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Region on a roll for Team USA soccer

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There are two more World-Cup caliber soccer players in the region.

About six months after Hanson native Samantha Mewis and the U.S. Women’s Soccer team won the World Cup, 24-year-old twins Andrew and Troy Chauppetta have been named to the U.S. Powerchair Soccer Team’s 12-player roster — and could be competing for their country at the sport’s World Cup in Australia next year. The Fédération Internationale de Powerchair Football Association, (FIPFA) headquartered in Paris, is the international governing body of the sport, and runs the World Cup program.

The young men have been battling Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy since they were children when playing soccer was a favorite sport.

“We’re training to go to Australia,” Andrew said during an interview at Brack’s Grille & Tap in Brockton, where a burger on the menu benefits the family’s Wheelchair Strong nonprofit charity. The Twins also run their own T-shirt business, at twinteeshirts.com.

“Teams from all over the world will be competing for the gold medal,” Andrew said.

They have been playing power chair soccer for about 10 years now, and went to a tryout in Minnesota where 24 players competed for the 12 spots on the team.

“Three weeks after that, the coach called us and selected us to be part of the 12-man roster,” Andrew said.

Troy explained eight players will ultimately be selected to travel to the World Cup tournament, with four serving as alternates in case of injury or other reason why a player can’t go.

In the meantime, in addition to settling into their first independent housing in Bridgewater, the twins will be participating in 10 training camps followed by selection of the eight players who will travel to Australia.

“They made Team USA at our national tournament in June,” said their dad Mark Chauppetta, a WHRHS grad. “There’s hundreds of wheelchair soccer players that play in Indiana [and] Troy and Andrew had a basic tryout there.”

While a proud achievement, selection to Team USA also brings a big financial commitment, Chauppetta said, including the cost of travel to training camps all around the country. The estimated cost is about $25,000 per player. A personal care attendant must also travel with the family to help Chauppetta, which adds to the expenses.

They just returned from Tampa, Fla., and will be headed to Indianapolis, Ind., in April and San Antonio in July.

The family has set up a GoFundMe tab on their website wheelchairstrong.com and are looking for corporate sponsorships. Wheelchair Strong’s 501 (c) 3 status means tax deductions can accompany donations.

“Troy and Andrew are willing to put the logo any local business has straight across their foreheads, if the price is good enough,” Chuppetta joked.

Team selection

The national team’s coach was scouting at the Indiana tournament and invited them to an October selection camp in Minnesota where the team was narrowed to 12.

“Like the coach said, ‘How could I pick one and not pick the other?’” Chauppetta said of both his sons being selected for the team. “They play very similar styles.”

The coach has Andrew playing forward right now to give him more roster options, but his natural position is as goalie. Troy, who currently leads their home league in goals scored, is a forward. They play for the Pappas Chariots, based out of Canton.

“We have to practice more than one position,” Andrew said of the national team.

“We’ve been playing power soccer for about 10 years,” Troy said. “We travel all over the country playing in tournaments every couple of months.”

Troy said the sport is an important part of their lives.

“The best part of being able to play power soccer is being able to get that competitive edge back that we used to have as little kids when we were able to run around and play sports in the yard,” he said. “Finding this sport has really changed our life, just from the sports perspective.”

Their father said the Chariots, which used to be affiliated with the Mass. Hospital School, since they lost ambulation at age 12.

Andrew said it was an emotional experience to lose the ability to play ambulatory sports.

“Being extremely athletic kids, and being very rambunctious kids, I was sort of bummed out that there weren’t any sports they could play anymore when they went into wheelchairs,” he said.

A friend in the Muscular Dystrophy community suggested wheelchair soccer. The twins were all for it and fell in love with the sport, which has evolved a great deal in the ensuing years.

“Back then, they were using their personal wheelchairs and putting a crate on the front to hit a [13-inch in diameter] soccer ball,” Chauppetta said. “The athletes were running into a lot of problems with their chairs getting damaged and insurance not covering it.”

The Power Soccer Shop — a Minnesota company — invented the Strike Force Chair now required for use by every player who wants to play at the elite level. The chairs cost more than $10,000 each.

The twins took out loans through Santander Bank on their own to purchase their chairs.

“I guess you could say they went from Little League baseball to the Major Leagues,” Chauppetta said. “Troy and Andrew are the only two players [on Team USA] from New England.”

Travel with the chairs is stressful, Chauppetta said, but as they travel more, they become used to how to instruct flight crews how to handle the chairs to prevent damage — and they film the loading process on their phones for insurance purposes.

They had always wanted to play either with or against a particular player they admired and, as they went through the process of advancing in the sport, they decided Team USA would be their eventual goal.

The sport takes more mental preparation and getting accustomed to the chairs banging into each other than physical conditioning, Chauppetta said.

