HANOVER – South Shore Tech School Committee honored its Parents Association during the Wednesday, May 22 School Committee meeting, for their “exceptional commitment to SST programs every school year.”
“It is with great pleasure that we recognize their outstanding contributions and to express our gratitude for their unwavering support for all things South Shore Tech,” said Principal Sandra Baldner. “Their tireless efforts and dedication have made significant impacts the success of our students and their well-being.”
She was joined by Erin Venuti, who spoke for the group and Cynthia Ortiz, Karen Burgio and Jessica Franceschini, both of Hanson and Leigh Gilcoine joined her at the meeting. The Parents’ Association works to make the school a positive and inclusive environment for both students and parents.
Venuti’s daughter is graduating this year, so she is stepping down from the Parents’ Association, but has been asked to serve as parent liaison with the School Building Committee.
Throughout the school year, the association puts in “endless hours of volunteer work,” advocacy of positive communication throughout SST, resourcefulness and collaborations with all members of the school community, according to Baldner.
“Their ability to bring people together and work toward common goals has been invaluable,” she said. “Their unwavering support and commitment have made a significant difference in the lives of our students and in the overall success of our school.”
Baldner said they could often be seen “lugging SST gear” from car to car and event to event, rain or shine, year after year. She also said she values the association as a working mom because he work at SST does not give her the time to volunteer with her children’s vocational school program.
Acting Parents’ Association President Erin Venuti offered some highlights of the current members time volunteering for SST students and programs.
Venuti said she joined when she heard Hickey speak of no fees for sports or athletics and giving every student a chance to participate.
“I don’t know if he realizes the impact that those particular things, and funding those opportunities really do have on our student body,” she said. “Through the course of that, I ended up here.”
Venuti said her running joke is that it’s like [The Eagle’s hit] ‘Hotel California’ – you can check in, but you can never leave.” To demonstrate how that is true for her, she said she is transitioning to her new department, to work with Hickey as a parent liaison on the new School Building Committee.
“This has been one of our most successful years,” she said, underscoring Baldner’s comments. “One of the most important things we looked at was bringing back an in-person community event.”
That led to member Cynthia Ortiz suggesting and given free rein on what became one of the most successful fundraisers ever – a singo event at Players Restaurant in Auburn. This year, there were a couple more – signature T-shirts for sale to support mental health awareness and suicide prevention at the annual car show. This year’s first-edition T-shirt sales brought in more than $4,000 from the sale for mental health and suicide prevention programs.
Students in the Graphic arts shop design them and teachers vote on which one to produce each year.
“That was one of my main aims to leave the school with, because it was very important and a very passionate project of mine,” she said.
Among the uses funds raised by the association are a monthly teacher appreciation coffee and pastry event and new sideline chairs provided for the gym for the use of volleyball and basketball games. They also purchased a new camera for the Graphics Department to use for producing the yearbook. They also continue the annual awards program to help support any student going on to higher education, or for specialized tools needed for their trades.
“But we wanted things that could transition into a new building,” Venuti said. “We don’t want to spend money on something that’s not going to stay. The sideline chairs can transition to the gym and really did make the kids feel special and people know, when they come to the gym, they are at South Shore Tech. They know our colors. They know our logo.”
The association is also bringing back the Class events, starting with the Class of 2024 – sponsoring the lawn signs given free of charge to the families of each graduating senior, bottled water for graduations in hot weather, shop cords for cap and gown ensembles, senior breakfast and senior lunch, the annual students’ civics project and leaving each sports team with a kick-start to help them fund raise. Smaller requests often come in from school administration for which the association tries to help as well as a $500 donation to SkillsUSA.
“The outgoing graduates lost a lot to COVID,” she said. “These were things we all agreed we need to bring back to make sure they feel they are leaving school on a positive note and not just leaving.”
She concluded by reminding the meeting that the Parents’ Association is “not a one-man-band.”
“It is all of us, together,” she said. “There are no titles. We’re all equal – we all talk the same, we all express the same. … We are all involved in the community, we are all selling the same story, the positive community atmosphere.”

The next round of school budget negotiations should go this well, but judging by the sentiment among Select Board members, it’s not likely.
Voters in Hanson soundly rejected the override with no votes winning the day 821 to 522. While Whitman’s Town Meeting voted to use free cash to bridge the gap in the school district’s assessment, 361 people voted for the override and 883 voted against. Whitman voters also rejected a ballot question supported by their Select Board to change the treasurer-collector’s position to an appointed one instead of an elected one, by a vote of 830 to724.
Assistant Town Clerk Michael Ganshirt said 422 people voted early via absentee ballot or about 45 percent of the 1,200 ballots mailed out. Hanson saw 500-plus mail-in and 116 early voters of the 1,471 eligible voters go to the polls for early voting in the election. There are 8,477 registered voters in Hanson.
In Whitman 16 percent – 1,771 – of the town’s 11,000 registered voters cast ballots.
“I hope I win,” Salvucci said that morning. “I’m never confident, until I [see the result].” He said that, win or lose, he wanted to remain in the post as liaison to South Shore Tech, a position not always held by a Select Board member.
Select Board member Ann Rein, who was the top vote-getter among candidates in the race for two seats on the board, has been a vocal opponent of the override and school budget in general.
She has been “totally against the override.”
“I want the school department to be held to the fire,” Rein said while sign-holding at the polls Saturday morning. “I’m ‘sick and tired about them bullying us into doing what they want. No. If we have to cut, they have to cut.”
Frank Milisi, who finished out of the win column for Select Board said there was no purpose of it to pass at this point, anyway.
“It’s not worth the fight to pass it,” he said.
Second-place vote-getter Joe Weeks also predicted the override would fail.
“I think the town is in a position now, where things are tight and services and costs are going up,” he said. “I have a feeling that, that’s going to impact people’s votes,” he said. “I do think we have to do a better job of some education around it because, I think if people understood why some of these overrides and what [they] mean for the bigger picture are in terms of longer-term savings, I think we’ll have a better idea a positive vote.”
But there was a note of positivity among the Select Board candidates themselves.
As Hanson Town Clerk Elizabeth read out the voting results and candidates with calculators handy added up the numbers that returned incumbents Ann Rein and Joe weeks to the Select Board, a spirit of bipartisanship was evident.
“You deserved it,” Weeks told challenger Frank Milisi more than once, incredulous that he had won. Weeks had said earlier in the day that he felt the result would be tight and voter turnout might hold the key.
