agreement.

Young asked for an explanation of “retroactive overpay” and stressed that if someone actually believed in it, the committee was not going to get anywhere.

Anderson said that was not the term he used, but that he could provide documentation to the committee on the amount Whitman overpaid in assessments after the state shifted to the statutory agreement.

Scriven stressed the benefits of the region above financial consideration and that he hoped the committee would keep that in mind. Anderson agreed, but noted Whitman also faces the financial challenges of a new or renovated middle school and a DPW facility where conditions could accurately be described as hazardous — in the coming years.

Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said the committee’s charge is also to review the regional agreement in its entirety, but the first task if getting out a school budget that the towns can vote on in June.

The School Committee, meeting via Zoom conference call on Wednesday, April 8, learned the reconsideration vote which approved setting the budget at $55,040,238 by a 7-2 vote was improper.

It failed to set a budget on a re-vote 7-3 with only Whitman’s Steve Bois, Dan Cullity and Fred Small voting in favor.

An amendment to set the budget at $55,320,328 including the return of the four teachers failed 6-4 with only Whitman members Bois, Cullity, Dawn Byers, and Alexandria Taylor voting for it.

“We do not have a budget number yet,” said Chairman Bob Hayes.

The committee also voted to forego April vacation — with the full support of the WHEA — to enable setting June 15 as the last day off the school year,

Hayes admitted his error in stating the affirmative votes in the 5-4 vote to set the budget on the first try was the side to move for reconsideration. In fact, it was the prevailing side — the four votes preventing a two-thirds majority to pass the motion — that was to have the opportunity to move for reconsideration. The committee also did not re-vote on the number.

School Committee member Christopher Scriven of Whitman suggested that, since Whitman has postponed its Town Meeting until at least June 3, the committee is not faced with a need to submit a budget at this point.

“We don’t need to set a budget at this point. I think we should think about that before we go ahead and vote something,” Scriven said, after speaking to legal counsel. Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said he also spoke with the School Department’s legal counsel, who concurred that a budget need not be set yet.

“We don’t have to set a budget today,” Szymaniak said. “We’re within the 45 days and new legislation that came out today … about, if we don’t have a budget by July 1, what that means to us.”

Whitman Committee member Steve Bois said he would not vote for a budget that does not include the four teachers because he has heard from several residents how critical that is.

Two Whitman residents also sent emails to the committee decrying the budget vote that did not include the four teachers cut from the budget last year, citing concerns over equity since Whitman schools have higher class sizes and number of low-income families.

“There are a lot of unknowns right now,” said committee member Christopher Howard of Hanson. “We know that state revenue is going to change, we know revenues for the town of Whitman are going to change, we know revenues for the town of Hanson are going to change, and it’s likely — depending on what happens to the rest of the school year — that the school budget is going to change and that’s going to impact us, as well.”

Howard said the committee has not yet reached the point where it can responsibly set a budget. He is “all in” for returning teachers for the benefit of students, but has an issue with the extraordinary time both communities are facing.

Whitman committee member Fred Small noted that the panel has the ability to change its budget numbers right up to town meeting. He said the district is likely to see cuts to regional transportation reimbursement, and that the state is likely to impose 9C cuts for fiscal 2020 before the committee even sets the 2021 budget.

“I agree that we need four teachers, I just don’t know how to pay for them,” Small said.

Szymaniak said teachers could be moved around in-district, within their certification if necessary, to ease class sizes.

“I recognize that life as we know it has changed with coronavirus,” said Whitman committee member Dawn Byers, in urging the committee to maintain its focus. “Coronavirus is impacting the entire world, but still, for the purposes of this committee and the policy we need to set, which is a budget, I still feel we need to focus on our goals — and I know we have a district goal of class sizes, no more than 20 in K-three, no more than 25 in fourth and fifth grade. It’s really frustrating for everyone at this point.”

She said, the revenue problems are not new and were something she heard about for years, but had turned out to be an assessment problem, an excess levy problem.

She then moved to set the budget at $55,320,328 to include the return of the four teachers.

“When I look at this budget I think about what it doesn’t have,” she said.

Scriven countered that it would be in the best interests of the district in the long run to delay a decision until the regional agreement committee can start to work on determining an assessment method. That committee is tentatively slated to meet on Wednesday, April 15.