“I think the club team prepared them,” he said.

A Merry send-off

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HANSON — The Board of Selectmen, state legislators, family and former colleagues came together Tuesday, Jan. 28 to say goodbye to interim Town Administrator Meredith Marini after 21 years as the Board of Selectmen’s administrative assistant.

She served as interim town administrator several times during her tenure, the most recent delaying her retirement a month until new Town Administrator John Stanbrook could settle into his role.

“This is really a surprise, and surprising me is kind of hard,” she said while opening the gift from the Board of Selectmen.

Her family presented her with flowers, Selectmen presented her with a clock with the Seal of the Town of Hanson on its face. State Rep. Josh Cutler, D-Duxbury, and state Sen. Mike Brady gave her a mirror — to reflect on her retirement — and a reception with cake was held.

“Cake?!?” Marini said. “For people who aren’t here on a regular basis, cake is what we do.”

She counted off the 25 selectmen and eight town administrators in her 21 years on the job.

“It has been a blast,” Marini said. “It’s been the best job ever. … Remember who you’re working for, remember why we’re here and everybody will be fine.”

She credited the people she works with at Town Hall for making her work so pleasant and noted the reason she never wanted to be a full-time town administrator was because her family comes first.

Her family also surprised her, with one son, Jeff Scozzari, coming from his home in New York to join his brother Steven Scozzari and his girlfriend Suzie, daughter Trish Glenn and Marini’s husband Fran in attending the meeting.

“What can I say about Merry that each of you don’t already know?” said Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “It isn’t an overstatement to say that Merry has been the heart and soul of the town of Hanson and Hanson Town Hall for many years.”

She has answered questions from residents and town officials, and oriented “scores of freshmen selectmen” on their jobs.

“She is one of the hardest-working women I have ever met,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, noting there’s a lot to Marini’s dedication that people don’t see. “She has single-handedly been responsible for some semblance of stability … in the selectmen’s office as we’ve had the revolving door of town administrators, which we’re hoping to break that chain.”

She has also continued to do her own job, while doing the little things that make Town Hall run smoothly like organizing the decoration of Town Hall for the Holiday Festival and taking part in the town’s Halloween Extravaganza.

Case in point was what Marini was doing the weekend before Stanbrook began working — spackling and painting his office so he would have a “nice, sparking office when he arrived,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

U.S. Rep. Bill Keating sent a Certificate of Congressional Recognition, presented by an aide, to Marini and Brady and Cutler presented citations from the Senate and House of the General Court.

Cutler related attending a Scouting event at which he was asked what a state representative did, asking if it was akin to being a mayor.

“No, that’s Merry Marini,” he replied. “We know when we need something done, we’d always call Merry and she’d always have the answer or know where to get the answer.”

The gift from Cutler and Brady was wrapped in wallpaper from the Statehouse because giftwrap wasn’t available.

“As you reflect on your many years of service to the town of Hanson, you can reflect,” Cutler said as Marini opened the mirror’s packaging.

“We get it,” a voice in the room replied.

“I can’t say much more than has already been said, other than the fact that I’m glad I checked up on you every morning, and days that I missed, you were afraid I was sick or something,” said former Selectman Don Howard, who said she was still welcome to stop by his house in the summer for zucchini from his garden.

Former Town Administrator René Read, now Duxbury’s town manager also shared memories of working with Merry during a difficult financial period for the town, when they were trying to avoid layoffs.

“I can’t believe you’re leaving,” he said after giving Marini a big hug. “When I first got here things were rough.”

He recalled talking to his wife about it after one typically long day, marveling how Marini “just won’t stop, she’s just go, go, go.”

Years later, he asked Marini about how she did it.

“S**t, you were going so fast, I thought I had to keep up with you,” he related was her reply. “I said, Merry, I was trying to keep up with you. This is the kind of conversation we should have had when I first started.”

He added he always swore if Marini ever left the Town Hall would have to close.

“They better watch out, after you walk out of here if they have to shut the lights off, I wouldn’t be surprised,” he said, wishing her a long, healthy and happy retirement.

Halifax Town Administrator Charlie Selig, who has dealt with Marini over the years, also wished her well.

“In losing Merry, you’re losing someone great,” he said.

SSVT holds budget hearing

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HANOVER — The South Shore Tech School Committee held its annual budget hearing on Wednesday, Jan. 22.

The hearing followed the release earlier in the day of Gov. Charlie Baker’s fiscal 2021 budget, as well as the Chapter 70 and minimum local contribution numbers for the budget cycle by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

The budget will be up for certification at its February meeting.

“To this point, we’ve had an initial proposal on fiscal 2021 and now we can look at some other numbers,” said Superintendent-Director Dr. Thomas J. Hickey, noting that the information was being sent to member towns on Thursday, Jan. 23 and will be posted on the school website.

