WHITMAN — Selectmen, at the behest of Police Chief Scott Benton, are considering a reduction of the number of parking spaces permitted on South Avenue in front of Town Hall to improve pedestrian visibility and safety in crosswalks.

Old Colony Planning Council will be asked to conduct a study on the feasibility of such a move — as well as a reduction of the speed limit in that area to 20 miles per hour.

“We can go to 20, but there’s a petition process,” Town Administrator Frank Lynam said, noting the statutory speed limit is 25 there. Lynam and Selectman Dan Salvucci said the OCPC can work rather quickly on the issue.

“There’s going to have to be some periodic enforcement, too,” Lynam said.

Benton provided a packet of eight photos illustrating the parking spaces and street traffic in front of Town Hall, as well as a copy of the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Devices, to illustrate his points. The photos demonstrate the lack of room for safely opening car doors and visibility problems when pedestrians emerge in the crosswalk from between cars to cross the street.

“I have people come in all the time complaining they almost got killed in this crosswalk out here,” Benton said. “Are we going to count bodies before we say, ‘Well, maybe we ought to take a look at this’?”

Selectman Brian Bezanson said 15 years of holding political signs in the Venus parking lot on election days has demonstrated to him the need to address the problem.

“You get to see a lot of things, and I can tell you that people go way too fast in front of this building,” Bezanson said. “It’s outrageous. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen one of your officers practically jump out of their shoes to get cars to slow down and stop and not hit pedestrians.”

He said the town is between a rock and a hard place, losing parking spots that are like gold to save somebody’s life. A lack of curb cuts for handicapped access to crosswalks is also a dangerous problem, Bezanson said, advocating a close look at the whole picture of safety in the area. Salvuci said the OCPC would require the curb cuts, which Lynam said should be done in any case.

“There’s a reason to do it for the traffic itself, but, certainly for the pedestrians, the biggest problem I see is visibility,” Benton said of the parking space changes. “They’re not visible.”

The federal guidelines place a minimum of 20 feet from a crosswalk to a parking space, with a recommendation of 30 feet or more. Benton said there are about three spaces in that stretch of roadway that are not 20 feet from the crosswalk. At least three parking spaces would be eliminated with the 20-foot guideline, six would be cut with a 30-foot guidelines.

“What we have here, too, a lot of the time is a lot of ‘almosts,’” Benton said. “Somebody goes to open their door without looking, and the door’s going South except for a motorist’s reaction or their person [opening the door] catches themselves.”

The situation also creates a problem of insufficient travel space for traffic in both directions when a westbound vehicle moves toward the center to provide room for opening car doors.

It presents a problem for crosswalks at Central and Davis streets as well as in front of the post office.

According to Benton, courts have held that, if a driver doesn’t have time to see an obstruction and avoid it, they are not responsible for a collision. A left turn out of Davis toward the east end of town, requires cars to make a wide turn — almost into the left lane — to get around cars parked in the corner space, he added.

Large trucks and emergency vehicles are also faced with the challenge of getting past parked cars.

Benton said that removing parking spaces and reconfiguring traffic flow past the 418 block of South Avenue near Raynor Avenue has reduced the number of accidents in that area. Selectmen Chairman Carl Kowalski, however, said the new traffic pattern there makes it difficult to see westbound traffic coming from the intersection of Pleasant and Franklin streets with South Avenue.

“It’s amazing how a line of cars, with almost no space between them, comes through that [four-way] stop sign,” Kowalski said. “Something has to be done with that.”

Benton said the problem with past accidents there was due more to visibility restrictions from traffic emerging from Raynor Avenue because of parked cars along the 418 block.

Kowalski said parking near Town Hall is also important for elders, especially as the back parking lot is often filled with employee vehicles.

Selectmen Scott Lambiase and Randy LaMattina suggested the municipal lot behind Dunkin’ Donuts is available, and perhaps signage is needed to alert people of its presence.

