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Protest against racial injustice on Town Green

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A peaceful protest/vigil was held on the Plympton town green on Sunday, June 14 to protest racial injustice. Organizer Amy Laura Cahn described it as “a vigil for George Floyd, Ahmaud Aubrey, Breonna Taylor, Tony Mcdade, and all Black Americans slain by racial violence and injustice, including police brutality and the pandemic.”

A large crowd gathered to listen to speakers, set intentions, and hold signs proclaiming “Black Lives Matter” amongst other things. Those gathered also participated in an 8 minute and 46 second moment of silence signifying the length of time Derek Chauvin had his knee on George Floyd’s neck. Participants had the opportunity to write their intentions for combatting racism on sticky notes which were compiled and read aloud by Cahn before the close of the vigil. Those intentions included sentiments such as meeting regularly as a town to battle racism and committing to raising their kids to be anti-racist.

Plympton resident Kimberly Russo addressed the assembled urging them to read, listen, think, and act. An excerpt of her comments is found below:

“When we pray for racial equality, when we know that in our personal lives, we don’t hold malice or ill will toward any people of color in our day-to-day lives, it’s not enough. When we march and join in with people of color to voice our support for racial equality, it’s not enough. It’s not enough for us to call our policemen and women heroes because of their vocation or the uniforms that they wear instead of the deeds that they do. But, when we do these things and we take these ideas to the voting booth and we care enough to make sure that the people that we put in policymaking positions, no matter their political party, carry out our intent and concern about racism, we’re starting on the right track. Our current national economic policies, our voting policies, and the lack of inclusion of people of color in policy making and planning are the root of systemic racism in this country. Don’t be a party to that. Don’t give your good intentions for a fair and just country away to people who, after receiving your vote, play a part in keeping this nation divided.”

When it was her turn at the microphone, Cahn acknowledged that it was pride month and said that queer Black leaders have been at the forefront of every movement in the United States. In order to recognize that she read an excerpt from poet Saeed Jones’ new poem, Who’s Grief? Our Grief. She quoted Jones, who is both Black and gay, saying, “This upheaval, the protests, the unrest, the uprisings, all of it, it is generations in the making. Black children who were learning multiplication tables when Rodney King was beaten in Los Angeles… are old enough to have children of their own now.”

Cahn also took time to recognize the impact of systemic racism that extends beyond police brutality. “In Massachusetts communities of color bear the brunt of exposures to chemical pollution and transportation emissions,” Cahn said. She also pointed out that 8 out of the 10 communities in Massachusetts with the highest rates of COVID-19 are communities of color. “This is not an accident. This is a history (generations) of taking resources from Black communities, from communities of color, and putting it into wealthier and whiter communities.” She also went on to quote Massachusetts Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley who said during a recent interview, “I would very much like to pass onto my 11-year-old daughter, something other than generational trauma.”

Class of 2013 Silver Lake alumna Makayla Dillingham took an opportunity to speak after all scheduled speakers were through. Dillingham urged those gathered to attend a peaceful protest march on Saturday, June 20. The event will begin and end at the Kingston Town Hall and will run from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. “I see that there are roughly 100 people here today and I want to see you guys plus another hundred, plus another hundred,” Dillingham said.  Dillingham said that she extended the invite to neighboring communities outside of the Silver Lake district including Duxbury and Plymouth. “I want to see us all there. I want our towns and I want the South Shore to know that this is a community that’s going to stand together during a trying time,” she explained.

Regional FY21 budget still in flux

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Selectmen from Halifax, Kingston, and Plympton attended the June 4 meeting of the Silver Lake Regional School Committee to discuss the FY21 regional school budget. On May 28, the regional school committee voted to pass the original budget number from March with the caveat that they would be asking the three towns to vote no to their budget at their respective town meetings. If the towns voted down the March budget it would cause the region’s budget to revert to fy20 levels by default (a reduction of about $706,000 from the March 12 budget). The intent was to allow the school district additional time to make an informed decision regarding the budget and possible cuts based on actual numbers from the state. As of the present time, no one knows the extent of cuts to state aid as the commonwealth has provided no indication as to when or what the budget will look like.

As a result of the economic hardship brought on by the pandemic, the towns of Halifax, Kingston, and Plympton were asking for a combined $525,000 reduction in the assessment to the three towns. Kingston specifically requested a $300,000 reduction to their assessment.

The school committee felt their hand was forced in voting a budget on May 28 as the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) had requested that they provide them with a budget that they could then use in determining a 1/12 budget scale for Silver Lake.

“This kind of came out of the blue… we didn’t really have time to react to it,” Fraser explained. He continued, “Some of the school committee members were taken aback by DESE asking us to give them budget numbers when they won’t give us an inkling of what our Chapter 70 funding is going to look like.”

The region receives about $7.3 million in Chapter 70 funds. As Fraser pointed out, even a 1 percent decrease in those funds translates into $73,000 in cuts. “When we agreed to reduce the assessments to the towns by $525,000 we weren’t really doing anything to protect ourselves from a decrease in Chapter 70 funding,” Fraser said. “Out of frustration and out of an act of rebellion against the state, we chose to pass over voting new numbers last week and just sent to DESE the original budget from March 12.

We didn’t feel that it was in our best interest to try and satisfy their ridiculous request for a number from us when they wouldn’t give us thirty percent of our budget to work with,” Fraser explained.

