The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Nov. 22.
The Board also met with members of the Finance Committee for the appointment of two vacancies on the Committee. Both open terms expire in 2025. Frank Johnston told Selectmen that he was recently retired and had been attending meetings of various towns and committees to figure out what would be a good fit for him. He said that he spent 44 years managing a large environmental firm which familiarized him with bidding, contracts, operating budgets, labor, etc.
Jim Walters went before the Board next and told them that he and his wife moved from New Jersey two years ago. He said that he wanted to help after what happened with the resignations of the two Selectmen. He said that he checked a lot of boxes on the Talent Bank Form. Walters said he is the Director of Programs for State and Local Government for a cloud computing company and has extensive experience writing grants. The Selectmen voted to appoint both Johnston and Walters to the vacancies on the Finance Committee.
Chair John Bruno said they had received correspondence from the treasurer of the Halifax Mobile Home Estates. Bruno summarized the letter saying that for many years, the Mobile Home Estates had been fully occupied at 430 homes, however, that as of December of 2021 one of the homes was demolished in a house fire. They asked for the necessary changes to be made to the fees paid to the town.
Bruno requested of the other Selectmen that on one of the off Tuesdays per month, they establish Selectmen’s office hours where residents can come and discuss any concerns that they may have. The first Tuesday of every month was decided upon from the hours of 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and the third Tuesday of the month from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.. The first hour will be on Dec.6.
The Selectmen dealt with several recycling abatement requests including one for a home where a resident had passed away and the son didn’t realize he had to request an abatement. In the aforementioned case, the Selectmen voted in favor of abatement.
The Selectmen had an appointment with Steve Littlefield, who is the acting Veteran’s Agent. “He is now looking to fill the vacancy on a permanent basis; he has done a wonderful job on the Veteran’s ceremony,” Acting Town Administrator and Town Treasurer Sandy Nolan said. Littlefield was previously the Assistant Veteran’s Agent. Littlefield noted that he will soon be stepping down from active military service. The Selectmen voted unanimously to appoint him through June 30, 2023.
The Selectmen also met with Susan Hill, the Vice Chair of the Halifax Fireworks Committee. “We have decided to forgo our craft fair in December because of a lack of vendors,” Hill said. Hill said that they had been approached by someone requesting to be a multi-year sponsor of the fireworks display. She said they are considering doing a craft fair in the spring.
Council on Aging Director Darlene Regan met with the Selectmen as well regarding a few issues. Nolan said that Regan was hoping to hire a van driver at Step 4 rather than Step 1 due to the qualifications of the particular driver. Regan explained that they had lost drivers in the past due to the salary range. Regan said that the driver in question is GATRA qualified. The Board voted to hire the driver at Grade 2, Step 4.
Regan also requested that the receptionist title be changed to administrative assistant calling the former title “antiquated.” She also said that administrative assistant better suited the tasks being fulfilled by the role. Selig said if it was just a name change, then he saw no harm in it. His concern was if there was a grade change associated with the title change. The Selectmen passed a motion to change the job title name from receptionist to administrative associate. Regan also said that the Outreach Coordinator position is not truly defined as clearly as it should be, based on the community’s needs. She told the Selectmen that she rewrote the job description as Human Resource Service and Case Worker. Bruno asked if they could hire for a position that doesn’t exist yet in the bylaw. Nolan said she would need to propose the position to the Wage and Personnel at the public hearing in January and then it would need to be voted upon at town meeting. Bruno asked if he could take it under advisement so that he could gather more information before deciding.
The Selectmen also had an appointment with Municipal Environmental Law Attorney Richard Hucksam regarding a proposed condominium complex of 200 units on 25 acres. Hucksam, who is representing the town, said that Mass Housing wants the town to submit comments on the project. “At this point, in my view, the very best thing we can do is get from the various town boards and officials all the comments that we can about the project,” Hucksam said. Bruno asked if those contained abutter comments and was told that this was really for town officials to submit. Hucksam said that they would have a problem not going through the 40B process. Chapter 40B Housing is a Massachusetts program that enables developers to overrule local zoning bylaws in order to increase the number of affordable homes in certain municipalities. “Does our ZBA not have as much bargaining power because it is a 40B?” Selig asked. “In one sense it has less bargaining power because if you’re just dealing with zoning bylaw, it has criteria that have to be satisfied and that’s it unless there’s a variance granted and the variance standard is very strict under Mass law,” Hucksam said. He continued saying that 40B pits the local concerns against the need for affordable housing. “They’re going to be balanced against each other and that’s where the more the town can establish that there are real issues… during the hearing process the better position its in to have some kind of control over what the project ends up being,” he explained.
There was a conversation on the Building Inspector certification. “I’ll say that we have received several letters relating to this issue, I’m not going to read them all because some of them go on for four pages, but they will be part of our public record,” Bruno said. Bruno summarized the issue saying that they don’t have complete certification for the Building Inspector. “We’ve had a couple of concerned residents reach out wanting to point out to the Board that our Building Inspector had not received all of his… certifications yet. I spoke to Mr. Perry, our Building Inspector and he told me that it is in the works,” Selig said. He further said that they have on record an extension request from the Building Inspector. He said that the State would rule on the extension of time request. Bruno asked James Perry how close he was to being certified and was told that he needs to complete a fire test. Perry confirmed that taking that test would be enough to certify him as a local Building Inspector. He would need three more sets of tests to become Building Commissioner. Perry said they do have a Commissioner out of Bridgewater who signs certificates of occupancy alongside Perry. Perry said, “just for the record, my predecessor also received an extension of time.”
Bruno said that they received an email of a donation of land at 0 Hill St. to the town. “Maybe we can find a use for it someday,” Bruno said. The Board said they were in favor of adopting the small land parcel pending it passing at town meeting.
Selig provided an update on the Holidays in Halifax planning saying that traditionally it is the second Saturday in December. The plan is to have the event from roughly 4 pm to 8 pm on December 10. He said that there would be an ice sculpture, hayrides, Silver Lake carolers, and food trucks. There will also be balloon animals, jumpy houses, and Santa.
The Selectmen also dealt with a complaint of an open meeting law violation at one of the Selectmen meetings that were run when just Selig was at the helm on October 25. The complaint stated that he accepted meeting minutes from the October 11 meeting without a quorum. Town Counsel recommended that the two new Selectmen watch the recording of the meeting and then approve the meeting minutes.