WHITMAN — Under a giant American flag, the Duval Elementary School’s students, faculty and some parents gathered in the school gym Friday, May 26 to kick off Memorial Day weekend with the school’s 13th annual We Remember program.

The school welcomed special guests selectmen Scott Lambiase, Randy LaMattina and Dan Salvucci, Town Administrator Frank Lynam, Fire Chief Timothy Grenno, Veterans’ Agent Thomas McCarthy, Assistant Superintendent of Schools Dr. Patrick Dillon — who is a lieutenant in the Coast Guard — and members of the Duval family at the event.

Retired Navy SEAL Lt. Cmdr. Anthony O’Brien also attended to lead a group of students, clad in his old fatigue blouses and covers, in saluting the five branches of the armed services with a loud shout of, “Thank you for your service!”

“It is so important that we have you come here to help teach all of our friends that are with us how important it is to pause this weekend and remember the men and women who have sacrificed so much for all of us,” Principal Julie McKillop said in her welcoming remarks.

But the students were the primary participants in the event, as a handful read from reports, poems and letters to veterans in honor of service to country before the student body sang “America,” and “God Bless America.”

“We would like to thank all of our special guests who took the time to be with us today to help us remember the brave men and women who have given their service and lives for their country,” said fifth-grader David Nourse in his welcome on behalf of his fellow students. “We are honored to have you join us in our celebration.”

Nourse singled out Dillon and school gym teacher Patrick Kennedy, a Marine reservist currently on a humanitarian deployment to Hondouras, thanking them for their service.

Students and Duval staff members also placed tiny American flags on a wreath for display in the lobby in honor of relatives who have served their country.

“You help protect us and keep us safe. When people are doing bad things, you protect us through it all,” student Kelsey Fitzgerald read from her letter to veterans. “You are awesome and brave. Thank you, soldiers.”

“Inside every soldier, there’s a heart, and inside every heart, there is love,” read Brailey Murphy from her essay. “In every heart there is bravery — more bravery than anyone can imagine — it all comes from the love. … It makes you strong. It makes you bold. It makes you a soldier.”

The school’s fourth-grade class also presented with donated personal care items to Jason Gray, a representative of the Brockton VA Hospital.

“I understand a lot of hard work went into this, and we thank you very much,” Gray said before pledging to leave immediately to deliver the “conference room full of stuff” to the veterans to whom it was donated. “Thank you for working so hard for us — our country and our veterans — it’s what you give back to your community.”

Salvucci noted the huge American flag dominating the gym wall behind the speakers’ podium as he honored his late father in-law, a World War II veteran who had served in the Normandy invasion and transferred to the Pacific after the war in Europe had been won. Salvucci said the Duval program is his favorite event because he gets to talk about his father in-law’s service and his devotion to the flag.

“I always carry an American flag — when you see me marching, I’m carrying this small flag,” he said as he took the flag out of his breast pocket. “This year, when I walked into this room and I saw this American flag, my heart stopped. I want to thank you.”

O’Brien, too, said he was impressed by the giant flag, adding that, for some, Memorial Day is every day.

“If you served in combat, you’ve seen too many caskets with [our] flag on it,” he said. “So, to see that flag is extra special.”

He noted that only 1 percent of the American public serves in the military, and only 6 percent of Americans are veterans, adding that teachers, town officials and public safety personnel should also be thanked for their service to their community. He asked the students to think of those who are serving in uniform now or have served in the past as they honor those who have died in service to their country over the weekend.

More students followed O’Brien, including Camryn Tarr, reading her essay on Betsey Ross and Livia Saya, who read from her paper on the bald eagle. Kathryn Ward, Nathan Smith and Brooklyn Uzzell read from their original poems and Lillie MacKinnon, Van Le and Ariana Beane read from their letters to veterans.

“Thank you for protecting us and all you’ve done for us,” Le read from his letter. “Because of you, we can be safe from harm. Keep up the good work.”