Hanson committee member Michael Jones agreed.

Committee member Alexandria Taylor of Whitman urged a vote as the committee had “kicked the can down the road” for weeks while knowing the needs of the schools and district.

Howard, who works for a bank where he has seen thousands of deferments on auto loans already, said he wants to see that the committee sets the right budget that the towns will support to take care of the district’s children.

“This is nothing I’ve ever seen before in terms of impact,” he said.

Whitman committee member Dan Cullity said that, while there are revenue concerns, the School Committee has to focus on setting a budget for the schools so Finance Committees can begin working with the numbers.

“Tonight we should be setting something, even though we know, in our hearts that we’re going to take a major hit somewhere down the line over the next few months because the money just won’t be there,” he said.

Cleanup slows

In other business, Szymaniak said that due to a positive COVID-19 by the significant other of a facilities employee has led to a slow-down in school building cleaning. Most SJ employees who were cleaning buildings are now under quarantine as of Monday, April 6.

Most district staff were already working from home, Szymaniak said.

WHITMAN — The annual Town Meeting will be delayed by at least 30 days and the annual Town Election will be pushed into June, with a date to be determined by June 9, the Board of Selectmen decided on Tuesday, April 7.

Health Board Chairman Eric Joubert said Town Administrator Frank Lynam has done an outstanding job of acting to control the spread of the virus.

“We’ve all contributed,” Lynam said, crediting the Health and Fire departments for their response, as well. Links on the town website whitman-ma.gov provide updated information.

The state has passed two emergency bills, Chapter 53 and Chapter 45, that affect towns’ ability to manage and control when town meetings and elections are held, according to Lynam.

“More importantly, the town has been working at minimizing exposure of employees to the virus by working rotating staffs so that we have the minimum number of people necessary to operate in each office,” Lynam said. “All of the essential functions are being performed. We are experiencing some increase in expenses due to our need to take care of and maintain facilities, but all-in-all, I think the town is doing pretty well, and all of its departments have made the effort to make this thing work.”

He said that, to his knowledge, no town employees have tested positive for COVID-19, but some have family members who have and they have managed the cases to minimize exposure.

One of Lynam’s main concerns going forward is on the effect of coronavirus on revenue.

“Eventually, it’s going to trickle down to us,” he said, noting he expects the state to announce that the drop in lottery sales alone could be responsible for a forecast 10-percent drop in local aid receipts. Sales taxes and meals taxes are also down.

The town moderator can extend the Town Meeting date for 30 days at a time — and the board voted to advise that Moderator Michael Seele do that, as most surrounding towns have already done. The postponement pushed it to June 3, but it could be revisited.

Calling into the Zoom Meeting, Seele asked for an opinion for public health and safety personnel.

“I think we’re all in agreement that the less social contact, the better,” Joubert said of his discussions with police and fire officials about both the Town Meeting and election. “Delaying the election would be the most appropriate thing to do from a public health standpoint.”

Fire Chief Timothy Grenno agreed.

“Things are rough in town,” Grenno said. “I don’t think a May 4 [Town Meeting] date would even be approachable right now for us to have a large gathering. It’s just not a safe thing to do.”

The Town Election must be held by June 30. Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski said he does not think it would be safe to hold either as scheduled, and agreed that would be the wise move.

Town Clerk Dawn Varley said the board was permitted to vote to delay a vote without a date — which doesn’t have to be set until June 9. She is going to proceed with having the ballots printed with the May 16 date on them, but that won’t affect votes, which will be counted when the election is held.

Lynam endorsed that suggestion in the interest of flexibility for the town the election should be postponed with a date to be determined later.

“I’m highly recommending that people start now to early vote,” Varley said of the municipal early voting form — different from absentee voting. “They’ve allowed a lot of leeway for this election because a lot of towns already have their ballot printed. … I don’t want to see anybody in Town Hall.”

Residents can contact the Town Clerk’s office at 781-618-9710.

Kowalski noted that, since he and Selectman Randy LaMattina are both up for re-election, their votes reflect only a concern for public safety.

Selectman Brian Bezanson expressed concern about the number of people out walking in Whitman Park.

“There are an awful lot of people out there,” he said. “I can see that they were somewhat trying to distance themselves, and it was a beautiful day.” But he asked if the parks were included in any restriction on gathering in public places.

