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 April 1. They discussed the warrant for the upcoming Town Meeting.
Town Administrator Keith Hickey said that in the warrant there is a request for a Proposition 2 ½ override of $653,000. He told the Selectmen that what they were viewing that night was his attempt to provide alternatives to get the town below the threshold for a Prop 2 ½ override. “The two warrant articles I’m suggesting is not including a Proposition 2 ½ override for $575,000 for the Police Department and also removing the warrant article to fund the independent school operational out of $100,000. If those two articles are removed from the warrant, you’ll have an excess property tax levy of $21,656… not a lot of money.”
Selectman Eric Crone said that as far as the Selectmen were concerned the $575k override was already a no vote. He said that the idea to reduce the transferred employment liability reserve fund from $150k to $100k was favorable. Hickey said that the reduction would not have an effect on excess levy capacity, but rather on free cash. Hickey also suggested reducing the OPEB (Other Post-Employment Benefits) from $100k to $50k. There would also be a transfer of $100k from stabilization. Hickey noted that they were not putting the town into any type of financial risk with these changes. Finally, Hickey told the Selectmen that the Finance Committee voted to restore the $25,000 book budget that had been previously cut from the library.
Hickey said that there is just over $3 million in the Stabilization Fund and noted that it has been years since they’ve had to access that and called it a last resort.
The Selectmen also discussed the school budget. Selectman Kimberley Emberg said, “I think we need to dig in deeper with this and I know the School Committees are doing as much as they can with the State… trying to adjust funding formulas and things. My understanding is we do have audits done, both at the town level and the school level already. I know Whitman-Hanson did a separate audit and found some interesting findings. My hope was that we would do an audit prior to having to ask for an override.” She said that she didn’t believe the town to have $100k, however, to do that. Crone recommended that they talk to the other two Silver Lake towns to look at everything. “And I want to point out, I’m not bashing any school committees because I think that everyone is trying to get a hold of this,” Crone said. He noted that they have a lot of work to do before next year’s budget “in preparation for the fiscal cliff that we’re going to see next year.”
The Selectmen also heard several FY26 capital requests. These included $25,000 to repair or replace folding wall panels at the COA, $51k to replace computer servers, $50k for traffic safety improvements, $233k to replace three police vehicles, and $167k to replace police tasers. There is also $82k to replace a lift at the Highway Department, $50k to replace the KES drain lines for the restrooms, and $50k to replace driveway and other asphalt surfaces at KIS. The top five bicycle and pedestrian safety projects were discussed as there is a grant available to cover construction. The town would need to pay for engineering to secure said grants. Included in that engineering cost is $151k for one project, $160k for another, and finally $49,500 for the most pressing of all the projects.
Town Planner Valerie Massard presented to the Selectmen. She said that they have been working with Second Horizon Capital on the redevelopment of the Kingston Collection. She said that in addition to purchasing the mall, they’ve also purchased the Macy’s building. “In order to generate traffic and get people on the ground at the mall, is a gas station,” Massard said. She said that there was some unused Fire Department land that could be named surplus property and redistributed toward the gas station project. Massard said they fully support the article and hope that the Selectmen will as well.
Massard added, “All of us are familiar as residents if you’re driving on Kingston Collection way and away from Plymouth and toward the highway, there’s a place where you’re coming around the bend on your way to the signals… and you can’t see them, there’s a blind hill that keeps you from seeing them and part of those negotiations do include the taking back of that hill to improve sight lines so it’s a safety consideration that the town gets as a win-win.” Selectman Kimberely Emberg said, “commercial business is good for everybody.”
The Sewer Commissioner presented before the Selectmen requesting their support for an FY26 warrant article funding request. She said, “In the late 1990s the town embraced the role of environmental steward of our local waterways with the introduction of our municipal sewer system… with the introduction… our local waterways… are being utilized to their fullest extent.” She went on to talk about the fishing and recreation opportunities that have come as a result as well as the clean drinking water. She said that the general fund has also seen an increased tax base due to increased property values.
