The School Committee, on Wednesday, Oct. 8 accepted Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak’s goals in the district over the next two years. The change from a one-year plan of goals better fits the team approach the district’s administrative department follows, Szymaniak explained.
There are four standards for the goals – instructional leadership, management operations, community engagement and professional culture.
Under the curriculum objective of instructional leadership, promoting the learning and growth of all students and the success of all staffs by cultivating a shared vision that makes teaching and learning the central focus of schooling. Toward that goal, Szymaniak described the aim of a comprehensive, innovative and culturally responsive curriculum that fosters adaptable students who have the foundational skills they can universally apply in an ever-changing world, he said.
“In a nutshell, we’re going to be forming a rubric of how we do walk-throughs for our leadership team,” he said, which creates a standard that can be used to provide teacher coaching in the classrooms. “Right now, we don’t have that, so we’re going to work through that.”
Each principal, assistant principal and department chair informally goes through and does that now, but Szymaniak’s goal is to have a collaborative approach to do it.
The management and operations goal is to ensure the success of all students and staff by providing a safe, efficient and effective learning environment with resources devoted to appropriate curriculum, staffing and scheduling.
“Over the next couple of years overseeing the MSBA project for the new Whitman Middle School and working with members of the building committee about making thoughtful decisions about design, materials and construction, continue to evaluate human capital across the district to ensure fiscal responsibility and efficiency while maintaining appropriately tiered support for systems,” he said, boiling it down to: the building ground-breaking will be in March 2025 with the plan to open the doors to students in September 2026.
In the meantime, the district must analyze who’s going to be moving over to the new building, as far as fifth-grade is concerned, other staffing needs they might have, and examining the pre-school space crunch, while keeping an eye on the budget without losing progress in making instructional gains for W-H students, he said.
The third goal is to promoting the learning standards for students and the success of staff through partnerships with family and community organizations and other stakeholders to improve the school district, aiming to provide a welcoming and affirming school environment that removes barriers so students, staff and families feel valued and have a sense of belonging.
“It’s my job to make sure that I have a collaborative dialog with community members and sharing the good things we do in our district, to then educate the taxpayers who support our projects to support our budget and making sure I clarify questions they may have and dispel rumors that might come up through social media or other avenues,” Szymaniak said. “To make sure the taxpayers, and parents know what’s going on in our schools.”
The fourth goal is to ensure the success of all students by nurturing a school culture of reflective practice high expectations and continual learning for staff.
“This is getting challenging in 2024,” he said. “[But] staff recruitment and retention, creating an environment that is diverse and engaging to attract, develop and retain highly qualified staff” to increase diversity, equity and inclusion practices to achieve the goal.
Partnerships with colleges and universities to identify and develop potential teachers while they are still in high school.
“I think it’s out there that we’re only going to hire based on race and religion,” Szymaniak said. “I think I did see that on social media. That’s not really true. My goal in this is to try to bring the best candidate forward to W-H, but make us a diverse community where people who are of diverse backgrounds apply.”
He said there are not a lot of people with diverse backgrounds applying to W-H right now and he wants to stress the district is diverse, with students of all different backgrounds.
That welcoming school culture helps in retaining those teachers.
“It’s not always about the money,” he said.
The board approved the goals for the next two years.
Bilingual literacy
The Assistant Superintendent for Equity and Compliance Dr. Nicole Semas-Schneeweis and District Family Liaison for Multi-lingual Learners Felicia Barboza provided the Committee with an update on the inaugural year of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Seal of Biliteracy program and W-H’s participation in it.
Two letters have gone out from the district about the seal to families and students which describes the criteria for earning the seal, she said.
Barboza is a former W-H student, a current social work graduate student, and “my right hand in working with and for our multi-lingual learner families,” Semas-Schneeweis said.
“Felicia was pivotal in helping me get the seal for W-H, so I’ve asked her to share this information with you this evening,” she said.
Greeting the Committee in both English and Portugese, Barboza then explained that the Seal of Biliteracy is presented to high school graduates who obtain proficiency in both English and another world language by graduation.
“It’s a credential that’s recognized by colleges and employers and is a skill,” she said. “For our students, this means getting more opportunities, chances of getting higher-paid jobs, and also, credits for college.”
The program recognizes English language learners who master it as a second language as well as students for whom English is their first language and who become proficient in a second world language. Of 68 English-speaking students who study Spanish taking the assessment test for foreign language proficiency, Semas-Schneeweis said they were well pleased to have 12 students within one domain of proficiency. But there was one of those 12 who earned the Seal of Biliteracy.
“The hardest domain for world language proficiency is speaking and it’s where we’ve noticed that the greatest area of need is,” Semas-Schneeweis said.
Semas-Schneeweis and Barboza also co-manage the English Learner Parent Advisory Council (ELPAC) to work with families in the community – and they are seeking a parent or guardian to work with who will become the ELPAC’s president. They have also conducted a survey on what the families feel is most valuable to them on times and avenues for meeting with them.
Barboza said there are 245 families helped by the multi-lingual learners office.