Student leaders then presented red carnations to the special guests and escorted them to the library for a breakfast reception and gave them hand-written thank you letters.

HANSON — The Hanson Board of Selectmen Tuesday May 23, expanded the scope and changed the name of its school buildings repair committee.

It was the board’s first  meeting since the May 20 election, kicking off with the swearing-in of new selectmen Jim Hickey and Laura Fitzgerald-Kemmett, who were active in discussion and ready to provide input on many of the agenda items.

Most of the meeting dealt with Indian Head and Maquan School Priority Repair Committee, the name of which is being changed to reflect the concerns about all three Hanson school buildings.

The Selectmen decided to vote on renaming the committee to the concise School Repair Committee. They also unanimously voted to add the Hanson Middle School to this committee after discussing the responsibility and role of the committee.

“Maybe we need to incorporate all of the town buildings into this committee because they’re all in disrepair and we always seem surprised when something like a roof leak comes up,” Selectman Fitzgerald-Kemmett said.

Chairman McGahan agreed.

“We have a need for a group to focus on town buildings,” he said.

Selectman Howard asked if the school department didn’t take care of schools?

Essentially, the argument is that the schools shouldn’t be incorporated with town buildings, as the responsibility is lying in different pockets. Whitman contributes money to the school department. There is also the matter of people covering the school buildings not having knowledge of the happenings of town buildings.

“I don’t know if this committee is the way to do it (determining the needs to repair town buildings),” Selectman Kenny Mitchell said.

In response to the arguments, Fitzgerald-Kemmett said, “It’s evolving to where we need two or three committees… Bring groups together so they can prioritize what they all need.”

Selectman Hickey differed.

“I don’t know if we want to make two or three new committees,” he said. “We have enough trouble getting people to join our current committees.”

“This town is committee-ing itself to death,” School Committee chairman, and member of the Indian Head and Maquan School Priority Repair Committee, Bob Hayes said. He argued that regardless of how many committees there are, the town still has to vote to listen to them.

Town Administrator Michael McCue felt that this was something that could not be accomplished during this meeting. He thought the discussion was healthy but they should attend to the matter at hand, which was the Indian Head and Maquan School Priority Repair Committee.

The former selectman member of this committee was Bruce Young. Due to his retiring, the members had to vote on his replacement. Hickey said that he would like to take on this responsibility and the members voted to approve him unanimously. This will, of course, be his first committee as a selectman.

The meeting began with their swearing in with many attended the meeting in order to see these Hanson residents officially become Selectmen and there was applause from the crowd.

The board then reorganized, voting James McGahan back as chairman and Mitchell as vice chairman.

A former Whitman Police sergeant pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday, May 16 to wire fraud, preparing false income tax returns for clients of his tax preparation business, obstructing the internal revenue laws and misappropriating funds from the accounts of disabled veterans while he was a fiduciary appointed by the U.S.  Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

The plea was announced by Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Department Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney William D. Weinreb for the District of Massachusetts in a press release from the Public Affairs Office of the Department of Justice-Washington.

Glenn P. Pearson, 61, admitted to causing a tax loss of more than $1.5 million.

Pearson used his position as a fiduciary to misappropriate and embezzle more than $250,000 in VA-issued benefit money from the accounts of several veterans, according to the statement.

In court documents, officials stated Pearson obstructed the IRS by falsifying statements and documents for his clients, who were being audited.

“Mr. Pearson now finds himself on the opposite end of the very laws he was once sworn to uphold,” said Special Agent in Charge Harold H. Shaw of the FBI’s Boston Field Division.  “He took advantage of his position as a fiduciary to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from disabled veterans. The FBI will do everything we can to protect citizens against fraud, and stop those who steal from them.”

Pearson is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 19, facing a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for wire fraud, five years for misappropriation of funds by a fiduciary, three years for preparing false tax returns, and three years for attempting to interfere with the administration of the internal revenue laws.  As part of his plea he must make restitution to the veteran’s, the VA and IRS.