She read from a 1998 document that discussed two different phases including a leaching field. “The town is currently paying one-third of the cost of phase one… the town is not paying one-third of the cost of the planned phase two as described in the notification from 1997. At this time, we are asking for the town to pay one-third of the cost of the leaching field project… the estimated final cost of the leaching field project as it was part of the adopted plan from 1997; the estimated final cost of the leaching field project is $8,200,000 including interest.” The town’s share would be just under $3 million. She spoke about needing to set up a debt schedule that would commit the town for twenty years.
Crone said that the Board would be voting their support for or against the article and speaking on the Town Meeting floor either supporting it or not. Hickey said, “The impression I’ve been left with… the agreement that was made twenty-five years ago where it said initially that the sewer commissioners would set the percentage of debt that was going to be shared by the general fund and later modified a little bit did not bind future town meetings; it’s been going on because it’s been accepted practice.”
Crone reminded everyone that Town Meeting will be held on April 26 and the Town Election on May 17. It was also said that Gray’s Beach stickers went for sale and can be found on the Recreation Department website. Out of town stickers sold out in a mere 15 minutes.

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.

The Halifax School Committee met on Monday, March 10. The budget and the potential override were the main topics of conversation.
Chair Lauren Laws opened the meeting to public comment. A concerned resident spoke about cost-of-living increases and the town’s request to ask various departments to look at places where they can reduce their budgets. The resident asked if the schools had looked at all possible places to cut and recommended looking at things like paying for busing and/or kindergarten rather than cutting teachers. He said that class sizes of 30 plus students was not ideal.
Resident Katherine Schneider spoke saying she had a few questions that she put together based on previous meetings she has attended as well as speaking with teachers. She began by suggesting charging for buses as a previous speaker had recommended. “Is there a new curriculum being discussed? I’ve heard a few times about a new curriculum; no offense but like why are we cutting teachers and thinking about a new curriculum when we’re above average? Can we slash unnecessary professional development?” Schneider asked. She also inquired why there have been no cuts at the high school. She further said that she couldn’t understand why anyone would want to move to the town if the schools become decimated.
A former teacher spoke saying that while he doesn’t have children of school age any longer, he still supports the school budget. “If I have to spend a little more money every year, I guess that vacation in the Bahamas is going to have to go… because it’s important that the kids have certain things – don’t take music away from them, don’t take sports away from them; don’t take those things away from these kids,” he said.
Halifax Selectman Jonathan Selig spoke saying that he would like to provide some insights into what the town was doing on their end to help the elementary school. Selig told those assembled that the cost of education in Halifax has increased an average of three percent each year over the last decade. “This year it is a 21 percent increase at Halifax Elementary and an almost six percent jump for our assessment over at Silver Lake,” Selig explained. He continued, “I will admit, I was hoping some concessions could be made by both school committees… In light of these school budgets, the town is turning over every stone to try to attack this deficit from all angles; asking all town departments to submit budgets with a ten percent cut to try to start searching for possible solutions.” Selig said that everything from reducing hours in town buildings to cutting town positions were on the table. Selig asked the School Committee to consider making further concessions. He said that if they were relying on an override, they should try to make the figure as small as possible. He also said that Silver Lake using one-time E&D funds to bridge gaps will likely result in all three towns facing overrides next year.
The Director of Finance and Operations Sarah Hickey spoke as well and said that the current level service budget for FY26 including shared costs for Halifax Elementary is $8,284,489. She explained that Halifax’s assessment for FY26 is $9,030,026.55 which represents a $414,808.83 increase over FY25. She explained that the increase is significantly more than the other towns as there is a portion of the assessment calculation process where the Department of Education allocates Chapter 71 funding to Silver Lake. She said that there was a $400k increase that Halifax had to pay of those funds.
Hickey said that the 18.4 percent increase for the Halifax Elementary School budget is not something the town feels they are able to accommodate. She said that the total cost of education for Halifax combining the budget that was voted on at the last meeting for the elementary school and the Silver Lake assessment is $17,277,137.55 for FY26. This represents a $1.7 million increase or a nearly 11 percent change. Selig clarified that regardless of whether Halifax passes an override, they would still be forced to support the Silver Lake budget if the other two towns did support the figure. Laws asked if that money would come out of the elementary budget or elsewhere in the town. Selig said he believed it was set aside, but needed to verify.
