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.

The Kingston Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Jan. 21. Chair Eric Crone told the Selectmen that they would be taking a “deeper dive” into the FY26 budget during the meeting. Crone said, “The schools are looking at some massive increases and we don’t have final budgets from them.” He continued, “Without overrides, the schools are going to be making massive cuts to positions. It’s not just going to be supplies and technology and projects; it’s going to be teachers and paras, and other staff.” He went on to say that the regional school budget was approximately $2 million over, while the local schools are “$1.7 million over the 4 percent that we had originally advocated.” Selectman Kimberley Emberg noted that the Selectmen had “no line item autonomy” over the schools.
Crone said that they had discussed a town-wide increase of 4.12 percent which included “a little bit more” for the Police and Fire Departments and “a little bit less” for other departments. According to Crone, without an override, the Police budget will still potentially lose personnel. Crone said that if the town wanted level services it would require an override.
Kingston Fire Chief Mark Douglass addressed Selectmen He said that their amended requests came in just above 4 percent. Douglass noted that sick leave is where they ended up reducing the budget. “To give you a little history; FY23 we spent $216,000 approximate, FY24 $257,000 approximate, and FY25, to date, we’ve spent $157,000.” Douglass said that they have had numerous injuries in the past years including long-term ones. Douglass said that last year himself and Town Administrator Keith Hickey reduced the budgeted amount for off duty personnel responding to an emergency. He said that the hope was that the lower amount would be sufficient, but it wasn’t.
Douglass went over call volume saying that it increased significantly from FY23 to FY24. For FY24, call volume was 8.75 calls a day. For the start of FY25, the Department was averaging around 10 calls per day. He said that sometimes you can pinpoint which days/times have more calls and reduce staff at other times. However, for the Kingston Fire Department, it is fairly spread out. Douglass said that the easiest place to pull money from is the overtime and sick timeline items though he did note it reduces staffing. “How severe is the impact? I don’t have a crystal ball, so I can’t honestly tell you.”
Hickey said that the requested budget amount is $4,326,000. Emberg asked him if he could make $4.1 million work. Douglass addressed the Selectmen and Hickey saying, “I can make $0 work, but don’t expect a lot… we can make whatever you give us work, it’s how well we make it work. It’s what you’re willing to sacrifice or provide – either way.”
Kingston Police Chief Brian Holmes also addressed the Selectmen and Hickey. He went over current staffing levels saying that they have 26 sworn in Police Officers, eight dispatch, one full-time admin., as well as an Animal Control Officer, Animal Inspector, Harbor Master, and Shellfish Warden. He also went over Kingston’s population growth from 1998 to 2023 saying it has increased by nearly 35 percent. Regarding call volume, from 2023 to 2024, there was a 23 percent increase in total logged events. There was a 10 percent increase in calls for service from 2022-2023 and a 6 percent increase from 2023 to 2024. He also showed Police Department staffing per resident for comparable communities. Kingston was in line or below the level of most of these communities.
Holmes showed the impact that the proposed percentage increases would have on the Department. A four percent increase would mean laying off two full-time officers while a six percent increase would mean laying off one full time officer and one dispatcher. An 11 percent increase would allow for the Department to maintain level services at 17 patrol officers, one deputy chief, and eight dispatchers at an increased cost of $504,740. A 21 percent increase would equate to 20 patrol officers, one deputy chief, and nine dispatchers at an increased cost of $1,156,951. “The town is a very far cry from being in a position to establish minimum staffing levels for the Police Department,” Douglass said. Regarding capital requests, he said that they do, in fact, need to increase from three to four cruisers.
Emberg asked, “Is there a way to get closer to 6 percent without laying off staff?” Douglass said, “You have to look at the fact that we are operating on a skeleton crew and have been since the last time there was growth – I think, 1997.” Crone said he would like to see them get to the 11 percent without losing people which he said amounts to finding roughly $211,000 elsewhere in the budget.
Crone said that for him, finding the $211,000 was higher priority than trying to find the sick/overtime funds for the Fire Department. “And I’m not choosing Police over Fire,” he said. Douglass responded by saying, “This isn’t going to be a battle but when you choose to staff one fully and not staff one fully; you actually are.” Crone said, “I’m trying to avoid layoffs.” Asked about priorities Douglass said, “cops on the street are the priority; I could live with the half year deputy.”
There was some discussion about implementing “pay as you throw” or raising the cost of a decal sticker for the Transfer Station for residents under 65 years old as a means of finding money for the Police and Fire Department. Selectman Don Alcombright said, “You can fund this entire budget if you raised, between $10 and $20, per senior and veteran decal.” Hickey said that he tried not to impact those over 65 or veterans.