Residents of Plympton will convene Wednesday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. at the Dennett Elementary School,  80 Crescent St., to consider seven articles on the warrant that include the following:

Article 1 asks the town to authorize the Board of Selectmen to acquire by purchase, gift, or eminent domain the lands off Palmer Road, Maple Street and Main Street, such acreage known as “Turkey Swamp”, including any buildings and improvements thereon, and any interests in abutting lands that may be convenient to provide access, for open space, conservation and passive recreation purposes.  The lands will be held in the custody and control of and managed by the Conservation Commission. Any and all related costs, deposits to secure purchase agreement, attorneys’ fees will be appropriated from the Community Preservation fund and expended under the direction of the Board of Selectmen.

Article 1 also asks the town to authorize the Board of Selectmen and/or such other Town boards or commissions as the Selectmen may designate, to apply for, accept and expend any sums, including grants and/or reimbursements, that may be provided by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts under Chapter 132A, Section 11, including the Massachusetts Municipality Vulnerability Preparedness Program, or by any other public or private source, to defray all or a portion of the costs of said acquisition, and to enter into all agreements, execute any and all instruments, and take any and all actions as may be necessary or appropriate to effectuate the foregoing purposes; or take any other action relative thereto.

Board of Selectmen Recommended by BOS (3-0)

ARTICLE 2 asks the Town will vote to amend the Town’s General Bylaws to add a new section to authorize the Treasurer establish payment agreements, or Tax Title Payment Plans for parcels of land in tax title to allow delinquent taxpayers to pay off their tax liens over time – up to five years – for both commercial and residential property, industrial, and open space.  There are specific conditions under which a tax title payment plan may be drawn and may include a waiver of up to 25% of the interest due, provided payments are made in a timely basis according to the agreement.

Town Treasurer Recommended by BOS (3-0)

ARTICLE 3  asks the Town to vote to transfer from Free Cash the sum of $21,000.00 to the Unemployment Line (Budget Line 30) in the FY 2023 budget as voted in Article 4 at the May 18, 2022 Annual Town Meeting.

Town Treasurer Recommended by BOS (3-0)

ARTICLE 4 asks the Town will vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen to petition the Massachusetts General Court for special legislation, to allow Stephen Silva to continue his appointment to the position of Fire Chief until age 70. Provided he is mentally and physically capable of performing the duties of his office.

Board of Selectmen Recommended by BOS (3-0)

ARTICLE 5 asks the town will vote to amend the Wage and Personnel Bylaw, Section 11, Sick Leave, by striking subsection (c) in its entirety and by editing subsection (g) to read as follows: (g) Unused sick leave shall be credited and shall accumulate from year to year without limit. Unused sick leave is not eligible for payout in the event of an employee’s separation from the Town for any reason, or take any other action relative thereto.

Board of Selectmen/Wage Advisory Committee Recommended by BOS (3-0)

ARTICLE 6 asks the Town to transfer from available Overlay Surplus funds the sum of $100,000.00 for the purpose of reducing the Fiscal 2023 Interim tax rate.