Restrictions have only been placed on playground equipment and basketball courts.

Lynam said the police are conducting hourly passes through the park and are “encouraging them to move on” if they see people ignoring guidelines for physical distancing. Joubert said the intention is not to have to close the parks so long as the public cooperates.

“It’s a great time to be a dog,” Kowalski quipped. “Dogs are getting more attention than anyone.”

HANSON — With the coronavirus pandemic forcing the cancellation of it’s annual Clean Up Green Up — which had been slated for Saturday, April 25 — Green Hanson is looking at another way to hold its annual town-wide spring cleaning.

Meeting remotely via Zoom conference call Monday, April 6, members Marianne DiMascio, Susan Gaspar, Melissa Valachovic, Arlene Dias and Maureen Twomey, are planning a week-long observance residents can participate in remotely.

Twomey suggested the group sponsor this year’s clean up event as an Earth Week observance, in which residents can select the day on which they want to participate between April 19 to 25. The official Earth Day observance is April 22.

Green Hanson will be confirming the proposal with Highway Director Matt Cahill before officially advertising the event. Informational flyers will then be posted at Shaw’s and other stores still doing business, the transfer station, town websites and social media groups, on WHCA-TV and in the Express.

Some Hanson residents, as well as Green Hanson members, have already been working to clean town roadsides, with Gaspar reporting she has found masks and rubber gloves thrown out on the street.

Twomey has cleaned the streets near Hanson Public Library, filling three trash bags and removing a polystyrene cooler from the underbrush.

Some people have contacted Gaspar about continuing the “hot spot” approach, where a small group of people could work at the proper physical distance.

“I like the idea of still doing it on the 25th with a possible rain date,” Valachovic said. She said she liked the idea of people cleaning up and bringing filled trash bags to Town Hall for collection by Highway Department staff, but the group decided that created sanitation concerns.

Instead, they plan to arrange a way to let the Highway Department where to find the filled trash bags along the roadsides. They will be communicating with the community via posts on the group’s Facebook page: facebook.com/groups/480117582029777 as well as other Hanson social media pages.

The School Committee on Wednesday, March 25 delayed a vote on the budget for another week.

Chairman Bob Hayes told members that he had received several calls and emails requesting a delay in a vote on the budget until the public could attend a meeting.

“I was shocked at the phone calls and emails I got,” Hayes said. “I’m not saying not to do this, I’m just throwing it out there to see how the rest of you thought about this.”

School Committee member Fred Small said residents could email their questions or written statements to the Superintendent’s Administrative Assistant Michelle Lindberg to be read at the Wednesday, April1 meeting.

The “drop-dead” date for a budget vote has changed to April 30.

“We’re stretching it that way,” Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said. “We’re really supposed to get something to the towns 30 days prior to Town Meeting.”

That date would be April 4 if Whitman does not push its meeting beyond the original May 4 date as Hanson has [see related story]. Szymaniak also wants to see what the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is recommending based on legislation Gov. Charlie Baker has filed pertaining to regional schools.

“We can talk budget today, but there is a little more flexibility right now because of where we are with the [corona]virus and things changing so rapidly,” Szymaniak said, noting that the extra time would provide time for the district to consult with legal counsel about the DESE regional schools legislation now pending.

“Where we’re still waiting for some financial numbers of our own, and we’re not 100-percent confident of where we stand, I would think it would be prudent to get the gist of those questions before we move forward to voting a budget,” Small said. “I believe we’ve got to do it, and the sooner we do it the better, but I think we need the answers to those questions, as well.”

Cullity agreed, arguing that taking $100,000 from excess and deficiency to fund deep cleaning of the schools will hamstring the committee’s ability to use E&D for budget shortfalls and for the line item to rebound later.

A level-service budget would mean 37 staff members cut — 48 when the cost of unemployment benefits are calculated into the final number of $65,000 per staff member ina $1.3 million to $2.9 million budget cut. There are 44 teachers and Whitman Middle School alone.

“If we cut 48 it will be like closing a whole building,” Szymaniak said. “It would blow up class size. It would affect every school.”