“I am so proud of you, and – to be honest with you – you were better than me,” Weeks said, shaking Milisi’s hand at one point. “Honestly, I did not expect that result. You deserved it.”
Weeks persisted in saying Milisi was deserving of a win, as a handful of people double-checked the numbers, confirming what Milisi had first determined – that Weeks had, indeed been the winner.
“You deserved it,” Weeks said a few more times. “I’m blown away by this. It did not expect it.”
“You could have said that two weeks ago,” Milisi joked, adding with a laugh, “I’m going to have to go around with your recall petition now.”
“You probably would,” Weeks replied.
Select Board Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said both ran a good race in an election with a relatively good turnout.
“Somebody’s got to lose, unfortunately,” she said.
Weeks had just pulled in 731 votes to win re-election by a total of 731 to 683. Weeks did better with early voters and Milisi edged him on in-person votes. Rein, also an incumbent pulled in a first-place vote count or 833, also doing slightly better in early votes than with in-person voters.
There were 31 blanks and scattered write-in votes.
“I knew I was going to get smoked today,” Weeks said of Saturday’s in-person voting, but his 286 to 189 edge in early voting had made the difference.
“I honestly thought you and Ann were going to run away with it, I really did,” Weeks said to Milisi. “I don’t believe it. I want to see the numbers. I did not expect to win.”
The candidates also said they enjoyed being “tent mates” as the three Select Board candidates shared two pop-up tents to shelter against the day’s persistent drizzle.
“This whole time, it’s been not bashing each other and just going off and figuring out the ideas and let people decide make out the difference,” Milisi said.
“Well, there’s a difference between not bashing people and acknowledging that people are doing a good job,” Weeks said.
Rein had expressed confidence in the outcome that morning.
“I’m hopeful,” she said. “I think we’re going to be OK.”
Both Milisi and Weeks said Rein was worthy of being the top vote-getter in the field.
“Although I am disappointed with the result of the election, I cannot be happier for Ann and Joe, both are great candidates with whom I have enjoyed working with in other capacities,” Milisi said in a statement later. “The Town of Hanson was offered another point of view and set of ideas this election, and I still believe in those ideas I laid out during the campaign.”
He said his immediate plans involved returning to work at Camp Kiwanee Commission and the Capital Improvement Committee.
“I would like to thank every voter, taxpayer, and resident whom I spoke with during the campaign,” he said. “The town of Hanson has some financially rough years ahead of us, and I will do the best I can to assist the board in any way possible.”
In Whitman, Select Board candidates, incumbent Dan Salvucci and challenger Kathleen Ottina were out holding signs early in the morning, also expressing cautious optimism in the job they did getting their message to the voters.
“To all the Whitman voters who came out for the May 18th town election to cast their vote for the candidates of their choice thank you,” he said in a statement about the outcome.” When the numbers were read by Whitman’s Town Clerk and when we knew who the winner was, we greeted each other and congratulated each other on running a clean race.”
While falling short of her goal by only 57 votes, Ottina offered Salvucci congratulations after the results were read that she appreciated the support she received.
“Your support was encouraging,” she said in a statement. “I especially want to thank the people who kindly hosted my lawn sign, the wonderful supporters who braved the elements to stand out near the polls holding signs, and my terrific family and friends who worked so hard to help me. I appreciate you all so much.” 
Ottina said she plans to continue her work on the Whitman Finance Committee to “advocate for sound financial decisions that benefit all Whitman citizens, especially those who are too young to vote.”
Before taking a break from sign-holding that morning, she was philosophical about the outcome.
“I worked as hard as I could,” Ottina said. “The voters will decide, but I would be proud and privileged to serve the Town of Whitman as a member of the Select Board.”
“I think we’re going to end up with a Super Town Meeting, which should be very interesting,” Salvucci said.
School Committee candidate Rosemary Connolly said she believed she was able to inform the public.
“I hope the public sees that they have other options out there,” she said. “Options that are knowledgeable about educational funding.”
She ended the day as the top vote-getter in the three-way race for two seats on the School Committee, with incumbent Fred Small garnering 963 and third-place finisher Kevin Mayer with 778.
Hanson’s School Committee race had three candidates vying for a single seat.
Kara Moser to the final contested office of the day, winning a School Committee seat to replace Michelle Bourgelas, who opted not to run again. Moser was the top vote-getter in that race with 520 votes, to Christine Cohen’s 431 and Barbara Connolly’s 293. There were 4 blanks.

WHITMAN – The Select Board spent time taking stock of the events at Town Meeting the night before at its Tuesday, May 7 meeting and what lies ahead in reaching consensus on a fiscal 2025 school budget.
Select Board member Shawn Kain said he had done some reflecting after the Monday, May 6 annual Town Meeting.
“I was up late thinking, and I think the thing that is throwing me off and had me worried was, when they last had the April 8 School Committee meeting, there was some good discussion that was had,” he said, noting Chair Beth Stafford’s reference to the meeting school and select board representatives had together. “You had a good discussion, you talked about the override, you talked about the need for a smaller override, and it sounded like … there was a plan that was kind of made, and that’s kind of what she presented to the School Committee.”
During that School Committee meeting there was also discussion about how the school assessment would be split between budgets and the override.
“When I left the meeting, after everyone voted in favor for it, I thought, going into last night’s meeting, that the School Committee was going to support the small override,” Kain said. “So, I was a little bit thrown off when they didn’t.”
He said it occurred to him about halfway through the Town Meeting that it wasn’t going to work as a result of the division.
“I definitely felt some tension,” he said.
He said when the intent was for the towns and school district to step forward together to actively support getting the override to the ballot, when School Committee members not only acted counter to that, but also actively spoke out against it and school district officials were “very quiet about it” he found himself wondering how the plan could be implemented. Hanson did not pass the override for the same reason.
There was, in fact, no debate over the override in Hanson outside of School Committee member Hillary Kniffen explaining a procedural point.
“The best chance we had to increase educational funding was through an override,” Kain said. “Hanson’s in a much worse financial situation than we are, so for people in our community to be undermining the override … is worrisome for me. … What happens next?”
While healthy debate is good for the town, he said, and lauded the “impressive political move” the Finance Committee made, which changed the direction of the way things went. But he also expressed concern that, since they were able to do that, “it really undermined our ability to increase educational funding, which was ultimately the goal.”
Kowalski said the School Committee had made it clear they were not voting for an override so much as a change in the assessment.