Hickey reviewed the Tier one cuts of approximately $77k that were made back in December. She said that a request was made to see what class sizes would look like if three teachers were cut at a savings of $210,000. She said the estimated class sizes would be 21-23 students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
Tier two cuts, which amount to over $495k, include a grade 3 teacher, a grade 4 teacher, a grade 5 teacher, a grade 6 teacher, a tech teacher, a special educator, and a bus. Tier three cuts, which amount to over $337k, include a math specialist, a reading specialist, a custodian, a 0.5 librarian, and a 0.8 art teacher. Tier four cuts were called unrealistic, but totaled an additional $400k. These would include another kindergarten teacher, a grade 1 teacher, another grade 3 teacher, another grade 4 teacher, and another grade 6 teacher. Tier four cuts would result in some class sizes going up to 35. If Tier two cuts are taken, the increase from FY25 to FY26 goes to 11 percent, adding in Tier three and it drops to 6.5 percent, and with Tier four it becomes less than 1 percent.
There was some discussion about cutting out the cost of a new curriculum. Superintendent Jill Proulx said, “We don’t have a complete K-grade 6 written curriculum in any plan; we won’t have a resource that can be used by all teachers in each grade that is aligned with State standards. We can expect teachers to align their curriculums with State standards but without those materials it is more difficult to do.”
A resident asked why there was a staggering increase to the budget. Proulx said that all of the budget presentations since January are available online and noted that budget discussions have been ongoing since November. She further said, “It’s not just increases in special education albeit that is an area that we don’t have control over… just think about your own grocery bills… the reality is it’s a flaw in the funding mechanism in Chapter 70; the cost to educate is far outstripping the resources to pay for that education.” Selig said that this is not a problem that’s unique to Halifax and noted that he will be asking the rest of the Selectmen to support a letter to State legislators imploring them to look at how they are approaching education funding. “When you have towns like Duxbury that are six million in the hole and Norwell that are five million in the hole… and these are affluent communities, so the fact that you are seeing it across the State means the problem lies a lot higher than Halifax… I urge people to reach out to your representatives at the state level,” Selig said.
Asked about exploring asking residents to pay for full day kindergarten, Hickey said that they would have to first move to half day kindergarten and then ask people to pay for full. Laws said that they would save money either way since if they moved to half day kindergarten, they would save a teacher salary and if people paid for full day, it would make up some of the difference in the deficit. Hickey said that neighboring communities charge between $3k and $3.5k per student for full day kindergarten. Laws pointed out that they would be adding two buses to transport students for half day kindergarten. “So, it would be cutting teachers but adding bus costs… this is why it’s such a hard decision” she said. Hickey said if they had to run three buses it would be approximately $30k to do the midday runs.
Laws said, “If we were to freeze the budget, have some excess funds… I’m just trying to think of ways that we could push some of the special education surplus we have at the moment toward next year.” Hickey said, “Tuitions that were paid in FY24 are reimbursed to us to be used in FY25, so I believe what you’re asking is to freeze the Circuit Breaker account as it stands.” Asked for an estimate, they were told “under “$391,000.” Someone referred to it as “a whole tier [cuts].” Circuit Breaker is Massachusetts’s reimbursement program to help offset the costs of special education. A motion was made that the Superintendent be directed to reduce the Circuit Breaker funding for the FY25 budget by $200,000 which is the projected excess. There was a lot of debate back and forth by the School Committee as it was a “gamble” since there was a possibility that those funds would be needed this school year.
Special Education Director Christine Panarese said, “There’s a lot to win if you take the gamble; I don’t have anything on the horizon that would make me say we need to be cautious here – we need to be conservative. I think it’s pretty safe to say we’re just going to take $200k of that excess we have and apply it to make sure our budget is a little bit better, presentation-wise.” The School Committee discussed cutting both the $200,000 in Circuit Breaker excess and the Tier one cuts of $210,000 from the budget for a total reduction of $410,000. The Committee also discussed reducing the budget by $38k which represented a budgeted out of district placement for FY25 that hadn’t happened.