Crone said, “I think the biggest goal is if we can get Fire taken care of and Police taken care of in terms of level service, still getting the overtime, the sick time, not reducing any staff without an override and then for an override – at that point, Fire’s budget is set and it’s just Police, maybe schools.” Hickey said that while he was not trying to be a “Debbie downer,” the school department’s budget was going to be a major factor. Hickey told the Selectmen that while the school department can make asks, it is their job to make decisions regarding the bottom dollar. He said that he wouldn’t wait another 45-60 days to disseminate information to the public regarding why an override may be necessary.
The Selectmen also went over various questions they had in the town budget. Hickey was asked about the elimination of the Assistant Town Planner in this budget. He explained that in FY25 they reduced the position from full-time to part-time. Hickey said that the one impact to existing labor in the operating budget, excluding public safety, is the elimination of the Assistant Town Planner. He said there was a decline in the Building and Planning departments. “I feel as though I can’t justify even a full-time and a part-time… there are as many Planning Board meetings being canceled as being held,” Hickey explained.
Emberg said one nominal way to help the budget would be for the Selectmen to forgo their $4,200 stipend. Hickey said there was a member of the Board of Assessors who said something similar.
Hickey said that he has included $30,000 in the budget for a Public Works Director. He noted that he thought the impact of the position would eventually offset the cost through engineering and other savings. Emberg asked if the departments that fall under public works would continue to have foremen and superintendents. Hickey said that the position would take the place of the Public Works Superintendent.
Emberg said that similarly to how they would like to eventually move to a system where the Transfer Station funds itself, she would also like to see Recreation eventually fund itself. “It’s user based so having more of the costs borne by the users, makes sense,” Emberg said. She did note that if not this year, then in the future.

Alan Ingram
Express correspondent
The Silver Lake Regional School District is confronting a potential budget crisis that could lead to cuts to athletics, extracurricular activities, and significant staff reductions for the upcoming fiscal year.
At a Jan. 9 school committee meeting, district officials presented a preliminary budget outlining cuts of up to $2.18 million to meet a 2% increase target requested by the committee.
Superintendent Jill Proulx said the proposed cuts would not allow the district to maintain current class sizes or support its improvement strategy.
“Even though we’re talking about a 2% increase, the level service budget, as you’ll find out, is more than 2%,” Proulx said. “While these are our goals, we recognize that what we’re going to present to you tonight at the 2% increase that the school committee asked us to prepare is not going to allow us to do that, and it would require staffing cuts as well.”
The district’s level service budget for fiscal year 2026 is $45,244,783. After deducting anticipated circuit breaker reimbursement of $2.5 million, there’s a gap of $2,180,343 to reach the 2% increase target of $40,564,440.
To bridge this gap, the administration proposed three tiers of cuts. Tier 1 cuts of $150,792 have already been made, primarily affecting supplies and technology.
Tier 2 cuts of $638,490 would eliminate late buses, safety supervisor positions, and all athletic and extracurricular stipends at both the middle and high schools.
The most severe reductions come in Tier 3, totaling $1,580,000. This includes cutting 16 full-time faculty positions, five support staff positions, and two administrative positions.
High School Principal Michaela Gill painted a stark picture of how these cuts would impact students.
“Core classes such as math, science, ELA, and social studies must be prioritized, which would leave little room for electives, special programs, or our historically low enrollment courses,” Gill said. “As a result, student schedules will become more rigid with fewer choices and less opportunity for personalized pathways.”
Gill added that class sizes could exceed 30 students, and the district might need to change graduation requirements if certain programs are eliminated.
The proposed cuts drew strong criticism from Jess Drew, president of the Silver Lake Education Association.
“Over the past decade at least the school committee has asked our schools to cut faculty and staff positions either through straight out cuts or through the school committee’s decision to not fill a position. Year after year supplies have been cut, consumables have been cut, programs have been cut, textbooks and databases have been cut all to the detriment of our students who no longer have access to these tools that they need to be successful in today’s world.”
“Our schools cannot sustain staff cuts especially as our towns continue to grow,” Drew said. “We are calling for the school committee to step up with their leadership.”
Committee member Jeanne Coleman echoed these concerns.
“This budget does not even meet the required needs of our students,” Coleman said. “We will be kicking the can down the road and offering our students less.”
The committee did not take any action on the budget at this meeting. Members expressed a desire to wait for public input at a Feb. 12 hearing and for more information on state funding before making decisions.
To help offset potential cuts, the district is considering raising user fees for athletics and facility use. Mark Guidoboni, a member of the Safety/Facility/Fees/Revenue Committee, reported that initial estimates suggest these increases could bring in approximately $70,000 in additional revenue.
“It’s a shame we can’t offer everything free, and we can’t say to our communities they can all come in and use our school facilities,” Guidoboni said. “We have to pay janitors, custodians, and maintain and everything down to the toilet paper.”
The installation of air conditioning at Silver Lake Middle School is expected to add $75,000 annually to the district’s electric bill, further complicating budget discussions.
