The Silver Lake Regional School Committee met on Thursday, April 10. Superintendent Jill Proulx introduced the results from various surveys taken. This past winter, students took the SAEBER (Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk) screener. The level of risk was assessed for each school for Grades K-6. Only three percent of students across Kingston, Plympton, and Halifax were deemed high risk. Plympton had the lowest percentage of students in the “some risk” category at just 9 percent while Kingston and Halifax ranged between 13 and 18 percent. The vast majority of students in Grades K-6 across the three towns fell into the low risk category.
A separate survey was given for students in Grades 7-12, faculty and staff, and families as part of the DESE Tiered Focus Monitoring program. Some key takeaways included that 92 percent of students felt welcome to participate in student activities and that students would like to see new activities/sports offered including dance team, golf, and ping pong.
A presentation was given on student performance through the middle of the year. For English/Language Arts (ELA) students meeting or exceeding grade level expectations in Kingston is 42 percent, in Halifax it is 55 percent, and at the Dennett it is 53 percent. The district-wide goal is to reach 70 percent. For math, 48 percent of Kingston, 55 percent of Halifax, and 56 percent of Dennett students are meeting or exceeding expectations. For science, 52 percent of Kingston students, 60 percent of Halifax students, and 63 percent of Dennett students were meeting or exceeding expectations.
Results from both MCAS and STAR testing for Grades 7 and 8 were also provided. Comparing last year’s MCAS scores to this year’s STAR, the number of students meeting or exceeding expectations for seventh grade is 22 percent higher than last year. It is 18 percent higher for eighth grade. They also reviewed performance for Grades 9 and 10. For reading, 64 percent of ninth graders are meeting or exceeding expectations while 50 percent are for tenth grade. It was stated, however, that the AP Seminar students were not included in the tenth-grade scores.
Chair Gordon Laws said, “Tonight’s presentation represents a lot of progress in my view on a number of levels. Not just from a standpoint of generally good improvements, but from a process standpoint as well. Several years ago, when I started on the School Committee, we couldn’t have a discussion on looking at grade level assessments or pre-assessments other than MCAS and we couldn’t relate whether those pre-assessments were predictive or correlated or related in any way to how MCAS looks. The fact that we are able to do this now… and have data-driven discussion, is really, really good progress.”
While Committee member Jason Fraser was unable to attend in person, he did pass along a Legislative Agent’s update. In it, he said that the House Ways and Means budget was set to be released the following week. Fraser said that significant increases to education appear unlikely but noted that the MASC (Massachusetts Association of School Committees) was still advocating for key measures. Amongst those is a $200 per pupil funding increment. They are also advocating for raising the state reimbursement rate for extraordinary special education costs to 90 percent.
Director of Finance and Operations Sarah Hickey told the Committee, “The Governor’s budget comes out in January – there’s initial amounts for Chapter 70 funding and then that goes to the House. The initial regional transportation reimbursement from the State from the Governor was $795,726; the House voted to fund regional transportation at 100 percent which would give Silver Lake $1,151,117 if that passes the Senate and then the Conference Committee for the final budget.” She noted that there is a potential for Silver Lake to receive $355k from the state and asked the Committee to consider additional staffing for the business office should that happen. Laws said that while it was worthy for debate, it was not on the agenda for further discussion and asked that they table it for a future meeting.
Regarding the School Resource Officer (SRO) at the Middle School, Proulx said, “We had received a request from the Chief for the School Committee to consider funding the SRO at 0.8 FTE for the upcoming school year out of our budget.” She said that the Town Administrator asked if the schools could pick up the cost for full-time benefits as it was not included in their budget. This would be on top of the $80k already allocated for the SRO. Proulx said it would be an increase of nearly $19,000.
The Committee was also told that the position likely wouldn’t be filled until December/January. Hickey said that she had asked their attorney to put together an inter-municipal agreement so they could have something in writing. She noted that what was agreed upon previously was that Silver Lake Regional would pay $80k at an expense of $10k per month. “So then it was explained that the patrolman would have to be hired and would have to go through the Academy and wouldn’t be able to start at the schools until later in the year.” She said that this would mean that the portion of the $80k that wouldn’t be spent on salary, would be used, instead, to pay the benefits.
Committee member Jeanne Coleman called it a bait and switch. Laws said, “I felt like we took a lot of heat from the towns and particularly that town about the state of our budget deliberations… and took a lot of grief over being able to project what our costs are and now that we locked them, we are being asked to readjust them and it doesn’t feel great.” Coleman said that part of the agreement was the understanding that they would not be paying for the benefits. She did acknowledge that the Police Department had asked for an override for their budget that the Selectmen did not vote to support, leaving them to have to find ways to trim their budget. Later in the meeting, Hickey clarified saying that she heard from the Kingston Town Manager and “the cost that he is looking for Silver Lake to pay for salary and benefits is $66,667… which fits within the $80k.”
Principal Michaela Gill provided an update. She said that she was “super excited” to announce that the school had received a $47,000 grant to help create more biomedical pathways. Gill also announced that student Olivia Silveira won a Best in Show award and her artwork will be displayed in Congress in Washington D.C. Gill said there were many staff members, herself included, already wanting to buy her artwork.