Stafford also extended thanks from Whitman Food Bank’s Lauren Kelly for Barboza’s help in helping the food bank communicate with and aid the community’s families.
“She wants to work with you even more then you already are,” Stafford said.
Cutting into history
WHITMAN – At first, there was mild concern that artist and stone carver Andrew Carr had become lost on his way to the library. But, as this is a New England town, they needn’t have feared.
Sure enough, Carr arrived in town, he made a bee-line for Whitman’s Mt. Zion Cemetery, and why not?
When you are scheduled to demonstrate stone cutting, especially the kind of funereal folk art found on the slate headstones of the 18th century in cemeteries and burying grounds all over New England, it only makes sense to check out what the locals were up to.
The tympanum, or rounded top section, of the headstone he photographed to demonstrate happened to be done by Josiah Manning, according to local taphophile, Leslie DiOrio, who attended the talk and demonstration, doing a bit of internet research as Carr spoke about the design of the stone design he planned to demonstrate.
Born in Hopkinton in 1725, Manning was living in Windham, Conn., when he died in 1806. He and his sons Frederick (1758-1810) Rockwell (1760-1806) “established a style of gravestone carving that became dominant in eastern Connecticut for nearly 50 years. Manning stones are present in almost every eighteenth-century cemetery in eastern Connecticut from the Sound to the Massachusetts border,” according to the website findagrave,com.
So, the stone was an excellent choice.
“His style is really interesting,” Carr said of Manning’s work found locally, down to his choice of stone – purple slate. “I’ve never seen this guy’s style before.”
He described the caricature on the stone as having stern eyes “and he’s got a little pouty mouth,” – which may have even been an effort to render the deceased’s death mask in bas relief.
The image is roughed out in chalk or pencil on a grid separating the stone into quarters, to give an indication of where he would be cutting the stone.
“I think it’s more interesting for you guys to connect the process of this to a local person,” he said. “I see it as an art form, where a lot of memorial dealers [these days] see it as a business.
Manning’s rough outline would have mainly been used as a map or blueprint to provide himself with an indication of where he was going.
“They’re not perfect,” Carr said of the gravestone carvings. “That’s what I love about these old headstones. There’s a hand [drawn] quality about it. I like that these have a folk-quality about them.”
Tools of the craft have changed little over time. A self-taught carver whose been at it for just a year, he joked that he doesn’t teach it, because there’s not much money in it.
“Am I going to get in trouble for making noise in the library?” he asked as he started tapping at the chisel with his dummy. Carr noted a carver has to be aware of the area around a design as much as the design itself.
As he spoke about the work he was doing and the art form in general, his audience of librarians, archivists, taphophiles, amateur history buffs and a self-described Goth gathered around him for a better vantage point.
“You’re going deeper and deeper,” he said. “You start with a little incision, almost like you’re tracing the drawing with a very thin line, and then you’re getting deeper and deeper.”
He surmised that a master stonecutter could be doing the more involved designs while apprentices worked on lettering or simpler motifs.
Slate and marble, Carr said, are like God created the perfect stone.
“It’s like these stones want to be carved, whereas granite doesn’t want to be worked with,” he said. “It’s very stubborn. This [slate] is almost like butter.”
Unfortunately, slate is also becoming harder to find, and therefore more expensive and some countries, like Brazil, are not known for good quality slate.
He also demonstrated his work on another project – a letter chart of the Cherokee alphabet.
“I’ve got to follow what I’m feeling,” he said. “I’m ready to take this into three dimensions. I want to start doing sculpture.”
Carr came to stone carving by accident. A two-dimensional artist graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design; the Salem native was studying painting.
“I was always drawing and painting,” he said. “I went to RISD for oil painting and never really thought about sculpture until the pandemic,” he said, noting how people were picking up all manner of unusual hobbies, including the attempt at perfecting sourdough bread.
“Mine just happened to be carving,” he said. “I really liked it and I started to do it … and take it very seriously. If I want to analyze it, death was on my mind, as it was for everybody, and it was a way to cope with it a little bit – take something scary and make something beautiful.”
He said stonework appeals to his sense of creativity in a way that drawing an painting never did. So, with one or two chisels in his toolbox, he ordered a few samples of slate and he was on his way to a path he had never considered before.
He worked on lettering first, making house number slates for friends and then pet gravestones before getting his first commission for a person’s stone.
Since then, he’s been doing it full time.
“I’m really trying to learn about who this person was and translate their spirit into stone,” Carr said. “What kind of stone are you?” What color stone? … I really put a lot of thought and care about every step in the process.”
Examples of his gravestone carving can be found at both Instagram or his website: stoneoverbones and stonesoverbones.com.
Whitman tops off DPW building with twist
WHITMAN – The town’s new Department of Public Works building, now under construction at 100 Essex St., has had to overcome quite a few obstacles to reach the construction phase, including the need to go before town voters twice before winning approval.
So, it was almost fitting that Monday’s topping off ceremony faced a challenge, too – rain and rapid progress with the construction. But there was a break in the weather, as well as a couple of tweaks to the event that helped.
