HANSON — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday, June 15 approved a new round of negotiations on the marijuana facility host community agreement (HCA) based on the new venture into delivery service.

Impressed LLC has approached the town to expand its cannabis growing and manufacturing operation to include delivery service. The Cannabis Control Commission issues two different types of delivery license — courier and operator.

Couriers are allowed to pick up product from an existing licensed facility for delivery elsewhere, while an operator license can pick up, store and re-label the marijuana for resale.

“This [business] has the storage build in because it’s an existing facility,” said Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff. The town would receive 3 percent in community impact payments and 3 percent from sales tax.

“They’ve asked us to negotiate another HCA, or an amendment to an HCA to authorize me I will then go ahead and do so,” she said.

Town Administrator Lisa Green added that owner Ralph Greenberg is willing to give Selectmen a tour of the facility, needing only a request for a day and time.

Tours can be either individual or in groups, but Feodoroff cautioned against deliberation if a group of three or more tour together, or it would be in violation of the Open Meeting Law.

Selectmen also asked Feodoroff to weigh in on policy regarding it’s opening process for opening Cranberry Cove each year.

Selectmen Chairman Matt Dyer stressed he understood the decision to open Cranberry Cove in advance of the recent heat wave was done with good intentions, but noted there has been a “breakdown in communications for a couple of years now,” that needed to be addressed.

“Opening up the cove is a lot more than saying, ‘The Cove is open. Enjoy,’” Dyer said. “There’s a lot of safety aspects behind it.”

He advocated a sign-off process that stipulates the Recreation Commission has made such a decision after talking to police and fire officials, had the building inspector check the docks and from the Health Department regarding water testing. He also advocated that Selectmen be notified.

Selectman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett noted there had been some concern expressed about the lack of lifeguards so early in the season.

Recreation Commission Chairman Diane Cohen said she liked the idea of a department head signoff process.

Recreaction
vacancies

During the process of the board’s annual vote to appoint members of various town committees, Recreation Commission member Juvelyn Hartwig read a statement criticizing divisions on that panel as she removed her name from consideration for reappointment.

“It has been a rewarding experience — well, most of it,” said Hartwig, who has served on the Recreation Commission for two years. “It’s also inspired me to become more involved in our town.”

She has also been a Rotarian for 15 years in the town, where she has lived for 18 years.

“I am saddened that I have to show you this poster of my accomplishments tonight as a Recreation Commission member,” she said as two girls held up posters listing her works. “I am disappointed, to say the least, to see a pattern of behavior, and response to that behavior, from citizens in our town government.”

She said that, while Hanson is a diverse community, volunteers and appointed officials are not supported well by town government and some individuals.

“To think that my associations with civic and nonprofit relationships have been questioned as self-dealing or some financial interest is insulting and alarming,” she said. “Reappointing me, I know, is causing some of you a great deal of distress.”

After speaking with legal counsel, Hartwig said she felt she would have more impact as a volunteer or private citizen than as an appointed official. She is founding a group called Hanson Families for Change toward that end.

“I hope everyone realizes how sad that is,” she said. “Just because it’s what has been, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be changed.”

Dyer thanked her for everything she has done for the town.

Later in the meeting, Selectmen voted to appoint Audrey Flanagan and Franklin Milisi to the Recreation Commission following a brief interview with each of them, as well as candidate Nathaniel Mastico.

“We had several applicants for these vacancies,” Dyer said.

Dyer recused himself from Flanagan’s interview because she served as his campaign manager. Selectman Jim Hickey, who worked with Flanagan on girls’ softball said he would not recuse himself.

“I think in a small town such as us, when you work with someone over an amount of time and they make you successful or you make them successful, the success is there,” he said.

Hickey said he reviewed the situation with both town counsel and Town Clerk Elizabeth Sloan and was told there was no conflict of interest.

Flanagan said she has more than 20 years of experience with Hanson Recreation and has served on the Commission for several years in the past.

Flanagan is currently chairman of the Hanson 200th Anniversary Committee, that had planned several events that had to be cancelled last year because of COVID.

“We’re still hoping to salvage some of the year,” she said. “We’re talking about a couple of smaller events to end the year and try to put some closure to the 200th.”

She said her goals include increasing subsidies for Recreation programs through booking weddings and events and to work with the CPC to seek grants to renovate the caretaker’s house as an office and museum as well as returning family camping weekends and the theater program.

Milisi said he wants to see process changes in various revenue streams at the camp to help it financially. He works in the financial technology field and has experience in the restaurant business and has some suggestions for improving the kitchen to help make it more viable for catering.

His acknowledgement of some of his pro-override political work in town drew a question from Hickey on whether he had advocated funding the schools over other departments at this year’s Town Meeting.

“I believe that the transfer station is an excessive capital cost to this town and it wasn’t presented in that way,” Milisi said. “But there was no point in time when I said fund the school and cut the Police Department or anything like that. … That is unacceptable.”

He also provided a list of ideas for events for children, as well as adults — such as dance nights — that can bring the entire community to Camp Kiwanee.