The overall budget proposal represented a 4.09-percent increase, and — thanks to non-resident tuition revenue, regional transportation and a modest increase in Chapter 70 state aid — funds sought from member towns would therefore be slightly lower than the current budget of $13,816,873. Hanson’s assessment increases by $132,507 and Whitman’s by $18,468.

Assessments vary based on the funding formula (75 percent) and the number of students in the school (25 percent).

“In general, the towns that saw assessment increases, usually it’s because there’s an increase in students,” Hickey said. “It’s not always guaranteed and the intensity might be different.”

Hanson’s minimum local contribution — the amount the state says towns should be spending to educate students — is $1,135,420 and Whitman’s is $1,623,676. Non-resident tuition, divided proportionally among the SST member towns gives $14,193 to Hanson and $12,027 to Whitman. The towns’ assessments would be even higher without the increased revenue,  Hickey said Monday, Jan. 27, noting that the non-resident tuition is traditionally used to offset the next year’s tuition. He also said he is very confident that regional transportation reimbursement, anticipated to be at 70 percent, will be 80 percent this go-round. As labor costs and the fuel and maintenance costs brought with the transition to propane-powered buses, are being pointed to as reasons next year’s transportation costs are calculated as “largely flat,” Hickey said the additional 10 percent of transportation reimbursement could be passed along to the towns.

Capital expenses are up slightly due to the capital improvement plan, while transportation costs are largely flat and the district has eliminated most of its debt, according to Hickey.

Hickey said on Monday, Jan. 27 that DESE is expected to issue guidance to better explain what they are looking for in terms of student opportunity grant paperwork, seeking explanations from each district about how additional Chapter 70 funds are going to be used — from closing achievement gaps to improvements to social-emotional learning and other priorities.

The report, due April 1 and must be completed by all districts in the state, expects districts to reach out to community stakeholders and figure out how it’s going to be spent.

“A lot of districts are not getting a lot of money,” Hickey said. “Our Chapter 70 increase is $30 a student — I think we saw a bump of, it might be $18,000.”

There is a long-form and a short-form document to complete, Hickey said, adding that SST’s “modest amount of money” would likely translate into a short-form document for the district. He said he would be interested in reading the actual paperwork within the next couple of weeks.

In other business, Assistant Principal Sandra Baldner announced the school has achieved its goal of reducing absenteeism by 20 percent.

“It required a lot of work by a lot of people,” she said, describing weekly attendance meetings with guidance counselors, an administrative aide assisting with data management, the school nurse and other administrators. “We’re attacking this with a student-centered approach to target each student intervention based on the student’s reasons for absences. We’re very involved with the families, as well.”

While not meant to be punitive, freshmen absent four times in a row without a valid excuse, receive a detention in a supportive environment with the assistance of a teaching aide. After a fifth unexcused absence a letter is sent home to their family, and in the case of 10 absences, the family is asked in for a 10-day appeal meeting.

“Those meetings are starting to happen now,” Baldner said.

Initial response from families have been generally positive.

A Saturday School initiative for struggling students meets once a month from 8 to 11 a.m. In November, the session had 26 students and last Saturday, there were 27 students working during the session.

“The goal is that we have fewer failures during the school year,” she said. Class failures are also being targeted for a 27-percent reduction this year.

Principal Mark Aubrey reviewed the pilot data program on the breakfast programs, reporting a plateau after an initial improvement. The numbers are still improved even with the plateau considered.

March 4 to 8 is National Breakfast week, when new menu items will be offered free of charge to gauge interest.

Hanson delays region, override panels

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HANSON —  It’s too early for any move to appoint a committee to consider either de-regionalization of the schools in any manner or a Proposition 2 ½ override, but the Board of Selectmen opened the door to both possibilities at its Tuesday, Jan. 28 meeting.

“I put those on the agenda because I’ve been getting some feedback and I thought it was important to be responsive and to talk about it as a committee,” said Selectmen Chairman Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked about the viability of de-regionalizing.”

She said that regardless what form of de-regionalizing Hanson might look into — from a K-8 system to a complete K-12 break away — it would not immediately solve the town’s fiscal or contractual problems this year.

“In addition, I ultimately don’t think that de-regionalization is going to be proven to be in the best interests of the town, given the buy-out costs and the fact that you’d have to set up a separate administration and overhead costs,” she said.

People are asking her about it, however.

School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes is having the district’s Business Manager John Tuffy look into the costs involved in such a move and Town Administrator John Stanbrook and Town Accountant Todd Hassett would also review the figures.