“But it was clear, also that the plan was to cover that drop in assessment with a small override,” Kowalski said. “That was clear. But it shouldn’t be construed that they voted for it. … We’re the ones that have to put an override on the warrant – and we did.”
Other than that one correction, Kowalski said he agreed with everything Kain had to say.
“What I liked about the plan that had a small override in it was that it … lifts our floor for every year to come in a small way,” he said. “It’s going to be stressful.”
Select Board member also Laura Howe agreed with Kain’s concerns.
“I found it very disheartening, how divided we became,” she said. “Not of our own free will, but suddenly, I felt we were all outcasts, and a town cannot run divided.”
Discussing the news and information bubbles into which people sort themselves, Howe said that situation creates fear.
“When people get afraid, they lash out,” she said. “So I didn’t so much mind that they thought we were distrustful … I hope people will reach out [to town leaders]. Everyone is approachable. … There is no good or bad guy, there’s no winner or loser. This is our community.”
She said she felt town officials could bridge that division because they are “all strong leaders that love this town.”
Both Howe and Kowalski also lauded Select Board member Justin Evans for hissocial media posts in an effort to keep residents informed leading up to Town Meeting.
In other business, the Select Board voted to accept the sale of the town’s up to $20 million principal amount of general obligation building bonds and to execute the necessary documents.
“There are a number of votes to take,” said Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski, who read what the votes were before a single vote was taken at the end covering all of them:

• $19,070,000 general obligation building bonds to TD Securities USA, LLC at the price of $20,123,010.85 and accrued interest, if any. Bonds are payable annually on May 15 beginning in 2025 in the principal and bear interest rates for each year, changing as the years go on;
• Marketing and sale of the bonds, the prepaparation and and distribution of notice and sale and preliminary official statement;
• The bond is subject to redemption at the option of the town upon terms and conditions within the official statement;
• Town Treasurer and Select Board will be and are authorized to execute and deliver a continuing disclosure undertaking and compliance with SEC rules in a form approved by town counsel;
• Authorizing and directing the treasurer to establish post-issuance federal tax compliance and continuing disclosure procedures in the forms deemed sufficient by the treasurer and bond counsel and to review those procedures if they are already in place in order to monitor and maintain the tax-exempt status of the bonds;
• Any certificates or documents related to the bonds may be executed in several counterparts each regarded as an original (this vote also approved signing and mailing procedures);
• Electronic siguatures will be deemed original signatures; and
• Authorizes the each member of the Select Board, Town Clerk and town treasurer to take any and all actions to exercise and deliver certificates, receipts or other documents determined necessary to carry into effect the provisions of the votes.

HANSON – While questions remain in the community about the town’s energy aggregation program, which begins later this month, town officials and representatives of the energy consultants are working on answering them.
The town’s Energy Committee held an informational session on the Community Power program on Monday, April 22 at the Hanson Police Station Community Room, as well as an online meeting Thursday, May 2 and another in-person session at the Hanson Senior Center, Thursday, May 9.
In 2021, Hanson residents in Town Meeting voted to allow the town to explore a municipal energy aggregate program, which is designed to provide savings on electric bills for residents who are now National Grid customers, according to Town Administrator Lisa Green, who introduced the April 22 meeting.
Hanson contracted with Good Energy to guide the town through the steps of the two-year process to set up the aggregate program, including submitting data to the state Department of Public Utilities (DPU) to obtain its approval. Once provisional acceptance was issued, the town had to make adjustments to achieve full approval from the DPU, which was received this spring.
During that phase, energy supply companies made bids on their kilowatt hourly rates.
Direct Energy, which provided the lowest bid, was selected and an agreement was signed with the town.
“The town itself has a similar agreement with a company called Sprague Energy,” Green said. “It gives the town lower costs, and the town has seen [more than] $42,000 in savings in both our natural gas and electricity costs over the last four years.”
Energy Committee Chair Marianne DiMascio and representatives from Good Energy also attended the meeting to provide more information and answer questions.
DiMascio is designed to be a five-member committee that was named after Town Meeting passed the aggregate energy article, noting the panel was down a member and putting in a plug for the process of joining, should anyone be interested.
Select Board member Ed Heal, James Armstrong and John Murray also sit on the Energy Committee.
Rachel Ferdinand, program manager for Hanson with Good Energy, gave an informational program for those at the meeting, which can be streamed on Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV’s website – at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irTByt-DmIE.
“This program is a way for the town to offer different [energy] supply options,” Ferdinand said. “This will only affect the supply portion of your bill.”
In fact, savings and support of renewable energy options in the area are Good Energy’s main goals, she said. While National Grid’s rate changes every six months may mean periods when there are few savings, Ferdnand stressed that “over the course of the 30-month term, we are expecting to see savings across the board.”
The program officially begins in June 2024 for a 30-month contract with Direct Energy. National Grid will still be the billing company and should still be contacted in the event of outages. At the end of 30 months, the town will decide whether or not to continue the program and, if it decides to continue, it would repeat the competitive bid process to find a new supplier.
“We’ll never just change the price on you,” Ferdinand said.
Three program options are available:

• Standard – the one most people join. It adds 10 percent renewable among its energy sources and costs 13.692 cents per kilowatt hour.
• Basic – with no renewable sources and a price of 13.280 cents pre kWh.
• Plus – adds voluntary renewable energy to a total of 100 percent at 14.738 cents per kWh.
  “It is completely voluntary to be in this program,” she said. “There’s never going to be a fee to opt out of the program … but if you do join it will differ based on who your supplier is right now.”
  National Grid’s basic residential service, by comparison, costs 18.213 cents per kWh and includes no additional renewable energy sources.
  Renewable sources include wind and solar and are local to the New England region.
  Those eligible for automatic enrollment would start at standard first, Ferdnand said.
  Supplier services will be listed on page two of energy bills.
  Residents eligible for automatic enrollment should be receiving letters about it and, if they take no action, will be enrolled in the standard product category in June.
  Those not wanting to be in the program may opt out when they receive their letter but must do so by May 18. One can still leave the program after that date, but it will show up on bills until the change is made.
  One resident said he believed he was already in the program after receiving his letter.
  “I’m saving money right now,” he said.
  Residents can also make their preference online at hansoncommunitypower.com. Direct Energy can also be called at 866-968-8065. It is a good idea to have your bill handy if you plan to opt out or make changes to the program because information on the bill, such as account number, will be asked for.
  Those already in a contract with a third-party supplier should consult their provider in case there is a fee for changing that contract.