Since the May 28 meeting Fraser said that he has had discussions with town officials regarding the committee’s decision to ask the towns’ to vote down the school’s budget. The two major flaws in the committee’s plan from that meeting were 1.) the towns would potentially be forced to have a special town meeting just for the school and 2.) the ability to access E & D funds in the amount of $125,000 toward next year’s budget would be jeopardized. If a budget isn’t decided upon by June 30, the school would be forced to make additional cuts in that amount. Another issue is that if the school was unable to have a resolution by December, which would involve two out of the three towns voting through a budget, the region would lose local control over their budget. “What I propose for us to do here tonight is to try and satisfy as many of these difficult situations as possible,” Fraser told those assembled.

Fraser went on to say he asked Director of Business Services Christine Healy to look into reducing the assessments to the towns by $525,000 while holding back $181,000 for the region’s protection in potential reductions to Chapter 70 funding. Fraser stressed that the amount held back would only provide a 2.5 percent cushion which is much lower than other communities and school systems in the state.

Essentially Fraser was recommending cutting the budget from the fy21 total to the fy20 level or a reduction of $706,000. He explained that this would allow the towns to vote yes in support of a budget that would hold up for twelve months.

Crone said that he has tried to gain a sense of what other communities are anticipating for reductions in state aid based on conversations with other school committees. He said that some are anticipating reductions as high as 20 percent while the budget being proposed by Fraser only includes a buffer for a 2 percent reduction.

Committee member and Halifax selectman Gordon Andrews said that the 2.5 percent cut was not realistic and recommended that if the school committee votes for a budget, they do so with a realistic number.

He said that using a 2 percent reduction in state aid would cause the committee to have to go back to square one and re-vote a new, more reduced budget. Andrews pointed out that the town of Halifax is looking at a total of an 8 percent reduction in state aid and the town of Kingston a 15 percent reduction.

“If you look at the math of what the tax revenues are coming in at, the numbers seem a lot closer to the 15 percent than the 8 percent overall,” Andrews said. “We are going to be talking about a million dollars if it’s at 15 percent,” he continued.

While Fraser said that he understood Andrews’ trepidation with using an estimate of a 2.5 percent decrease in Chapter 70 funds, he also felt strongly that the region work with the three towns and provide a budget for them to vote on that gives the towns what they asked for.

School committee member Leslie-Ann McGee inquired if there was a way to protect the E & D funds without voting a new budget. The E & D funds have typically been used to fund capital infrastructure issues. Healy said that they would be able to continue funding capital infrastructure projects but not at the same level that they have been able to do over the last five years. Andrews asked if it would be possible to expend that money right now on items on the capital plan. Healy said, “Theoretically we could, the tough thing is some of those items have a leeway because there is planning to be done.”

The Committee took a vote requiring a two-thirds majority to accept the regular day operating budget of the regional schools of $25,992,354. With the exception of Andrews and McGee the committee voted through the number which represents a $706,000 reduction from the March 12 budget.

Both Andrews and McGee were emphatic in their disagreement with the decision being made by the committee.

“I’m observing that we just voted a number that none of us have any confidence in,” McGee stated. Andrews referenced the cuts that would have to be made to come up with the $706,000 saying, “Again, I just think this is a total mistake. We are asking them [the towns] to vote a budget that they don’t know what is inside.” Both Andrews and McGee said they would encourage their towns to vote against the number.

Fraser said that the committee would reassemble on June 16 “hopefully to make some better educated guesses as to where we’re going to find the $706,000 line by line, item by item.”

The committee did agree to have Fraser draft a letter to the three towns to ask permission to go back to the table if there is an increase in funds from the federal government.

Despite the vote taken during the June 4 meeting, Fraser corresponded with the Express on June 8 saying, “I have been asked for a reconsideration of the budget vote from 6/4 so the news from Silver Lake is continuing to evolve.”

CARES Act Funding

Plymouth County Treasurer Thomas O’Brien attended Thursday’s meeting to explain about the allocation of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds. Of the $2.7 billion received by Massachusetts, $90 million was awarded to the communities of Plymouth County. According to O’Brien, there were four governmental entities with a population of more than 500,000 that were eligible to receive a portion of those funds.

Of those four, only the city of Boston and Plymouth County completed the application process for their portion of the funds rather than granting the state control. The state takes a percentage of the funds for administrative costs for those entities for which they are managing the distribution of the funds.

O’Brien told those assembled that the federal government has extensive guidelines for how the funds can be spent and further said that the guidelines have already been changed three times. O’Brien said a designated website PlymouthCountyCares.com has been established to house all the guidelines and other pertinent information.

“What this is going to take… is a significant amount of coordination between town officials, school officials, public safety officials, finance committee officials, to make sure that the town realizes what resources are available and then applies in the best manner possible to the best source possible for finding reimbursement,” O’Brien explained.

He also emphasized that “these funds are not available for revenue replacement.” The CARES funds are strictly to be used for unexpected, unbudgeted expenses that were incurred as a result of the pandemic.

The first phase is intended to be a reimbursement for expenditures through June 30. The second phase will be for expenditures from July 1 and onward. “Phase 1 is secure and underway, and we will be releasing that money as quickly as it is expected.”