“I think, in light of the fact that we haven’t gotten those numbers yet, it would be a little bit premature to form a committee,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said, suggesting that even discussing the formation of any de-regionalization committee be put off until March. “We also don’t know the budget numbers, so I don’t want to put the cart before the horse.”

Selectmen Kenny Mitchell said he felt it was “definitely premature” to form a de-regionalization committee, an opinion with which the other members of the board agreed.

“I’m still hopeful that this is going to work out,” Mitchell said. “I’m hopeful that Whitman is going to want to sit down and come to the table.”

Selectmen also indicated that an override committee was also premature.

“I’d like to see [school budget] numbers before we decide,” said Selectman Jim Hickey.

She reviewed the genesis of the regional agreement entered into in 1993, which spelled out a per-pupil methodology for apportioning the school assessment.

“This methodology has been used without fail every year since then,” she read from a statement, noting that changed in August when Hanson was told there might be another method “the statutory method, which uses a ‘wealth-based formula’ and takes into consideration the average household income and home value for determining the minimum contribution each town makes to the regional school district.”

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has determined the statutory method should have been taken into consideration every year since 2012 and that the School Committee should have been voting each year on the budget as well as the assessment method.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said Whitman has decided its residents have been paying more than they were required as a result of the statutory method not being used and have “drawn a line in the sand” and support only the statutory method.

“While I believe that the decent and ethical thing to do would have been to enter into good-faith negotiations with Hanson on a revised regional agreement, and work on a phased-in approach, those options are presently not on the table,” she said. “This is for this year. I’m not saying this is never going to happen.”

She also pointed to the balance of membership on the School Committee favoring Whitman based on student population, and the committee’s 6-4 vote in November — along community lines — favoring the statutory assessment method.

Town Counselor Kate Feodoroff has reminded Hanson Selectmen that the School Committee must have a seven-vote majority to pass a budget.

FitzGerald-Kemmett said there are a few options open to Hanson: negotiating a change to the current regional agreement; formation of a de-regionalization committee; or forming an override committee to acknowledge that ‘most likely this year, we may have to have an override.”

Another option is to obtain legal counsel for a second opinion or litigation.

Interim Town Administrator Meredith Marini, FitzGerald-Kemmett and Selectman Matt Dyer have been meeting with Whitman Town Administrator Frank Lynam and Selectmen Randy LaMattina and Justin Evans in an effort to find a path forward.

“We’ve decided that the only way to determine what is equitable is to get a breakdown of the cost to educate the children in each town,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “We simply do not have the facts.”

She stressed that the audit is not an attempt by the towns to cast doubt on the confidence level in the school district.

“We’ve got a fiduciary responsibility and we cannot make decisions without being armed with the facts,” she said.

The board also discussed the status of that operational and forensic school audit.

Stanbrook said he has been working with Lynam to set up the audit and reviewing the cost of, and qualifications they are seeking in, an auditor.

The WHRSD fiscal 2021 budget release will take place at the School Committee’s Wednesday, Feb. 5 meeting. Selectmen are posting the meeting as a public session of the board “in case we all show up and decide to deliberate the heck out of things,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.

That budget could determine the need for an override committee, she said.

Leadership goes to the mat: Ralph a trailblazer for W-H wrestling

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Bethany Ralph (far left) finishes in second place at the Senators All-Girls Wrestling Tournament on Monday. / Courtesy photo

Bethany Ralph is the first girl to ever captain the W-H wrestling team.

When Bethany Ralph first stepped on the wrestling mat as a freshman at Whitman-Hanson Regional High, she knew she wanted to be a leader, not a follower. 

After all, she was a female in a predominantly male sport, but that was the last thing on her mind. 

“I realized right away, I wanted to be a captain,” Ralph said. 

Why?

“I knew that this was going to be something much more than a sport for me,” she said. “And to lead such an amazing group of young men would mean that I experienced that and earned my position.”

Ralph was one of two females on the roster in the 2016-17 season. Fellow female wrestler and friend Damari Brandao was the reason she decided to hit the mat. 

“She brought it up to me and I decided it was something different and I jumped right into it,” Ralph said.

Gary Rabinovitz, who was in his first season as W-H’s head wrestling coach at the time, was immediately drawn to Ralph‘s passion for the sport. 

“It all comes down to the heart and the work ethic,” Rabinovitz said. “She’s had it since Day One. She came in after the first week, two weeks of the season, black and blue everywhere. Her parents brought her to the doctors to make sure everything was good. It was just from working hard.” 

Now a senior, Ralph’s the first female to ever serve as a W-H wrestling captain.  

“She wanted to work as hard as everybody from Day One,” said Rabinovitz. “She doesn’t consider herself a girl, she considers herself a wrestler. From her work ethic and what she puts into this every day, she has respect from every one of these guys.”

Sophomore wrestler Rocco Ruffini echoed his head coach’s sentiments. 