Board of Assessors Recommended by BOS (3-0)

ARTICLE 7 asks the Town to vote to raise and appropriate or transfer from available funds a sum of money for the repair and/or replacement of the roof on the Old Town House, including all necessary work and improvements related thereto, or take any other action relative thereto.

Town Properties Committee Recommended by BOS (3-0)

The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Wednesday, Nov. 9 with a full board for the first time in 76 days. The abrupt resignations of Alex Meade and Ashley DiSesa in August had left just Jonathan Selig as the sole remaining selectman.

John Bruno and Naja Nessralla were elected to the Board following the special town election earlier this month. Selig began with the reorganization of the Board, nominating Bruno to serve as Chair. Bruno said that he wanted to start with his gratitude for what Selig has done the last few months. He also thanked Sandra Nolan saying that she had “provided service that is just well beyond whatever we could have expected from any town employee… she’s done a wonderful job for us.” He also thanked Selectmen Assistant Pam McSherry and Selectmen Secretary Irma Vasel. He then led the packed room in a standing ovation for Selig, Nolan, McSherry, and Vasel before nominating Selig to serve as Vice Chair.

Selig read from a prepared statement saying, “Sometimes trials and tribulations bring out the best in people and I’m happy to say that was the situation here in Halifax. While everyone leaned in to help, there were a few that went above and beyond the call of duty the past 11 weeks and I think they deserve some special recognition.” He called McSherry the “great and powerful Oz.” He also thanked Nolan saying that she took on the role of Town Administrator despite having no interest in doing so because she felt it was in the best interest of the town. He thanked Town Clerk Sue Lawless and her assistant Tara Wakefield commending them for holding both a local and State election on the same day. Selig also thanked his family saying, “I want them to know their sacrifices have not gone unnoticed.” Finally, he thanked the people of Halifax for their understanding.

The Selectmen met with Sue Lawless who has been chairing the Search Committee for a new Town Administrator. Lawless said that the Committee had selected three finalists to appear before the Selectmen for interviews. The interviews are scheduled for Friday, Nov. 18.

Police Chief Joao Chaves said that he was bringing forth to the Board two candidates for Patrol Officers. He asked that the Board consider offering a full-time position to William Feltrup with a probationary period of one year. Bruno asked Feltrup to tell them a little bit about himself. “I’ve been in law enforcement for over 10 years now, it’s mostly been with colleges, with five years as a part-timer in Whitman. In college there is a heavy stress on community policing creating an environment where the students, or the town in this case, come to you with their issues so they can be solved either by us or we can point you in a direction where someone else could help you. I believe that is the proper way to police; it’s worked for me for 10 years. It builds a strong community, I feel along with some transparency,” he explained.

The second candidate for a full-time patrolman position was Paul Campbell. Campbell, who is currently an officer at Massasoit Community College, said he oversees the Community Engagement Unit at the school. “I strongly believe that it’s essential to really reach out to your community and really get to know your community,” he explained. “One of the things that I try to do everyday is meet new people and start a conversation about whatever the person wants to talk about… I feel like 75 to 80 percent of policing is relationships,” he continued. The Board voted to hire both officers starting at a Step 3 pay grade.

Bruno read a letter from Dennis Carman who ran for Selectman in the special town election. It said, “To my neighbors and all of my neighbors in this beloved town of Halifax, though I am disappointed that I was not successful in my run for Selectmen in yesterday’s special election, I am heartened that 3,131 people, 57.65 percent of our registered voters, took time out to vote. I congratulate Naja Nessralla and John Bruno for their impressive wins to become Selectmen.” He thanked all the other candidates as well for running positive campaigns. He thanked Selig for his service during unprecedented times and thanked all town employees and volunteers in the town. “Make no mistake, we have significant problems in our cherished hometown; having any doubt of that means you may need to become more engaged in what is happening locally, but please do not add to these problems. Rather, get engaged and become part of the solution. We’re not always going to agree but we must always respect each other and connect with each other as caring human beings who are dedicated to compromise and progress,” Carman’s letter continued.

The Board also went through several recycling abatements as well as scheduling on-site inspections for a number of liquor licenses including Country Club of Halifax, Happy Dragon, Grille 58, Harmony Two Liquors, and others.

Before adjourning, Bruno suggested that the Board consider having regular office hours perhaps monthly. Bruno explained that he believes that residents sometimes attend Selectmen’s meetings in the hopes of discussing a particular issue, but that issue isn’t on the agenda and therefore doesn’t get discussed. He said that the office hours would be intended to allow residents a chance to talk with a Selectman about whatever they feel might be a pressing matter.