Asked what would happen if the override doesn’t pass, Laws said all the cuts would happen, including Tier four. “If we don’t get the override and then we’re in a position again next year, we would most likely go into receivership the following year which means the State takes over your school and you do what they say,” Laws said.
The Committee came to the conclusion that cutting as much as possible from the budget request would give the override the best possible chance of passing as they would be asking for under $1 million. The total amount taken from the budget request was just over $448k. The reduction included the Circuit Breaker excess, the tier one cuts, and the out-of-district placement excess. Ultimately, this means that the Halifax School Committee approved $7,648,313 as the FY26 local education operating budget.

The warrant is now open for Halifax’s 2025 Annual Town Meeting which is scheduled to occur on Monday, May 12, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. at the Halifax Elementary School. Citizen petitions must be submitted to the Town Clerk’s Office by 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11, 2025.
In order to participate in Town Meeting, residents must be registered to vote. The voter registration deadline to participate in the 2025 Annual Town Meeting is Friday, May 2, 2025. For all questions relating to Voter Registration, contact the Town Clerk’s Office by calling (781) 293-7970 or e-mailing [email protected].
Any questions regarding the Annual Town Meeting, submitting warrant articles, etc. should be directed to the Board of Selectmen’s Office by calling (781) 294-1316 or e-mailing [email protected].
A copy of the Warrant will be posted on the Town’s website and mailed to every household when it becomes available.

Revision 2/13/2025 10:26 am: Correction of the citizen petition submission deadline; Tuesday, March 11th, 2025.

The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Feb. 11. The Finance Committee, as well as members of the School Committee, were in attendance. Town Administrator Cody Haddad said that the Selectmen would be voting to open the annual and special town meeting warrant that night with it set to close on March 11. Any citizen petition articles would also be due by March 11.
Haddad introduced the budget discussion. He noted that public safety “continues to be cognizant of the budget” saying, “their request this year, across all public safety, is a zero percent increase from fiscal 25 to fiscal 26; that’s unprecedented.” He said that this allowed for a 3.5 percent increase for education. “Halifax Elementary School Committee did meet last night; their level service budget request was around a 23 percent increase and they did move forward and vote to request that,” Haddad said. He continued, “if we were to fund all of those requests in addition to the reasonable requests that we anticipate from the town side that we’ve cut down already, we are looking at a deficit of around $1.15 million.”
Silver Lake Superintendent Jill Proulx said that Circuit Breaker, the State’s reimbursement program to offset costs of special education, was largely responsible for the 23 percent increase. Director of Finance for Silver Lake, Sarah Hickey, said that they were directed to present a Silver Lake budget that was a 2 percent increase over FY25. “The preliminary assessment using that 2 percent increase for Silver Lake would have Halifax’s preliminary operating assessment at $8,610,322.50,” Hickey said. She said it would be a 5.1 percent increase over the previous year. Hickey also said that that the total cost of education for Halifax is $17,301,856.69 which equates to an 11 percent increase over FY25. She called them preliminary calculations.
Selectman Thomas Pratt said that he attended the meeting where the school budget was voted. He said there “was a lot of passion in the room.” He asked, “any administrating positions being cut?” Proulx said, “we did consider administration positions and we consulted with our attorney; we are legally obligated to honor contractual obligations and we have contracts that currently haven’t expired.”
Asked about whether the Town could expect large increases and override requests every year, Hickey clarified that comparing FY24 to FY25 “doesn’t work.” She said, “At the behest of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Silver Lake Regional School District and Union 31 did a major restructuring last year.” She said that for future years she anticipates merely cost of living level increases of approximately 3 percent.
Someone asked if special education students are ever moved off an IEP and was told that if that were to happen, it typically occurs at the Middle and High School levels. A resident spoke saying that if math and reading interventionists were included in budgetary cuts, as was suggested, her child who did move off an IEP, wouldn’t have, therefore arguing that the cuts will end up costing the schools and towns more in the long run. It was also said that there would no longer be an adjustment counselor which will impact the social and emotional support.