“We don’t think of her as a girl,” Ruffini said. “She knows when to step up and push us harder. She’s a great leader.”

Ralph is no stranger to being a trailblazer. Last season, she was on the verge of making history, wrestling in the finals of the inaugural MIAA girls’ state wrestling tournament at 120 pounds. She finished second. 

“To be able to make it to the top of the girls’ bracket is also another big accomplishment because I’m just another girl they don’t think can get there,” Ralph said. 

Ralph has even bigger aspirations than a state title as she winds down her career on the mat. 

“Hopefully people will remember my name and I’ll be someone they can look up to someday,” Ralph said. 

Boards talk budget

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WHITMAN — Prior to a joint meeting with the Finance Committee Tuesday, Jan. 21, the Board of Selectmen unanimously voted to accept the report and budget recommendations from the Budget Override and Evaluation Committee to avert a fiscal 2021 Proposition 2 ½ override. It was the only item on the agenda before the joint session with the Finance Committee.

All but one had the unanimous recommendation of the BOEC, and were based on the recommendations of the findings reported by consultant John Madden’s review of town finances.

“All of these measures defer the inevitable,” the budget committee’s report stated. “Even if all recommendations are adopted, an override will most likely be required in FY 2022, albeit a much smaller one.

BOEC Chairman Randy LaMattina said the key factor Madden determined to be at the heart of Whitman’s financial situation was where the operating budget — with an annual increase of 4.86 percent — is growing.

“He notes that school growth, from 7 to 8 percent, are not the norm,” LaMattina said. “His recommendation, and there will be a vote later on in this meeting, was to restrict operational growth to somewhere between 2 to 2.5 percent and a school assessment of 5 percent. … They’re not concrete numbers, there may need some adjustment here and there, but these are what he considers the norms for surrounding towns and towns meeting our demographics.”      

The recommended moves include:

• Restructuring of the ambulance account without taking needed funds away from the fire department;

• Moving funds from the motor vehicle fine account into general townwide operations;

• Use of sewer/water indirect costs to offset costs within the town budget article at Town Meeting;

• Controlling town operations increases to 2.5 percent of the overall budget increase and education not to exceed a 5 percent assessment increase;

• As a financial policy, refrain from using free cash to fund ongoing expenses;

• Seek funding for the feasibility study for a DPW building project;

• Funding the $750,000 for the first phase of the Whitman middle School Project (Finance Committee member John Galvin and Fire Chief Timothy Grenno abstained from this vote at the BOEC meeting);

• Development of a strategic plan for municipal finances; and the

• BOEC’s recommendation against seeking a Proposition 2 ½ override.

School Committee member Dawn Byers spoke about her dissenting vote favoring an override after Selectman Dan Salvucci asked for the reason for that vote.

She said that, while she saw a lot of information on how to infuse more money into the town’s operating budget, she saw no expenditure reports for how the new revenue would be distributed.

“I know that the schools did cut from their budget last year, so I feel that to recommend not having an override this year doesn’t serve the people in our community, the families in our community, working families in our community. I think we need to recognize our true expenditures with our real revenue.”

LaMattina said nine votes against seeking an override spoke to the dire nature of the move.

“We know we have a middle school, possibly, on the horizon, we know we have a capital service project,” he said. “We do not know what the number is for the school district. … If we look at our history, 5 percent will not be sustainable for the schools — we get it — they will need an increase.”

He said the town is trying to get through this year, working with Hanson.

“I think this override will be the last time we can ask taxpayers for money for quite a long time,” LaMattina said. “We better get it right.”

Moving into the joint meeting with the Finance Committee, the session reflected Finance Chairman Richard Anderson’s introductory remark that, “undoubtedly we will disagree on some of the paths” to get town finances where they need to be.

Town Administrator Frank Lynam advocated identifying the town’s budget tolerances as a first step in preparing a budget with a 2.5 percent increase limit as the goal.

Finance Committee member Kathleen Ottina advocated more transparency in that process.

“Right now, the general public in Whitman does not know the details of what was involved in last year’s decision to stay under an override,” she said. “The closed-door meetings, I understand, involve less formal discussions than when you televise, but they have to be open to the public so they know what’s at stake.”

She also questioned how an override could be taken off the table when they don’t have all the numbers yet, and argued it does not take six months to educate the public on the need for an override.

Lynam said he would be “hard-pressed to find 100 people that would regularly be interested in what’s going on, that doesn’t mean we don’t provide it.”

Most of what he does at the meetings is working with a calculator and the town has committed to a more open and fluid approach.

Ottina said she appreciated the difficulty, but said information coming out of the meetings should be publicized. Lynam agreed.