  “There’s never going to be a fee with us to join, but it’s important to know the ins and outs of your contract,” Ferdinand said.
  Good Energy has been reaching out to residents by letter, postcard, social media, brochures and news articles.
  One resident asked about fees. Outside of the usual National Grid delivery fees, Direct Energy will not add new fees to bills.
  Customers receiving credits for solar panels from National Grid, which still handles billing, will not see any change in those credits. National Grid will also continue to be responsible for addressing power outages.
  There is no connection between the program and the municipal budget.
  The aggregate program will not affect the performance of oxygen machines or generators.

The Hanson Select Board on Tuesday, April 23, approved, contingent on some final changes, a modified road opening permit application process, mainly geared toward utility companies who must open the road surface for repairs.
Town Administrator Lisa Green explained that the town has had a road opening permit application process on file for many years, but that she had never actually seen the form until Interim Highway Director Curt McLean had brought one in to discuss the changes he’s looking for.
“He realized that there are quite a few improvements that could be made that would better serve the town, and be a better watchdog for the town, so companies put the roads back in the condition that they found them in – or make them better,” Green said.
The permits govern what companies seeking to open the roadway pavement to make repairs and must be applied for through the Highway Department.
“I’ve noticed some of the utilities are, I’ll say inconsistent and, perhaps, not as judicious as we’d like them to be, about sealing things back up after they’ve torn everything up,” Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
The application is more extensive, at eight or nine pages compared to the page or two of the past, McLean said.
“This here really holds companies to the gun, that when they’re done, they will restore the road – full width – and basically come in and mill the road an inch and a half, and then repaving an inch and a half,” which is the Highway Director’s responsibility to check.
“East Washington is kind of a disaster area,” he said about recent work there. “[It’s] understandable, they did a lot of work. … Now we have to do a refurbishment of the whole road. The gas company is putting money forth toward that. Is it enough? No.”
He said this policy will prevent that in the future.
The gas utility is now looking to do 2,800 feet on West Washington Street, with the policy in place, they would have to refurbish the whole, roadway where they are working.
Green said town counsel has not yet reviewed it.
“Thank you for taking the initiative to point out something we could do better,” FitzGerald said, noting a legal review would be prudent.
Vice Chair Weeks asked if the new policy has been reviewed with a fine-tooth comb to make sure there are no contradictions within it.
“How do you hold someone’s feet to the fire?” he said, asking how the town’s interests are protected.
FitzGerald-Kemmett said there are enough checks and balances in it that the policy update is a definite improvement.
“I’m not saying the questions negate the pros that this brings,” Weeks said. “We’ve been burned a couple of times … and we’re still kind of paying the price for [that]. … I feel a lot more comfortable if someone internally is the one who’s signing off on it.”
Weeks asked Green if he could send a list of items for town counsel to check, to which she agreed.
They have to apply for the permit, McLean stressed of the construction companies, adding that the Highway Director is the one who is going to be checking on the process of how the road repairs are made.
“If they don’t abide by it, good luck getting another permit in town,” McLean said.
FitzGerald-Kemmett also wanted to see fees, which are now doubled, to be increased to protect the town.
“If you’re coming to seek forgiveness and not permission on something like opening up our roads, I don’t think just doubling a $100 fee is very punitive at all,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
Ed Heal asked if the mention of West Washington Street meant there was a time-sensitive issue.
McLean said it is a little time-sensitive, because the work there is being considered for a start in early May.
In other business the Select Board, which had voted to seek ARPA funds to pay for a new ambulance during a recent meeting, heard an update Green on the effort to obtain that funding.
She said she has completed the grant application and submitted it, but a grant agreement is required, which the board had to approve and sign it so she can submit it to the Plymouth County Commissioners.
The board also has the issue as an article on the May 6 Town Meeting warrant.
The process through which the Select Board processes reapplications of former Planning Board members that had been part of a recent investigation was also clarified by the board.
“We’ve had a couple of people in the past who, either we chose not to appoint to the ZBA or we chose to remove from the ZBA, seeking to be reappointed to the ZBA,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “Is it the will of the board to entertain those applications?
She noted that previously, when the board discussed the issue, it had centered on an individual who had been removed from the ZBA after a hearing and unanimous decision that the board did not want to “exhume that body,” she said, and go through that whole process again, because they had already made a decision.
She asked if the board had the same feeling about such situations now.
“My opinion hasn’t changed,” Board member Ann Rein said.
“We’re not putting that band back together,” FitzGerald Kemmett asked.
“Right,” Rein replied.
“It makes sense [to ask],” Weeks said. “Every time there’s a new board we [should] circle back to this, because the will of a previous board might not be the will of the current board. As long as there’s a status check every once in a while, I think that’s the fairest way to do it.”

WHITMAN – It’s all about balance.
The town’s DPW, and the state Department of Transportation, are envisioning a balance of different needs by roadway users for more comfortable accommodations for bikes, pedestrians, motorists and transit users along a stretch of South Avenue – linking them all together.
“We’re looking to improve safety, promoting traffic to travel through efficiently, as it currently does, but making sure motorists are traveling at a safe travel speed,” said Principal Engineer Jim Fitzgerald of Environmental Partners. “The project, in general would [also] invigorate the local economy in that area. Complete streets projects have been proven to really provide a boost to local economies and allow for redevelopment with all the placemaking opportunities to be had with a project like this.”
Visual alerts to the presence of pedestrian crossings or a cyclist in the roadway are also safety goals.
Whitman’s DPW Commissioners, meeting with the Select Board Tuesday, April 9, provided an update on the South Avenue reconstruction project.
Select Board Chair Dr. Carl Kowalski said the update was billed as a joint meeting, even though not all the DPW Commissioners were present.
“We needed to say [it was a] joint meeting just in case anybody else showed up,” he said.
DPW Commissioners Chair Kevin Cleary said the South Avenue Corridor Improvements project has been discussed by the Commissioners for about two years, as a MassDOT Transportation Improvement Project (TIP) effort, a five-year program, in which the state’s transportation department would fund and manage, with the town funding only the engineering and right-of-way side of it. The potential timeline could see it ready for bidding by July 2030.
“It’s a multi-year process,” Cleary said. “The good news is we got accepted and approved to continue the process with MassDOT and we do have an article coming up on Town Meeting to continue funding that engineering and design [phase] and we just wanted to share with the board where we’re at, including next steps and the timeline.”