Pratt said that his disappointment with the School Committee’s vote to support the budget request is that they “went all in.” He expressed concern that if the override doesn’t pass, the schools will be decimated. “So, the balance is getting something on the budget that makes an impact on the future of the children but that you’ll have buy-in from the town that invests in those kids to pass.” He referenced the need for it to pass, “not once, but twice” alluding to a vote at Town Meeting as well as on the ballot. He requested that the schools provide a Plan B.
According to Haddad, whether the Silver Lake budget will require an override on behalf of any of the three towns, still remains to be unseen. If it does and two of the three towns support it, Halifax would still be on the hook for their portion regardless of their vote.
There was also some discussion about a hiring freeze or an overtime freeze. It was said that an overtime freeze would likely affect public safety where it was needed. Bruno also said that if there are snowstorms, overtime would be needed to plow the roads, etc. Pratt replied, “there are some things that you could cut that are overtime. There are some things, I hate to say it, but the woodchipper on Saturdays; if things are tight in the schools, we don’t have to have the woodchipper on Saturdays. Let’s call a spade a spade. And the other thing is, public safety aside, if things are okay this year, but maybe if we didn’t budget for so much overtime, the elementary school wouldn’t have had to cut so much last year as they did.” The Selectmen did decide to implement a hiring freeze for the time being.
Elementary School Committee member Jessica Page said she has been hearing from many parents that if the school’s budget doesn’t pass, they will move their children to charter or private schools. School Committee member Lori Costa-Cline suggested that there is room at some of the elementary grade levels to reduce the number of classroom teachers while maintaining equitable class sizes. She noted that this would result in class sizes of 22 or 23 and not overly large classes of 30 or more. She also noted that the vote for the level service budget was not unanimous, saying two members were looking to reduce the budget further.

Morse Brothers
The Selectmen went into Executive Session to discuss the Morse Brothers case. “The Board has discussed the Morse Brothers lawsuit; just to remind everyone that the Superior Court found in favor of Morse Brothers and so we have asked our Town Counsel to file an appeal,” Bruno said

Halifax Pride
A request was approved for the fifth annual Halifax Pride celebration from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 8 to use the Town Green. They also have a live entertainment permit.
Resident Karen Fava of 66 Clyde O Bosworth Rd. asked to speak saying, “I know that there was conversation that they used the bathrooms here last year for Pride and that shouldn’t be happening.”
Lana Eldridge, who was there on behalf of Halifax Pride said, “I’m one of the coordinators for Pride and we actually provide port-a-potties outside.” From her seat, Fava insisted that they were used for “changing costumes.” Eldridge clarified saying, “Up here in the Green Room; {should be Great Hall?} we pay to use this room, just like anybody else does that wants to use this space… we’re a part of town as well.” There was controversy in years past about the presence of drag queen performers at the event.
Resident John Spada of 59 Firefly Rd. said, “Is there any way we can possibly find a different location not right across from the playground?” Bruno said, “The Town Green is used as a public space and it’s available to anybody; in fact, we probably aren’t allowed to discriminate against one group or another. Because we have it open to everybody, it’s either going to be open to everybody or closed to everybody… as long as it’s okayed by the Fire Department and everybody else.” Fava asked what the performance was “rated.” Eldridge clarified that it was a “family-friendly event.” Eldrirdge said, “If you have a preference and choose not to enjoy the entertainment that we offer, you don’t have to come.”
Fava said, “What I’m asking is are there going to be men dressed as women?” Eldridge replied, “As we have done in the past for the last four years, yes, there are drag performers involved. Again, we’ve had them every year for the last four years. Nothing has been inappropriate… it’s family -friendly and again, if people don’t enjoy that type of entertainment, you don’t have to come.” The Selectmen voted to approve the event.

MBTA Communities
The Selectmen took up the issue of the MBTA Communities Law which requires that towns comply with submitting an MBTA Action Plan that allows for multi-family housing close to MBTA transit stations. The town held a public forum recently where residents came out in droves to express their overwhelming rejection of the law and the subsequent action plan. Towns not in compliance risk losing valuable grant opportunities.