WHITMAN — In a split vote Tuesday, June 8 Selectmen dismissed a complaint against the terrier-American bully mix, with no further action required The 3-2 vote saw Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski and Selectmen Brian Bezanson voting against dismissal.

An official determination will be issued in writing within a week and announced publically at a subsequent meeting.

The vote following an often-emotional dog hearing Tuesday, June 8 during a meeting in the Town Hall Auditorium.

Town Counsel Peter Sumners said a dangerous dog is considered to be one that has attacked a domestic animal and a nuisance dog is one that has done so in the past or that creates a disturbance by excessive barking.

Selectmen decided the dog in question met neither definition.

“No quarter shall be issued,” he said, quoting the law regarding penalties for dangerous dog — it must be removed from a community, but laws cannot be breed-specific. There are specific exceptions to the definitions and potential remedies.

Muzzles or banishment are required by dangerous dog provisions, but there is room for flexibility with a nuisance designation. Sumners said he does not believe the town is liable if it happens again.

The hearing stemmed from a March 2 complaint filed by Walter Aylward and his daughter, Marie, of 650 South Ave., concerning a terrier mixed-breed dog named Loretta, owned by Casey Mahoney of 50 Perry Ave. The delay in holding a hearing was due to an attempt to resolve the issue, in cooperation with Animal Control Officer Joe Kenney, without a formal hearing, according to Selectmen Chairman Dr. Carl Kowalski but the Aylwards decided in April that they wished to pursue a dangerous dog hearing.

The Aylwards alleged that Loretta lunged at their dog — named Buttercup — pulling the dog walker toward their fence, where it bit Buttercup, damaging their dog’s jaw. Buttercup was in a fenced-in yard.

The only sidewalk on that stretch of South Avenue passes in front of the Aylward’s home.

Kowalski said he felt bad about the situation because, while something had obviously happened to the Aylward’s dog, it was a one-time incident.

“My inclination is not to call Loretta a dangerous dog based upon one incident,” he said, basing his reaction on Kenney’s report.

Kenney told Selectmen this was the first incident concerning Loretta and there have been no incidents since March 2.

“It was definitely an unfortunate incident, but it was a dog-on-dog thing and neither was off-leash,” he said. “In a typical situation, we would just do a quarantine and followed those steps.”

Kenney said he usually also recommends that people change walking routes to put minds at ease.

“I think a lot of this situation had to do with the person handling the dog,” he said. “If it was [the dog walker’s] own dog, it might have been a very different scenario, they might have picked up on signs from the dog differently.”

Loretta is a 45-50-pound dog, a terrier and American bully mix. Buttercup is a 15-pound Shi-Tzu.

Walter Aylward said he was out in his yard with his two dogs, who were sitting together by the fence, and he saw the dog walker “struggling” with Loretta.

“No one barked at anybody,” he said. “My dog didn’t bark, that dog didn’t bark, and the next thing you know I saw the dog fly — and the woman with it — right across the sidewalk right into the chain link fence.”

He described his dog as that it’s face was hanging off. Aylward said an emergency vet told him the dog’s injury was life-threatening.

Kenney said, in his opinion, both dogs were likely barking at each other and Buttercup stuck her muzzle through a link in the fence, giving Loretta the chance to grab her lower jaw.

“That dog is dangerous,” he said of Aylwards. “It’s tasted blood and it’ll do it again.”

Marie Aylward said they have lived in their home — with dogs in a fenced-in yard — for 37 years without incident.

Walter Aylward said he is not asking to have the dog euthanized, but wants it muzzled at all times or moved out of town.

Casey Mahoney has been a resident for 10 years and is a board member of DFS and volunteers at the Animal Protection Center of Southeastern Mass. shelter in Brockton. She adopted Loretta from the MSPCA in Haverhill in 2014.

“Loretta has only shown love toward all of us, never aggression,” Mahoney said, noting she had walked the dog herself before taking a job in Boston and needing a dog-walker during the day.

She found Crystal Power, who has a few years of experience walking all sizes of dogs, on a posting on the Whitman Pride Facebook page. She had been walking Loretta for three or four months before the incident happened.

As part of the pandemic protocols Mahoney required of the walker, the dog was to be taken across the street if another dog was encountered. She found no evidence of blood on her dog and was not aware of any injury to the Aylwards’ dog.

“I was devastated,” she said of learning about Buttercup’s injury.

“On my walks to the train station over the years, I had numerous conversations with the Aylwards and said hello to their dogs. But on many of the walks with Loretta, when their dogs have been outside — and even inside — I have avoided walking by their home because of [their dog’s] continuous barking at Loretta and I.”

When she asked Kenney for suggestions about what to do, he told her she was already doing it by continuing to avoid walking by the Aylward’s house to have a more peaceful walk. Mahoney said she visited the Aylwards, apologizing and offering to help with vet bills, but learned they had hired an attorney and the financial portion of the case is now in the hands of her insurance company.

“I’m sad about what has happened, not only because Buttercup was injured, but because a relationship was lost between myself and the Aylwards,” she said. Loretta has helped her cope with some bleak emotional times during the pandemic.

Mahoney told Selectmen, through tears, that she does not think her dog should be muzzled as she is not a dangerous dog or a nuisance.