Finance Committee member Rosemary Connolly urged that a working group could ensure the budget is accountable to the town’s budget survey conducted last year.

Finance Committee member John Galvin, who also served on the BOEC, disagreed that a working group meeting was necessary, because the FinCom is charged with hashing out that information and bringing it to the people at Town Meeting.

Anderson said that, if the next step is for the Finance Committee members to follow up with budget managers, “I think we’re in a good place.”

In discussing the Capital improvement plan, Lynam said the wording for any article would be tricky.

“We’re going to have to work out that process,” he said. “It would be a big change from what we’ve done.”

The capital committee will be holding its next meeting in the first week of February.

Noting that WHRSD is the biggest part of the budget, Anderson brought up the issue of paid school transportation.

“I think this is a discussion that needs to take place,” he said. “It’s time to consider alternate funding sources and maybe address some of the schools’ needs.”

School Committee member Fred Small, who attended the joint meeting, said students on the Superintendent’s Council had said last week that the early start didn’t bother them.

Connolly said early start times generally affects boys more than girls, and the Superintendent’s Council members who spoke were all female.

They also did say the time change was hard for them in the beginning, as well.

Lynam cautioned that the issue raises a myriad concerns, particularly when school doors don’t open before a certain time, which causes a hardship for working parents.

“Massachusetts has the earliest start time, generally, across America and we are one of the earliest within Massachusetts,” Connolly said. “We also have to think of how effectively our money is spent.”

Most buses arrive at the school empty because parents already drive their children, she said.

Finally, Lynam discussed the MSBA grant invitation for a Whitman Middle School project, requiring a vote at the May Town Meeting on whether to call for funding for a feasibility study. Components of that study will include demographics, utility and design.

“I don’t see anyone ever approving us renovating that building,” Lynam said. “If we’re going to do something there, we’re most likely looking at a new building.”

The first step is the assessment of need through a feasibility study which can be funded out or either a debt plan, free cash or a one-time capital override.

“I was persuaded that the feasibility study will give us the information we need to present to the public,” Lynam said.

Committee seeks student feedback

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Members of Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak’s Superintendent’s Council, who will be joined in future meetings by a more diverse group of W-H students, attended the School Committee meeting Wednesday, Jan. 15 to discuss their ideas about things going on in the district and answer any questions from the committee members.

“I feel that they have a pretty good relationship with their high school principal,” Szymaniak said. “They’ll tell him the good, the bad and the ugly. I think they have a pretty good relationship with me and they’ll tell me the same.”

School Committee Student Advisor Caitlin Veneto was joined by fellow Superintendent’s Council members Anika Floeck, Jordan Pelissier, Chloe Wilson and Marissa Connell, all seniors.

“We’re looking forward to get students more involved with School Committee meetings because we’re looking for your input,” Hayes said. He explained that the students would also be asked to funnel student body questions for the Committee through Szymaniak.

Hayes asked about school start times, noting the debate that has surrounded them since they were changed a few years ago for budget savings.

All the Council members, while they struggle with the early start times on occasion, it is beneficial because students can get an earlier departure from school for participation in sports or part-time jobs and internships. They also pointed out that AP students such as themselves have a lot of homework and, as a result, later start times would just mean going to bed later.

Regarding extra-curricular activities or classes they would like to see, the students said an activities fair for eighth-graders or later in the school year for freshmen — after they settle into a high school routine — would be helpful to outline programs and classes students might want to take.

Venito also said the school’s mentor program might be extended to revisit freshmen at the end of the school year to get their feedback on clubs, sports and classes — as well as perhaps a summer workshop on the college application process. Wilson suggested extending mentor programs into upper classes to help with the college application process.

“I know when I first came here, I kind of struggled with fitting in and finding my group, at first,” Floeck said. “I feel if the mentors were more involved long-term it might help other kids transition better to the high school from middle school.”

School Committee member Dawn Byers, noting that 2020 is a presidential election year, asked if the students have thought about registering to vote.

They have.

“I am already registered to vote,” Venito said, noting a friend has discussed the idea of a voter registration fair at the school. Floeck said the History Honor Society is planning to work on the elections as part of their projects for the year, including student voter registration.

School Committee member Dan Cullity asked what classes the students would like to see offered at W-H. Wilson mentioned either micro- or macro-economics, Venito said she would like to see an AP music theory class offered. An SAT prep course was also mentioned as a course that would be useful.

School assessment process debated

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The School Committee on Wednesday, Jan. 15 declined action Whitman resident Shawn Kain’s suggestion it consider some kind of compromise between the statutory assessment formula favored by Whitman and the current alternative formula sought by Hanson.

School Committee Chairman Bob Hayes said that the issue, not included on the evening’s agenda, would not be something on which members could act.

“There are a lot of discussions concerning budget with both towns right now,” Hayes said.