Pearson was reportedly fired as a Whitman police officer in early 2001 amid allegations of numerous inappropriate actions while on the job.

WHITMAN — As Fire Chief Timothy Grenno began his campaign last week in support of a $310,000 Prop 21/2 override question on the Saturday, May 20 ballot [see related story, page 8], town officials have begun calculating the cost to taxpayers.

According to Town Administrator Frank Lynam on Tuesday, May 9, that preliminary unofficial numbers could put the tax impact of the override and additional budget expenditures voted at the May 1 Town Meeting at $390 — based on a $300,000 home value — over the four quarterly tax bills. This represents an extra $1.09 per $1,000 valuation for the Article 2 adjustments from Town Meeting floor and 20.4 cents per $1,000 for the Fire Department override. The two add up to an additional $1.30 per $1,000 according to the preliminary figures.

Assessor Kathy Keefe must still verify the numbers. Much also depends on how much property values have increased in town, Lynam noted.

Grenno appeared at a candidates’ forum Thursday, May 4 to explain the need for an extra three firefighters at Whitman Fire-Rescue. It is a task he has vowed to repeat at as many opportunities as possible over the next nine days.

With a call volume of 496 emergency runs in 1965, a full-time fire department was implemented with five people per shift — where it has remained since. Last year’s call volume of 2,664 runs were still being answered by five-person crews — a 177-percent increase in calls.

“It is very, very difficult — if not, at times, impossible — to maintain the public safety that you, the taxpayers, you the residents, deserve and expect from your Fire Department,” he said. “I do not take overrides lightly, I do not take finances lightly.”

Grenno stressed that the extra firefighter per shift will give the department “a fighting chance” on fire and medical emergency calls.

“It will give you that comfort, knowing that when you call 911 we should have a response time of less than four minutes coming to your front door because we have the proper staffing,” he said. “That cannot be guaranteed at this time.”

Lynam said the Town Meeting votes pushed the town budget closer to the levy limit.

The tax rate — used to determines how efficiently a government operates and the kind of value one gets out of property — is the result of dividing how much money the town spends over all of the town’s taxable valued property, Lynam explained.

Town Meeting voted to raise and appropriate a total of $30,916,844.85 between Article 2, debt and other expenses as well as capital funding for purchases — $1,660,531 more than last year. Free cash and other available funds are not included in that figure.

HANSON — The annual Town Meeting kicked off a smooth outing Monday, May 1 by honoring longtime Selectman Bruce Young, who is retiring from public office this year. State Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, attended,  discussing the impact that Selectman Young has had on the Hanson community.

“The gentleman we are here to recognize has served the town of Hanson in many ways, dating back to 1977 as a Finance Committee member, a Historical Commission member, as a Board of Water commissioner and most recently on the Hanson Board of Selectmen,” Cutler read from a ciation he presented on behalf of the Massachuetts General Court. “Be it hereby known to all, that the House of Representatives offers its sincerest congratulations to Bruce Young in recognition of your many years of service to the Town of Hanson.”

“Josh and I are a prime example of people on opposite political spectrums that get along,” Young said of Cutler. “Everyone is working towards a common effort to move in the right direction for Hanson.”

Young also called the Town Meeting “the purest form of democracy” and encouraged everyone to spread the interest in Town Meetings to those around them for this generation and future generations.

Selectmen Chairman James McGahan praised Young for taking him under his wing, adding that Young has been a big influence on him politically.

The Town Meeting officially began by voting on the articles in the Special Town Meeting, during which, in Article 9, the entire Maquan School engineering condition assessment was scrapped. With this section of the article abandoned, the total cost of free cash went from the initial projection of $78,667 down to $53,667.

Between the Special and Regular Town Meetings there was a brief time-lapse video presentation of the Plymouth County Hospital demolition. It was said that the vacant area will be covered in a field of grass in roughly six weeks.