According to O’Brien only 6 of the 27 eligible communities have thus far applied for the funding available during Phase 1. Fraser said that the hope is that the four school districts (K-6 for each of the three towns and the regional for 7-12) can put together one unified package rather than receiving packages for the disparate schools.

Technology Director Steve Pellowe is currently working with Proulx on a list of technology expenses that have incurred as a direct result of COVID-19.

The ‘new normal’ look of town meeting in Plympton

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Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy gave an update on town business affected by the COVID-19 pandemic during the June 8 Plympton Board of Selectmen meeting. Dennehy said there had been no complaints about the new system following two weeks of the town resuming public access to many municipal buildings including the town house. Dennehy also noted that numerous town halls across the South Shore and the Commonwealth are still closed and credited the town with taking a proactive approach that allowed for things to get up and running relatively quickly.

A group of town employees met at the Dennett Elementary School to go over the protocols and physical arrangements that would be made in order to hold town meeting on June 17. Town Moderator Barry DeCristofano put together a bulletin for residents outlining what to expect at town meeting. Town Clerk Patricia Detterman is working on a similar bulletin for the town election on June 20. DeCristofano has also taken the initiative in hiring an AV company to provide audio and visuals of the town meeting.

Selectman Mark Russo admitted to obsessing a bit lately about the degree of safety during town meeting but said that he saw a photo of the room setup for the meeting and found it reassuring. A question was asked during Monday’s meeting if the doors to outside would be propped open for ventilation. Dennehy said that due to the risk of Eastern Equine Encephalitis, they likely would leave them closed. She noted that the air conditioning would likely be used during the meeting. “We can play that by ear and see what kind of a day it is when we get to that point,” Dennehy explained. Plympton School Committee Chair Jon Wilhelmsen noted not just the large size of the rooms but the high ceilings, saying that the additional height would help with airflow.

Dennehy expressed her gratitude for the Plympton Fire Department saying they have gone above and beyond in their efforts to assist with the setup for both town meeting and the town election.

Library Director Debbie Batson began rolling out curbside pickup for library materials on Tuesday, June 9. Details regarding the procedures can be found on the Plympton Public Library Facebook page.

The full library staff is also back working their usual shifts. Batson has also been working on plans for the next phase which will allow the public back into the building.

Selectman John Traynor said that there had been an increase in complaints regarding heavy truck traffic in town. Traynor said that the traffic on Spring St. stemmed from an ongoing project in Carver on Route 44. Building Inspector and Zoning Enforcement Officer Tom Millias spoke to those in charge of the project and was told that it was nearing completion which should alleviate the problem. Further complaints were placed regarding truck traffic around Crescent St. and Ring Rd. The traffic there is allegedly connected to an operation run by Jeff Randall. Millias assured Traynor he would speak to Randall who he described as being very receptive to such conversations in the past.

Traynor told the other selectmen that while some of the complaints were shared with him directly, several of them were found on the Plympton Helping Plympton Facebook page. Briggette Martins said she had also fielded a number of calls to the selectmen’s office regarding the traffic concerns. Selectmen Chair Christine Joy said that if people have issues it is best that they bring those issues directly to the selectmen or town administrator rather than airing them on Facebook.“Well we have a difference of opinion concerning social media,” Traynor, who has been pushing for more postings, etc. on town social media pages, said.

Dennehy said that she had a request for the use of the town green on Sunday, June 14 from 1-2 p.m.  for a peaceful vigil to honor George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and other victims of racial violence. Organizer Amy Cahn was in attendance during Monday’s remote meeting and said that she is estimating twenty-five people will be in attendance. She also said that she had already been in touch with police regarding parking and other logistics.

Those wishing to attend may either park along the green or at the library or townhouse. Joy said that she would only ask that attendees clean-up after the event. Russo, who thanked Cahn for her efforts, said that he would encourage social distancing during the event. “It should be a very peaceful, nice demonstration,” Traynor added. As is customary, the selectmen ended their meeting with their rants and raves for the week. “My rave is for the executive branch of government on the state level and especially on the local level,” Russo began. He continued, “With all the stress and sadness and tremendous difficulty we’re facing as a nation, a state, even a town, it is the governors and boards of selectmen, and mayors that are threading the needle and balancing tremendously competing and fiery issues… and finding a good balance.

“It’s really beautiful to listen to people in the executive branch wrestling with issues and coming to good decisions.” Joy said her first rave was for Dennehy, Wilhelmsen, DeCristofano, Dennett Principal Peter Veneto, Chair of the Board of Health Art Morin and all others helping to make the town meeting as safe as possible. Her second rave was for the Plympton Fire Department who assisted in opening the townhouse as well as preparing for town meeting and the town election.

Halifax Town Meeting postponed until July

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Town Meeting Update

Town moderator Dennis Carman and town counsel Larry Mayo attended the Tuesday, June 9 remote meeting of the Halifax Board of Selectmen in order to recess town meeting until July 11. Under Chapter 53 of the Acts of 2020, towns can recess their town meetings for up to 30 days if there is a declaration of a public health emergency. Town moderators wield the power to do just that after consultation with the Board of Selectmen and Board of Health. Halifax health agent Cathy Drinan sent correspondence to Attorney Mayo stating that it would be ill advised to hold the meeting particularly with 150 people or more in an enclosed environment.