Bruno, who is against the law, said that should the town choose not to be in compliance they will likely risk litigation from the Attorney General.
Chair of the Halifax Elementary School Committee Lauren Laws spoke saying that the schools, like the overall town, are in dire need of funding due to budget constraints. She pleaded with the Board to remain in compliance for the time being so as not to risk losing grant funding such as the grant to explore K-12 regionalization.
Selectmen Thomas Pratt and Bruno voted against staying in compliance. Selectman Jonathan Selig voted nay but was outvoted.
At the current time, only a revised plan, rather than any actual action is needed to stay in compliance.

The Kingston Finance Committee met on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Chair Carl Pike explained, “We’ve been looking at an original budget that is prepared by our Town Administration and presented to the Selectmen. Since that original one, we have an updated budget that has been approved by the Board of Selectmen. That budget… included increases in revenue of $481,000 for State aid; $445k of which was specifically schools.” He went on to say that they had increased local receipts by $328,000.
Pike told those assembled that the Board of Selectmen, Finance Committee, and Town Administration have $886k of additional revenue that can be applied to the budget. He said that he and Town Administrator Keith Hickey had decided that the $445k worth of Chapter 70 State Aid should go toward increasing the school’s budget beyond the targeted 4 percent increase. Pike said that there was some hope that if they increased the amount to the schools, there might be a compromise from the school side to reduce their budget. Regarding the schools compromising Pike said, “they have not.” He went on to say that $220k would be going to the Police budget, $178k would be going to the Fire budget, and $52k of increased levy capacity.
“The bottom line of the expenses now in that budgets have increased by $3,386,000 which is an increase of 5.9 percent,” Pike said. He continued, “One million and twenty-eight of that is what has been plugged into the budget for schools – 7.1 percent. $880k of it is what’s been plugged in for the Police and Fire – that’s your 9.7 percent increase. Fringe benefits – $496 thousand dollars – 6.1 percent… Silver Lake assessment, even at 4 percent, that’s a $670k increase.” Pike stressed that the Library, the Board of Health, and all other town departments resulted in an increase of just $312k out of over $3 million. “We are forcing… issues by overfunding our Police and Fire and overfunding our schools at the expense of everything else in this town,” Pike said. Pike said that from the tier one to tier two reductions, “not a nickel” has been taken away.
He emphatically stated that the Town cannot do a 6 percent increase every single year without doing a proposition 2 ½ increase every year. He also noted that they were looking at a nearly 6 percent increase this year without the override due to the $900k they had left over in excess levy capacity last year. He noted that those funds and the state aid are just one-time funds that won’t be there indefinitely. Pike told those in the room that the schools are looking for a 13 percent increase and public safety a 9 percent increase.
Pike said that a million-dollar override at Town Meeting would likely result in a several hundred dollar increase in residents’ tax bills. Other members of the Committee pointed out that a $200 increase or so would be there forever. Pike said that his fear is that each year an additional 5 percent gets added to the budget. He said that his hope is that the Board of Selectmen say that they cannot afford a proposition 2 ½ override.
Pike also touched upon whether it is the Finance Committee’s budget that appears on the warrant or the Board of Selectmen’s. He said that Town Counsel insists it is the budget as recommended by the Board of Selectmen. Selectman Kimberely Emberg said of the Selectmen, “we work with the Town Administration to give you a budget that you can review in greater detail and then can re-vote at a later date.”
Finance Committee member David Fuller asked where the town’s free cash stands. Pike said it was “somewhere around $2 million.” Hickey said that due to an accounting error, which he blamed on himself, he said that they had to trim back the capital plan. He further said that the intent is to have a free cash number of approximately $1 million.”
Following a discussion on the police and fire increases, Hickey said, “the staffing levels at the Police Department now have been the same for at least a decade.” Pike said the actual police cost in 2024 was $4,309,000. He said that with the budget before them for the upcoming year, they are looking at a police budget of $5,404,000 representing an increase of nearly 26 percent over two years. “We are doing things to get that department up to the number where they should be,” Pike explained. He said that they will have to wait to see what the Board of Selectmen as well as Town Meeting decide.