Power said the incident, which took place on Feb. 10, had never shown any signs of aggression to her or others, and was only walking on the sidewalks because of the safety challenges posed by snow and trash barrels along the roadside.

She said that both the Aylward’s dogs barked at Loretta, but that the dogs’ behavior was more of a “meet and greet.” She felt that Buttercup was nibbling at her, but there was no way Loretta could bite back through the fence.

“No party witnessed the incident at hand 100 percent,” Power said, but there was no blood on the white dog’s face. Loretta never barked or growled, she maintained.

Selectman Dan Salvucci said, in his experience, a dog is like an extra doorbell and he found it hard to believe that neither dog barked.

“We need to make sure this never happens again,” Selectman Brian Bezanson said, advocating a muzzle when the dog is being walked.

 

 

HANOVER  — South Shore Tech was granted a return to school waiver following a site visit from officials with the Department of Elementaty and Secondary Eduation (DESE), according to Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey reported to the South Shore Tech on School Committee on Wednesday, May 19.

The waiver is only good through the end of the school year.

“We can continue as we are for the remainder of this school year, which can now be very easily interpreted as kids are in school eight days out of 10,” he said. “They’re in every shop day and they’re in three days a week out of five for their academic week.”

Hickey said the school will push the limits where there is the space to do so.

Starting May 24, students were returning to class for full days of instruction, no longer having staggered starts in the morning.

When seniors sign out, Hickey said freshmen will be in school for a full day everyday because there is adequate capacity in the building without the seniors in the building.

“Our plan … [is] we will have a schedule that will look a lot more like a normal year,” Hickey said. “We’re planning for September with the assumption that there’s still some sort of distancing between kids — three-foot distancing.”

The school will then be open without additional modifications needed for the 2021-22 school year.

“It’ll be nice to see some of the hallmarks of a normal school year,” he said.

Hickey said he expects that indoor mask-wearing requirements will continue for the remainder of this school year, but for outside activities including shops, gym class and sports teams will no longer be included under the mask rules.

The outdoor mask guidelines have not been clear on whether they apply to adults, he said however.

Masks will not be required at graduations, according to the state, Hickey said, but unvaccinated people will still be encouraged to wear them.

Final guidelines for the June 5 graduation ceremony was being relayed to parents as soon as possible.

The Parent Advisory Council has asked for a breakdown of grading philosophy for the school as part of the school improvement plan, approved by the School Committee May 19, which already grades academic achievement and work ethics separately, Principal Mark Aubrey said.

Providing more information on school rules and improving communication are other goals.

“We do a really, really strong job communicating with our families about what is going on, what they can expect from us, but I had a number of [freshman] parents who, obviously, went through a different year this year,” Aubrey said. “They were able to pinpoint some things they felt we needed to work on, which I felt was good for us to hear.”

Continued Zoom meetings, which they see as beneficial to families who can’t attend meeting otherwise. Cooperative education, which is seeing the best year so far, according to Aubrey, is explained well to students, but parents have asked for a separate informational meetings.

Assistant Principal Sandra Baldner said 135 students took part in the coop program with 120 earning a combined $140,000 so far in 35,000 hours of employment.

Parents have also asked for a career pathway with the guidance department, whether students are planning higher education, the military or a path into the workplace.

Freshman Andrea Fernandez has suggested a student saving program to help plan for the high cost of yearbooks, prom expenses and other graduation-related costs when they become seniors.

“There’s a lot of money that goes out of the house in that two months,” Aubrey said.

Some parents have also suggested that union sponsorships be sought to help defray costs of the student service learning trip.

HANSON  — The Economic Development Committee met Monday, May 24 in preparation for a 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 1 presentation to the Board of Selectmen along with the EDC’s consultant Phillip Schaeffing on the rapid recovery grant.

All town departments, residents and business owners are encouraged to attend.

“We just wanted to make sure we weren’t caught flat-footed when we meet next week,” Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett said during the brief Zoom session. “I think the way that we see this rolling out is that we’re going to have our consultant really take the reins and walk us through what the purpose of the local recovery planning grant is … what the format of the outreach will be.”

She said the EDC also would need to know what he will do with the information and next steps, which he has reviewed with the EDC, but needs to review for Selectmen.

“He speaks well and seems to be able to field questions well,” said Town Planner Deb Pettey, noting that Schaeffing, of the consulting firm Stantec has a PowerPoint presentation to stress current conditions. Pettey was instrumental in applying for the grant and organizing the forum, according to FitzGerald-Kemmett.

“It’s important for people to understand this is a planning grant, it’s not an action grant,” Pettey said. “That’s kind of hard to wrap your head around sometimes, when you are talking about what you would like to see happen, and we’re just trying to get a vehicle together to get to the action grants.”

The June 1 Board of Selectmen’s meeting, while in-person, will have multiple people participating in the meeting remotely.

“It could get confusing,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, adding that she has full faith and confidence in Whitman-Hanson Community Access TV to make it work smoothly.

She asked that an email inbox be set up to enable those without access to cable TV or a computer to have their concerns and questions answered. Pettey said that could probably be arranged, if it hasn’t already been done.