“It’s a tradition in construction that, when you reach the top of the steel, you’re topping off the building – you get to sign [a girder],” said architect’s reppresentative Greg Yanchenko. “Because the steel was moving so quickly, which is great, we will be signing the bollard out front and we’ll still be able to memorialize [progress] on this building.”
Speakers gathered in the DPW Administration building, where town officials and DPW employees heard congratulations on the event before enjoying refreshments, and officials were then invited to go out front to participate in another slight break with tradition.
They took turns signing a safety bollard, which will later be covered before one end is sunk into the ground outside the new building.
“As you al know, the town’s worked for several years to get this building,” Yanchenko said. “We’re finally moving along and right now we’re on pace to get done next July. … Over the next month or so, you’ll probably see things flying.”
Panels and masonry will go up, then it might seem like nothing happens for another three months as they do all the infrastructure, Yanchenko said.
“Then you’ll come back and you’ll see the building that’s all boarded,” he said. “It’s just the nature of construction.”
He recognized past and present members of the building committee and DPW staff and employees, asking some officials to say a few words to mark the occasion.
State Sen. Mike Brady. D-Brockton, thanked officials for the invitation to attend.
“You have a good team in the town of Whitman that work well together,” he said.
“I’m so happy to be here,” State Rep. Alyson Sullivan-Almeida, R-Abington, said. “It was a long few months. We’ve all kind of know those few months, but … some great work was done, so congratulations on the new building. I know it’s well-needed and overdue.”
“It has been a long time coming,” said Select Board Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski. “A lot of people have done a lot of work on this and it’s a really special thing.”
Among the past and present building committee members attending were Chair Kevin Cleary – who also chairs the DPW Commissioners; Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter; former Town Administrator Frank Lynam; Dennis Smith; Rick Anderson; DPW Superintendent Bruce Martin; Dan Salvucci, who is also vice chair of the Select Board; owner-project managers Michael Vienna and builder’s project superintendent Peter Hadden of Page Construction.
“It’s great to see it, now that we can actually see the building,” Cleary said. “I appreciate everyone’s hard work that went into getting it at this stage – I don’t want to say the easy part id left, we’ve still got to finish the building. … But I think that between the years of trying to get the funding and trying to get it passed in town and then, the months that it took us to finalize all that, I’m hoping that was worse than anything we have left, and we’ll get this thing built and get it to our crews, who are here.
“The ones who really deserve it … are the workers,” Cleary said.
New zoning hearing set on WMS
WHITMAN – While a missed Zoning Appeals hearing on Monday, Sep. 23 was an irritant for the Feasibility Study and Whitman Middle School Building Committee on Tuesday, Sept. 24, a make-up meeting has been slated and there has been progress to report on the project.
Chair Beth Stafford asked why no one from Colliers, the owner project manager firm, or architect AO3 had shown up at a zoning meeting Monday, Sept. 23. Colliers’ Owner Project Manager Michael Carroll said he spoke to AI3 that day and did not think either frim was ever informed of that meeting.
Former Building Inspector Robert Curran, who sits on the Building Committee, said the issue was addressed in some of the paperwork given out to the committee, but, generally speaking, after the paperwork is put in, a zoning hearing takes place four to six weeks later.
“I asked the [Zoning Secretary] if they were notified and she said they were,” he said. “They would have been notified by mail The abutters were there. They opened the hearing and they took some testimony from the neighbors and they continued the meeting until Oct. 21.”
Curran said he arranged for the meeting to be held in the Town Hall auditorium because he had figured it would be a “big show,” and there were probably 15 abutters there who have a lot of concerns, but since there was no one there representing the schools, they continued it to Oct. 21.
School Committee Chair Beth Stafford said that Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak never received a notice about the meeting, either.
“As Superintendent of Schools, he should have received a letter,” she said. “He did not. So, that will be addressed, too, because if letters went out, there wasn’t one for Jeff, either, and he needs to go.”
She said the only notification anyone saw was a legal notice classified ad placed in the Whitman-Hanson Express.
“But that’s not an invitation, and when we looked at who got copies of it, it didn’t say AI3, it didn’t say Whitman-Hanson Superintendent,” Stafford said. “It said Brockton, Abington and all these other places, so I think there was a little bit of a mix-up here.”
Carroll said he and AI3 did receive confirmation it was continued to Oct. 21 and they would absolutely have people there. The next Building Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct, 22.
Curran said abutters are concerned about fencing – especially near Highland Avenue where kids use a path to WMS – and neighbors concerned about construction activity and its potential effect on the safety of kids who live in the area walking to the school.
“There needs to be somebody that’s really familiar with the project,” attending the ZBA hearing, he said. “Are you going to do a temporary road for construction?”
Carroll said that information could be incorporated into that planning, which had been temporarily sidetracked by contractor pre-qualification work.
“What we’re trying to do here is minimize the inconvenience during construction,” he said. “We can’t eliminate inconvenience completely, but we are trying to minimize that, and it there’s things we can do to help the abutters, we absolutely want to do that.”