Town Administrator Charlie Seelig recommended that the meeting be moved to 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 11 in order to have another month to work out logistics, hygiene protocols, and other social distancing requirements. Seelig said that he selected morning rather than evening in order to avoid mosquitos. Seelig also said that an additional benefit of waiting a month would be seeing how other communities are handling their meetings and borrowing best practices from them. According to Seelig the meeting would most likely be held at the Halifax Elementary School though whether it would be held indoors or outdoors remains to be seen.

Carman agreed with the delay saying, “people’s safety and well-being is of paramount concern to us.” He also said that he feels the delay will maximize residents’ ability to participate in town government and the budget process as an earlier date may lead to people not coming due to safety concerns.

COVID Policies and Reopening

The Board approved a new Halifax COVID leave policy during their last meeting that required all town employees to be paid only for the hours worked. The new policy took effect on Sunday, June 7. Next on the agenda was establishing a policy for returning to the workplace. The state currently recommends that employees continue to work remotely wherever feasible.

Selectmen Troy Garron and Tom Millias agreed that in order to preserve equity among employees, all town employees in all departments should be asked to return to their workplaces with exceptions made only for those with medical conditions preventing them from doing so safely. Selectman Gordon Andrews was unable to attend Tuesday’s meeting due to personal reasons. Seelig agreed saying that while many essential functions can be performed remotely, many of the town positions do include some element of interacting with either other town employees or the public. According to Millias, Maintenance Director Scott Materna will have all protective barriers in place at the town hall by this Friday, June 12. The Board voted June 22 as the date that all town employees should be returning to their places of work. Employees unable to return to work due to health concerns will need to provide a certified doctor’s note. There currently is no date set for opening the town hall to the public.

All employees must perform a self-certification daily which includes signing off that they are not currently experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 nor have they knowingly been in close contact with an infected person. Regarding the state guidance that residents traveling out of state self-quarantine for 14 days, Garron said, “I think we ought to treat it as a recommendation and not a policy.” The selectmen and Seelig agreed that employees would need to use their best judgement should the situation arise.

Signage will be used to indicate to employees and eventually members of the public what safety protocols must be practiced when inside municipal buildings including the town hall. Employees will be expected to wear face coverings in common areas and whenever social distancing cannot be adhered to inside individual offices. Seelig also said that he would recommend that windows be left open whenever feasible and said that he would speak to Materna about installing screens.

Once opened to the public, visitors to town hall will not be by appointment as some other communities have done. Instead, visitors will be asked to leave if experiencing any symptoms of COVID-19. Seelig said that in the event that someone cannot come into the building, employees would be available to help them via email or phone.

Seelig and the Board also addressed how best to handle residents that refuse to comply with safety protocols such as wearing a mask. “We should let people know what our expectations are,” Millias said. He continued, “Our obligation is to keep everyone safe, including the public.” Garron said that he would never want to see any employee or anyone for that matter abused because they ask another individual to wear a mask or practice social distancing. The Board agreed that if patrons become abusive while refusing to follow safety protocols, the police will have to be called.

The Holmes Public Library will begin opening to the public in early July. There is no set date for the Council on Aging to resume programming and activities. Seelig noted that much of the clientele for those services are part of the vulnerable population. The Board plans to talk to Council on Aging Director Susan Lawless about how to best phase in programming.

The HOPS playground is currently open since it fell under phase 2 of the state’s plan for reopening. Seelig said that there is temporary signage indicating that the town will not accept any liability for injury or sickness resulting from the use of the playground. Seelig also said that the town does not have the capacity to monitor the number of people using it at any one time. Similarly, he said they will not be able to sanitize it regularly. Garron said, “I just hope that we do have reasonable adults on the playground and that they try to limit the contact between their kids and other kids as much as possible.”

The state is now allowing outdoor dining at restaurants and other similar establishments. Seelig said the process for amending liquor licenses to reflect that change has been simplified.  He did note that to date, no establishment had approached the Board to make such a change.

FY21 Town Budget

Seelig said that himself and town accountant Sandra Nolan did work out a one-twelfth budget for submission to the state based on a number of recommendations from the Finance Committee. Both Garron and Millias voted to approve the one-twelfth budget as outlined by Seelig.

Beach Stickers for Non-Residents

The Board voted during Tuesday’s meeting to allow access to Halifax beaches to non-resident taxpayers using a placard system and a $25 fee. The issue was first brought to the Board’s attention over the winter by a resident who lives on Waltham St. in Hanson but pays taxes on a portion of her land that is in Halifax.

Finance Committee member Bill McAvoy’s term ends on June 15 so the Board of Selectmen and Melinda Tarsi of the Finance Committee voted to approve having McAvoy extend his term through the FY21 budget process. McAvoy intends on resigning once the budget process is complete due to work commitments. This will leave the committee looking for three new members.

Staff cuts likely for Halifax Elementary

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Town Administrator Charlie Seelig and Chair of the Finance Committee Melinda Tarsi attended the Halifax School Committee meeting on Monday, June 8. Halifax Elementary School Principal Kayne Beaudry and Assistant Principal Brian DeSantes prepared a budget proposal for the fy21 school year which included a number of tier one and tier two cuts necessitated by the economic uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Superintendent Jill Proulx shared the budget presentation during Monday’s remote meeting. Proulx said that the Halifax Finance committee had approved funding the school at the FY20 level for the regular day. The FY20 budget amounts to a reduction of $211,863 from the FY21 budget that had been voted by the school committee prior to the pandemic. The town of Halifax requested the reduction due to concerns over a lack of state aid and local revenues as well as delays in real estate tax collection.