Hanson members of the School Committee indicated they are still waiting for an update on the work being done to seek a compromise on the assessment formula before they are ready to vote on a budget. Small said he understood that stance, but stressed both towns should be encouraged to continue talking, but time is running out.

“We come up with a budget and, how it’s funded is up to the towns to battle it out,” Small said. Committee member Dawn Byers agreed.

“It’s up to us to set an educationally sound budget,” Byers said.

She suggested a discussion of sports user fees or student parking fees in any decision toward raising revenue. She also urged towns to look at fees for non-mandated school bus ridership.

“The fact that we talked about all along was there would be a compromise,” member Christopher Howard said of the assessment formula. “The fact that it’s looking like Whitman would have that [May 4] Town Meeting would, to me, indicate that we should be at a point of compromise.”

Without a compromise, Howard said he was willing to continue discussions, but his opinion would not change. Committee Vice Chairman Christopher Scriven said that is a reasonable expectation.

Small asked that Szymaniak hold a Zoom meeting with the town administrators to find out where the compromise discussion stands. Szymaniak agreed to do so.

“From what I’m hearing from DESE and our attorney, there is no legal precedent if we don’t get a budget out of committee,” Szymaniak said.

Hanson Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett texted to Hayes that nothing has been discussed recently because town officials have been busy dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. But a conversation can take place in order to update the committee on April 1.

HANSON — Former Selectman Bruce Young has been named to the W-H Regional Agreement Review Committee, with resident Marilyn Webber selected as an alternate.

Webber was also encouraged to run for a seat on the School Committee being vacated by Robert O’Brien Jr., who has opted not to run for another term. The 5-0 votes took place at the Tuesday, March 17 Selectmen’s meeting, the last held in-person until further notice.

All meetings will now be held via telephone conference call with the audio recorded to be available for rebroadcast on Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV. All votes taken in such meetings are conducted by roll call.

In an interview over the phone, Young pointed to his experience, and submitted a resume of his experience in town government for the board’s consideration.

He retired from town government in 2017, with nearly 40 years’ experience in one capacity or another, including three non-consecutive terms on the Board of Selectmen, chairman of the Finance Committee during the Proposition 2 ½ transition and the School Priority Repair Committee.

“We all compromised, and we reached an agreement that we would put together a good repair package to basically get a debt exclusion passed to not only fix that roof on the [Indian Head] school, but also to put the lintels on the back of the building to preserve that building for the immediate future,” Young said of the school repair panel, which included members from both sides of a defeated proposal to build a new elementary school.

“I’ve shown my ability to compromise,” Young said, noting he is also conversant with the assessment formulas in question. “Both towns are going to have to compromise on this, and I know what the figures are, I think I have a good plan in place that I can put forward to help that committee arrive at a compromise.”

Webber said she has been a Hanson resident for more than 40 years and has two grown children who have gone through the local school system. She is also a retired principal, elementary grade teacher and reading specialist.

“I’m certainly ready to lend a hand with any of the negotiating that might have to happen,” she said. “I’ve been involved in budgets, and I consider myself a very calm and cool negotiator.”

Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said it was crucial for the representative chosen to approach the work with an open mind and spirit of cooperation.

“The skills we need to have are diplomacy, understanding of the Regional Agreement, understanding of the impact that each choice would have and, I think, those are things that are going to be presented as they start negotiating,” she said.

Both Young and Webber said they were prepared to do that.

“I see all sides of stories and feel I could do that in a cooperative manner,” Webber said.

Vice Chairman Kenny Mitchell said Young’s experience with the schools made him the better choice, but encouraged Webber to consider a run for School Committee.

She indicated she would consider that option.

“I honestly have to say this is one of the toughest appointments we’ve had to make,” he said. “Both individuals are great.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett then suggested appointing Webber as an alternate.

Hanson’s Animal Control Officer Mary Drake was re-appointed to a six-month term. The appointment, which is usually for one year, has been truncated on legal counsel’s advice, as the town is examining a potential regional arrangement with other communities, which may or may not effect her.

The W-H Regional School Committee on Thursday, March 12 decided to reconvene later this month to set a budget for fiscal 2021.

“We have to make decisions,” said Committee Chairman Bob Hayes. “This discussion that we’ve had, we’ve had the last three or four meetings. Nothing’s changed.”