The single-person Halifax Board of Selectmen held a meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 25. Selectman Jonathan Selig sat with acting interim Town Administrator Sandra Nolan. 

The Board had an appointment with a representative from The Farm at Raven Brook regarding some one-day liquor licenses. The Farm at Raven Brook is a Christmas tree farm in Halifax that will be holding a Trees for Troops fundraising event on Friday, Nov. 25 through Sunday, Nov. 27. The event will include some local businesses including food trucks and breweries. The breweries involved include Barrel House Z, Black Hat Brew Works, and Article Fifteen Brewing. Representatives were on hand from Black Hat Brew Works and Barrel House Z and one day liquor licenses were approved for them from 11am to 3pm on November 26 and November 27 respectively. While no representative was present for Article Fifteen Brewery, the liquor license was approved contingent upon Fire and Police approval for Friday, November 25 from 11am to 3pm. “I wish you good luck; it’s nice to see local businesses planning events like that,” Selig said.

Selig said that there was a name change to the weekday entertainment license as well as the common victualler license for Lyonville Tavern. The new name is Nonnie’s Italian Grille. He explained, “This project… has already kind of been started, so this is kind of cleaning up the name parts of these changes.” The live entertainment license is for Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. 

Selig said that he had an update from the Veteran’s Agent Steve Littlefield regarding the Veteran’s Day ceremony. Selig said, “Just a reminder to everyone to keep their calendars open for Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. at the front steps of the Town Hall; that will be where our Veteran’s Day ceremony will take place.” He continued, “I’m sure, judging by our last Memorial Day Parade, Steve does a great job with these. So, again, if anyone’s in the area and would like to pay respect to our veterans on Veteran’s Day.” 

Selig also had an appointment with Jeremy Gillespie regarding a potential appointment to the Beautification Committee. “We’ve got to grill you a little bit,” Selig joked. Gillespie, who has lived in town for over three years, said he does try to make it to Town Meeting when he can. Asked what he thinks of Halifax, Gillespie was quick to respond, “I love it.” Selig also asked Gillespie what special talents or skills he felt he could bring to the Town’s Beautification Committee. Gillespie said, “knowing how to plant and maintain landscaping.” He also said that he is well versed in putting messages out on social media. Gillespie also said that he didn’t foresee the time commitment necessary to be a problem. Selig appointed him to the Beautification Committee for a term ending June 30, 2023. 

Before Gillespie left, a member of the public asked, “what does the Beautification Committee do?” Selig said, “Well Jeremy, would you like to field your first question?” Gillespie who said he had only been to three or four meetings thus far responded, “They maintain some of the public gardens out here through various donations and organize the clean-up days in the fall and spring.” He added, “That’s all I know right now. Hoping to find out more.” Selig jumped in saying, “Essentially, they are charged with making Halifax even more beautiful.” Nolan added that they have an Adopt a Planter program. 

Before adjourning, Selig said that the next regularly scheduled Selectmen’s meeting is November 8. “That, as you know, is Election Day. We’re going to wait and have our meeting November the ninth – a special meeting… we’ll have our full Board of Selectmen and will be able to start moving things along,” he explained.   

Todd Koep, a Municipal Systems Coordinator with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), gave a presentation on Monday, Oct. 24 to Plympton residents on Pay as You Throw or PayT. He said that Plympton averages 1,926 lbs. of trash per household per year whereas the average across the State was 1,066. “[The] current system is a flat fee so if you dispose of 1 bag a week, you pay the same as someone that disposes of 10 bags per week,” Koep told the audience.

Koep said that PAYT is unit based just as other utilities like electricity where you pay for what you use. He called the program “a waste reduction strategy” saying it helps with recycling and reusing since it forces people to take a harder look at the trash they generate.

He said that residents would be given either a 15- or 33-gallon bag of trash. There would be a fixed cost for the operation of the transfer station. “To cover those costs, you have an annual fee… what we’ve kind of come to the conclusion is a $45 fee for seniors and a $65 fee for  otherresidents,” Koep said. The larger bag would cost $2.50 while the smaller bag would cost $1.50. “The bags are set to break at a certain weight and that’s because the bags are priced by weight,” he further explained. The bags would be sold at local retailers frequented by residents including Stop and Shop, Walmart, and local gas stations. He said the only caveat would be if you were to remember needing the trash bags after regular operating hours for those establishments.

Koep likened the smaller bag to the size of a typical kitchen trash bag. “I have 3 adults, a 9-year-old and a dog in my household and I go through one small bag every 2-3 weeks and I’m not the world’s best recycler,” he explained. The larger bag was labeled as being “half the size of a contractor bag.”