During the contractor pre-qualification phase, Colliers Project Manager Shirley Ng said, the subcommittee has received 88 requests for interest in this and 12 DCs with the next phase being a review and assessment of statements of qualifications in October and narrow down the applicants.
Assistant Superintendent George Ferro asked if 12 was a healthy number and Carroll said he’s done two bids this year, and on one he received three bidders and on the other he got four.
“Just because 12 got prequalified doesn’t mean all 12 would bid it,” he said. “But 12 is a good number. Anything more than five or six is a very good showing.”
Ng said her numbers were as of Friday, Sept. 20. They had also received some on Sept.23.
“We’re also working on the early bid package,” she said. Right now, they are reviewing specifications of an electrical switchgear and generator.
“The prequalification of this job goes under MGL Ch 149 as a construction project,” Carroll said. “The switch gear and generator go out more as goods, as if you were buying paper or an easel which goes out under CH 30B.”
He said it requires making sure insurance is squared away as they will be bidding and awarding it before a general contractor comes on board, so they are making sire the specifications on the two bids coordinate and the general contractor/electrical contractor are taking delivery of the switch gear and generator unit on-site and taking it from there.
“We don’t have to worry about storage or anything like that,” he said.
Ng said they are hoping to have the contract completed by October along with postings for next month, at the Building Committees next meeting Carroll said they anticipate seeking a vote to allow them to request for bids.
“And then, in November, we’ll be coming back with bids and, hopefully, it’ll be under budget and we’ll be able to award that and keep moving forward,” he said.
W-H Director of Business and Finance Stephen Marshall said the district had submitted reimbursement request of just over $5.5 million in total to MSBA for invoices up through August and expect just over $3.5 million for reimbursement on that.
“There was a little bit of a delay – it was a large request, in terms of the amount of invoices and paperwork,” he said. “The MSBA had come back to us with some questions involving some back-up documentation. We have just received those today from AI3 and they’re being submitted to MSBA.”
He said the turnaround time after follow-up documentation is usually about two weeks.
“That will certainly help with the cash flow,” he said, adding that, moving forward those reimbursement requests will be submitted once a month.
Szymaniak asked Carroll to go over the for the Committee and everyone watching meetings at home, the shift in roles and “who’s doing what where?”
“In general, we’re two teams here,” Carroll said. “You have the Colliers team, which is the owner’s project manager – we’re providing general oversight and general support to your team.” He serves as project director and Ng as project manager. The assistant project manager helps with meeting minutes and a lot of “behind the scenes work” for Colliers.
Once construction gets under way the construction site representative – or clerk of the works as they are sometimes called – will also be added to the meetings.
Architects AI3 design team leaders Troy and Julie have support staff from AI3 and its subconsultants to field questions about irrigation, landscaping, traffic and the like. The Zoning Board meeting would have been handled by Colliers’ civil engineer.
“There’s lots of people behind the scenes,” he said, but added the Building Committee will continue to see familiar faces at meetings
New Hanson firefighters are sworn in
HANSON – The Select Board welcomed two new firefighters to the Hanson Fire Department on Tuesday, Sept. 17 with the appointment of Colby Silva, whose children Emma and Gabe did the honors of pinning on their mom’s new badge.
Silva’s husband Justin, who is an Abington firefighter, and her parents Lisa and Paul Eldridge also attended.
“Colby came to us via Halifax Fire,” said Fire Chief Robert O’Brien Jr. “Her father in-law is a retired Plympton fire chief, so firefighting runs in their blood.”
Colby Silva, herself, had been an ER nurse, but was bored being an ER nurse, so she became a cardiac cath lab nurse, which also bored her, O’Brien said. She eventually became a paramedic.
“She like the excitement of it,” he said. “Colby’s actually very successful, she came to me because I’m trying to do [mesh] operations. I said I need a grant writer and Colby said ‘I want to come and be your grant writer, and I want to write a grant for cancer screening for the fire service.’”
She applied for a $50,000 nationwide competitive grant and the department was rewarded a grant to fund cancer screening within the department.
After receiving a warm round of applause for that success, O’Brien invited her to come forward to be sworn in by Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan. Silva, who is quite tall, then knelt on one knee so her children could pin on her new badge.
“I would like to thank Colby, who assisted me after our May Town Meeting,” said Town Administrator Lisa Green. “I was very ill and she sat in the back of the ambulance with me and really made me feel very comfortable in an uncomfortable situation. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart, and welcome to Hanson.”
O’Brien also introduced new firefighter Dan McKale to the board for his swearing-in.
Born in East Bridgewater, McKale now lives in Marshfield and was accompanied by his grandmother, Diane, and his parents Ray and Michelle. His mother and younger sister Emily pinned on his new badge.
“Dan was a brand-new paramedic when he came to work with us,” O’Brien said, noting he had worked with Brewster Ambulance before. “It’s ironic, because I think Dan sees as much action in Hanson as he does in Brockton, believe it or not. He’s amazed at what he’s seen. He’s an excellent firefighter and an excellent addition to his shift.”
O’Brien said McKale’s shift backs up what they learn on calls with constant training.