“I’ve worried about that throughout COVID, that voices aren’t being heard,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

FitzGerald-Kemmett envisions an outline of the EDC’s mission and membership, introduce Schaeffing and review the purpose of the meeting before getting into the presentation. She wants to end with Schaeffing outlining how feedback from the meeting will be used in the grant process.

WHCA Executive Director Eric Dresser said there will be a lot of moving pieces that might make it seem awkward, but that could be a concern even if all the meeting participants were in the same room.

“This is obviously some uncharted territory, so it’s going to be a little bit seat-of-the-pants as we figure out how it’s going to work in terms of recognizing people,” Dresser said. He indicated that moderating conversation would be important.

A brief recess between the regular Selectmen’s meeting and the EDC presentation was also suggested.

Protocols, including prior registration for the session, are being prepared to prevent interruption — or Zoom-bombing — of the remote participants, Dresser said.

Kevin Curran said he wanted to ensure everyone’s questions get answered.

EDC Vice Chair Dan Bathalon said he was only concerned that the flow of the meeting be smooth.

  

HANSON — Town Hall will reopen for regular business operations on June 1.

The Board of Selectmen voted to lift the restrictions to access imposed by the coronavirus pandemic during its Tuesday, May 18 meeting.

“The last time we discussed this as a group, we were a little different with the forecast of COVID,” said Selectmen Chairman Matt Dyer. “With the governor ending the COVID emergency here in the commonwealth, on the 29th — or dropping the COVID restrictions — I wanted to get a motion from the board to reopen Town Hall to the general public on June 1.”

Selectmen also dealt with resignations, accepting with regret the departure of IT Director Ryan McGonnigle. He is accepting a position in East Bridgewater.

But a resignation letter from Planner Deb Pettey led to a tense discussion, as Selectmen Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett and Joe Weeks advocated against accepting her resignation in hopes the town could entice her to stay. She had intended to depart May 24, but has asked to stay on until June 10.

Dyer was reluctant to get into detailed discussion on the matter out of concern for potential violations of the rights of a public employee.

“I would like to see if we could have a conversation with her and I would like to not accept her resignation and see if we could work something out with her,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “You can’t discuss departure date without accepting.”

“I would have liked to discuss this a little bit more before going right to a vote,” Weeks said.

Dyer explained his concern was over exposing the town to liability if a discussion took place without proper notification so Pettey could have the opportunity to attend such a meeting.

“She has done a lot of work,” Dyer said in thanking Pettey for her service to Hanson. “A lot of stuff has been on her plate the last couple of years. … She has done a lot of great things here in the town of Hanson.”

Planning Board member Joe Campbell asked if there would be a point in the near future where a discussion of Pettey’s departure will happen.

“I think it’s pretty straightforward that Ms. Pettey had tendered her resignation at her will, and we’re just accepting her resignation,” Dyer said. “We will not be revisiting this topic.”

FitzGerald-Kemmett countered that, when a long-time employee leaves — “somebody whose done a damn good job, which you said yourself” — the board has an obligation to find out why she is leaving and see if there is anything to be done in an effort to retain a good employee.

She said Pettey’s performance need not be discussed in such a conversation.

“I feel it’s a missed opportunity,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

Dyer said that has never been done when any other employee left.

Campbell said he was empowered by the Planning Board to oppose any acceptance of Pettey’s resignation.

Interim Town Administrator Lisa Green said the board could have a discussion with an employee to try identifying reasons or motivations for such actions and ask them to consider their decision.

Selectmen Kenny Mitchell and Jim Hickey joined Dyer in voting to accept Pettey’s resignation.

The board also addressed filling the two positions.

Green said the planner position has a very broad job description and favors more closely identifying its duties and responsibilities.

Dyer said he and Mitchell had met with Green and Planning Board members Campbell and Don Ellis to discuss that.

Green said she will be working on the job description with the Planning Board.

Ellis asked if any Selectmen had spoken to Pettey about the job description as written. Dyer said the discussion with Green touched on it, but no other Selectmen indicated they had done so.

Town Administrator John Stanbrook said the agreement with East Bridgewater called for the town to pay more than $60,000 of the IT director’s $90,000 cost associated with the position’s time serving Hanson’s needs. Green noted that most area towns have a dedicated employee working part-time as IT.

FitzGerald-Kemmett asked if Hanson’s needs dictate hiring a full-time person.

HANSON — The annual Town Meeting on Monday, May 3 approved a proposed $10,516,372 debt authorization plan for South Shore Tech.

Hanson’s share would be 13.65 percent of that figure.

SST intends to phase in projects between fiscal 2023 and 2028, with the borrowing costs to be part of the district’s proposed annual assessment starting in fiscal 2023.

The funds are intended to cover remodeling and extraordinary repair costs at the school and had already been approved by Scituate, Hanover and Rockland voters. All eight towns in the regional school district must approve the plan for it to move forward. Whitman will vote on the proposal June 2.

The proposal was originally intended to cost $18,960,537.

The SST School Committee in a special meeting, on Monday, April 26 lowered the amount it is recommending for its debt authorization article to $10,516,372.

Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey explained that the school was originally built in 1962 with an addition constructed in1992.

“These projects stem from our facilities master plan, and we are essentially trying to find a cost-effective way, through borrowing, to keep capital costs low and deal with a lot of the issues in our 1962 building,” he said. “He have a well-maintained building, but we have some big capital projects coming up in the future.”

Hanson’s Finance Committee had not recommended the article.

Finance Chairman Kevin Sullivan said his committee supports the school, with the town’s current financial situation, they were not in the position to take on a significant amount of debt.

“We believe that the renovations are very real, very needed, but we talked about addressing it at a fall special Town Meeting, pending the outcome of the override,” Sullivan said.

Hickey said he appreciated the Finance Committee’s diligence in the matter, but stressed all eight towns’ support was required to move forward with the borrowing.

“With this capital plan, we would actually see Hanson’s borrowing costs go down by about $30,000 a year, starting at fiscal ’25,” he said.

Interest rates are not currently locked in, but are based on a best estimate of the Federal Reserve not raising the interest rate until 2023.

Interest-only borrowing is planned for fiscal ’23 and ’24, which is why the estimated costs are very low, according to Hickey. They are planning based on interest rates of about 2 percent starting in fiscal 2025.

Voters also approved an article to raise and appropriate funds to operate the transfer station as well as an article authorizing the town’s participation in a Community Choice Aggregation Program, which residents may opt out of if they do not wish to purchase their energy in that manner.

An article concerning rule change swapping 8.5 acres of the Webster-Billings Conservation Area for a 25.403-acre parcel the protection of a town well head by transferring control to the Conservation Commission was approved. The article was intended to ensure the public has access to trails and open space for passive recreation.

Plymouth County Final Reuse Committee Chairman Don Ellis said that committee was neither approached nor notified of the proposal.

“The park plans are not yet finalized,” Ellis said. “The committee is working with an engineer on final design and needed infrastructure. To swap 8.5 acres for 25 acres is just not right.”

He said there must be other town-owned properties of more equal value to swap. He also noted the property in question is more than half of the former hospital property.

He moved to pass over the article.

Conservation Committee Chairman Phil Clemons, who also serves on the Reuse Committee noted the property has three parcels and the one involved in the article does not include the area being looked at for a park and that the article is 100-percent more in keeping with future plans for the park and is more in keeping with the committee’s mission.

Selectman Wes Blauss expressed surprise that the Reuse Committee had not been informed of the article, but he advocated moving forward with it, as did Selectman Matt Dyer, who serves as vice chairman of the Reuse Committee.

Kathleen Marini said she was shocked that the Reuse Committee was not informed and that she considered it a “run around” on the committee before it had the chance to complete it’s work.

 

 

 

The School Committee on Wednesday, April 28 unanimously approved a outlined a settlement agreement with the town of Whitman to pay water and sewer bills at the high school, which have been the source of concern since it was discovered that the bills have been in error for 14 years.

School district legal counsel Matt Feeney outlined the agreement that the district pay $185,826 over three years to resolve the dispute.

Whitman DPW notified the school district in May 2019 that multiple water and sewer readings and billing errors for the high school had been detected.

Meters were read incorrectly beginning in October 2005 and were repeated until Feb. 25, 2019, resulting in an under billing of about $307,000, School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes reminded the committee.

The Whitman DPW apologized for the error and any inconvenience it caused, but maintained water and sewer services for the high school.

Only WHRHS facilities were involved in the billing errors.

The School Department worked with Feeney and the town of Whitman to “determine what the district realistically owed” on a six-year statute of limitations, Hayes said.

The result was a mutually agreed-upon $185,826.46 to be paid in equal installments of $61,942.16 over three years, beginning in fiscal 2022.

Business Manager John Tuffy said a payment plan has not been determined yet, but a $61,000 forecasted in state aid or a transfer from excess and deficiency look like the most likely funding avenues.

“There is no intention to modify the budget, at least that I’ve heard of, and send a new assessments out for the towns,” Tuffy said.

COVID update

Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak presented a brief COVID update, noting all students returned to class on April 5 and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley issued a May 17 date for all high school students to report back to in-person class.

“For us, if we hadn’t made that move it would have been within six or seven days, but they’ve been in school since April 5 and things have gone pretty well,” he said.

Middle schools were supposed to reopen by April 28, and in W-H have been back since April 5 as well.

Contact tracing presents a new situation, Szymaniak said. DESE and the state Department of Health and Human Services has issued new guidelines which involves close contacts exposed to COVID-19-positive people in the classroom or on the bus. Those wearing masks do not have to quarantine unless they were within three feet of the person testing positive for 15 minutes or more during a 24-hour period. The order does not apply if such contact occurred outside the classroom or bus.

“This new guidance will drastically decrease the amount of quarantines within our district,” Szymaniak said. “This will help us keep kids in school. … It will be parents’ choice whether they qauarantine their child. Our directive from DESE is to notify families.”

The district is also receiving eight pallets of persona protective equipment (PPE) — masks, hand sanitizer, gowns, stethoscopes, etc. — after the state ended up with a surplus it offered to schools, and will pay interested school districts to pick it up.