“There are a lot of benefits to going Pay as You Throw,” Koep said. Waste reduction including increased recycling, donating, and backyard composting was listed as a major benefit. Leveling the playing field was another huge benefit explained by Koep.

Some of the perceived challenges Koep named were public perception that the fee is a tax, adverse effects on low-income households, increases in illegal dumping, and higher administrative costs. He said that the fee is not actually a tax and noted that sticker fees would be increasing regardless of whether the program was adopted. He also said that waivers for low-income households, veterans, and seniors would be available. Regarding illegal dumping, Koep said that studies have not shown the program to increase illegal dumping. Finally, he said that higher administrative costs are offset through the savings from reduced disposal.

KOEP said another acronym that residents might see is SMART or Save Money and Reduce Trash. “Residents reduce their waste, the town pays less for disposal, and the State generates less trash,” Koep said. He further said that the State goal is 30 percent waste reduction by 2030.

Following his presentation, Koep opened things up for questions. Selectman John Traynor asked for clarification regarding the dollar amount per ton of trash. Koep said it was around $104 per ton of trash. He said the dollar amount for PET plastic is $185 per ton. Koep said there is always going to be a rate for contamination in glass and plastic bottles, usually around 10 percent. He said that the rebate averages out to about $27 per ton.

Traynor said that PAYT was economically advantageous, fairer, and environmentally conscious. He noted that the hard work would be making sure the general public was well-informed on the benefits and that any misconceptions were corrected. “All you’re doing is switching the color of the bag, yeah, it’s going to be a little bit more, but you’re going to be saving overall,” Koep said.

“If there’s feedback out there that we haven’t heard, I’d really like to hear it, before we vote it,” Traynor said. Asked his opinion on the program, Selectman Mark Russo said it wasn’t the right forum for him to discuss his thoughts. He said that the issue would be on the agenda at the November 7 Selectmen’s meeting and that a vote was possible at that time. Russo urged residents to get educated on the issue prior to that meeting. Selectman Christine Joy seconded Russo’s thoughts.

Someone asked about waste oil deposit since Plympton used to have it but no longer does. The high cost was cited as the reason for stopping the program.

The Plympton Highway Department will give a ZOOM presentation Monday night, Oct. 24, at 6 p.m. telling just how PayT, or Pay as You Throw, trash bags might be in the town’s future.   Faced with rising disposal fees and a segment of the population that just doesn’t care about recycling, PayT might be the only solution.  Transfer station attendant Art Morin says that people throw  recyclables into the trash compacter without a second thought for the cost of their actions.

Morin said that transfer station attendants have no authority to force compliance with facility rules, they can only “politely suggest” that people use the cardboard and paper or plastic and glass recycle bins. Morin said that many times when he would politely suggest that the cardboard or beverage cans dumped in with the garbage costs the town money while if those items were put into the recycling bins it would cost the town nothing, the perpetrator would simply say they don’t care and drive away.

Neighboring Halifax and Hanson both use the PayT system and their disposal bags are available for sale at locations throughout the town, Stop and Shop, for one.  The cost?  A package of five 33-gallon trash bags costs $18 or $3.60 each for Halifax.   A package of five 15-gallon bags costs $13.75 or $2.75 each.   Prices are slightly lower for Hanson PayT bags.

A person who uses three small bags a week, at $2.75 each, would pay $429 per year.  The cost of a transfer station decal was $240 per year for 2022, with seniors over age 65 paying $120.  Most households use more than three small bags of trash per week.   

Colleen Morin, assistant to the Highway Superintendent Rob Firlotte, said that residents can expect a substantial increase in transfer stationsticker prices.  Price changes will need to be approved by the board of selectmen.

The ZOOM informational meeting Monday, Oct. 24, will answer many of the residents’ questions.

Transfer staton agent Art Morin said that Pay as You Throw will make those who use the disposal services most pay the most for the service they are using, and hopefully use recycling more. That would be more fair to everyone.

Questions such as how the system will work and what will happen to our current transfer station and its workers will be considered at Monday night’s ZOOM meeting.

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The Halifax School Committee met in-person on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022.  A member of the public asked to speak during the public participation portion of the meeting regarding Chair Summer Schmaling’s request during the previous meeting to form a subcommittee to review curriculum. “Isn’t there a position held by someone in the District to work on and understand curriculum?” they began. They continued, “You gave an example of a writing prompt regarding the Christopher Columbus holiday as a reason for you to look at the curriculum. You were aware of the whole assignment, correct? That it was an opinion piece, and the students were able to state their own opinion?” They concluded, “Finally, I am greatly concerned with your statement about School Committee members being on opposite sides of the spectrum – I am not sure what spectrum to which you are referring; I have heard you state that you were one of the more conservative members of the Committee. Please be more clear in what you mean as the School Committee is not supposed to be elected based on your party affiliation.”