Proulx said at the center of the core values used to arrive at the cuts is the need to continue to support the students both academically and developmentally. Tier one cuts include changing the nurse leader position from a part time one to a stipend position. Also included in tier one, were cuts to a number of different supplies including library, technology, curriculum, custodial, and special education. Proulx said that some of those cuts could potentially be offset by supplies that were not used during the spring term. Additionally, it may be possible to request funding through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act for technology supplies.

Tier two cuts involve staff and include eliminating the part time math interventionist position at $22,000. The position is a new one in the budget as it was previously funded through Title 1 funds that are no longer available. Also on the table as part of tier two cuts is the loss of two paraprofessional positions. Such a loss might mean not having designated paraprofessionals in the kindergarten classrooms. Other cuts include a reduction in the behaviorist from a 1.0 full time position to a 0.8 position. This cut would likely mean the behaviorist working four rather than five days of the week. Another possible cut is the loss of a bus though the feasibility of such a cut may change based on the guidance that is still to be released from the state regarding social distancing for school buses.

School Committee Chair Summer Schmaling asked if the town provided any guidance as to when the school should be voting their budget. Seelig said that the Halifax town meeting is likely to be postponed until July 11. Seelig said that the recess of the town meeting is due to the uncertainty regarding the state’s finances as well as safety concerns over holding a large gathering.

Proulx explained to the committee that faculty must be notified by June 15 of a reduction in force or non-renewal. Initially the committee was considering voting to authorize Proulx to give notification of cuts should they become necessary, though it was agreed the legality of such an approach would need to be verified. Halifax selectman and school committee member Gordon Andrews addressed the committee, however, saying that the town has only estimated an 8 percent reduction in state aid while the reality may be closer to 15 percent. He pointed out that he believed that the cuts shared by Proulx would likely only be the first of several rounds. “I think we are looking at tier 3 that we haven’t even talked about yet,” Andrews explained. Director of Business Services Christine Healy concurred with Andrews saying that while she tries to remain “optimistic and hopeful” the state is no longer saying that they intend to maintain Chapter 70 funding. Tarsi also echoed Andrews’ statement saying, “I don’t think fy20 budget is the worst-case scenario.”

Considering the information shared by Andrews, Healy, and Tarsi, the committee voted unanimously to vote the fy20 school budget for fy21. The vote was to approve the 2020-2021 regular day budget of $5,659,147 and the out of district vocational budget of $156,500.

Schmaling asked if the reason some local towns are not in the same precarious position is because they are not as reliant on state aid as Halifax. Healy explained that towns such as Duxbury and Hingham are having to make less cuts since less of their budgets come from state aid. Seelig said that while Halifax relies more heavily on state aid than some communities (15 percent of the town budget), there are cities and larger communities that rely far, far greater on state aid. Andrews added that Halifax is a much higher recipient of aid than either Kingston or Plympton with 38 percent of the Halifax school budget coming from the state.

Beaudry gave an update on the sixth-grade graduation plan. He said that many different stakeholders had worked to prepare for what is being dubbed the “sixth-grade farewell wave.”  The event will take place on June 18 at 6 p.m. Students and families will remain in their cars and staff will practice social distancing. Students will be receiving what Beaudry referred to as a “Silver Lake survival kit” or “swag bag.” Beaudry also said that locker cleanout would occur throughout the last week of school with each homeroom being assigned a pickup time during a 45-minute block at one of two locations at the school.

Proulx told the committee districts are still awaiting guidance from the state regarding reentry in the fall. Proulx anticipates the guidance being more prescriptive but noted, “he’s always very careful to note that it could all change because of the realities of the virus itself.” Proulx said that closer to the start of school, the district will send surveys to students and parents to gauge where everyone stands regarding transportation, home-schooling, safety protocols, and other pertinent areas.

Don’t vote NO say school committee now

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The meeting mentioned in the above article between the Silver Lake Regional School Committee and the finance committees and selectmen from Halifax, Kingston, and Plympton took place on Thursday, June 4. During that meeting the regional school committee rescinded their decision to vote through the March 12 budget and ask the towns to vote down the school budget at their respective town meetings. 

Chair Jason Fraser said that after discussion with town leadership he thought it best to provide a budget that the towns could vote yes to at town meeting. Fraser made a motion to reduce the budget by $706,000 which included a $525,000 reduction to the collective towns’ assessments. Committee members Gordon Andrews and Leslie-Ann McGee were the sole no votes on Fraser’s motion which passed with a two-thirds majority.

The full article on the June 4 meeting will appear in the June 12 edition of the Plympton-Halifax Express.

Dennett budget cuts are deeper due to virus

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Like much of the state, Plympton is facing sharp cuts to their previously agreed upon school budget due to the economic strain brought on by the pandemic.

Director of Business Services Christine Healy prepared a version 5 of the budget in collaboration with school committee Chair Jon Wilhelmsen and the Plympton selectmen. The revised budget, which was presented during the Monday, June 1 Plympton School Committee meeting, represented a 1.64 percent increase over the fy20 budget. The town of Plympton capped all salary increases at a cost of living increase of 1.6 percent and requested the same of the school budget. The budget previously voted on by the committee represented a 3.74 percent increase.