He noted Hanson Town Counsel Kate Feodoroff’s reminder to Selectmen that seven votes — or two-thirds of the School Committee, regardless how many are present — are required to pass a budget.

“To me it seems pretty clear that it would be difficult to get seven votes with such a split on the budget,” Kain said, noting that could lead to continued division in the budget process from there. “It’s really setting us up for the whole process to go down toward the state taking over in December, which sounds terrible to me.”

Taking that, and Whitman’s decision to follow the statutory method, he suggested “it might be helpful,” if the School Committee, particularly Whitman members, to reconsider their recent 6-4 vote — split along community lines — to favor the statutory assessment formula.

“Long-term, sustainable funding for education will only come through consensus, and this, right now, is not consensus,” Kain said. “I think to slow down, reconsider and take another look at that vote would be helpful.”

The School Committee will hear the district’s fiscal 2021 budget presentation at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 5 in a meeting where it will be the only item on the agenda, according to Superintendent of Schools Jeffrey Szymaniak.

Another meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 26 will feature a regular agenda.

Interim Business Manager John Tuffy provided a year-to-date report on revenue and expenditures.

“At this time, there is not one particular line item I’m terribly concerned about,” he said. “We’re up to date with our bills, we haven’t spent quite as much of our budget as we had this time last year and that’s relatively good news.”

Szymaniak said a recent meeting he had with the Whitman Finance Committee was a positive one, with an improvement in tone over a session at the same point in the budget process last year.

Kain then asked for the assessment formula reconsideration.

“We don’t need it,” said School Committee member Steve Bois. “We already voted an assessment method, and we’re moving forward.”

He told Kain that, with all due respect, he should let the committee do its job.

“We’re in this all together, so I think it might be helpful to keep together,” Bois said. “You’re kind of tearing us apart in a way that … we’re not even looking at it that way.”

Bois pointed out that the School District has not even had a chance to meet with the Hanson Finance Committee.

Kain countered that without a Hanson School Committee member changing their vote, the assessment would fail to pass the committee and, ultimately, it would lead to a state takeover of the school budget.

School Committee member Fred Small said he fully expects that the panel will come up with a budget, but that the assessment is a secondary item that will go to town meetings.

“It’s our job to try and do a budget that is going to meet the needs of our pupils,” he said. “We also did an assessment method where you also look at what you feel is fair and proper as we are charged to do.”

Small charged that, “by coming here and continually going after these things,” all Kain was doing was beating a dead horse and not allowing the committee to do its work.

Hanson School Committee members Christopher Howard and Robert O’Brien Jr., however said some of Kain’s concerns are very relevant.

“It puts the folks that represent Hanson in a very difficult position to support a budget with an assessment methodology that isn’t supportable,” Howard said stressing that he was speaking for himself. “I would heed Mr. Kain’s words and think them through, because … you had four people from the town of Hanson unanimously vote against that methodology, so to make the leap that that’s over and done with and we’re just going to move into budget — that’s a tough leap for me to make.”

O’Briens said he echoed everything Howard said.

School Committee member Dawn Byers and Whitman Finance Committee member Rosemary Connolly cautioned that a state takeover “sounds really scary” and — while it can be, because it is the unknown — it is not the same as state receivership, which is based on underperformance in academics.

The schools will operate normally, and classes will be held.

“When the state takes over, it’s always in the best interests of the students, too,” Byers said. “Fiscal control of a district by the state is just because we couldn’t get a budget and they help us to get there.”

Hayes added that, in the event of a state takeover, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education could increase the school budget, if they determined more funds were needed. Dighton-Rehoboth schools have gone through the process.

In other business, Director of Student Services Lauren Mathisen provided a report on the department. DESE’s coordinated program review of special education, civil rights and English learner education programs resulted in recommendations for minor changes in the English learner program, she said.

Another DESE audit, of the 2009 Circuit Breaker claim has ranked W-H among the top 5 percent of special education, districts they have reviewed, she said. An independent transportation audit will be conducted in a couple of weeks, she said.

“Transportation continues to be a big financial burden for us,” Mathisen said. “We are projected to spend about $1.1 million this year in transportation of our students.”

She said $875,000 had been budgeted, but the tuition and salary contracted service lines in the budget should cover the remaining amount, Szymaniak said.

She did, however, express some optimism that the recently passed Student opportunity act, that some reimbursement for out-of-district transportation costs is on the horizon. A deficit is foreseen in contracted services due to medical or maternity leaves and a resignation that had to be contracted out.

Mathisen also shared her in-district program goals for special education, particularly in the form of an autism program at the high school as well as an elementary-based language program.

Vigil honors Lyric’s light

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WHITMAN — Through emotion and tears, a crowd gathered at dusk on Sunday in Whitman with white candles that shone brightly in memory of a child who had her life taken away.