School Committee member Karyn Townsend spoke as a parent rather than as a Committee member regarding the assignment in question in which students were asked to write about Columbus Day. She said that after requesting further information about said assignment, she found out that it was a “persuasive essay” and said that samples of writings were provided from those stating that Columbus Day should be celebrated as well as those that felt that it should not. “Just as a fellow concerned parent, I just wanted to make sure that we were aware of what the actual prompt was that was given,” Townsend ended her statement.

A member of the public asked Schmaling if the meetings of the Curriculum subcommittee that was facing so much scrutiny would be publicly posted. She was told that an answer could not be given at that time but that they would try to have one by the next School Committee meeting.

Still another member of the public, who said he has been working in public safety for many years, also asked to address the School Committee, this time regarding school safety and security. He said he is part of a team that creates plans to address things like active shooters. He implored the Committee to read the aftermath report regarding a recent school shooting. He left the Committee with a packet that he said might be best read during Executive Session.

Superintendent Jill Proulx told the Committee, “the Mass. Association of Superintendents has sent out a memo regarding Juul Vape litigation… the case seeks to hold Juul and other companies producing vaping products financially responsible for enticing adolescents to begin vaping and for the resulting harm to young people because vaping impacts the educational environment, the plaintiffs seek damages for school systems in the form of vape detectors and curriculum.” The case is scheduled for trial in San Francisco in November. Participation requires a vote from the School Committee. “Education is always the best way to curb behaviors,” Committee member Lauren Laws said regarding her opinion on participating in the lawsuit. Laws said that while it isn’t really an issue in the elementary school it certainly is in the middle and high schools. She stressed the importance of educating the students starting from an earlier age. Asked if she had an opinion on the issue, Superintendent Proulx said that it was hard for her to say without having access to what the curriculum would entail. After some discussion, the Committee voted to participate.

Reports were given for the standing committees. For Youth and Recreation it was reported that fall and winter basketball will be starting the last week in October for girls and shortly thereafter for boys. The school is looking for two more bids for the tennis courts project. It was also reported that after school programs are at capacity. There is hope that an after-school art program would be starting soon.

Townsend reported that the PTO discussed the continued need for a school psychologist. Another update from the PTO was that the Halifax Teacher’s Association was looking forward to holding the Family Fun Night this year. A representative from the Boosterthon attended the most recent PTO meeting to provide an update on the curriculum. Townsend said that some parents expressed concern regarding the need for more social and emotional learning. She said, “the social and emotional learning for the Boosterthon by the PTO was lessons about gratitude, stewardship, bravery, perseverance, and wonder and then I did ask the Boosterthon rep as well as administration to make sure they shared all relevant materials with parents.” A bookfair will be held in October and the Mingle and Jingle in December.

Principal Kayne Beaudry provided a Principal’s report. He gave an update on the after-school program saying that an art program was “in the works” and that they were also looking to get a S.T.E.M. program up and running as well. Beaudry said that current enrollment is at 561. “We had open house on September 8.  It was a great turnout, we had great weather – lots of positive feedback from families and staff,” he told the Committee. He said that the Boosterthon raised just over $30,000. He also said that October is Bullying Prevention Month and noted that students and staff work on lessons focusing on refusing, reporting, and recognizing bullying as part of the social and emotional curriculum.

Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch provided an update on MCAS testing. He said that State-wide, math scores were improved while English Language Arts (ELA) scores were declining slightly for Grades 3 and 4 while they were improving slightly for Grades 5 and 6. Science scores were up a little bit. “DESE [Department of Elementary and Secondary Education] commented on how much student absenteeism remains a challenge across the Commonwealth,” Lynch said. Regarding Halifax specific results, Lynch said, “58 percent of our students in Grades 3-6, they met or exceeded State expectations.” Halifax performed better than the State average in both ELA and math. Lynch said that the greatest decline in performance for Halifax was in math. Regarding science, Lynch said, “our students did particularly well in Halifax with 67 percent of students in Grade 5 meeting or exceeding expectations compared with 42 percent State-wide.”

Principal Kayne Beaudry spoke to what next steps will be taken to ensure continued improvement in Halifax on the MCAS testing. He said they have tiered supports for literacy that are in the works. He also thanked the Committee for supporting a full-time math interventionist.