Marijuana
moratorium

Hanson voters rejected a temporary moratorium on the sale and distribution of marijuana in Hanson during the annual Town Meeting. There was disagreement between the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee, with the Selectmen voting 5-0 to recommend and the Finance Committee voting 5-0 not to recommend.

There was an amendment to this Article, moving the date this moratorium would end from June 30, 2019 to January 1, 2019.

“Our primary focus as a committee is to look at the financial impact and what’s in the best interest, in terms of financial interest, to the town,” Finance Committee Chairman Michael Dugan said in discussing the vote not to recommend. “We looked at this as if a retail location opened in Halifax, or any of the surrounding towns, this would, in effect, have a future impact limiting free trade in Hanson.”

Essentially the Finance Committee didn’t not want to risk future financial gains via taxes from a potential marijuana facility. This moratorium would prevent Hanson from gaining a financial benefit if neighboring towns choose to open a facility before 2019.

One resident asked how much money the town could potentially gain from a marijuana outlet. The Finance Committee said that the town has the right to add an additional 2 percent tax on top of the state tax for marijuana sales.

This close voice vote was challenged by a resident, the lone article among 52 that required a vote count. In addition to a vote count, it also required a 2/3 majority. 62 voted yes while 56 voted no, defeating the moratorium.

Capital matrix

As was the case during the Town Meeting Preview, Article 14 was the primary source of drama for the night. The primary concern, as brought up by the speaker from the Capital Improvement Committee, was the cost.

He said, “It is not up to our committee to second guess the department heads, it is not up to the board of selectmen to decide what the people of Hanson can afford will afford and will pay. We simply put the facts as they’re given to us by the department heads as a point of information to the citizens.”

During the annual Town Meeting, Young was highly critical of the Capital Improvement Committee’s repair matrix in Article 14:

“The purpose of having a capital improvement committee is outlined in the general by-law,” he pointed out, “It’s true the department heads bring their requests to the capital improvement committee each year, but it’s up to the Capital Improvement Committee, as outlined in the bylaw, to coordinate the development of the capital improvement budget within the operating budget in the current fiscal year.”

He explained that capital improvement funds can afford between $800,000 and $1 million, therefore the town shouldn’t have $11 million or $12 million in the capital improvement matrix.

“The committee is charged with prioritizing department head requests into the matrix for the first year and then to the corresponding five years as they see fit,” Young said. “That way you don’t have the department heads dictating and dividing up where the priorities should come, you have an independent board called the Capital Improvement Committee, made up of seven members at large, who possess neutrality on the subject dividing up and prioritizing capital improvement funds.

“If you don’t follow these rules and you just list everything under fiscal year 18 then there’s no sense in having a Capital Improvement Committee, because they’re the ones in charge of prioritizing it and sending it to the board of selectmen for approval,” Young continued. “Thus, if I see a capital improvement matrix that doesn’t follow the capital improvement by-law and I go along with it then I turn my back on what should be done under the general by-law. If we have a by-law, like any other law, it’s supposed to be followed. Why should I go along with a committee that isn’t following the capital improvement by-law?”

Voters nonetheless voted to approve Article 14 even with the Capital Improvement Committee brazenly ignoring the by-law and Young didn’t hide his disappointment over the vote.

Articles 31 and 32, seeking donations to nonprofit organizations were deemed illegal by town legal counsel, because the town is not allowed to give money to an outside organization. The organizations are Health Imperatives’ Violence Intervention and Prevention programs and the South Shore Women’s Resource Center for deomestic violence intervention and prevention. During the Town Meeting Preview, the Selectmen emphasized that they support these organizations but could not recommend them as they must follow the law in this instance.

HANSON — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, April 25 previewed next week’s Town Meeting articles.

The rehearsal for the Monday, May 1 Town Meeting was mostly intended as an opportunity for various town officials to discuss articles that will be put before the meeting. Some of the officials came to specifically discuss articles they were representing.