“We should be in a good spot come September,” he said.

MCAS and winter school

Because juniors who missed the MCAS last spring during the COVID shutdown, are eligible to take the exam to qualify for Adams Scholarships, the district is over the number of students they can test with the current number of proctors. Testing will take place May 6 and 7 and May 10 and 11.

Principal Dr. Christopher Jones said a “reverse half-day schedule” is being used to work around the issue. Buses will run at the usual times and students not taking the tests, who cannot get a ride at a later time can ride the bus.

MCAS testing ends at 10:15 a.m. and all students taking the test will proceed to classes after the exams. Distancing will also have to be provided for the 354 students — 288 sophomores and 66 juniors — taking the MCAS.

Winter school, which moved summer school classes to the winter season, saw a 76-percent success rate, Jones said, meaning 40 out of 52 moved out of winter school with passing grades.

“The important part was a decent number of them were seniors at risk,” Jones said. “They were at risk of not graduating.”

For the graduation ceremony at 6 p.m., on Friday, June 4 (rain date June 5), enough seats will be put out on the field used for four members of each graduates’ family at proper social distance. Other family members may use the standing room area at social distance.

Szymaniak said all those attending must sign in to permit contact tracing, if necessary.

“It’s not going to be a free-for-all,” he said.

The committee also began discussion of a proposed policy for therapy dogs in district schools. Szymanaiak said it was going to be worked on over the summer to present a well-thought-out plan.

A gender identity policy is also being looked at in an effort to see if current school policies are adequate.

Grants from the School Nutrition Foundation will not only ensure that the W-H Food Service Department continues to provide healthy meals kids like, they will help ease the pressure on towns’ capital matrixes as equipment ages and breaks down.

The SNF’s grant supplied the district with $20,000 Hobard Equipment Grant enabled the district to purchase an industrial mixer for large-batch recipes and deli slicer — used mainly at the high school.

“It would [otherwise] be part of the capital plan or it would come out of our fund, if we had any money in our fund,” Doucette said.

Once awarded, the recipient will work with an ITW/FEG representative to determine what best suits their school district’s needs.

New to her position, Doucette hopes to improve the kitchen facilities in Whitman-Hanson, including replacement of an aging stand mixer and adding a food slicer at the elementary school to offer fresh, daily deli sandwiches while saving on staff time and energy. Doucette also explained that various pieces of equipment are no longer functional, including a commercial steamer, food warmer and a wooden prep area that must be replaced with stainless steel.

“We have like a Subway sandwich line at the high school,” she said. “I’m not sure how that may or may not work here because the kids are so little.”

The schools provide both hot and cold lunch options every day.

Grant applications required information on the average daily participation in lunch programs, how many are on free and reduced lunch plans, whether a district had already received an equipment grant in the past.

School meal programs operate on extremely tight budgets, funded by cafeteria sales and reimbursements for meals served. With revenue declines due to COVID-19 school closures and the shift between distance learning and hybrid models, many school meal programs lack critical funds to purchase necessary equipment and supplies or cover transportation, temporary staffing and other costs associated with current COVID-19 feeding programs.

It is not the only grant the Food Services Department has received of late. Another grant of almost $24,000 through the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) helped replace refrigerated chests for milk, which the district had been renting for nearly $5,000 per month.

“I applied for the Project Bread COVID-19 Rapid Response Grant in the spring of 2020 for equipment to provide bagged meals at the beginning of the pandemic.  We received $3,291.66 for a large portable milk cooler to keep the bagged meals safe for curbside pickup,” she said. “I applied for Dairy on the Go Grant in January 2021 for equipment to serve Hot Chocolate Milk at the high school.  We received $940.00 for a Chocolady (Bain Marie Dispenser).  We hope that having this hot option along with our cold milk will increase our students milk consumption.  We are going to be giving out free samples on Thursday and Friday.”

She applied for the School Nutrition Equipment Assistance Grant in January 2021 for new milk coolers for the district.  The district received $23,646.00 for 10 large portable milk coolers.  It had been been leasing the milk coolers from our milk distributor.

 “Not only does it eliminate a cost, it provides new equipment,” she said. “Basically all I was doing was trying to find money.”

Another milk chest was obtained from Project Bread.

“This grant will save us approximately $5,000 per year in leasing fees and also provide enough milk coolers for all of our schools for many years to come,” she said.

As students are coming back to school, the need is definitely there, said Food Services Director Nadine Doucette.

The Biden Administration is also funding lunch programs across the country so that all student lunches are free through June 2022.

“They’re all free now, so it’s just going to continue,” Doucette said. “I emailed every family that is on full remote still [so they know, as well]. We still do curbside pickup for all families that are full remote. We’ve seen that number drop dramatically, now that the kids are here full time.”

The School Committee has reduced the proposed fiscal 2022 budget by $775,000, lowering assessments to the towns, as well.

The committee voted 7-2-1 on Wednesday, April 14 — with members Dawn Byers and David Forth voting against and Steve Bois abstaining — to rescind the March 17 vote. He then moved that they set the fiscal 2022 school district, and setting it to $56,797, 579.40 — a 2.6 percent increase of the budget. Hanson’s assessment would be $12,646,117.72 and Whitman’s would be $16,104,903.22.