“We just want to thank all of you guys,” said Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “We say it [but] we may not say it enough. We appreciate everything you do. We’re so proud to have you work for the town of Hanson – every single one of you.”
O’Brien contests firing
Shannon O’Brien plans to appeal her firing as the chair of the Cannabis Control Commission directly to the Supreme Judicial Court, her lawyer has said, according to published reports. In the meantime, one of her former CCC colleagues will take over as acting chair.
O’Brien was officially removed from the post by state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg after O’Brien had been suspended for months, according to published reports on Monday, Sept. 9.
State law [CH249 Sec. 4] provides the option for O’Brien to either take her case to Superior Court or the SJC as a method of correcting “errors in proceedings which are not according to the course of the common law and are not otherwise reviewable by motion or appeal.”
Often used in connection with zoning or similar issues in land court (or district court if a case involves fence viewers), such actions have 60 days to proceed following the procedure in question.
William Gildea, one of O’Brien’s lawyers from Todd & Weld, said O’Brien is considering such action, according to the State House News Service. That is based on “prior cases with generally similar facts about removing high-level official” that went directly to the SJC — like the case of the fired Turnpike Authority Board members in the early 2000s — “that would be the plan,” he was quoted as saying.
A Whitman native, O’Brien and the Healey administration have been at loggerheads since Gov. Maura Healey suspended her on Sep. 16, 2023. O’Brien had been on the job for exactly one year – the suspension coming on the anniversary of her being appointed to the role.
The CCC oversees the state’s $7 billion cannabis business within Massachusetts.
WCVB-TV reported that included a letter from Goldberg to O’Brien, which indicates O’Brien had been accused by state treasurer of making “racially, ethnically and culturally insensitive statements.” O’Brien has denied those claims and had sued to fight the attempt to keep her job.
“The Chair committed gross misconduct and demonstrated she is unable to discharge the powers and duties of a CCC commissioner,” O’Brien’s lawyer, Max Goldberg said in his statement Monday. “I do so with deep regret because she has a long history of public service, and when appointed, I anticipated she would lead the Commission capably and in an appropriate manner. I expect my appointee’s actions to be reflective of the important mission of the CCC and performed in a manner that incorporates the standards of professionalism required in today’s work environment.”
O’Brien fired back that a “toxic work environment” had existed at the CCC for some time and had, in part, been fallout from her suggesting former Executive Director Shawn Collins might have to be let go.
Stern issued a statement denying the existence of any grounds for his client’s removal, charging that state officials
While Goldberg aims to appoint another chair to the CCC soon, Goldberg’s office said in a statement released to the press. O’Brien was still receiving checks for her $196,551 salary.
According to NPR, O’Brien Had spent more than $616,000 on proceeding with the attempt to oust O’Brien.
(Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct a headline error and update information published in last week’s Whitman-Hanson Express. The Express apologizes for the error.)
Hanson ZBA hits quorum snag
HANSON – The town needs to seat another member to the Zoning Board of Appeals soon, or Hanson is going to have a real problem, Select Board members have been cautioned.
Town Planner Anthony DeFreias has submitted a letter to the Select Board regarding the Zoning Board of Appeals membership, dated the same day as their last meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 27.
“As you are aware, the ZBA is currently comprised of two members,” he wrote. “I wish to being to the board’s attention the following [citing the relevant passage of Mass. General Law, Ch. 40A]: the Board of Appeals shall consist of between three and five members,” Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett read from the letter.
“I’ll bottom-line this,” she said. “For certain hearings, we need to have three members, and we don’t. It may … impede and disadvantage the town in rendering an opinion about somebody who may be applying to the Board of Appeals.”
She noted then item had not been included on the agenda because “I could not have anticipated it,” she said.
The third member may be a member of the Select Board, DeFreias has advised the Board.
Select Board member Ed Heal, the board’s liaison to the ZBA, asked if it would work for him to step forward to help in the short run.
“I will volunteer, so long as we press for a long-term solution,” he said. “I don’t want to be [a permanent member] right now.”
Member Joe Weeks said that, even if the board appointed someone on that board to keep operations going, he would advise against it.
“I think that, if anybody here wanted to be a member of the ZBA, as either a full member or an alternate member, you go through thorough the process and actually apply and get appointed,” he said. “That’s how we do it for all of these things, other than that, they would be a liaison that would also be a voting member.”
A full ZBA has three permanent members and two associate members, Town Administrator Lisa Green said.
“That is true,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, responding to Weeks’ comment. “This is an extraordinarily different situation.”
Matt Provencher, a town attorney happened to be attending the meeting, so FitzGerald-Kemmett asked him for an opinion on the matter. He said he has been in touch with the town administrator about the issue.
For certain appeals to go a ZBA, Chapter 48 requires a three-member board must make three types of decisions – granting special permits, issuance of a variance or overturning a decision about the building inspector or commissioner,” Provencher said. Typically, any decisions made by three-person board to vote on building to cast a unanimous vote.
There are different vote quantums for boards with different numbers of members, he explained. Decisions would therefore need to total two-thirds or a super majority of votes – or a unanimous vote by a three-person board.