Most of the articles were passed over quickly, without much discussion, but others were more controversial. At various times Selectmen and even town officials spoke out against articles.

Selectman Bruce Young, for example, maintained that town bylaws are not being followed on Article 14 — the Capital Improvement matrix, which totals $12 million — a figure the town is unable to fund. Young maintained the Capital Improvement Committee is not doing its job, because it is charged with producing a matrix the town can afford.

“I’m not going to let you twist my arm in public,” Selectmen Chairman James McGahan said in an effort to restore order to the meeting.

There was also much discussion revolving around the WasteZero contract, recently extended for three years. The extension was signed by Town Administrator Michael McCue.

Selectmen expressed concern over the relevance of a waste disposal transfer station when most people in town are now using various hauling companies for their waste.

Young was concerned about the lack of publicity surrounding the extension, citing that it was highly publicized three years ago at the initial signing with WasteZero. He said that it was previously a “ceremonial signing of the contract.” He offered to show the video to the representative from the transfer station. Selectman Kenny Mitchell agreed with Young, stating that he was there during the last signing and was surprised that it was not done in a similar manner this time.

McGahan said he felt this portion of the discussion was a distraction.

“Regardless of the history, let’s stick to what’s on the agenda,” he said. “I don’t want to go into a violation of the Open Meeting Law.”

McCue wanted to verify his intent in signing the contract extension. He stated, “there’s a misconception that this was a de facto extension” on his part and wanted to make it clear that, if the town eventually wants to move toward curbside trash collection in the future, it would need to start the process at a more adequate time.

“In the interim we need to keep in place what we have now or we’ll have nothing in place,” he said.

Young also wanted to know the number of Hanson residents who have a valid pass for the transfer station and compare that to the number of homes in Hanson to gauge the relevance of the program.  He said that on his street various waste disposal companies are used and wonders how many people truly take advantage of the pay as you go transfer station system. This information was not immediately available.

Selectman Donald Howard defended the transfer station, stating, “Pay as you go has worked throughout this country.”

“We have tried many ways to fund the transfer stations,” Howard said. “Yes, we run at a deficit but eventually we’ll get better at it.”

The representatives from the transfer station were pleased with Howard’s sentiment, and were adamant in their plan to make the transfer station “self-sufficient.”

Mitchell said, “I don’t believe it will ever be self-sufficient.”

The board approved to hire and appoint three women to positions in the Town of Hanson.

Rhondalee Larson will be the new clerk to the Treasurer. The Selectmen spoke very highly of Larson and her 20 years of experience.

“We were quite fortunate that Rhondalee chose to apply to the position,” McCue said.

The town also appointed Mary Drake to be an Animal Control Officer. She has experience providing home pet care and has written a book on a six-week dog training program. McCue praised her enthusiasm and said she has been active as interim animal control officer in the past two weeks.

Lee Gamache, a resident of Hanson for 54 years and an employee of the town for 20 years, applied to be a member of the 200th anniversary commission and was accepted by the Board.

To start the meeting the Board entered executive session for roughly 40 minutes. This was to strategize “in preparation for negotiations with non-union personnel or contract negotiations with non-union personnel.” These strategies apply to various employees for the town.

WHRHS will host 46 Chinese students for two weeks May 14 to 26 and are seeking suggestions for extra-curricular activities the students might enjoy.

School Committee member Steven Bois, who works at the JFK Presidential Library, offered to host a visit to that venue as his guests.

“If you end up doing a cookout, I’ll flip burgers,” member Fred Small said.

The students’ visit to W-H, for which the school is working with Alpha Exchange, is being undertaken in the hope that W-H students will visit a school in China next year, said Principal Jeffrey Szymaniak.

The ultimate goal is bringing a bit of Chinese culture to the school with the hope it will lead to adding another language to the curriculum, according to Szymaniak.