The reduction of $775,000 from the March 17 budget was proposed to come from federal funds.

The new budget figure was passed, 8-2 with Byers and Forth voting no. The new assessments were passed by identical votes, after a vote rejected Byers’ proposal to table the issue for a legal opinion on procedure.

“I think the budget we put forth through the School Committee supports the mission of our school, supports what we need for our kids for next year,’ Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak said April 6. “But I also feel it’s my job as the CEO and CFO, so to speak, of the district to say I’m going to be sitting on a little over $2 million of federal stimulus money.”

While he said he doesn’t have a specific number yet, but has been told it is more than two times the $1 million in ESSER II COVID funds.

The revised plan presented by Szymaniak at the April 6 meeting that failed to pass by a 8-1-1 vote.

Committee member Christopher Scriven, who had been absent on  April 6 made the three motions covering the revised budget total and assessments to each town.

“To be honest, it sounds somewhat scripted,” Byers said of Scriven’s motion, adding that she hadn’t seen an agenda before Monday. “Somebody on the committee knew that budget discussion was coming up last Thursday. That’s concerning to me.”

Member Fred Small said he had planned to bring it up, since the budget has been on the agenda at every meeting.

“We don’t have an approved budget, how on earth would it not be mentioned?” said member Mike Jones, attending remotely.

“We have an approved budget,” said Byers and Bois, who had been on opposite sides of the April 6 vote.

“Since I’ve been on the committee we’ve changed the budget repeatedly,” member Christopher Howard said, noting he was trying to figure out what they could do without arguing what they should do.

“I don’t know what the hurry is to reduce the budget to balance a town’s municipal budget,” Byers said.

She made a motion to call legal counsel to get a recommendation on the propriety of Scriven’s motion, as it had originally been an amendment — taken back and changed to a motion to rescind after at least three guides to parliamentary procedure had been consulted.

“We’re just getting tied in the pretzel of how can we have the conversation about the budget because that’s just what we’ve always done,” Howard said when a second motion by Byers to table the budget vote was added to the discussion. “I don’t think we should ever be caught up in the technicalities and not being able to have a conversation about where we’re at and what we’re looking to do.”

Byers argued for tabling the budget vote for legal advice because “reducing the budget and using one-time funds is a patchwork solution.”

Committee member Fred Small asked where the money was supposed to come from.

“It’s great to get on a soapbox, and it’s great to say, ‘Hey, we need more money…’ was there some things that happened years back? Yes. But we can’t go back in time. … We need to deal with realities today.”

“The town should not be cutting an approved budget by using the ESSER funding to kind of cover the spread,” said Brendan Griffin of Temple Street in Whitman, speaking during the public comment period of the meeting. “That funding should be treated as the supplement it is, and spent on pandemic-related expenses and support for both known and unknown needs that the kids will undoubtedly face.”

He said using it to cover special education teachers seems a bit off-base and a little reckless.

Scriven said it is time to look at things from a team perspective.

Byers said she appreciated the long-term team approach.

Business Manager John Tuffy said the fiscal 2021 budget was 73-percent expended by the end of March, compared with 76 percent at the same point in fiscal 2020. He also mentioned a rash of fraudulent unemployment claims, dealt with by many districts victimized by online scammers during the early days of the pandemic, are being worked out by the state and refunds are starting to come back to the district, but that the numbers are still “a little squishy” right now.

Reopening update

“These past few days, I’ve been feeling a mix of emotions,” said junior Anna Flynn, who serves as the student government representative to the School Committee, during her regular student update. “I’ve been happy, yet fearful. I’ve been excited, yet dreadful.”

She said it is difficult to concentrate on schoolwork while “cramped into” classrooms with classmates not seen in a year, and dreading being or faced with being called to the nurse’s office “any second.”

Flynn said her fellow students are exhausted, and she expressed heartbreak that there is no junior prom this year, and that traditions such as homecoming and rally had been canceled.

“I’ve never seen my classmates so anxious and burned out in my entire school career,” she said, noting that they are also nervous about the reduced social distancing guidelines in a school full of people.

She said she and several of her classmates have decided to switch to full remote for the remainder of the school year.

“We decided to take the safe route, rather than risk being in close contact and catching the COVID-19 virus,” she said. But she added that she was “exhilarated” by how serious W-H is taking the close contact situation.

“Even though it can be a very stressful process, I’m glad to have my school take proper precautions and try their best to prevent the spread of the virus during the transition of returning to school full time.”

There were no changes made to the fiscal 2022 school budget and assessments at the School Committee meeting on Wednesday, March 7, despite a proposal from  Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak that would trim the budget by three quarters of a million dollars.

The measures failed by a vote of 6-1-1 with member Dawn Byers voting no and Chairman Bob Hayes abstaining. Member Chris Scriven was absent.

Hayes said Monday the budget would be discussed again at a meeting on Wednesday, April 14. Budget votes must make up two thirds of the 10 total members, whether they are present or not.