Fitzgerald and Senior Project Manager Benny Hung with Environmental Partners began by tracing the project timeline from the initial visioning in February 2018 to the present. The firm had also presented it to MassDOT.
“They were very supportive of the project and what it stands for,” Fitzgerald said before the department’s Project Review Committee which approved it for the TIP process.
Under the project, about one mile of South Avenue from Commercial Street to Plymouth Street will focus on multi-modal accommodations that are “safe and comfortable for all users, whether they be motorists, walkers, bikers or transit users,” according to Fitzgerald.
Land uses along the corridor involve a mix of residential amd commercial properties.
“A lot of residential development surrounds this area, but when you think about the ease of walking, or the close distance between residential neighborhoods and the Commuter Rail station, for instance, it’s really a lot of benefits that could be had from this project,” he said. “The project also stands to address or improve – or allow for – redevelopment in the area.”
Safety is also an issue, as Fitzgerald noted there are a few areas along the South Avenue corridor where a “significant amount of crashes have occurred,” including adjacent to the train tracks by the station that falls within the top 5 percent of statewide crashes as well as other locations with a significant number of crashes involving injuries.
“Certianly the intersection of South Avenue at Franklin and Pleasant streets is one that could stand to have some improvements made to it,” he said. “Instead of a single intersection, we’re faced with three, where we are creating additional contact points.”
Among the options there are conversion to one conventional, more perpindicular, intersection with Pleasant Street converted to an access road to businesses and parking.
There are also “skewed maneuvers” where drivers have to look back over their shoulder to merge and a lot of excessive pavement within the intersections, which allows for faster travel speeds and “uncontrolled chanellization of motorists.” For pedestrians, Fitzgerald said those intersections also mean excessively long crossing distances, which means safety risks.
The potential concept includes on-street bike lanes, areas of on-street parking, curb extentions – or bump-outs – at crossing areas to slow traffic and improve pedestrian safety and green buffers on one or both sides of the street.
Septarated or buffered bike lanes have also been considered.
“Ultimately, the preferred alternative is something that will be worked out with the group as a whole in advancing the project to the next phase,” Fitzgerald said.
“I travel those roads a lot and I’m really thankful for what you’re envisioning,” Kowalski said.
Vice Chair Dan Salvucci asked about the status about TIP funding, to which Fitzgerald said it has not yet been assigned a TIP year, which typically happens further along in the process.
“When do you expect that to happen – so I can push for it?” asked Salvucci, who is vice chair on the Joint Transportation Planning Council.
Fitzgerald estimated the pre-25 percent design could be approved by April 2025 and completed and approved by April 2027.
“That could certainly be expedited,” he said.
Select Board member Justin Evans noted the project is pretty close to that involved in the MBTA Communities compliance district.
“Taking these two projects together, it is a total rethinking of East Whitman,” he said. “This makes it a much more walkable community from, really, Colebrook Boulevard – which is already a community path – to Route 58.”
He noted the project’s estimated price tag is $14.8 million and asked for an updated estimate.
Fitzgerald said that was the latest estimate, with the design estimate at 14 percent of construction costs. The $14.8 million figure includes extra things over the construction costs.
Select Board member Laura Howe asked how specific design options will be decided.
“The town is leading the charge with the design and it’s a town-owned road, but it’s also a project going through the MassDOT process and they will weigh in heavily,” Fitzgerald said, noting it would be, hopefully a consensus decision.

WHITMAN – The draft MBTA Communities warrant article is being prepared for Town Meeting but may be postponed until an October Town Meeting.
The 2021 state law requires MBTA communities to “have at least one zoning district of reasonable size in which multi-family housing is permitted as of right” and is intended to address the housing crisis in Massachusetts and approximately 177 communities are subject to it.
The Multi-Family Zoning Requirement also calls for these housing communities to have a minimum gross density of 15 units per acre, the housing must be no more than 0.5 miles from a commuter rail station, subway station, etc., and no age restrictions.
The Planning Board held a public hearing, on the proposed chance to the town’s protective Zoning bylaw, in Town Hall auditorium on the issue on Monday, April 8. That board also met Tuesday, April 9 to vote on putting that amendment up for a vote at the annual Town Meeting or to submit it to the Attorney General’s office for prior approval for possible revision before putting it before Town Meeting voters.
“This would take several months,” Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter said. “It would need to go before a special Town Meeting in the fall.”
The deadline for compliance is Dec. 31, 2024 or affected towns will no longer be eligible for funds from the Housing Choice Initiative, the Local Capital Projects Fund, or the MassWorks infrastructure program.
Additionally, towns that fail to comply with the zoning changes may be subjected to civil enforcement.
Carter added that the draft language had been reviewed by town counsel, resulting in several revisions, forwarded to the Planning Board and incorporated into the draft article. She said she will update the draft article to send out for the Select Board’s review ahead of its April 23 vote.
“However, in speaking to the attorney, we were weighing out – a lot of towns are dealing with this right now – on whether or not it’s best to put forth the article and get approval from the state before we vote it,” she said. “Some towns have approved the article, sent it to the state, and then had issues.”
Select Board member Justin Evans said his understanding is that Judy Barrett, the town’s consultant tasked with drawing up the bylaw, believes the town will be in compliance with the proposed bylaw.
“Some of the minor amendments they made, even as late as yesterday, are to reduce the frontage required within the zone to 40 feet to be more aligned with properties that already exist within that bylaw,” he said. “That’s something that the attorney general has specifically called out.”
He noted that Abington had sent their revisions to the state and didn’t hear back from the state before their town meeting.
“So they voted is as-is and they will eventually get feedback from the state,” he said. “We don’t have currently a Town Meeting scheduled for the fall [and] I don’t particularly like calling it for one issue.”
But he said it was a course of action he would recommend.
He pointed to the marijuana bylaw, on which the state flagged one small provision for change after Town Meeting had voted, and that change was made.
“It was pretty much non-consequential,” he said. “The downside of putting forth an amendment that’s not pre-approved by the state would be striking small components of it.”
If those changes took the town out of compliance or ran afoul of what the town intended, it would have to be corrected at next year’s annual Town Meeting.
“I like the project,” board member Shawn Kain agreed. “I like a number of components connected to the project. I think talking about it at the Town Meeting would be helpful in many ways and the [downside] is relatively minor for doing it now as opposed to waiting.”
Vice Chair Dan Salvucci said he had an MBTA Advisory Board meeting that day and discusses with MBTA general manager his concern that, because towns are voting on the bylaw, that safety issues need to be addressed, especially where it would mean more pedestrians and was told that is being looked into and come up with aninformational safety program.