Legal snag
“The upshot would be that, even if you had a board that has a quorum of two out of three – a majority, and less capable of acting on some business before it – it cannot provide the relief that people are seeking, because they’re seeking a special permit or a variance or to overturn a decision by the building inspector or commissioner,” he said. “The difficulty for the town is that then puts these people in a position where they would need to take an appeal, which would incur costs.”
Even if a board under three members makes a unanimous vote of the members present, or all the members on a smaller board, it would still be a denial because they can’t meet the legal criteria for a legal vote.
Associate members can vote, but are not considered a full voting member unless all full members are present.
“To be clear, it’s not a full new member that they’re looking for?”
Select Board member Ed Heal asked if there was a person in mind to be tapped to fill the position.
“We do not have anybody,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We really need a third member, or we’re going to have a problem.”
Any votes requiring recusal of a voting member would also mean a proper vote wouldn’t be possible.
“A very expensive vacancy,” Weeks said.
FitzGerald-Kemmett asked if Green had any names of potential volunteers available to be appointed and might be interested in serving now.
“The people that applied were people that were already on the board once before,” Green said.
FitzGerald-Kemmett said she was referring to the people who had come forward about membership during the recent ZBA investigation.
“No one has come forward,” Green said.
“Can we pump up the volume?” FitzGerald-Kemmett asked.
“At the end of the day, what stopped people before was all the attention that [the ZBA] was getting,” Weeks said. “I don’t think it’s been getting that level of attention in a long time.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett agreed that was true.
She said she knows of three past members who have said they would step forward.
In other business, Green announced that the town is working with a company called Box Modular, looking at a modular building planned to expand part of the Senior Center to accommodate for the supportive day program, funded by a grant from the Executive Office of Elder Affairs.
“We’re looking for a turn-key building that has plumbing, restroom facilities – everything that we need, so that we don’t have to procure and do everything piecemeal,” Green said. “That process is moving along as quickly as we can.”
The building inspector, town planner and a representative from the modular company have looked at the space where it will be located and Senior Center Director Mary Collins is picking out color schemes for the actual building color, Green said.
“It’s coming together rather quickly,” she said. “It’s still on schedule.” She also has discussed the funding for the project with the town accountant and explained it looks to be a reimbursable type of grant.
Hanson warrant complete
HANSON – With a potential operational override looming on the horizon, Hanson officials are working on how to educate residents on the need for such a move.
The Select Board has received one additional for override outreach and education, according to Town Administrator Lisa Green, who was also waiting to have another meeting the Collins Center at Umass Boston on their proposal – and expects to have “actual dollar proposals” at the board’s next meeting, Tuesday, Sept. 17.
In response to Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett’s question as to whether the Collins proposal might be expected to be more reasonable than others received so far, Green answered that it looked that way.
“The Collins Center is very impressive, and one of their team members is certified in school finance,” she said. Green also said she has a meeting set up with Dr. Melinda Tarsi-Goldfein of Bridgewater State University’s Department of Public Administration master’s degree program, to talk about whether her students would be interested in helping the town with that project as well as the resident survey with which they are assisting [see story, page 1].
“That meeting is planned,” she said.
The board asked for a real, “soup-to-nuts” breakdown of costs involved.
Select Board’s primary focus on special Town Meeting warrant articles was just that of placing them, at it’s meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 27.
Since board members Ann Rein and David George were absent, FitzGerald-Kemmett said the board didn’t vote on whether to recommend articles.
“I would also like to hear from [the] Finance Committee before we really make our recommendations, [and] we don’t even have that,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
Board member Joe Weeks, agreed, saying one never knows when another board member might have a valid point for voting against something.
“This warrant gets more and more solid every meeting,” Green said. “We’re not waiting on any more explanations, any more dollar figures – pretty much, what you have in front of you now is pretty much it. This is your warrant.”
After a very long search period, Green said the town is ready bring forth an applicant for consideration and possible appointment of someone to fill the position of highway director – Richard Jasmin.
The board voted 3-0, after a brief interview, to hire Jasmine, pending a full background check, medical, physical and drug screening as well as successful outcome of contract negotiations, effective Monday, Sept. 16.
“He has excellent experience and background, part of which includes military service,” Green said. “His references provide nothing but good things to say.”
Green said one reference, who served with him said “he’s one of the best operators that he’s ever seen,” she quoted. “He could do the job backwards. I said that’s good to know, because a lot of things we do in municipal government are backwards.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett continued the light tone of the session by jokingly welcoming back Interim Highway Director Curt McLean before the board to vouch for Jasmin, certain he “is hoping sincerely, to finish his perpetual gig with us.”
“It’s been a pleasure,” McLean said.
“Well, sometimes even pleasures have their limits,” she said.
Jasmin said he was inclined to apply for the position because he felt Hanson “would really fit” a lifestyle that he is looking for.
He had previously worked at Stoughton DPW for seven years working up to operator/acting foreman, but left and has been an on-site superintendent for Costello Dismantling for nearly two years, where he “learned a wealth of management skills.”