“I can’t believe I’m sitting in this chair saying, ‘Maybe the School Committee can reduce my budget,’ because I’ve always fought to increase the budget,” Szymaniak said, noting that Whitman is still calculating a budget and Hanson would be looking at an override “no matter what.”

“I don’t think it would sit well for me to not share an idea of how to reduce our budget and have it potentially, if we don’t reduce it, fail at town meeting,” he said. “I feel very comfortable being able to do this.”

Szymaniak proposed using the funds over those three years to balance the remediation and intervention programs, some special education programs and Chromebooks — totaling $775,000 for a proposed budget of $56,797,579.40 — a 2.6 percent increase of the budget. Hanson’s assessment would be $12,646,117.72 and Whitman’s would be $16,104,903.22.

The new round of federal stimulus money can’t be used to pay teachers, but may be used for remediation of COVID-related expenses.

Without helping the towns, he could be faced with pink-slipping people and the goal this year is to avoid that.

Chairman Bob Hayes reported that legal counsel has opined that, once a budget is set, the figure cannot be increased — only decreased — as Hayes had described at the last meeting.

“The reason for it, is the budget has to be presented to the towns 45 days before Town Meeting,” he said. “That gives the town the opportunity to set their budget.”

The school budget makes up a larger portion of town budgets than other departments.

“There’s nothing that says at Town Meeting a budget line can’t be increased,” he said. “But it can also be decreased.”

Szymaniak said he has received a written copy of the opinion, and would share it with the committee.

He also noted Hanson’s move to place an override on the Town Meeting warrant and will hold a forum on the issue April 20.

“I think the budget we put forth through the School Committee supports the mission of our school, supports what we need for our kids for next year,’ Szymaniak said. “But I also feel it’s my job as the CEO and CFO, so to speak, of the district to say I’m going to be sitting on a little over $2 million of federal stimulus money.”

While he said he doesn’t have a specific number yet, but has been told it is more than two times the $1 million in ESSER II COVID funds.

“We will get this money, it’s just a matter of when,” he said. “I don’t feel comfortable not giving you an opportunity to potentially reduce the operating budget to assist our two communities, when they’ve asked for some assistance in the district budget.”

He prepared information for the committee to use to reduce the budget, to give the towns a strictly level-serviced budget.

The Committee opted to reopen the budget discussion to do that.

The $2.1 million to $2.2 million in ESSER III funds must go over three fiscal years, Szymaniak said. It would not be prudent to use $2 million in one year, and he didn’t know if the state or federal governments would allow that in any case.

“We are not going to cut any services,” Szymaniak said. “We’re just reallocating who’s going to pay for the services — and the good people of the federal government are going to pay for the services.”

He said he would not make the suggestion if he didn’t think it would be successful.

School Committee member Dawn Byers said using the ESSER III funds for operating expenses “doesn’t make any sense to me at all.”

A Mass. Assoc. of School Committee program she participated in offered advice on ESSER III — plan accordingly, communicate wisely with your communities and discuss it among committees to “prepare for the cliff” in 2024 when it won’t be there any more.

She specifically expressed concern about using it for special education or Chromebooks, which will need replacing again.

Committee member Fred Small said Hanson is in a difficult place this year and anything the committee can do to help would be in everyone’s self-interest so the School Committee can go on to do long-term planning.

School reopening

Szymaniak reported on the Monday, April 5 school reopening that if he were to assign a grade to the day’s experience it would be a B+ to an A-.

He said there were a “couple little hiccoughs here and there with transportation” between buses running late and traffic patterns a little off at certain schools.

“The best thing was getting into elementary classrooms,” he said, noting he managed to pop into the classes at most schools. “The teachers were ready to go, the kids were ready to go and I saw a lot of happy eyes.”

Tents have been pitched at the high school and inspected on Tuesday to allow students to eat lunch outside and space apart as well as for some classes to be held outdoors.

There was also a challenge with desks ordered for Whitman Middle School.

“Nothing is ever easy, but we got it done,” he said.

The desks the town of Whitman helped the district order with COVID funds are on back-order, according to Assistant Superintendent George Ferro, and will be delivered the first week of May. In the meantime, desks were obtained from Sacred Heart School, which is in the process of downsizing. Another 150 desks were borrowed from Stonehill.

Ferro said the desks will be kept when they are delivered in May because it is not known when Stonehill would need theirs back and there could still be social distancing protocols in place for September.

“The not-so-great part about opening is I have three positive [COVID] cases at the high school right now from a social interaction last week,” Szymaniak said. “In turn, I have 34 close contacts [in quarantine] out of that social interaction.”

There are four positive cases and seven close contacts at Whitman Middle.

“Nothing has been transmitted through school,” he said.

The DPH contact tracing guidelines have not changed, despite social distances have closed to three feet, which has upset some parents. But Szymaniak defended school nurses who were doing their jobs.

“To get mad at my nurses, to yell at my nurses, to threaten or to have us have to call the police on you, is not appropriate,” he said, noting it had happened that day.

Superintendents are calling DESE to ask them to work with DPH to adjust the distances involved in the contact tracing protocols.

There have been some behavior problems due to the social-emotional challenges of the past year.