“I know the committee has talked about foreign language quite a bit, and monetarily we don’t do that well,” he said. “Our goal, when I got here, was to add Chinese as a language — we haven’t been able to do that.”

The exchange visit’s original plan was that the Chinese students would stay with host families in the Whitman and Hanson communities, but Szymaniak said it appeared to be a long commitment for some families.

Arrangements right now are being made for the students to stay in Braintree hotels for the two weeks, where easy access to the MBTA and the movies offer options for things to do outside of school hours.

“What we’re going to do is try to involve them in our [school] culture as best we can,” Szymaniak said. “They’re going to be here during the school day, they’re going to follow the students’ schedule for part of the day.”

Alpha Exchange also offers a stipend to teachers willing to teach a class of specific interest to the Chinese students. Szymaniak has already uploaded the WHRHS schedule to the group’s website so the visiting students may make course selections based on the school’s enrollment and available space in a given class.

“If you have any fun events that weekend [May 20-21], we’re looking for something,” Szymaniak said, noting he has already arranged for them to attend school sports events and a performance of the school’s rock band and show choir. “I think they think Whitman and Hanson are as big as the cities in China.”

Special education director

In other business, the School Committee on Wednesday, April 12 voted to appoint Kyle Riley as administrator of special education to replace the departing Administrator Dr. John Quealy.

Not a new position, the appointment has no effect on the budget.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Ruth Gilbert-Whitner, who sat in on the second round of interviews, recommended Riley, currently the Haverhill special education director. A search committee headed by Assistant Superintendent Dr. Patrick Dillon, which included educators and parents, conducted the first round of interviews.

Riley has also worked in the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District.

“I try to put kids first all the time, every single day,” he said, noting he is also certified as a business manager.

Quealy also provided an overview of the special education program for the committee, the overall mission of which is to identify students who are not making effective academic or social-emotional progress and to create plans to help support those students.

Inclusion is a major goal of the program, covering children and youths ages 3 to 22, he said. On a daily basis, the district manages about 600 individual education plans — about 15 percent of students. The state average is 17 percent.

IEPs cover speech and occupational therapy, hearing and vision aid, transportation, counseling and behavior support, among other programs.

Gilbert-Whitner also noted the financial impact of special education on school budgets, as state Circuit Breaker and federal support — which is supposed to cover 40-percent of costs, but only covers 16 percent — have fallen short.

HANSON — Hanson Little League’s annual parade and opening day festivities were held Saturday — and it finally felt like spring had arrived.

With the smell of burgers on the grill at the snack shack, and the crowd overflowing inside and outside the gate and field, many families joined their players on the walk from the Hanson Town Hall to Botieri Fields for ceremonies and first pitches.

A moment of silence was observed, and blue balloons were released, in honor of longtime Hanson baseball volunteer and mom Lori Sawtelle who passed away last month after a long battle with cancer.

Christopher O’Brien received the Botieri Award for his dedication and respect on and off the field as a member of Hanson baseball.

Lily Andrews threw the first pitch for the girls’ softball and former board member Greg Collins threw the first pitch for baseball.

Hanson Little League board member Paul Clark was master of ceremonies at the event.

Abby Godwin, 11, of Hanson sang the national anthem bringing cheers from the crowd as Hanson kicked off the beginning of the season for 2017.

HANSON — Now that spring has “arrived,” Green Hanson is hitting the ground running this month with a quartet of programs, old and new — and a new nominee for chairman, 2012 W-H graduate Naomi Mastico.

Also a recent graduate of UMass, Amherst, Hanson native Mastico has returned home and is taking the handoff of Green Hanson’s reins from Marianne DiMascio, who has decided it’s time to step back a bit after some 10 years with the organization.

Mastico was a Green Hanson volunteer during her high school days, and said she is looking forward to rolling up her sleeves and planning more events.