HANSON – Town Administrator Lisa Green on Tuesday, April 2 informed the Select Board that full approval has been received from the state Department of Public Utilities Control (DPUC) for the town’s municipal energy aggregate program to offer residents savings on their electricity bills.
Good Energy conducted the procurement bidding service and, out of three bids received, the supplier with the lowest cost was Direct Energy Services.
“There has been an electric service agreement that has been executed,” she said. “Good Energy [was] going to begin, I believe [this] week, the outreach.”
Hanson residents are being mailed informational postcards including quotes on savings and rates in order to decide what what to do, or they can visit hansoncommunitypower.com.
“This will be a savings,” Green said. “I can’t give estimates on what the savings will be, but is a significant savings, below what National Grid charges pet kilowatt.”
Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett noted that board member Ed Heal had specifically asked that outreach be done to inform residents – targeting the Senior Center in particular – to get that information out.
“What’s our plan here?” she asked.
Green said Green Energy would be developing the postcards and literature for “basically everyone in Hanson” and said her office could ensure it is delivered to the Senior Center as well.
“We can also ask them to put together a presentation that they can do by Zoom over at the Senior Center,” she said.
Energy Committee member Marianne DiMascio said there is a full community outreach schedule to which Good Energy must adhere, including postcards and literature. There will also be an in-person community information session this month, probably at the library or police station, and a virtual meeting in May. Another in-person session could also be held at the Senior Center.
The basic rate for National Grid service is currently 18.32 cents per kilowatt hour. Hanson standard is the default at 13.693 cents per KWH and 10 percent of that supply is from renewable sources. Hanson basic (no renewable sources) is 13.62 cents per KWH and Hanson 14.7 cents per KWH for 100-percent renewable sources.
The board also voted to have Green draft a letter to National Grid requesting streetlights at three utility poles along Route 58 in the center of town in the interest of pedestrian safety.
Green said she had received an email from Sgt. Michael Bearse of the Hanson Police, about streetlights at the intersections of Liberty and Winter as well as Indian Head and School streets. Bearse observed that lighting at those areas was insufficient to make it safe for pedestrians to cross.
“He has suggested that we add streetlights to the crosswalks,” she said. “ One is near the front of Town Hall on Liberty Street at Winter Street and the intersection of Indian Head Street and at the School Street side of Indian Head Street.
“Apparently, there is one streetlight on one of those poles, but it’s not operational, so I don’t know if that was one that was included in the recent LED conversion that National Grid did,” Green said. “We can get in touch with them as soon as we know exactly what pole number it is.”
Green reached out to National Grid about the process of adding streetlights to those poles and was told it was just a matter of adding the light arm and lamp to the poles. The cost is $108 per year per light annually.
FitzGerald-Kemmett asked if that was an annual expense or just the cost of adding the light to each pole. Green said a 20-watt LED light plus installation done at no cost, the $108 reflects the electricity cost.
In other business, the board, had voted to appoint Highway Supervisor Steve Graham as temporary interim highway director for March 20-29. As it was not posted for that meeting, the board will vote on appointing Kurt McLean as the new interim highway director, effective April 1.
The board also voted in open session to place Highway Director Jameson Shave on paid administrative leave for the remainder of his contract – effectively no longer being employed by the town from March 20 to June 30. The board had already taken the vote during executive session.

HANOVER – Back-to-back meetings of the South Shore Tech School Committee and School Building Committee on Wednesday, March 20 updated the ballot timing and reviewed the process for selecting a project construction manager.
During the School Committee’s regular meeting, Superintendent/Direction Dr, Thomas J. Hickey noted Town Meeting season was approaching rapidly for the district as Abington holds its Town Meeting on Monday, April 1 and Scituate’s is on Monday, April 8.
Hickey said his evaluation goals for the year include cyber security, the MSBA process and students receiving third party licenses.
Hickey said he planned to convene with town clerks in district communities on April 24.
“At that meeting, my hope is to get updated feedback from them.” he said, noting he has already received one request to consider moving a January vote to closer to spring 2025. “I asked if that meant something like March or April, the answer was, ‘yes.’ … so we are anywhere from 10 to 12 months from the voters of our district rendering a decision.”
Saturday, March 1 or Saturday, March 8, 2025 are both possible election dates, he said.
“We may see some of our communities, which has nothing to do with us, decide that on the same day to have a separate ballot, ask the sequence of A1) Do you support the vote project? And A2) are you willing to pay for it through a debt exclusion? … That way town financial teams would know where they stand.”
“How do we inform our communities?” Mahoney asked.
Carlson said that, aside from the usual marketing materials such as the use of a website and flyers, talking to people is the best avenue.
“To date, we’ve been trying to go to public meetings and things like that,” Carlson said. “Over the summer, there’s farmer’s markets … having conversations with people, I think will be an important part. … Nobody can advocate for the project, but we can provide facts.”
“What can we do to convince the state [that] the cost of vocational education is a lot more than a traditional regular high school?” Salvucci asked.
Franceschi said a recent project by Tri-County saw discussion of the need to get more vocational representation on the MSBA board.
The Building Committee, on which most of the School Committee also serves, heard a project update from the Construction, according to Manager Jennifer Carlson of LeftField. The Building Committee also voted to appoint OPM representative Carlson, architect representative Carl Franceschi of DRA and awarding authority representatives Hickey and School Committee members Robert Mahoney and Robert Mello to the at-risk prequalification and selection committees.
The state requires those representatives to serve on the committee approving the project moving forward with the procurement process, which the inspector general has approved.
The selection committee reviews the statement of qualifications to decide which are qualified to move on to the next round, conduct interviews and, ultimately votes to award the construction manager’s contract.
Abington School Commitee member Mahoney, of SST Dean of Students Robert Mello, who holds an unrestricted construction supervisors license, were selected based on their construction experience, said Chair Robert Heywood who represents Hanover.
“This is a process that’s based on the qualifications, but we do have to see the price before we do the final ranking,” Carlson said.
The aim is to have the process complete for the SBC to approve the construction manager by May 23.
The construction manager feasibility pre-con fee range, which gets the project through schematic design, is between $55,000 to $65,000 from the $305,565 in remaining uncommitted funds.
Whitman committee representative Dan Salvucci asked when town votes on the new school project would begin.