Committee Chair Gordon Laws suggested exploring options to refinance the district’s debt, which is set to be fully paid off in two years. The district currently pays about $2.2 million annually in debt service.
“It just seems like it would be utterly ridiculous to be two years out from an increase that sizable of free cash and you know not just cut our noses off to spite our face but disfigure our whole face entirely,” Laws said.
The administration will present more detailed information on potential revenue increases, including higher athletic fees, at the public budget hearing on Feb. 13. There is also a joint meeting with town officials planned for Feb. 16 to discuss the shared budget and the possibility of a prop 2 ½ override.

Alan Ingram
Express correspondent
The Kingston School Committee grappled with a budget scenario Monday night that could lead to the loss of up to 18 teachers and 11.6 paraprofessionals if the town approves only a 4% budget increase for the upcoming fiscal year.
Committee members expressed deep concern over the potential impact on education quality and class sizes during a lengthy budget discussion at their Jan. 6 meeting.
“This budget we were presented was 4%. So, you know, we have to decide what we want to ask Dr. Proulx and Sarah to kind of bring to us the next time,” said Committee Chair Megan Cannon. “I mean, I will say, you know, all students are entitled to a free and appropriate education.”
The proposed 4% increase would require $1.7 million in cuts from what school officials say is needed just to maintain current services. Director of Finance Sarah Hickey presented three tiers of potential reductions to reach that target.
Tier 1 cuts of $57,950 have already been made, including reductions to supplies and equipment. Tier 2 would slash $799,000 through the elimination of 8.6 full-time and 3 part-time paraprofessionals, 2 custodians and 5 teachers.
The most severe Tier 3 cuts would eliminate an additional 13 teaching positions to reach the full $1.7 million reduction.
“Cumulatively, if we make it through Tier 3, we would be looking at an 18 teacher loss, and 11.6 paraprofessionals, and 2 custodians,” Cannon said. “Which, in my personal opinion, would cripple our schools, to say the least.”
Committee member Jeanne Coleman noted Kingston already spends about $4,000 less per student than the state average.
“We’ve been lucky that we are able to retain the staff that we have and we’ve been lucky that we’ve been able to provide the education that we have,” Coleman said. “But at some point, we need to really be honest that we’re not paying more for it. We’re just somehow getting charged a lot more.”
Officials said the cuts would lead to significantly larger class sizes and the loss of specialist positions. They also noted laying off staff would incur unemployment costs of potentially $850,000.
Superintendent Dr. Jill Proulx said the district worked to build consensus on the proposed reductions but acknowledged there are “things that I would step in or Tricia would step in or Sarah would step in if we think something is not appropriate or, you know, completely unsustainable or inappropriate.”
The committee took no formal action on the budget at the Jan 6 meeting. Members said they want to wait for public input at a Feb. 3 budget hearing before providing further direction to administrators.
“I’d like to wait until the public budget hearing on Feb. 3 before we give more direction to what tiers of those cuts we can actually stomach or that I’d be comfortable stomaching because I think that the public deserves to be able to weigh in,” Coleman said.
Additionally, Kingston schools are not meeting state-recommended minutes for English Language Learner (ELL) services, prompting district officials to suggest adding a full-time ELL teacher to address the growing need.
The Committee heard a presentation on ELL services, where Assistant Superintendent Dr. Tricia Clifford outlined the current shortfall and proposed solution.
According to Clifford, there are currently 55 ELL students at Kingston Elementary School and 51 at Kingston Intermediate School. Services are provided by two Kingston ELL teachers – one for grades K-2 and another for grades 3-6.
“EL instruction is required to be delivered by a licensed EL teacher,” Clifford explained. “Students become former ELs or FELs when they score at least a 4.2 on that access test that I just spoke about. They’re monitored for four more years.”
The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recommends at least two to three 45-minute periods of daily ELL instruction for foundational students and at least one 45-minute period for transitional students.
“At KIS and KES, they’re not meeting the recommended minutes for students this school year ’24 and ’25,” Clifford said. “And this often is seen not only in the access testing, but it’s really seen in our MCAS scores for sure.”
To address the shortfall, district administrators proposed adding a 1.0 full-time equivalent ELL teacher position to be split between the two schools.
“Almost all students at KES are within the foundational category requiring more instructional periods,” Clifford said. “At KIS, almost all students are level three or below, which can be considered foundational or transitional as I spoke about. Most would be considered foundational, which again requires more instructional periods.”
In other business, the committee:
– Learned Kingston was approved for a Massachusetts School Building Authority grant to help fund a new roof at Kingston Elementary School. The exact grant amount is still to be determined.
– Heard the district received a $12,500 grant to support multilingual learners.
The committee’s next regular meeting is scheduled for Feb. 3, which will include the public budget hearing. Members urged residents to attend and provide input on the proposed cuts.
“I really hope that this room stays filled between now and town meeting because anyone that’s going to be requesting things at the budget, they’re going to want to stay involved,” Coleman said.