The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Jan. 21. Selectmen Chair John Bruno provided an update on the Morse Brothers. “In November of 2023, the Board issued a permit to Morse Brothers, Inc. related to earth removal from their bogs in Halifax; Morse Brothers took the permit more or less under protest and they filed a lawsuit against the town of Halifax essentially… saying they shouldn’t have been required to get a permit. That case has come to a head as of Jan. 15 when the Superior Court issued an order allowing Morse Brothers’ motion essentially to say that they did not need any sort of earth removal permit,” Bruno said. He noted that the judge said that Halifax’s earth removal bylaw is invalid as it relates to Morse Brothers’ operation. Bruno said the next step in the process is to consider an appeal to the next level court, likely the Appeals Court. The Selectmen are speaking with their counsel regarding next steps.
The Selectmen had scheduled appointments with James Cronin and David Fryer regarding possible appointments as Associate Members on the Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA). Fryer appeared saying he has been a resident for over 40 years and was on the Planning Board in the 1980s as well as on the call Fire Department. “Just want to get involved – I have some time, I’m always around,” Fryer said. He continued, “If someone has a decent idea of what they want to do with their property, everything is open for discussion, and it shouldn’t be just a rubber stamp yes or no.” He said he’s seen a lot of things get turned down that he feels should not have been. Bruno said that they have been trying to encourage committee and board members to become better educated and asked for verification that Fryer is comfortable with that. Selig asked him if since he’s active in the construction business, he foresaw any conflicts of interest. Fryer said that he would “bow out” were that to happen. Cronin failed to show, so the Selectmen voted unanimously to appoint Fryer as an Associate Member on the ZBA.
Town Administrator Cody Haddad said that himself and the Energy Manager are in the process of finalizing a deal to buy electricity from the city of Brockton for all the town buildings at a 20 percent reduction. Haddad called it a “huge savings for the town.” Haddad explained, “Brockton basically oversubscribed their purchase power agreement so they have credits and we are able to capitalize on that.” Bruno said, “always good to have good financial news.”
Haddad also said that they had a joint budget meeting with the School Committees, some members of the Finance Committees and Selectmen from the various towns. He said that Kingston and Plympton are in a similar situation as Halifax regarding the schools’ budgets. “Halifax Elementary School’s level service budget was presented as a 23.1 percent increase, Kingston’s was presented as a 20 percent increase, Plympton has not been presented yet, but it’s anticipated to be around a 17 percent increase and that’s on top of a 13 percent increase for the Silver Lake budget increase,” Haddad said. He noted that all of the towns can afford between a 3 and 4 percent increase. Selectman Jonathan Selig said, “I don’t think it’s anything the municipalities may or may not have done; I think you’re seeing educational funding struggles across all of the State.” Haddad said that they don’t want to end up in a position where the other two towns approve an override and Halifax doesn’t. If that were to occur, Halifax would still be on the hook for their share of the Silver Lake budget.
Regarding the MBTA Zoning law, Haddad said that the Supreme Judicial Court ruled that while the law is constitutional, the regulations were not accurately put into effect. He said that the Governor immediately responded by issuing emergency regulations. “What that means for us is that technically for us, we are in compliance. As of February 15, towns that have not adopted zoning have to submit an action plan… if the town were to submit an action plan, we would have until July 14 to have adopted the zoning,” Haddad explained.
The Selectmen approved a Class II license for 1734 Auto Brokers as well as a transfer of a Common Victualler license from Knight Restaurant to Subway. Timothy Dunne, who appeared on behalf of Auto Brokers, told Bruno that they did not plan to have cars on site.
The Selectmen also approved the use of the Town Green for a farmer’s market hosted by Steven King from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for various dates between the end of May and end of October. They also approved Fieldstone Farm for their annual horse shows contingent upon insurance verification. Selectman Thomas Pratt requested that they look into the insurance as there are 47 different days with 10 different vendors each day.
The Selectmen also reviewed an application from Brian Kling to use the Town Green for a Fur Festival on June 21 pending a certificate of insurance. Halifax Pride may be using the Town Green on the same day, but on a different side.