Bringing them back to the matter of the schematic design, Franceschi noted that, while they are not there yet, they “don’t have to wait around” to take the project to the next level.
“The basic goal of this phase is to describe the scope, the schedule and the budget so by the time we submit again to the state, those three areas are well-defined and everyone is willing to live with it because it really becomes a contract,” he said.
Now that the specific site of the new building is better known, DRA’s engineers can go back to make boring and test kits in more specific locations to know what the soils and ground water is like.
“It’s pretty important information from a design point of view,” Franchesci said.
A traffic engineer will also be more closely studying the traffic flow past the school.
“So basically, we’ll be refining the design,” he said. “There’ll certainly be fine-tuning.”
Mahoney asked when the committee would see a “drop-dead date” when they learn MSBA numbers.
Carlson said the budget is part of the schematic design submission delivered to the MSBA in August and, two weeks later, the whole schematic package, which the MSBA will have two months to provide the numbers. Officially, the date would be around Oct. 30.

The Whitman-Hanson School committee voted 9-1 on Wednesday, March 20, after impassioned arguments on both sides of the fiscal 2025 budget issue – both in the public comment periods and among themselves – to support the level-service budget of $63,590,845 budget unveiled on Feb. 1.
The figure can be lowered if state adjusts Chapter 70 funds for inflation before Town Meeting. The Committee voted 9-1 against reconsidering the first vote, which would have not allowed them to change the figure later on as they expressed uncertainty about what the effect of such a vote would really be.
A vote to use excess and deficiency to lower assessments can be made at any time before Town Meeting.
The Committee unanimously voted to approve a debt assessment of $251,903 covering the high school and HVAC debt for Hanson and debt assessment of $623,531 the high school debt and a bond anticipation note for the new middle school for Whitman.
The proposed fiscal 2025 budget represents a 4.7 percent ($3,105,687) spending increase because of cost increases, according to Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak, who said in February that, if accepted as presented, the budget would set assessment increases as 11.03 percent ($19,695,553) for Whitman and 10.20 percent ($15,325,369) for Hanson. Both assessment figures were cerified as well, by 9-1 votes. Member Fred Small was the dissenting vote in all of them.
The figures were brought before the Committee to start discussion about where and how the budget may be cut. But for Committee member David Forth, there was nothing to discuss, and everything for students to lose [see related story below].
Made atfter a motion by Hanson Committee member Glen DiGravio, the vote now leaves the issue in the hands of the voters.
“We’re here to tonight to push this thing forward because we have to,” he said. “We’ve got to go forward.”
He said, personally, he favored the level-service budget moving on to Town Meeting and the community would vote on it.
“It’s their money,” he said. “We’re like a poorly run business that, without an infusion of cash, we’re going under.”
Whitman Town Administrator Mary Beth Carter, in response to a question from Szymaniak, said even with a 5-percent earmark for the school budget, they plan to use $500,000 from free cash to balance the town budget.
“I’m almost there at level, using that with drastic reductions, of course, to what was requested [by town departments],” she said.
Hanson Town Administrator Lisa Green said that, even with a 5.85-percent assessment, her town is almost $1 million in deficit.
“Our free cash is at $1.4 million,” she said. “We would basically need to use most of that. Anything higher than that pretty much is going to wipe out all our free cash and gives us nothing for capital until October. … Regardless of what the schools do, we’re at a deficit on all of those figures [Szymaniak spoke of as assessment formulas], which may mean staff [cuts] on our end, as well.”
Whitman Select Board member Shawn Kain said all three boards are bare-boned and super-efficient, so there is little room for cuts.
“The best thing we can do is get on the same page and move forward together so we can get past this in a way that the community will accept,” he said.
Select Board member Justin Evans said Whitman’s new growth for fiscal 2025 is looking to be $250,000. New growth plus Prop 2 ½ is $1.2 million the current year.
Before the budget discussion a handful of Whitman officials said the 5.58 percent assessment was within a comfortable margin of the 5 percent their Select Board budget line items.
Szymaniak began the budget discussion with a review of where the assessment proposals were left the previous week.
Noting that the level-service budget presented Feb, 2 “didn’t go over well with our communities,” and following cuts proposed the previous week, both towns are earmarking the schools at about a 5 percent assessment increase, which he said presents “ a real challenge to our district budget.”
He thanked both town administrators for providing the district with the budget numbers they are dealing with.
“We might not agree where we’re at right now, but I appreciate the transparency of having some numbers to work with,” Szymaniak said. “I presented the Committee some options for what that would look like if we come down from 5.13 percent.”
He reviewed those options at Wednesday’s meeting, all the way down to a 5.8-percent assessment increase – including the unemployment numbers, which kick in with the new fiscal year on July 1, included in the personnel reductions. If a teacher does not have a position by June 30, the district must begin paying them unemployment compensation until they are called back or secure another job at equal pay to what they are now receiving at W-H.
“We learned that through COVID,” he said. The district was forced to pink-slip 62 people during the fiscal 2021 budget process because that budget – being worked out during the height of the pandemic was fraught with uncertainty. Most returned or found gainful employment elsewhere.
Szymaniak went over his recommendations in the event cuts are necessary, before the Committee discussed them.
To reach the assessments the towns can afford without an override, the district is 5 percent, they have said to Szymaniak and in public meetings.
“My recommendation – if we have to – if this Committee has to move away from the 5.13 percent assessment … I still recommend potentially using one-time funds, using circuit-breaker funds and not replacing five retirements and non-renewals for a total of five positions cut,” he said. That would mean a total cut of $910,500 and make the overall budget – not the assessment – a 4.04 percent increase. It would assess Whitman $19,135,687 (a 7.8 percent increase) and Hanson $14,974,786 (a 7.68 percent increase).
Deeper cuts are “where it gets a little bit uncomfortable” for running the schools effectively and carrying the additional 40-percent cost in the salaries of each person pink-slipped because of the cost of unemployment benefits to the district.
“I had told the Committee, and I shared with the district today, where cuts could come from,” Szymaniak said. “The only place I could take cuts from … I’m looking at Conley, Indian Head [elementary schools], Hanson Middle School, Whitman Middle School at the grade levels. You can probably assume that some of the retirements are coming from the high school because they are getting cuts, as well.”
The cuts could increase class sizes.
Szymaniak said the district has worked hard to serve its students, especially in kindergarten through grade five, which now average classes of 20 pupils and under, and grades six to eight, where classes average 20 to 22. In the high school, classes average between 22 to 25 students.