“I always knew I was going to get back to a town and I feel like Hanson would be a good fit,” he said, and siad he would be “100 percent” comfortable” in a management position with a union shop, having served as the union association president for four out of seven years and was a union member at Costello.
“I know there are rules and you’ve got to follow them,” he said.
While he admits in the realm of paperwork, there will be a learning curve, he said he knows where to find it, has already looked into some of it, and has a mentor network to lean on.
The only potential conflict of interest he said he was aware of was a cousin of his wife who owns a construction company out of East Bridgewater, and he has no other employment or source of income that would be a conflict.
The board also voted to appoint Madyson Silva as caretaker coordinator for Camp Kiwanee.
The position serves as caretaker during events when Needles Lodge is rented, effective Wednesday, Aug. 28, according to Green.
“They help set up before the event, break down after the event, clean up after the event,” she said. “Madyson is actually a very good addition to Camp Kiwanee.”
Park Ave. school, cannabis pacts reviewed
By Tracy F. Seelye, Express editor
[email protected]
WHITMAN – Seeking guidance with legal issues governing property uses and how they may be standing in the way of Whitman’s financial growth were the primary focus of the Select Board on Tuesday, Aug. 20.
More study was necessary after a lengthy discussion of possible alternate uses for the former Park Avenue School – and whether they might be permitted under the rather specific language of the deed gifting the property to the town, as well as direction on proceeding with the host community agreement between the town and Berkley Botanicals [See story, page 3].
Town Counsel Peter Sumner appeared before the board to discuss both issues.
The board listed several ideas, with Sumner saying the question did not need to be settled right then.
“I’m here tonight to find out what, exactly, you would like to do with the [Park Avenue School building] property, as a board, obviously, and we certainly understand that there may be need for further input,” he said.
Sumner said he was not certain he had ever been before the board on issues pertaining to the former school building, Sumner said it has “been percolating” for a while.
The former Whitman elementary school building at the corner of South Avenue and Park Avenue, sits on property acquired by the town in 1949 when it was purchased from George J.J. Clark. A provision in the deed requires the town to use the land “for school purposes only” – the exact words. The town then built the school there but has been closed since 2005-06.
In 2010, the regional School Committee voted to return the school and property back to the town because it was not needed for educational purposes at the time – and would never be needed by the district again.
“Since then, my office has looked into what the town can do with the property, given that the deed says it has to be used for school purposes only,” he said. “There is a little bit of a lack of clarity on that.”
“For school purposes only” may not mean what people think it means in property law,” Sumner said. “There is a significant question about whether it’s a deed restriction and whether the town purchased the property for fair market value or if it was a gift from the donor.”
Sumner said the town counsel’s office has decided the best course of action is to resolve that uncertainty in court “to the extent you want to do anything with the property now or in the future.”
He said it would be in the town’s interest to go to court for a declaratory judgment about what the town’s rights are and, if they don’t have a specific idea in mind for use of the propery it might make sense to wait.
He said his understanding it that the building is decrepit and can’t really be used.
“So it’s really a question of this parcel of land,” Sumner said, listing some possible options for the town to consider:
- argue the land was purchased and the “for school” language in the deed is not a restriction so the town may further dispose of the land as it sees fit; or
- identify a specific purpose for using the property – an option already discussed with the attorney general’s office in an effort to gain their assent – by identifying such a use.
While the AG’s office is not opposed to option B, they would like to hear specific ideas from town officials.
“The more like a school use it is … the AG’s office has signaled they are more likely to support that,” he said. Asked to look into the issue, Sumner said it would help to know what the Select Board had in mind.
Some ideas mentioned by board members on Aug. 20 were:
Vice Chair Dan Salvucci asked of the property could be sold with proceeds going toward the cost of the new Whitman Middle School. Sumner said signals from the AG’s office indicated they could support that.
But Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski said that, while selling the property could fund the middle school, the town would lose control over what the property is then used for.
Select Board member Shawn Kain said he is not interested in selling the property, instead advocated holding onto the property to develop it in a way that could benefit the whole community is important. He asked if cultural and recreational uses, such as an amphitheater could meet the deed requirements.
Select Board member Laura Howe asked if the property could be used for a state police K9 academy with an associated dog pound and dog park.
“We have a dog that works for the town that does an amazing job,” she said. “Animals do an unbelievable amount of work for people.”
She noted that dogs offer unconditional love, and assist deaf, blind, handicapped, elderly and depressed people. Certain breeds are also adept at smelling body chemistry clues that people with illnesses such as diabetes are on the verge of a crisis.
“We live in a very volatile world,” she said. “There’s a lot of community interest in this property.”
She also suggested a successfully run program there could bring in people from other communities.
Select Board member Justin Evans said his “moonshot” idea has always been a community center, bringing the Senior Center, recreation, veterans services all under one roof.
“But we’ve got three ongoing, major building projects, assuming Vo Tech passes in a couple of months, it’s probably not the time to ask for a $20 million community center,” he said, noting the property sits squarely in the half-mile but the town specifically left it out because the town had no interest in selling it a couple of months ago.
Largely untapped community preservation funds could be used to fund an amphitheater, parks, ball fields or something like that could be something to bring to the AG’s office as something that could be done now.