Proulx said that principals have been asked to start soliciting input from their staff to build their budgets. She further said that principals have been provided with an outline requesting that they include “an overview of how their requests align with strategies for district improvement and school improvement goals, budgeting priorities for the upcoming year and the rationale, staffing including current class sizes and anticipated class sizes, requests for additional staffing and rationale, if necessary, etc.” Proulx also asked that the School Committee start thinking about their priorities for the FY24 budget. She outlined the budget timeline saying that the budget is typically approved by the School Committee by March ahead of the May town meetings.

Regarding assessments, Proulx said that Halifax’s Silver Lake percentage remains the same for this coming year, but their shared costs assessment has gone down by nearly 2 percentage points.

Before adjourning, Schmaling reminded everyone that November 14 would be the next School Committee Meeting and a joint School Committee meeting with the rest of the District would be held on December 1.

The Silver Lake Regional School Committee met in person on Thursday, Sept. 8.

Bullying Discussion

Committee Chair Paula Hatch read a statement she prepared regarding recent incidents of bullying within the school district. “We’ve seen more incidences since Covid, whatever we can do to assist in helping to reduce the number of incidences… do we have students that are comfortable playing a role being a student that you can come to if you are being bullied?” She said she feels strongly that the School Committee play more of an active role in trying to reduce bullying in the schools. Superintendent Jill Proulx said that a number of steps have been taken in the last few years to attempt to curb bullying. “We’re working with our high school to consider new student-led opportunities,” she explained. One suggestion was made that a taskforce be created to address issues of bullying.

“We have a very divided community on some of the cultural things here at the school and some of it may be feeding into and swinging the pendulum the wrong way inadvertently,” Hatch said. Silver Lake Regional High School Principal Michaela Gill got emotional saying, “When we cross that threshold, we have to set aside our personal and political beliefs, but we all have to have the shared fundamental belief that every child belongs in our school and if you cannot support that on the School Committee, I’m not sure this is the place for you.” Committee member Jason Fraser concurred saying, “we also see it in the discourse amongst adults in our own communities; the children learn from their homes first, we are their first teachers and I really think it is incumbent upon the adults in our three communities to check themselves – check the rhetoric and remember that the children are listening.” Hatch ended the discussion saying that she would like to see them take it up again at their next meeting and perhaps come up with some ideas that allow them to be part of the solution.

CTE Discussion

Director of Career and Technical Programs Elliott Glass attended to speak about the selection for outdoor service projects. “The program is obviously a live work, learning based program that puts our students outside to work on a real, hands-on project that has a pretty awesome outcome,” Glass explained. He said that students have to be in the program for two years before being allowed to work off site. “We use a work request form… the biggest factor that we are looking at is the curriculum, and so we have a mission and a job to provide state frameworks to our students in a carpentry program,” Glass explained. He continued, “we consider differences between residential requests and municipal requests to town buildings.” Some recent projects include Pope Tavern’s roof, stairs and landings at the Plympton Fire Department, the dumpster area at Kingston Senior Center, Handicap accessible benches at Gray’s Beach, etc. A Committee member asked about advertising and Glass said they are limited in what they can do with that but said that a detached two-car garage in Kingston was recently completed. Committee member Leslie-Ann McGee said she still felt that the criteria for selection was still unclear and said she would like to see it be more need-based. Glass said that after speaking with other vocational directors he didn’t receive a single other response saying that need was considered when selecting a project. Glass said the waters could get muddied and said he was not interested in making that a criterion.

“As you probably know, we have had growing numbers and a big influx of students last year that applied… it was over 50 percent of the 8^th grade population that submitted a CTE application; as those numbers have gone up there are some other factors at play; we’ve always been able to tuition in some Pembroke students that are part of our budget,” Glass explained. Someone asked Glass the state assigned tuition rate for students from Pembroke and was told this year’s number is $11,000.

Glass, who called Pembroke a really great partner to them, said that they filled all of their seats this year with in-district applicants as the demand was so great. Glass said that Pembroke was asking if something could be done to ensure that some seats would be available for Pembroke students. “I do think there could be a mutually beneficial agreement in something like this,” Glass said. “We do need to offset that number with the extra Chapter 74 funding we get for each pupil of our own that goes into CTE programming which is about $4,700 above Chapter 70 so we have to subtract that away from what we get from Pembroke to understand the true revenue implications,” Committee member Jason Fraser said of the out-of-district tuition.

Camp Norse School Approval

Hatch said that Camp Norse had approached the Committee looking for approval for the school that is offered there. Superintendent Jill Proulx had asked for a list of resources from Camp Norse so that they could review and vet them before the meeting. Hatch said materials were received just before midnight the night before and that they would need to go back to Camp Norse to tell them that they didn’t have enough time to digest the material. She said they would tell Camp Norse that they would review before their next meeting and decide at that time.