Committee member Steve Bois had moved that assessments totaling $28,528,937 be divided between the two towns, but it was rejected by a 5-4 vote. Seven votes were required to pass it.

Another meeting was then rescheduled, initially until March 18, but pushed forward this week to Wednesday, March 25 due to concerns over the coronavirus and public safety.

“I’m not sure we can support the required [budget], it pains me to say that, but I can say that because I think we really need to do going forward, is work with both towns for the following year, to do a full restore, which will require an override in both towns,” School Committee member Christopher Howard said. “I am not comfortable moving forward with a budget until I hear the towns have reached a compromise.”

He also said he does not see why a budget has to be set now. Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said the district’s legal counsel has advised that a budget must be set by 30 days prior to the May 4 town meetings.

Szymaniak added that, while compromise is good, he does not know what the towns can afford right now.

“I don’t know what to cut right now,” he said. “I think we gave you a fair budget that’s level-serviced. … We tried not to give you everything.”

He said the committee needs to tell him how much to cut and he would have to find where the cuts must be made.

Whitman resident Christopher George, named this month as a citizen at-large member of a regional agreement committee, said he understands, the assessment formulas, has a level head and that the two towns are close to a compromise.

“What I would say, though, is there can’t be a compromise without a number that we’re working toward,” George said.

Howard disagreed, arguing that the towns have to come to an agreement on how the compromise can be made before numbers are decided upon. School Committee member Dan Cullity advocated that the panel join the discussions between the two select boards and town administrators as they discuss an assessment compromise.

Hanson Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed that Szymaniak and Assistant Superintendent George Ferro would be valuable additions to the process.

She also said that, while she appreciated the School Committee’s position and perspective, she found it troubling that the move to a statutory assessment formula was difficult.

“But if you set the assessment at the place that you just talked about, I can assure you that you’ve left me nothing that I can go back to my voters and the citizens of Hanson with,” she said. “It’s just not going to happen and, in effect, if you set it at that, you’re going to be setting a ball in motion that I am powerless to stop.”

She said it would end up having the state take over.

Hanson is willing to go back and consider a modest override, but anything more would “eviscerate” her town’s finances. She advocated for the return of several educational programs, but warned it could not all be done in a single year.

Howard asked if any compromise had been discussed between the two towns. FitzGerald-Kemmett said the only way for that to be achieved would be to build in a gradual change toward the statutory formula during the revision of the regional agreement.

Cullity agreed it would come back to a compromise in negotiating the regional agreement.

“I’d rather see something like that happen than lose this district to the state,” he said.

Adding back $280,000 for the four elementary-grade teachers laid off last year was discussed as a priority to control class sizes in elementary grades. The pupils would be at Duval and Indian Head as well as science class at the high school. Conley has been OK, but there have been 17 new students move into the district since October and some 200 new housing units will be fully online by the fall.

“Twenty-eight students in a fourth-grade class isn’t where we want to be, optimally,” Szymaniak said. “For grades three-plus, 25 is OK, under that — and we have first- and second-grades of 26 — I’d like that to be 19, and that’s where we can go if we get more staff.”

The teachers had not been included in the original required budget, but were moved up from the recommended budget.

“We have to give principals the autonomy to put people in the right  places. Our job here, in our spot, is to make sure they have the tools, and the tools are their teachers,” Szymaniak said.

“I’m fully cognizant of the fact that we do not, and are not, funding our schools to the level that we should,” Committee member Fred Small said, asking if returning the teachers is a necessity. “That being said, there’s blood out of a stone, and we have to be cognizant of what the towns can afford at this point.”

“I think we think it’s a necessity,” Ferro said. “I think, if you’re a parent of a student in that class, it’s a necessity, I think if you’re a teacher in that class, it’s a necessity. I think if you work at that building, it’s a necessity so, yeah, I think it’s a necessity.”

School Committee member Dawn Byers advocated returning the teachers, as well, noting that the towns have benefitted from increased state aid since the Education Reform Act in 1993.

“When we talk about collateral damage, it is the kids,” she said. “It is the students who have lost time — the kids that are in eighth grade right now and they lost that foreign language learning they had last year and that half-day kindergarten that doesn’t have the opportunity. I don’t see how we can cut anything.”