Wilhelmsen summarized the goals of the revised budget as threefold – preserve the positions of all teachers currently on staff, minimize disruption to the Dennett, and “make sure we are doing right by the students.” Much of the previous 3.74 percent increase came from a request for a new special education teacher which had the support of both the committee and the town. Fraser explained that the addition of the special education teacher is likely a cost savings as the lack of a position would likely necessitate students seeking an education that meets their needs outside of the Dennett. According to Fraser, it would cost a minimum of $60,000 to send a student to the collaborative or upwards of $100,000 if that student were to go the private route. The revised budget maintained this new position as well as that of a retiring kindergarten and music teacher.

Retirements did provide some level of savings when revising the budget. There were a few other individual line items that were cut but the bulk of the savings came from utilities and vocational. Fraser shared his concern with just how tight the budget had become. Wilhelmsen agreed but acknowledged that it was what the town had asked them to deliver. Wilhelmsen also stressed that decreases in state aid, the extent of which are still unknown, will significantly impact both what the school is able to do as well as the town. In order to preserve the current staff, Fraser recommended a hiring freeze for the two positions becoming available through attrition until more data is received from the state.

The committee decided to keep the budget at 1.64 rather than try to cut the remaining $1,300 from the budget. They unanimously voted through the regular day elementary operating budget of $2,441,399, the special education budget of $1,186,396, and the out of district vocational budget of $90,000.

School Committee Openings and Town Election

School committee member Jill Palenstijn, who had previously taken a leave of absence, submitted a letter of resignation thus opening a spot on the Plympton School Committee. Since there is only a year left on Palenstijn’s term and the ballot has closed for this year’s town election, it will be an appointed position. The school committee and the Board of Selectmen will need to hold a joint meeting to appoint a new member.

Of the town election, Wilhelmsen said that almost nobody is on the ballot not for a lack of trying but rather for a lack of ability to get and submit papers. This situation will necessitate write-in campaigns and those wishing to serve will need to communicate that to residents.  Wilhelmsen expressed desire to continue to serve as Chair of the school committee. Fraser said, “I would absolutely nominate you for that position and would thank you for another year of your time.”

CARES Act

Plymouth County, who is distributing the federal funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), has requested that all four school districts in Halifax, Plympton, and Kingston submit their requests in one list. There will be a joint meeting next Tuesday night with the school committees to put together a list of requisition items for the four districts. The Plymouth County treasurer has been invited.

Technology Director Steve Pellowe and Administrator of Special Education Marie Grable have both been consulted regarding possible requests for adaptive technology. The hope would be that such technology would be able to better assist students with special needs should the need for remote learning resume next year.  Wilhelmsen said that since none of these items are included in the school budget, the funding through CARES is going to prove incredibly important.

Remote Learning Update

Dennett Elementary School Principal Peter Veneto gave a brief update on remote learning. He lauded Pellowe, who has assisted Veneto in the distribution of chromebooks and other necessary equipment. Veneto was also quick to praise students, their families, and his staff. “The teaching staff has been hitting homeruns left and right,” Veneto said.

Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch gave an update on the credit/no credit form of report cards that are to be issued. He praised Curriculum Coordinator Melissa Farrell for her support of the elementary school teachers.

Superintendent Jill Proulx thanked Veneto and his staff for participating in the senior parade. “I know it did my heart good,” Proulx said.

Towns asked to Vote ‘NO’ on budget

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The Silver Lake Regional School Committee met remotely on Thursday, May 28, to vote on a revised FY21 budget. The budget process, which began back in late 2019, has been complicated by the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Back in mid-May, Superintendent Jill Proulx presented nearly a million dollars in potential cuts to the version of the budget previously voted on by the committee in March. The March 12 version of the budget came in at $26,698,578 for an increase of 2.71 percent over the previous year’s budget but a decrease from January’s proposed 3.31 percent increase. Chair of the Silver Lake School Committee Jason Fraser said, “This number was lauded by all three of our communities… and then we didn’t go back to school the next day and our world changed.”

Jon Lay spoke on behalf of the Silver Lake Education Association (SLEA) and stressed two points, the first of which being that every dollar in the budget is not equal. He said that some expenditures, such as teachers, have more of a direct impact on students than others. Currently there are 12.9 full time teaching positions on the line. He also took exception to what he called a reluctance on the part of the school committee to, in their words, micromanage the superintendent. Lay said that the SLEA wouldn’t consider it micromanaging but rather the committee doing their due diligence. After Lay spoke the committee took a half-hour recess in order to enter into executive session to discuss negotiations for SLEA.

Upon returning to open session the committee took up the budget discussion once again. Due to the hardships posed by the pandemic, Halifax, Kingston, and Plympton all asked the school committee to revisit their budget. Kingston, which requested a $300,000 reduction to their assessment, was the only one of the three communities to provide a specific number. State aid made up 30 percent of the school budget last year totaling $7.3 million. The remaining portion of the school budget is made up of the three communities’ assessments. Experts are estimating that the budget crisis brought on by the pandemic could result in anywhere from a $4 to $8 billion deficit for that state’s fy21 budget. The state budget likely won’t be released prior to June 30 prompting Fraser to stress that despite the educated guesses floating around, no one knows the actual numbers yet.