Gill also told the Committee that they had a proposal from the Athletic Director to establish a summer strength and conditioning program for student athletes that would be supervised by the trainer. Gill said it would run for six weeks, three days a week. The Committee voted in favor of the proposal.
The Committee also voted on whether to continue with last year’s withdrawal from school choice. The Committee cited both financial and space concerns in their vote to once again withdraw.

The Kingston Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, March 25. Kingston Police Chief Brian Holmes had an appointment with the Board. “He’s requesting that we reconsider the March 12 vote to sponsor a prop 2 ½ warrant article to provide an additional $575,000 for a sergeant, patrolmen, and related benefits to the Police Department,” Selectman Eric Crone explained.
Holmes said, “One of the most prevalent issues in the recent presidential election was national security… I did a live interview with WATD yesterday… and then we shared that interview on Facebook with the concerns we have with staffing. Once again, we’re asking for the town to allow for the annual Town Meeting to make the call about whether or not this town has the appetite for an override.” He continued, “Failing the success of an override for the Police Department, we could literally end up waiting years for any kind of significant growth. This is a workplace safety issue; this is an officer safety issue… and this bears the potential for liability on the part of the town on so many levels.” He alluded to pending grants and said that he has worked on finding alternative sources of funding for the Department.
Holmes said that Silver Lake Regional has agreed to fund an additional school resource officer. He noted that Duxbury’s override just failed and said that going for these overrides were becoming a way to deal with increasing financial crises in surrounding communities. “I believe that the town residents should have the right to weigh in. The options before you, in my opinion, are 1. Take no action. 2. Reconsider the vote of two weeks ago and let the Town Meeting decide by way of a warrant article or 3. Hold a public hearing in a week. Hold that hearing to determine whether or not there is support for it,” Holmes said. He told the Selectmen he has heard a lot of support for the Department’s request. The Selectmen clarified that the Department would like to see the addition of a Deputy Chief, a Sergeant, and three more Patrolmen.
Selectman Kimberley Emberg said that in the last 33 years, Kingston has asked for an override six times and four of them have failed. “My concern is if we ask for an override this year, we will not be able to ask for one next year – that we would be setting up a potential override for next year to fail… we’re up at the levy limit, we have no excess levy capacity; to the point where if something happens, all we have is half a million dollars in free cash – that’s not much of a saving’s account,” Emberg said. She said that while she supported the Police Department and their needs, the numbers this year don’t warrant the requests. She added, “If we go to Town Meeting now and ask for a Police override, we’re putting Police over everything else because it will shut everything else down for next year and that’s my fear.” The Selectmen decided to hold off on taking a vote until they have the full Board present.
Fire Chief Mark Douglass appeared before the Board for a supplemental budget request in the amount of $125,000 to assist with a $159,551 deficit within the personnel lines. “This past year we’ve had a number of extended injuries that have gone long-term… due to the increased call volume, we’ve ended up calling people back a lot more than we were,” Douglass said. He noted a significant increase in call volume over last year. The Selectmen voted to include a warrant article at Town Meeting seeking supplemental appropriation for the Fire Department in the amount of $125,000.
Selectmen also voted to support a resolution in support of the No Cuts to Public Schools Act which would protect funding that allows public schools to serve students of various needs appropriately. The resolution recognized the ways in which special education tuition and transportation as well as other educational needs are outpacing available funding in most surrounding communities.
Two members of the Agricultural Commission spoke during open forum. They said that they would be sponsoring a vegetable growing/gardening event at the Senior Center in April. They also said that Karen Johnson would be resigning from the Commission and they thanked her for all of her hard work over the years including her work with 4-H and rescuing horses.
The Selectmen also accepted a resignation from the Council on Aging Advisory Board for Mary Hayes. They also appointed Lucy Coletta as an associate member to the Council on Aging Advisory Board. Finally, Joseph Cunningham III was appointed to the Kingston 300th Committee for the duration of the project.
Town Administrator Keith Hickey provided some updates. He said that the town received a call a few weeks back from a company called Business View Magazine. Kingston was selected by them to be part of a television series called The Best of Massachusetts: A Talent for Innovation. Hickey said a small magazine would also be published as well. “I think it’s a great opportunity for Kingston to be highlighted,” he said. He did note that it would be at no cost to the town.
Hickey also said that the town met with MassDot to discuss the final paving of the Main Street water line. They will be closing two exit ramps off of Rt. 3 during the work which is tentatively scheduled for April vacation. Hickey noted that there will be traffic impact.
The Selectmen held a public hearing for a street acceptance for Russell’s Pond Road. “Best case scenario, we’re probably looking at a fall Town Meeting to potentially approve the road depending on whether everything gets done that needs to get done,” Hickey said. Town Planner Valerie Messard, who has been working with the residents of the street, also spoke. “The benefit for the residents, obviously, is that we would be plowing that road and maintaining it during the winter and also paving it every couple of years using Chapter 90 funds,” Crone added.