Szymaniak cautioned that state take-over of the school budget is not the answer to the impasse during a recent meeting to discuss Chapter 70 distribution between town officials and Mass. Association of Regional Schools (MARS) Executive Director Maureen Marshall and member Stephen Hemmand. The cost of de-regionalization and impact of a state takeover of the school budget were also discussed.

Both MARS representatives told local officials that they “might have a conversation about what’s affordable for both communities, potentially, and that might not be what we’re asking for to keep level service at this point,” Szymaniak said. “The two communities have to agree and [Hemmand] said there’s pain to that.”

Once, again, your mother was right.

Common-sense practices such as washing your hands properly is the best way to prevent the spread of illness, such as the COVID-19 (or 2019 Novel Coronavirus) from spreading.

Across the state, as of March 3, there were 1,083 people subject to quarantine; 638 who have completed monitoring and no longer in quarantine and 445 now undergoing quarantine.

On Tuesday, Gov. Charlie Baker declared a State of Emergency in Massachusetts to support the Commonwealth’s response to the outbreak of Coronavirus

The Baker-Polito Administration also announced new guidance for Executive Branch employees in order to prevent and mitigate the spread of COVID-19. This includes discontinuing all out-of-state work-related travel, canceling or virtually holding conferences, seminars, and other discretionary gatherings, informing employees not to attend external work-related conferences, seminars, or events, reminding employees feeling sick with fever or flu symptoms to not come into work, and encouraging high risk employees to talk with their supervisors to review possible alternative work assignments.

Health officials in both Whitman and Hanson reported this week that, while there is no alarm being seen in the communities, there have been questions asked in Hanson.

“They call more about a mouse than they do about Coronavirus,” Whitman Health Agent Alexis Andrews said Monday morning. “Basically, it’s just common-sense. Wash your hands, [disinfect] doorknobs, don’t touch your face. It’s basically flu-type things.”

The department has posted how the illness is spread, its symptoms and precautions against catching it.

Councils on aging are taking precautions as handwipes and paper towels are provided, along with hand-washing reminders, according to Whitman Director Barbara Garvey, who indicated the company through which the town purchases hand sanitizer is on backorder with the product.

A maintenance volunteer at the Whitman Senior Center is also keeping doorknobs and light fixtures wiped down, Garvey said, noting that seniors have not expressed much concern over the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States so far.

In Hanson, Director Mary Collins said that, along with the cleaning done by the part-time custodian, center staff have been trained in and are conducting, periodic sanitizing of door handles, knobs and control plates as well as bathrooms.

“We’re sanitizing throughout the day, especially surfaces people touch frequently,” Collins said. “Haven’t seen a lot of change in attendance, and people haven’t been talking much about it.”

Neither town has any reported cases of COVID-19 so far.

“The most important takeaway is washing your hands, staying home if you’re sick and if you are at all concerned — social distancing,” said Hanson Board of Health Chairman Arlene Dias. According to Dias, there have been few people contacting town officials about COVID-19 there, as well.

Former Health Board Chairman Tom Constantine sent a letter to selectmen with a list of questions about the outbreak, Dias said, but she said his questions pertained more to a pandemic.

Hanson has also posted information at Town Hall, the town website, sent information up to the senior center and library.

“I think people are so inundated every day, all day with information about Coronavirus,” Dias said. “They’re not calling us.”

She also said she is not seeing a lot of conversation about the issue on Facebook.

“People are more concerned about why people weren’t washing their hands before,” Dias said. “I think people are putting more energy into buying masks, buying hand sanitizer stuff like that — wiping down everything, maybe not taking trips that they were going to take — because they don’t know if they’re at risk or not.”

WHRSD has also posted information on its website for families of school children.

“We’re all doing the same thing,” Dias said. “The CDC is making the rules, sending it to Mass. Department of Public Health and DPH is telling us what it is we need to do. We’re all on the same page, and that’s how it always is.”

The DPH outlines what Health Boards must do, including for pandemic situations.

“I think they don’t want to create panic,” Dias said. “It’s bad enough people are out buying masks.”

Dias said masks or hand sanitizer are not needed.

“Soap and water is much better than anything you’re going to buy,” she said. “If you’re not sick, you’re going to make people scared if you are wearing a mask.”