The school committee expressed their frustration at revising their budget without any indication as to what potential cuts to Chapter 70 funding will look like. “I feel like we’re blindfolded throwing darts at a wall here,” Vice Chair Eric Crone said. Many other school districts are simply voting their prior year budgets to submit to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). “We’re putting so many people’s lives on hold because of the position that DESE put us in,” Fraser bemoaned.

With the prospect of potentially needing to go to a one-twelfth budget looming, the school committee was feeling the pressure to deliver on a budget Thursday night. A one-twelfth budget would allow them to allocate enough funds for a single month’s expenditure based on the previous year’s budget. This will be true, as well, for those towns that do not go through with their town meetings prior to June 30 as they will be unable to vote the budget as a town. Both Kingston and Plympton are planning to move forward with their town meetings on June 13 and June 17 respectively. Halifax will most likely postpone their meeting until later in the summer thus necessitating a one-twelfth budget for their town.

Fraser moved to simply vote through the FY20 budget number of $25,992,345 for this year as many other districts had done. Gordon Andrews, a Halifax selectman and a member of the regional and Halifax school committees proposed an out of the box, albeit temporary, solution to the school’s budget crisis. Andrews suggested that the committee vote on the March 12 budget number and ask the towns to vote the number down at their town meetings. While this would necessitate a second town meeting to vote the amended number, it would also buy the school committee an additional thirty days from the dates of those meetings to derive a budget based on the state’s amended numbers. Given the outside of the box nature of the proposition, many members of the committee were initially unsure how they felt about it. Fraser withdrew his motion and allowed for a five-minute recess so that committee members could take a moment to think over Andrew’s suggestion.

A number of concerns were discussed once back in session. Among them, Crone said that he was worried about not giving the towns what they asked for the assessment. Crone and others also expressed concern over assuring the towns’ compliance in voting against the school’s budget. It was agreed that it would need to be explicitly communicated to the selectmen and finance committees the logic behind the decision to ask the towns to vote down the school budget. Another concern was the cost of having to hold a second town meeting. While there is an expense of usually $5,000 to $10,000 per town associated with holding such a meeting, most of the committee agreed that it was menial in comparison to what is at stake.

The motion voted on Thursday was to submit to DESE a one-twelfth budget based on the March 12 budget that was previously voted on by the school committee. Despite only needing two-thirds of the committee’s approval, the motion passed with unanimous support. A follow-up meeting will be held with the school committee as well as the finance committees and selectmen from the three towns.

Proulx gave an update on COVID-19 related issues. School nurses have been asked to send their requests for personal protective equipment (PPE) to their respective building principals despite not yet having the recommended equipment list. Items to be purchased include thermometers, hand sanitizer, masks, and for schools over 1,000, cameras that register temperatures. Proulx also said that she believes there will be guidance available by the end of June regarding reentry. It would still be subject to change, however, before the start of school.

Plympton lots won by highest bidders

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Co-Chair of the Open Space Committee Linda Leddy attended the Monday, June 1 Plympton Board of Selectmen meeting to provide an update on the sale of the three lots on Prospect St. An auction was held for the three lots, which are roughly 1.5 acres each, with all bids on the lots due by May 20. The lots back up to 160 acres of permanently protected conservation land. There was no purchase price but rather a suggested minimum bid of $125,000 apiece for Lots 1 and 2 and $120,000 for Lot 3.

Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy said that she had gone through the bid packages with town counsel. She told the selectmen that they could move forward with awarding the bid for Lot 3 which came in above the minimum at $127,500. The highest bidders for Lot 3 were Scott and Susan Curley.

The sole bidder for Lots 1 and 2 was SJC Consulting Group who bid $115,000 for each lot. Complicating the awarding of Lots 1 and 2 was the contingency provided by the bidders that they be awarded all three lots. The selectmen were able to vote to award the lots with the caveat that the bidders amend both offers to remove the contingency.

The intent is for the proceeds from the sale of the three lots to be allocated toward the repayment of the bond that was taken out at town meeting in 2018 to secure the purchase of Two Brooks Preserve. The sale of the lots has been a long process with every effort being made to advertise extensively. Leddy said that despite initial interest from many parties she felt that many people were scared off due to the current state of the economy. Selectman Mark Russo said, “Much thanks to Linda Leddy and the Open Space Committee… it has been a long haul, but we are making progress.”

Assuming the awarded bids result in the sale of all 3 lots, even with some new fundraising pledges, the Two Brooks Preserve Fund will still fall short by $25,000. This could be covered by seeking those funds from the town’s Capital Stabilization Fund.

While requests for $25,000 or more from that fund require a vote at the annual town meeting, requests of less than $25,000 can be granted through approval by the Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee, and Capital Stabilization Committee. The request would be kept under $25,000.

Dennehy gave an update on the reopening of the townhouse for the public. She said that the first day went smoothly and thanked the Plympton Fire Department for all of their assistance with signage, a hand sanitizer station, and other tasks. “The few people that did come in were very gracious and everything went well.” Briggette Martins said that as an employee of the building she felt safe returning to work there. Martins referred to the updates made to the building as “really impressive” and “so well organized.”