Whitman sets Dec. date for SST TM
WHITMAN – A presentation to the Select Board and review of the South Shore Tech Regional Agreement amendment, slated for Tuesday, Aug. 20, has been postponed, as SST Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey was unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting due to illness.
Six member towns need to approve the amendment for it to go before special town meetings by January 2025.
While the presentation has been pushed to the next Select Board meeting, now slated for Sept. 17, Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter said she did not see the harm in setting a date for a special Town Meeting on Monday, Dec 2.
“We wanted to pick a date when Tom Hickey is available as well, to speak at each special town meeting to address this issue,” she said.
The SST School Committee meeting in a special session via remote on Monday Aug. 19, approved the regional agreement amendment for forwarding to its member towns for consideration at upcoming Fall special town meetings. The purpose of the amendment is to change, to a four-year rolling average, how debt shares are calculated for member towns.
If, ratified, that change would take place starting the second year of borrowing – fiscal 2027. Shovels are anticipated to go into the ground in fiscal 2026, with construction in earnest in fiscal 2027.
“It’s really to our advantage,” Select Board Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski said Tuesday.
“Absolutely to our advantage,” Carter said. “As new towns join South Shore Tech, and other students come in and our enrollment drops because there are other schools going in, our percentage drops. If we don’t vote this, we would be locked in to a much higher percent, steady for 30 years. This is so important that we have this meeting.”
Marshfield’s recent joining of the district will mean that, once they have enough student enrollment, they will be asked to look back four years as well – getting to that point would likely take until fiscal 2033 for that town to achieve the threshold of four years with of having four years with four grades of students in the building.
“We’re trying to do calculations that allow for the arrival of students from a new community, while building something for the long haul,” Hickey said. “This means that debt formulas will no longer be fixed at the time of authorization. … It’s a pay-as-you-go model until you have enough enrollment to be apples to apples.”
If another community were to join the district in the next several years, Hickey said he envisioned the same process being recommended, and more-or-less a cut and paste job of the process through which Marshfield joined.
“For every change, there’s an explanation about why we’re doing it,” Hickey told his school committee members.
“The timing of this meeting had a lot to do with waiting for officials from the Department of Education to do their final ‘scrub-down,’” Hickey said. “With your approval tonight, the document … we are sending to the respective select boards.”
He said he was sending out via email to those boards holding Town Meetings before January, including Hanson on Oct. 7 and Scituate on Nov. 18.
“I will work with you and your respective towns to engage as these special town meetings approach,” he said, adding that he anticipates all member towns, with the possible exception of Abington, will be scheduling special town meetings between Oct. 7 and Dec. 16.
“Once six communities pass this amendment, and we get the certified results from the town clerks, we will provide [the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education] DESE this information and then they would move forward to bringing this to the commissioner,” he said. There is also a summary sheet outlining changes that just involve grammar, and which are more substantive, according to Hickey.
Since 1960, the apportionment of debt share for each member town has been fixed at the time of its approval based on the average of three previous school year enrollments, and that share has remained the same for the life of the borrowing. This proposed amendment will apportion debt shares instead on a four year rolling average based on changes to student enrollment in each town over time. The first ‘four year rolling average’ calculation will start in FY27.
Hickey provided some context to the change.
“Last year while at a public forum in Whitman talking about our MSBA building project, it was suggested that we consider a change that provided flexibility to this calculation, given that an upcoming MSBA project would lock in town shares for 30 years. The idea made sense, given that the regional agreement uses three-year averages for capital and annual enrollments for operating costs. Working with the regional school officials at DESE was extremely helpful, and while it took several months to review, I’m glad we are at this point to bring this change to our towns.”
For most of 2024 the regional planning subcommittee worked on alternate apportionment models and arrived on a four year rolling average as the best alternative. “The four-year rolling average helps to control for volatility in changes in enrollment. A dip or a spike in annual enrollment would not lead immediately to a change in debt share,” Hickey said.
The other proposed update to the agreement involves the newly admitted town of Marshfield’s calculation for debt share. When Marshfield’s language was approved in 2023, it was based on Marshfield paying an annually adjusted debt share until it had enough enrollment history to calculate a fixed debt share. “The proposed amendment makes an adjustment to Marshfield’s debt share ‘on ramp.’ Basically, Marshfield will pay a debt share based on its most recent enrollment figures until they have a comparable enrollment history to use in a four year rolling average [as with all the other towns] and this parity would occur in FY33,” Hickey said.
For the amendment to take effect, it must be approved by at least 6 of the 9 member town meetings. At this point, seven of the nine towns have scheduled town meetings for somewhere between October and December. Hanson’s special Town Meeting is Oct. 7.
“If we are able to secure at least the required 6 town meeting approvals, we will send to DESE the town clerk certifications [of the town meeting votes] so that the final step in the process can move forward, which is DESE Commissioner approval. The changes can go into effect once that final approval is in place,” Hickey said.
The district will place the proposed changes and supporting presentation material on its website, southshore.tech and will circulate materials to towns as well.
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