Alan Ingram
Express correspondent
The Kingston School Committee unanimously approved a level service budget for fiscal year 2026 without requiring a tax override, utilizing emergency shelter funds from the State to close the budget gap.
The committee voted Monday, March 3, to approve a $15,596,804 operating budget, which represents a 7.1% increase over the current fiscal year. The total expenditure for Kingston schools will be $16,991,596 after accounting for additional funding sources.
“We’re not going to need an override to settle our budget tonight,” said Committee Member Jeanne Coleman during the meeting, delivering she called “the good news” that parents and community members had been waiting to hear.
The budget approval comes after weeks of community concern about a potential override that could have reached nearly $1 million. Instead, the committee found alternative funding sources to maintain educational services without additional tax burden.
Business Administrator Sarah Hickey presented a plan to utilize emergency assistance shelter funds received from the state to help close the $1.4 million gap between the committee’s budget and the amount approved by the Kingston Select Board.
“In January of 2025, we received a payment of $338,270.25, of which we talked about allocating $180,000 of that towards salaries in the FY26 budget,” Hickey explained. “And we have been told by the state that we are going to potentially receive an additional $555,464 in those emergency shelter funds.”
The committee voted to allocate $255,110.74 from existing shelter funds already on deposit with the town, plus $341,127.26 from anticipated future payments to balance the budget.
Several parents spoke at the beginning of the meeting in support of maintaining educational services. Barbara Gildea of Crescent Street thanked the committee for “continuing to support our schools and for passing budgets that advocate for level funding.”
“The community is rallying in support of the school budget, and we will continue to do so,” Gildea added, noting that a Facebook group created to help parents advocate for the school budget has attracted more than 300 members.
Jackie Giovannangelo of Franz Lane echoed those sentiments, saying, “We’ve been hard at work over the past month plus, gathering the parents of the town to the Facebook page we created to ensure that as many parents as possible are aware of the budget concerns.”
Committee members acknowledged that while this solution addresses immediate budget needs, it creates challenges for next year since the emergency shelter funds are not a permanent revenue source.
“We’re going to have $800,000 that we need to come up with for next year’s budget,” noted Committee Member Michael Shekane. “We need to be aware that this is a huge hole for next year. We’re just kicking the can down the road.”
The committee also voted to remove a proposed additional English Language teacher position from the budget, saving approximately $65,000. Chair Megan Cannon suggested that if the position becomes necessary, there would still be shelter money available to fund it.
Superintendent Jill Proulx clarified that the budget maintains level services rather than level funding. “A level funded budget, if you were to advocate for that, would actually result in reductions in force,” she explained.
Committee members also discussed the timeline challenges of the budget process, with Coleman noting that state funding numbers often aren’t available until late January, after preliminary budgets are already being presented.
“Our budgets are incomplete if we don’t even know what the state numbers are,” Coleman said. “Last year, if everyone remembers, our budgets went into a tailspin at the end of January when the state numbers were released, like 4% lower than what we were anticipating.”
The total cost of education for Kingston, which includes both the elementary school budget and the town’s assessment for Silver Lake Regional School District, will be $32,770,590.36 for FY26, representing a 4.7% increase over the current year.
The committee’s decision means Kingston will avoid joining the approximately 80 Massachusetts communities that sought education overrides last year, of which only about 40% passed, according to information shared during a previous Silver Lake School Committee meeting.
The committee also heard from Assistant Superintendent Tricia Clifford about ongoing curriculum work, including the development of a district literacy plan and the review of math curriculum materials.
Kristen Pishkin, co-president of the Kingston Teachers Association, thanked officials for securing a level service budget.
“The KTA would like to thank administration, town leadership, School Committee, and all the families working hard to secure a level service budget that will meet the needs of our students,” Pishkin says. “We know it has taken a lot of effort on everyone’s part.”
“So we appreciate everyone’s hard work and sleepless nights. And the teachers’ sleepless nights, too, because a lot of them were very worried what their classrooms would look like and their jobs would look like next year,” Pishkin added.

Writers Emily Franklin, Dawn Tripp, and Adelle Waldman will visit the Adams Center, 33 Summer St., Kingston, on Sunday, March 23 at 2 p.m, for an author talk celebrating Women’s History Month.
The trio will talk about the female characters in their novels, the ways in which authors researched individuals in stories, and the subject matter. Franklin and Tripp recently authored books featuring Isabella Stewart Gardner (The Lioness of Boston) and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (Jackie) while Waldman published a fictionalized book inspired by her experience unloading boxes at a big box-store, Help Wanted.
Franklin is the bestselling author of more than 20 novels for both adults and young adults, as well as a poetry collection titled, Tell Me How You Got Here. Her award-winning work has appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe, The Kenyon Review, and other numerous publications. The Lioness of Boston was a Boston Globe and Indie Bookstore bestseller, as it was featured on WBUR’s “Local Authors.” She has been featured on NPR and named notable by the Association of Jewish Libraries.
Franklin lives outside of Boston with her family and two large dogs. You can follow her at https://emilyfranklin.com.
Tripp is the nationally bestselling author of Jackie and Georgia (a fictional novel about Georgia O’Keefe), was a finalist for the New England Book Award and winner of the Mary Lynn Kotz Award for Art in Literature. Her three other previous novels are Game of Secrets, Moon Tide, and The Season of Open Water, which won the Massachusetts Book Award for Fiction. Her poems and essays have appeared in the Virginia Quarterly Review, Harvard Review, Conjunctions, AGNI, and NPR.
Tripp graduated from Harvard and lives in Massachusetts with her sons. For more information about Tripp, her website is https://dawntripp.com.
In addition to the novel Help Wanted released in March of 2024, Waldman has also written The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. It was named one of the year’s best books by the New Yorker, The Economist, NPR, Slate, Bookforum, and the Guardian. Her writing has appeared in the New Yorker, The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, The Wall Street Journal, Slate and other publications.
Waldman lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and daughter. You can read more about her by visiting https://adellewaldman.com.
Books will be on sale following the event for all three authors. This event is generously sponsored by the Kingston Public Library Foundation.
To register for this event, please visit – https://kingstonpubliclibrary.org. For more information, you can contact Steven Miller, Reference Librarian at (781) 585-0517 x6272 or at [email protected].