Charter School Discussion

A discussion was had based on limiting access to charter schools including Math Academy which sought to expand into Silver Lake. “Every time we lose a student to a charter school, the money travels with the student… we’ve seen an uptick over the years with students going to a charter school and it does hurt… and then there’s the financial burden that goes along with that,” Hatch explained. “A million dollars every single year from Halifax, Plympton, Kingston goes to paying charter school tuitions from the Silver Lake budget, that’s four percent of our budget,” Fraser said. Both McGee and Committee member Gordon Laws spoke about the nuanced discussion that needed to take into account both the negative consequences for the school district as well as parents’ need for choice. They did agree to craft a letter expressing that they were not in favor of charter schools expanding further into the district.

Municipal Representatives in Collective Bargaining

Proulx said that towns were invited to elect municipal representatives for collective bargaining purposes. Halifax Selectman Jonathan Selig and Kingston Town Administrator Keith Hickey were there to garner more information. Proulx said they had yet to hear back from someone from Plympton. Hickey said he wasn’t comfortable being the representative without having the go ahead from his Board of Selectmen. Selig said that given the day-to-day responsibilities of being the only Selectman in Halifax, he didn’t feel comfortable committing to being the municipal representative.

Principals’ Reports

Silver Lake Regional High School Principal Michaela Gill provided an update for the Committee. She said that they are joining with many organizations including Mass General in a program called, “I Decide.” The program is to provide financial support and resources for students who may have substance abuse issues.

Gill said she had an unconventional out of state field trip request for the music program. She said two proposals were on the table. The first to perform in Disney in Orlando and the second was for New York. Gill said they planned to allow families to vote for the preferred trip and then begin fundraising from there.

New Middle School Principal Becky Couet also provided a Principal’s Report. She began by asking for permission for an out-of-state field trip on Oct. 28 for the chorus to sing at the Providence Bruins. “They’ve done this in the past in the spring, but our beloved music teacher Sandee Brayton is retiring in December, and we want to make sure that she gets to go,” Couet explained.

Couet said they have a Robotics Club but due to covid there was no fee the last two years. She said that to participate in competitions, teachers were asking for a $75 fee for students to participate. The Committee voted to approve the fee.

Superintendent and Assistant Update

Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch spoke briefly about goals for the new school year. “With curriculum as our focus, one of our professional development days is devoted toward providing staff with time to collaborate together and make progress on having a standard aligned Pre-K through 12 curriculum.” He also said that they had a professional development day that past week focusing on inclusive practices.

Superintendent Proulx began her update saying that Massachusetts will provide universal free meals this year. Regarding Covid, Proulx said that universal masking and testing requirements are no longer recommended. She did note that those who continue to mask will be supported in that decision.

Proulx discussed student learning goals for MCAS testing. She said that having 70 percent of students meeting or exceeding grade level expectations by 2024, was a goal.

Regional Agreement

Hatch addressed the regional agreement calling it a living document that was changed periodically. Fraser made a motion to start the process to review the regional agreement. The Committee voted to do so unanimously.

Standing Committees Reports

SLEA President Jon Lay addressed the Committee saying he appreciated the conversation that was had regarding both bullying and charter schools. He said that everyone was excited to start the school year fairly normally for the first time since 2019. He said there was huge turnover with paraprofessionals this year. “By my calculations we have at least 25 percent turnaround this year with paraprofessionals,” he told the Committee. He reiterated that the rates being paid by Silver Lake are 8 percent below the median of the local area.

Fraser began the legislative update saying, “we saw a 6.4 percent increase from the State of Massachusetts here in Silver Lake I know that the burden often feels like it is on the towns to support the schools, the State really came through in a big way for us this year.” He said that the free lunch program currently being funded through the State, should ideally be a federal program and the hope is still that it will be adopted as such.

Regarding SAFER, Fraser said that the first tri-town meeting will be at 5 p.m. on Dec. 1. He said that quite a few town officials will be participating in the meeting. Fraser also said that the Driver’s Ed program is currently offered at $650 which is lower than the typical fee of surrounding schools. Fraser asked the Committee to increase the fee for the program from $650 to $700, in part to pay for a new vehicle that is needed.

Fraser told the Committee about the Neptune Gametime Player which is a subscription that vets music that is selected by students for warmups during athletics. This would ensure that the music that is played is appropriate. There is potential for advertisements to be played over the program which would help offset the cost of the subscription.

The surveying for the tennis courts is done and the hope is to get the project out to bid by January.

Before adjourning, Hatch thanked McGee who will be leaving the School Committee. “One of the things I have really enjoyed working with you these last few years is you are not afraid to put a different idea out there, a different thought… it’s meaningful, it’s well thought through and many times it has put us in a different direction.” McGee received a rousing round of applause.