The cuts would bring the average for every elementary and middle school class to 25 with “hopefully no move-ins.”
He said he had a question from a community member about whether studies have been done on optimal class size.
“Yes, a lot before 2019,” he said. “Nobody’s really talking about that now because kids are different.”
Twenty-five students in a high school class used to be manageable, and while it is still doable now, it’s different, Szymaniak said. That same number, 25, in an elementary classroom was once considered a bit large, but manageable. Today, 20-pupil classrooms are considered challenging.
The district has interventionists, but Assistant Superintendent George Ferro mentioned last week that, where they are progressing and educating all kids, there will be a restructuring of how that happens if there are 25 students in a classroom.
Cuts to bring the assessment increase down to 4.04 percent, if the Committee supported it, would not really affect kindergarten to grade eight students, but high school students somewhat, but he said he gets really nervous about adequately serving students once they go below that percentage for cuts.
“Cutting five positions in the district isn’t awesome,” Szymaniak said. “There are retirements and non-renewals that we could probably get by [with]. It won’t be a tremendous increase in class size; however services will be lost. It’s not level-serviced.”
Excess and deficiency, which is revenue, of which the district is also using $250,000 to support the budget, he reminded the committee.
Szymaniak then listed the effects of each subsequent single percent cut from the assessment increase below 5 percent.
Bringing Whitman’s assessment down to $18,917,397 (6.84 percent assessment) and Hanson’s to $14,838,025 (6.85 percent assessment) would mean layoffs or terminations for seven employees.
The next layer, with total proposed cuts – including use of excess and deficiency and circuit-breaker – reduces the budget by $1,208,700. If the district has to get closer to the 5-percent mark, and Szymaniak’s calculations did not get that far – they went as far as 5.58 percent – because “I stopped there,” he said.
That layer of cuts eliminates an additional 8.5 staff members, but reduces Whitman’s assessment to $18,655,450 (a 5.58 assessment increase) and Hanson’s would be $14,673,972 (5.85 percent assessment). Total reductions in this scenario still puts the W-H school budget at a 2.9 percent overall increase over last year with $1,570,800 – or 20 professional staff member positions – in proposed cuts including the use of excess and deficiency revenues and circuit-breaker funds.
While paraprofessionals are professional staff as well, Szymaniak said he has not looked to making cuts there as yet.
“These are not retirements, these are people,” Szymaniak said, referring to the unemployment implications of those positions.
Committee member Dawn Byers asked Szymaniak if he could tell them what positions are involved with the five retiring staff members.
“I won’t say that at this point, because it’s retirements and non-renewals and replacements of those folks,” he said. “I know who my retirements are and they are retirements in elementary and high school.”
“But, is it a classroom teacher?” Byers asked, noting they could be a school nurse or other staff position.
“They’re all classroom teachers,” Szymaniak said. “I need to have that flexibility in who I need to replace based on who I need next year. I’m looking at five professional positions who are going to be lowest next year.”
“They’re not just retirements, some of them are non-renewals, which some of those people don’t know that yet, so we can’t say their names,” said Chair Beth Stafford. “We can’t say the position because they’ve not been notified.”
She said part of the problem is that some information won’t be available until April 1 or later from people returning who might not want to return from maternity leave or other long-term leave.
“We have to set this at this time,” she said. “Things can change, but we don’t know that and that’s an issue.”
“I’m not trying to be shady, if that’s a word,” Szymaniak said. “I have retirements, and there are some retirements I’m going to fill and there are some retirements I’’m not going to fill. It’s just going to depend on enrollments and what numbers look like as we roll them out and scheduling with each building next year.”
Elizabeth Dagnall, of School Street in Whitman, said she understood the position the school district is in as it tries to balance the budget without crippling an already tight spending plan.
“It’s a gross understatement to say that this budgeting stuff is complex, difficult, [but] the district is making strides that are beginning to have positive impact on each and every student,” she said. “It is imperative to focus on the need for programs like foreign language at the middle school, robotics … as well as keeping the interventions that are currently in place and working.”
She added that above all, it is crucial to work to move the district forward.
“I’m painfully aware that our financial landscape cannot be repaired overnight, nor can town-wide budgeting shortfalls be repaired solely by cutting education or pushing the narrative that investing in our students is problematic while all other spending is justified,” Dagnall said, asking that the committee support a budget that does not cut programs and continues to move the school district forward.
She also took issue with “terminology of a ‘school override’ at a Town Meeting to fix a problem that is not only residing within the school system.”
Whitman Select Board members Justin Evans and Shawn Kain also addressed the budget issue during the public forum.
Evans spoke of last year’s meeting between the two select boards and the School Committee to discuss the use of one-time funding to balance last year’s budget, in which they “agreed to do something different this year.”
“And I think that you have,” he said, noting that, so far Szymaniak has met with both town administrators several times in “productive meetings” since last summer.
Evans also noted during the committee’s budget hearing a couple of weeks ago that Whitman was projecting about $1.2 million in new revenue.
“What I don’t think I said was that, if you assess anything above that number, the FinCom has to balance the budget,” he said. “We have to present a balanced budget to Town Meeting for the town to vote on.”
That budget will show cuts to other departments.
“In that scenario, in all likelihood, I think the selectmen would present an alternative budget alongside, that would show a different number for the schools,” Evans said. “If that happens [we’d] likely want to work with you to present an override that would make up that difference, but we’re in a time crunch.”
The process for presenting an override to the towns would require the Select Board to vote 35 days before an election, which would mean April 12 is the deadline for such a vote.
“To avoid an override and live within Proposition 2 1/2 is going to take cuts from everyone, including Hanson’s town government as well,” he said. “If you think you can live with those cuts, assess a number close to the 5 percent that the towns have both said that they can deal with. If you can’t live with those cuts, it sets the budget higher but let’s set a meeting very soon between the three boards to work out a plan to fund it – likely with an override.”
Kain reminded the Committee of Assistant Superintendent George Ferro using the phrase “moral imperative” when discussing the reasoning behind the use of one-time funds to balance the budget.
“I agree with him,” said Kain, who is also an educator. “I am in the classroom and I do know what it’s like to work with kids who struggled through the pandemic.”
Some of his students are also struggling with the loss of either of – or both – their parents in the opioid epidemic.
“But the question I’d ask you to consider tonight is how to raise those funds,” Kain said, arguing that the best way to accomplish that is to work with the leadership of both towns to coordinate an override for anything above a 5 percent assessment increase.