Lyric Farrell, 2, of Whitman was remembered Sunday, Jan. 19 — those who gathered celebrated the life of a little girl whose life was cut short leaving all to wonder how? and why? — as the golden sunlight set over photos of a smiling face,

Oversized pink ribbons adorned the doorway of  Miss Kay’s dance studio as owner Kay Duffy  offered her parking lot to host the vigil after learning of Lyric’s affection for music and dance.

She was also remembered for the hugs she gave all her daycare friends, and as a light who shared her radiance with everyone.

“She left her mark on us,” said Jackie Freestone, Lyric’s former day care director.

“We were blessed to know her. Her memory shines on,” said Michelle Carter also her teacher at the same center for the last six months.

Miriam Theodore, a pastor at the First Congregational Church of Whitman offered remarks at the memorial, and event co-organizer Jenn Marley handed out pink pins and helped to light candles during the vigil with friend Heather Clough, both mothers and both of Whitman. Clough spoke at the vigil.

Gently reminding those in attendance to use the vigil to remember the light Lyric brought to those around her.

“As members of the community kids are so important here- there is so much for them to do and there are so many ways for them to express themselves,” Coughlin said to the crowd. “It is a sad occasion and we can only imagine what Lyric could’ve grown up to do and she deserved more.”

Encouraging the use of their voices to make changes Clough encouraged the group to seek out organizations that can assist children alluding to the open court case.

“If you believe things need to change there are organizations to join … to turn the ‘could have- should have’ to ‘I will, I can.’” added Clough.

Teachers from Lyric’s daycare among the crowd were visibly upset as they talked about Lyric’s struggles in the weeks she had been returned to her mother.

Freestone said she raised red flags about the changes in Lyric’s behavior after slowly transitioning out of her grandmother’s care.

“I used to bring Lyric to the worker for DCF,” Freestone said. “I hated to send her but we had to.”

Lyric reportedly died of a non-accidental head injury, which left her on life support. She passed away on Dec. 31.

The open case is currently being processed in Brockton District Court with Shaniqua Leonard of Whitman Lyric’s biological mother being charged with reckless endangerment of a child. She is facing additional charges as the case evolves, according to statements through the Plymouth Country DA Timothy Cruz.

Hanson works to ID climate challenges

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HANSON — Representatives of town and regional departments have begun work to identify potential emergency situations triggered by climate change as part of an effort to obtain action grant funding to address some of the deficiencies.

Laurie Muncie of the Old Colony Planning Council joined her successor as Hanson Town Planner Deborah Pettey to conduct the meeting for the officials to lay the groundwork for a day-long Municipal Vulnerability Priorities (MVP) workshop at Camp Kiwanee from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday, Feb. 7. Friday, Feb. 28 will be the rain date.

Pettey, who said she welcomed participants to attend even if they could not devote an entire day to it, stressed their input is important as she is not a Hanson native and does not know the entire history of the town.

“I need this information to make the best report and the best plan that we can for the town,” she said.

The Thursday, Jan. 9 planning session also discussed their top four environmental concerns for Hanson.

The session ranked their four major climate concerns ahead of the February workshop: wind, flooding, drought and, potentially, extreme temperatures.

“Flooding should be on the list,” said Conservation Commission chairman Phil Clemons. “I don’t know that it’s ahead of wind, though.”

He noted the impact of wind bring trees down on power lines as a frequent concern.

“It just seems kind of artificial to force ourselves to think of things separately,” Clemons said.

“Wind and trees … are a higher concern than even rain,” Muncie agreed.

While a concern, flooding is mainly responsible for road washouts and is not as big an issue as it would be in coastal communities, Clemons said.

Drought is another contributor to downed trees that cause damage, Pettey said.

Muncie noted that the lack of a generator at the Hanson Senior Center is an important concern during power outages, and is at the top of her list of grant priorities. Capacity of generators for long-term use must also be considered, officials said.

“A long-term power outage is a real burden for a lot of demographics,” Pettey said. “Whether you’re elderly or whether you’re handicapped or whether you have small children, a long-term power outage is going to cause quite an impact.”

Communications during a power outage was also discussed.

“Have you driven through Hanson center with your cell phone?” asked WHRSD Facilities Director Ernest Sandland.

“That’s a normal day,” Muncie said.

Sandland noted that the new cell tower planned for a portion of the Middle School property is aimed at helping the situation. Pettey said the ZBA approved the plan Tuesday, Jan. 7.

She was asked if emergency services communications would be included on the tower and indicated that was her understanding, but that she was uncertain. A representative of the Hanson Fire Department said the present cell tower “carries everything along with the sheriff” department radio communications and present no problems.