About COVID-19

According to the DPH, COVID-19 (2019 Novel Coronavirus) was first detected in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. This viral infection has resulted in thousands of confirmed human infections, with the vast majority of cases in China. Other countries, including the United States, have identified a growing number of cases in people who have traveled to China. More recently, transmission has been noted in some countries that has not been directly linked to cases in China, indicating community-level transmission in some places.

Coronaviruses are respiratory viruses and are generally spread through respiratory secretions (such as droplets from coughs and sneezes) of an infected person to another person. Information about how this novel coronavirus spreads is still limited.

This coronavirus causes a respiratory (lung) infection. Symptoms of this infection include: fever; coughing; shortness of breath; in severe cases, pneumonia (infection in the lungs).

While most people recover from this infection, some infections can lead to severe disease or death. Older people and those with pre-existing medical problems seem to have a greater risk for severe disease.

There is no specific antiviral treatment for COVID-19, other than supportive care and relief of symptoms. Currently, there is no vaccine available to protect people from infection with the virus that causes COVID-19.

Although risk to Massachusetts residents from COVID-19 is low, the same precautions to help prevent colds and the flu can help protect against other respiratory viruses: Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds; Cover your coughs and sneezes; and stay home if you are sick.

Testing for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19is only available through the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Any healthcare provider who suspects a person is infected with 2019 Novel Coronavirus should call the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to discuss testing, at (617) 983-6800.

Selectmen from both towns told School Committee members on Wednesday, Feb. 26 they are ready to move forward with budget work, but need a bottom line figure from the schools.

“We need a budget,” said Whitman Selectman Randy LaMattina, noting that the School Committee’s job is to support the schools, superintendent and school budget. “I need you, relatively soon … to let us have that next piece of how we are going to work it.”

He said it is very tough to say you are going to work toward something when you don’t know what you’re working toward.”

He asked for a consensus from the committee whether the required or recommended budget was preferred and support it.

Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said he expects that the School Committee should be certifying a budget number to send to the towns regarding what assessments would be at a 7 p.m., meeting on Wednesday, March 4. The budget is posted on the W-H website.

School Committee members agreed they preferred taking a week to review the budget numbers before acting on them.

“The required piece is to keep us at status quo — level-serviced for 2021,” he said. “There are other items in that recommended piece that are up for discussion.”

Szymaniak said he is more than willing to meet with the Hanson Finance Committee in the meantime.

“I hate to say it, it feels like another year of treading water for us, that we can’t move ahead, that there is going to be budgetary constraints, and I don’t know that there’s a dollar amount that you can put on it,” said School Committee member Fred Small. “I can’t see us going backwards anymore.”

“This budget was prepared using a budget model over software, which allows us to look at budgets from previous years, said interim Business Manager John Tuffy. “It turns out that, over time, there have been some line items that have not been used anymore or consolidated in another line, but in order to keep the integrity of using that software … you’re going to get a budget where you see those blank lines.”

Whitman Finance Committee member Kathleen Ottina, speaking as a resident and grandmother, spoke to the School Committee about class sizes at Duval and in the one grade at Indian Head School in Hanson, where classes exceed 22 children.

“It had to happen this year, you really didn’t have any opportunity to think, ‘how else can we save money to come in under budget,’” she said. “But when you start these discussions, I would really urge you to take a look at the discrepancy between a class size of 19 for first and second graders in two schools and 24, 25, 26 at the Duval School. It’s really an inequity.”

She urged the committee to consider that the youngest students need much more one-on-one attention and should be a higher priority than other budget items.

School Committee member Dawn Byers, who also served on Whitman’s Budget Evaluation and Override Committee, noted that the latter panel had recommended a 5-percent assessment increase to Whitman for funding education. The required budget package carries a 4-percent assessment increase.

“Believe me, I’m sensitive to the statutory method and how it is affecting Hanson, as well, but I look to Whitman in a sense that, if we go with even that 4 percent number, what does FY ’22 look like?” Byers said. Using the statutory method in 2022 would mean a $1.3 million assessment to Whitman.

“It’s a big increase the following year,” she said. “So, what I’m asking is that you follow the recommendations of [consultant John] Madden …it translates to additional funding of about $228,000 in the Whitman Article 2 operating line item.”

Small said he realizes that Whitman has spent a lot of time studying what they could afford, adding that an increase for one town would mean in increase for the other.