They also reviewed a proposed calendar for the Town Meeting season. The proposed dates include opening the warrant in mid-February, submitting all zoning articles to the Planning Board by March 1, submitting all petition articles and closing the warrant by March 11, and submitting the recommended budget from the Finance Committee. A placeholder of March 17 was also proposed for any Planning Board public hearings. The joint meeting of the Finance Committee and Board of Selectmen to review the FY26 proposed budget will be held on March 25. Review and approval of the final warrant would take place on April 8. Town Meeting will be held on May 12.
The Selectmen received an email issuing their resignation from the Beautification Committee for Amy L. Troup. “I want to thank Amy for her time,” Selig said.

The Plympton Board of Selectmen met Monday, Jan. 27. Town Administrator Liz Dennehy said that as of right now Silver Lake Regional was projecting a 13.37 percent increase while the Dennett was projecting a 19.7 percent increase for level services budgets. “Obviously the numbers are not sustainable and not possible; there’s no way that we can support that type of an increase,” Dennehy said. She further said that Kingston and Halifax are not able to support those kinds of numbers either. Dennehy said that for Kingston and Halifax, they did offer tiers of cuts which she said immediately resulted in a loss of teaching positions, even in the first round of cuts.
“When it comes to the school funding, if you were to pursue an override let’s say… if that were the case, you’d want to start early and I don’t know what that would mean. We have the new Fire Station construction – there was talk about pursuing a debt exclusion for that. Also, on the school side of things, if two towns vote it, you don’t want to be the one that doesn’t and then you’re left having to come up with that financial obligation,” Dennehy said. Selectmen Chair John Traynor said that he believed that all three towns had to vote unanimously, but Dennehy said she didn’t believe that to be the case. She did agree to double check, however.
In happier news, the Selectmen awarded the Boston Post Cane to Inez Murphy. The award dates back to 1909 and was established by the Boston Post Newspaper. The award itself is an actual cane that is presented to the oldest resident of a New England town. In Plympton, the awardee must have lived in town for ten or more years and they will hold the honor for life.
Asked about her secret to longevity Murphy responded, “stick around young people.” Murphy was surrounded by a large amount of family during the meeting. Selectman Mark Russo commented that Murphy had 20 great-grandchildren.
Amy Belmore of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Plymouth addressed the Selectmen. Belmore said that they were founded in the 1990’s as part of Habitat International and noted that they serve Plymouth, Carver, Plympton, Kingston, Middleboro, and Lakeville. “We’re building and repairing homes at the affordable rate so we’re very specifically reaching an underserved population – folks that are making, or households that are making, up to 60 percent of the area median income,” Belmore said. She told the Selectmen that while they use unskilled labor, they are overseen by a licensed construction supervisor. Belmore told the Selectmen that they would love to work in Plympton.
Belmore said that there are asset limits when looking at the household income for qualification. “It’s important to know, we don’t gift these houses, some people don’t realize these houses are not being given to the homeowner. They are becoming mortgage holders at an affordable rate over typically a 30-year term. And so, we are looking for people who have solid employment history,” she explained.
Selectman Mark Russo told Belmore they were eager to find a plot of land in Plympton that would be ideal, but they hadn’t yet been able to identify one. “There are 17 affiliates in Massachusetts and we share information all the time,” Belmore said. “I look forward to the day we’re doing business with you,” Russo said. “I know we’ve run into not only the wetland issue, but natural heritage issues, rare and endangered species issues; we’ve looked at a number of pieces of land here in Plympton so we’ll keep looking,” Belmore said. Belmore did note that Habitat is able to accept donations of land as well saying that they are a 501c3.
The Selectmen approved the use of public roadways for the Best Buddies Challenge Bicycle Ride.
Russo led off the raves with one for the Massachusetts Municipal Association and its annual conference. He called it a wonderful resource and said that when he initially started as a Selectman, there was less information available than can be found now through such means.
Traynor said his rave was for the Habitat for Humanity. “If we can make that a priority to find something this year to go forward with; that would be great,” he said.