“I’m really thinking of having an event per season,” Mastico said Friday, March 31, at DiMascio’s business office at 620 County Road. “That’s my big dream, because we’ve been really spring-focused. … We’re from New England and we’re famous for our seasons and I think so much of being green is a connection to that — to the Earth, to the weather, to the cycle of the seasons.”

Among her thoughts are a possible return of past fall harvest pot-luck dinners, outdoor summer film screenings and electronic recycling days, among others.

“We’re kind of revitalizing Green Hanson,” DiMascio said. “We’ve been doing some things all along … and we have four events coming up in April.”

First up for the group was an April 1 spring meeting for the organic Hanson Community Garden, held at the Hanson Public Library at which gardening tips were offered and interested residents could sign up for a plot at the garden, located at the Hanson Food Pantry on High Street.

On Tuesday, May 2 there will also be a demonstration during food pantry hours of how to do square-foot gardening for pantry clients and other interested residents, DiMascio said.

The annual Clean Up Green Up community spring roadside cleaning day is also being planned. The event will take place from 9 to 11:30 a.m., Saturday, April 22 with volunteers meeting at the Hanson Town Hall green at 8:45 a.m. for coffee and doughnuts — provides by Dunkin’ Donuts — and for their cleaning assignments.

“We were originally supposed to have it on [April] 8, and I’m glad we’re not, because it’s still cold,” DiMascio said.

“It’s impossible to dig through snow and find trash,” Mastico agreed.

Green Hanson is urging W-H students in search of community service projects to volunteer. All volunteers are advised to wear long-sleeved shirts and pants come prepared with work gloves and boots. Walker-Clay has donated 75 bright yellow T-Shirts for visibility, by arrangement with Town Administrator Michael McCue, but volunteers are asked to wear their own bright-colored clothing in case there are not enough T-shirts to go around.

“We also invite people to let us know if there are specific areas that they’re thinking of cleaning to send [that information] to us,” Mastico said.

Green Hanson’s Clean Up Green Up partners are: state Rep. Josh Cutler, Mike’s House of Pizza, Hanson Kiwanis, Hanson Middle School Builders Club, Hanson Boy Scouts, Shaw’s Supermarket, Dunkin’ Donuts, WasteZero, the Hanson Highway Department, Noonan Waste Service, Eco-Explorers 4-H Club and the WHRHS National Honor Society.

DiMascio has also organized a bicycle donation drive to benefit the nonprofit Bikes Not Bombs, which trains low-income youths in Boston to repair the bikes for shipment to Third-World nations where the bikes are desperately needed.

Area residents are invited to drop off repairable bikes, parts, tools, accessories and cycling clothing to 620 County Road from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., on Saturday, April 29. As it costs $10 to ship renovated bikes overseas, monetary donations are also being accepted, DiMascio said.

Acceptable bikes include: road, hybrid, mountain, BMX and tandem — basically anything except rusted bikes, kick scooters, motorized bikes, exercise equipment, tricycles or Trail-A-Bikes.

One shipment of repaired bikes sent to Uganda, for example, enables a group of 500 village health workers to reach patients in rural areas. Another project, in Guatemala, creates bicycle-powered machines as an emissions-free technology to improve the productivity and efficiency of rural livelihoods.

“A bike can change someone’s life,” she said. “They can get to a market, they can get to town — mobility. It’s having the bikes go to a good place and multiple purposes.”

Other area Bikes Not Bombs collections will be held: Saturday, May 9 in Sharon or Saturday, May 20 in Hingham. For a complete list of Masssachusetts drives, or to learn more about Bikes Not Bombs, visit bikesnotbombs.org.

Green Hanson is also hosting a trail walk at the Webster-Billings Conservation Area off Old Pine Drive and East Washington Street, Hanson from 1:30 to 3 p.m., Sunday, April 9.

The next meeting of Green Hanson is at 7 p.m., Wednesday, April 12 at 620 County Road. The public is welcome to attend.

For more information, call Mastico at 781-974-8455 or email greenhanson@gmail or facebook.com/greenhasonma/.