The School Committee reviewed the Nov. 4 special election on Whitman Middle School project during its Wednesday, Nov. 15 meeting – offering thanks to those who worked to inform voters, while pointing to the need of continued efforts to inform residents on the impact and timing of taxes related to the Whitman Middle School project.
“Thanks to the diligence of the Whitman Middle School Building Committee and the Whitman Education Alliance, a group of parents, I believe we were granted a school building which we hope to open in 2027,” Superintendent of Schools Jeff Szymaniak said. “From the start, Ernie Sandland and Crystal Regan for putting together the SOI [statement of interest] in 2018, [Assistant Superintendent] George [Ferro], for adding a tremendous amount of influence for what that building’s about.”
He added that there had been quite a few roadblocks along the way and the Town Meeting was a good discussion – not so much confrontational as information-seeking.
“And then, the amount of people that came out to support the project in Whitman shows me, as the superintendent that Whitman is behind education, behind the school and that, when we’ll be breaking ground in the next 12 months as we move forward with this project,” he said. “I just can’t thank the parent organizations – The Whitman Education Alliance – for getting out there and motivating people to come out and vote, giving them appropriate information on what their choices were, but really advocating for the students in the town of Whitman and the community as a whole.”
Vice Chair Christopher Scriven joined in those thanks.
“They were out going door-to-door and distributing flyers, giving people information on the project,” he said. “To me, that’s a great example of how, if you get engaged, you can make a difference.”
Chair Beth Stafford says the Alliance members plan to stay involved in other education issues within the district.
Member Dawn Varley credited the Whitman Finance and Capital committees with supporting the project.
“[They] did the outreach, did the work, it was just an outstanding community effort by so many people,” she said, noting that, as students will still be in the current building until the new school is built, air quality in Whitman Middle School will continue to need monitoring.
Byers also said the district business office should continue to inform the residents of the timing and impact of the project on tax rates, as well as the interest rates under which the district will be borrowing and its impact on budgeting.
“It is the school district and our bond rating that goes to the borrowing,” Stafford said.
“We can explain to the borrowers, you’re not going to see a tax increase this year, or probably not next year, because we’re not building anything yet,” Byers said, urging that the public be apprised of that fact as well. “Thats really important that we continue to share the right information.”
The Committee reviewed data from the annual Brockton Area Prevention Collaborative/Whitman-Hanson WILL survey on drug
Anna Dowd of BAPC – the grant-funded entity that supports W-H WILL – said the survey informs the organization on their successes as well as areas where improvement is needed.
They conducted 1,000 surveys of students in grades six to 12. Percentages of 30-day use in middle schools was predicably low, she said, but added the students apparently had a misconception of what was being asked about prescription drug use.
“Our research associates are going to work to tweak that question to make sure it’s more grade-appropriate for the younger ages,” she said.
High schoolers’ responses were similar to that age group across the region, with vaping and marijuana use are higher than other substances, but vaping within ninth grade was the highest seen at 25 percent. Dowd, cautioned that only 55 students had been surveyed.
Where perception of risk is concerned, middle schoolers have the bigger number of responses indicating a moderate to great risk is involved with all four of the substances surveyed, which is very similar to the high school.