Dennehy told the selectmen that a group of people including Dennett Elementary School Principal Peter Veneto and Technology Director for Silver Lake Steve Pellowe did a walkthrough at Dennett in order to prepare for town meeting. Dennehy said that they would like to also have a representative from Area 58 do a walkthrough as well. A bulletin outlining what to expect at both town meeting and town election will likely be available to residents next week.

Chair Christine Joy ended the meeting with a rave for the Plympton Police Department and it’s Chief Matthew Clancy. Joy alluded to the recent tragedy in Minneapolis and the resulting protests and said she is reassured to know that Clancy and the department have been properly trained on use of force. Joy said that the policies implemented in Plympton “place emphasis on the sanctity of human life” and said that “deescalating is their primary objective.”

Halifax prepares to re-open

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Halifax Town Administrator Charlie Seelig held a meeting on Tuesday, June 2 with the Board of Selectmen, department heads, and other town employees to discuss reopening.

Per a vote at the previous selectmen meeting, the Halifax COVID leave policy will end starting with the pay period beginning Sunday, June 7. As of that date, town employees will only be paid for hours worked. An exception will be made for departments that don’t have enough hours to fulfill an employees’ usual workload. In those cases, employees can compensate for additional hours with either personal, sick, or vacation time. Seelig opened the floor for questions on the ending of the policy but none were asked.

Seelig said that he had been reviewing the processes other communities were putting into place in order to have their employees return to work safely. Chief among them is the policy that those who are not well remain home. Each day employees would need to self-certify that they don’t currently have any symptoms of COVID-19. They would also have to certify that they have not been in close contact with someone who has COVID nor have they been told by a medical professional that they have a probable case of COVID even in the absence of a test. Library Director Jean Gallant inquired if the self-certification would run on the honor system or if actual documentation would be expected to be submitted to the Board of Selectmen. Seelig said that documentation would likely not need to be provided to the selectmen. Formal decisions regarding the policies for reopening will need to be made by the Board during their meeting on June 9.

Currently the state has guidance in place that requests that Massachusetts residents that travel out of state for non-work-related reasons, self-quarantine for 14 days upon return to the state. Seelig said that the Board will need to decide whether to include this stipulation as part of the self-certification. As pointed out during the meeting, while it is considered best practice and recommended, there is no legal requirement to self-quarantine following out-of-state travel. Fire Chief Jason Viveiros said that the policy didn’t seem to make much sense since Massachusetts has higher rates of COVID-19 than most other states. Seelig agreed, pointing out that New York is likely the only border state with a higher rate than Massachusetts.

Seelig also addressed the need for supplies as well as physical changes to the town buildings. He said that decisions will have to be made regarding what procedures should be implemented for employees that share rooms as well as for those that cannot always maintain six feet of distance between themselves and other employees. Seelig pointed out that based on research, even if maintaining proper social distancing, sharing the same enclosed space for extended time periods can increase the likelihood of COVID-19 transmission. Things to consider include whether masks will be required, if barriers will need to be inserted between desks, and if furniture or rooms will need to be rearranged. If masks are required, the Board of Selectmen will have to decide how to handle situations where an employee has a medical condition that prevents that from wearing one.

Seelig said that hygiene practices will have to be reviewed and reinforced as well. Hand sanitizer will likely need to be supplied to areas where common surfaces such as copier machines are found. Signage will likely need to be provided to remind people of best practices including sneezing into your elbow and not having others clean up after you. It had been previously suggested that hand dryers be installed rather than paper towel dispensers but there is some concern over having air circulated in such a way in a small, enclosed room. Seelig said the town may need to look at installing touchless paper towel dispensers instead. A cleaning log will also need to be kept indicating when rooms were cleaned.

Other ideas that were floated during Tuesday’s meeting included the need for a method for contact tracing. Seelig also suggested the possibility of having employees work split shifts in order to reduce shared spaces. Other considerations such as what equipment may be needed for different departments were also discussed.

Seelig said that the Board will also need to decide to what extent remote working will continue. The state currently recommends that those that can efficiently work from home continue to do just that. Also to be decided will be what kind of documentation will be required by departments in order to work remotely. Seelig said that employees will likely have to punch-in, punch-out, and provide a synopsis of time spent. Gallant said that she felt strongly that people should be allowed to continue to work from home wherever feasible.

Finally, Seelig addressed the steps that would be needed to open town buildings to the public. He said that one option would be to reopen by appointment only initially to avoid large clusters coming into buildings such as town hall at once. Another option would be to open but for limited hours. This option could either be done from the get-go or following a period of appointment only availability. Seelig said that limited hours worked well for the soft opening of the recycling center.

He emphasized that were the town to go this route with other town buildings, the hours would have to advertised extensively to avoid confusion or anger on behalf of residents. He told the department heads that he would like their input before the June 9 meeting as to whether they would prefer a slower start or going full throttle from the beginning.

Seelig also said that a plan would need to be in place before reopening to address any residents or other building guests that refuse to comply with policies including wearing a face covering and social distancing.

Seelig told department heads that the decision to reopen the buildings could end up being a temporary one should there be another large spread or outbreak of the virus. He said that the town may want to consider spending money to bolster services should buildings close again.

Seelig asked those present to send any questions or suggestions to him in the next few days as he hopes to have the Board finalize as much of the reopening policy as possible at their June 9 meeting.