“I’ve been thinking about this whole broad budget cycle discussion  for awhile,” Hanson School Committee member Christopher Howard said. “I’m not sure I really feel we’re doing what we said we’d do in terms of moving education forward.”

He said some of the issues Hanson has with the assessment is that the current budget cycle is an example of what he sees becoming an ongoing budget problem.

“I don’t know how I can support a budget that has an over $1 million swing toward Hanson,” he said. “It’s a very big, big issue, especially when it’s in conflict with the agreement that we made.”

Assessments based on per-pupil distribution was how the district was formed, he noted, pointing to a recent visit by Christine Lynch of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

“She was very clear, when she spoke to us on behalf of the state, that this body should absolutely understand the ramifications of that change to both towns before it made that decision,” Howard said.

Lynch had recommended a five-year phase-in of a change to mitigate the financial impact, he reminded the committee, especially as both towns are in tough financial shape.

“Just because the state gave us the opportunity to make the change, doesn’t mean we should take the change,” Howard said. “To me, it’s really about the partnership. Are we going to have a partnership or not?”

Hanson’s Board of Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett stressed that officials in that town are working to keep the partnership going. Meetings between the two select boards and a request to place the regional agreement on the Feb. 26 School Committee agenda for appointment of a revision committee reflected that commitment, she argued.

“You haven’t heard from the FinCom, because we need a number,” she said, noting Whitman has been working on the impact to its budget since last summer. “We’re going to need a minute.”

She also cautioned about risking a state takeover of the school district.

“I assure you, although people have tried to say that isn’t the Bogeyman, and we don’t need to be worried about it, that’s not what our attorney is telling us, it’s not what Selectmen I have spoken to in Dighton and Rehoboth are telling me,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “They’re telling me that home values have deteriorated, that new families will hesitate to move to town, because they get a very strong signal that the schools aren’t being supported and I don’t want to be responsible for that.”

She said her mission is to take a position of leadership in the hope that calmer heads will prevail.

“It’s going to take a minute,” she said, adding that this year level-funding is about the best that could be expected form Hanson, based on what is discussed at selectmen’s meetings and from residents’ comments. “They really don’t even want an override.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett said any partnership between the school district and the towns will require a sensitivity to what each is going through. If the end goal is to truly move educational programs forward, she advised that the School Committee not try to do it all in one year.

“It’s actually going to boomerang and you are actually going to have people digging in and saying, ‘They won’t get a dime more from us for years to come,’” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

She stressed that the informal meetings between select board members and town administrators shows her “sometimes something positive comes out of something negative.”

“I don’t remember the two towns working together, strategically in advance of the budget,” she said.

Byers stressed that the statutory assessment formula was implemented in 2007, but that there is a perception it is something new being forced on the district. She said another problem lies in a lack of textbooks. There are classroom sets, but not enough for children to take them home for study.

Hanson pays 42 percent of its municipal budget on education, according to DESE. Whitman spends 46 percent, Abington 48 percent, Halifax 59 percent and Mansfield 53 percent.

“Even in my own household, budgeting comes down to priorities,” she said.

Howard argued that the very reason the district was formed has its basis in the economics of that regional agreement.

“This is not Whitman’s fault,” School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes said. “This was a state thing.”

School Committee member Dan Cullity of Whitman said nothing gets done because of need changes in the regional agreement. Without Whitman’s balking on a different clause, pertaining to the deregionalization process, the assessment formula would have been set in stone.

“The towns have to realize that to provide for their school system, they’re going to have to do an override,” he said.

Howard said using a forced override, means the district loses support from the towns.

“We’ve got to bring them here  and show them the value of education,” Howard said, agreeing with Cullity. “We’re going to literally have to go and show people what they are going to get for those dollars.”

Hanson School Committee member Rob O’Brien, responding to Cullity’s mention of the recent successful Whitman override for new equipment showed that technique works.

“They went to the resident and said here’s what we need,” said O’Brien, who is not running again. “That’s why they got the extra firefighters — they proved why they needed it.”

The issue with the schools, he said, was that overrides have been sought to provide level services, rather than to get ahead.

Whitman School Committee member Christopher Scrivens said he is encouraged that the two towns are meeting and talking.