The Plympton Finance Committee is discussing a Proposition 2 ½ override to address budget concerns and fund essential services. During a Feb. 10 joint meeting with the Board of Selectmen, officials discussed the possibility of increasing the town’s levy limit to meet financial needs.
Town Counsel Gregg Corbo provided an overview of override and debt exclusion options.
“An override is something where you raise your levy limit permanently for either a particular purpose or for general municipal purposes,” Corbo said. “The primary difference between an override and a debt exclusion is that the debt exclusion only stays on the tax rate until the debt is paid off.”
Only selectmen can call for an override vote.
Officials are grappling with a tight budget situation. The town’s current budget has only $7,343 available under the maximum allowable limit, while using some free cash and possibly general stabilization funds to balance the budget. This assumes budget requests were funded as they came in, and leaving only $450,000 for Town Meeting articles.
“We need to do something,” Finance Committee member Marilyn Browne stated. When discussing using over $800K in one-time funds to meet the operating budget she added, “we don’t want to do that anymore. We can avoid that. It’s just not very smart. It’s not fiscally sound.”
The Finance Committee is exploring various options to address the shortfall. These include potential cuts to department budgets and the use of reserve funds. However, officials expressed concern about relying too heavily on one-time funding sources.
“You don’t really want to draw from stabilization to fund your budget shortfall, or the reserve fund,” Corbo advised.
The school budget is a significant factor in the town’s financial considerations. Officials discussed potential increases in the Silver Lake assessment, which could range from $600,000 to $783,000. However, there is hope that this number could be reduced through various funding sources and reimbursements.
Silver Lake is also awaiting certification of the Excess and Deficiency (E&D) Fund, which could provide additional relief. “Depending on how E&D comes up, depending on the Circuit Breaker number, and depending on the 240 grant, there is a chance we could potentially get the assessment for Silver Lake to a net zero increase over last year,” School Committee member Jason Fraser stated.
Town officials anticipate receiving final cost estimates for the new fire station project by mid-April. The project’s design includes a wood frame building, potentially minimizing the impact of steel tariffs.
The fire station project has been designed with cost considerations in mind. Officials noted that the building will be primarily wood-framed, which could help mitigate the impact of potential steel tariffs.
“We don’t have a ton of steel in the station. It’s mostly going to be a wood frame building,” Wilhelmsen explained.
The town is also making progress on water infrastructure. A mega well producing 109 gallons per minute has been successfully tested. However, two smaller wells have experienced collapses and require further investigation.
If the town decides to pursue an override or debt exclusion, officials will need to navigate complex legal requirements. Corbo cautioned about limitations on using public resources to advocate for or against ballot questions.
“There is a campaign finance law in Massachusetts, and the requirements of the state ethics commission limit the extent to which public funds can be used or public resources can be used to advocate for or against a valid question, including an override or a debt exclusion,” he said.
The Finance Committee plans to reconvene after gathering more information on potential funding sources and budget adjustments. They aim to develop a comprehensive plan before presenting options to the public.
Officials stressed the importance of public outreach and education if they decide to pursue an override or debt exclusion. “It does take a fair amount of outreach,” Corbo noted. “You know, all the departments kind of have to, you know, work together.”
The town faces critical decisions in the coming weeks as it balances the need for essential services with the financial constraints of Proposition 2 ½ . The outcome of these discussions will have significant implications for the town’s budget and services in the upcoming fiscal year.

A total of 356 undergraduate students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) completed research-driven, professional-level projects that apply science and technology to address an important societal need or issue.
Known as the Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP), this project is a core part of the innovative undergraduate experience at WPI. Centered around project-based learning, this hands-on approach offers students opportunities to help develop thoughtful solutions to open-ended problems. These real-world problems affect the quality of life for people in the communities where students work, giving students a chance to make a difference in the world before they graduate. About two-thirds of WPI students complete their IQPs at one of the university’s 50+ off-campus project centers located in more than 30 countries around the world.
“The WPI project-based curriculum’s focus on global studies brings students out of the classroom and their comfort zones and into the global community to apply their knowledge and to solve problems,” said Professor Kent Rissmiller, professor of International & Global Studies and associate dean of The Global School. “Students are immersed in all aspects of a different culture-from the way people live and work to the values they hold to the foods they eat, all valuable perspectives for surviving and thriving in today’s global marketplace. They also learn the meaning and magic of teamwork; make a real and meaningful difference in their host community; and gain a competitive edge for any resume, or graduate or professional school application.”
The following students were part of a team that completed an intensive project:
Matthew Hybertson from Kingston, class of 2026, majoring in Mechanical Engineering, completed a project titled Exploring History Through SantaFe.live’s Interactive Archive.
Colby O’Connell from Kingston, class of 2026, majoring in Aerospace Engineering, completed a project titled Evaluating Nordural’s School of Heavy Industry.
WPI is a top-tier STEM-focused research university and a recognized pioneer and global leader in project-based learning. WPI was founded in 1865 on the principle that students learn most effectively by applying the theory learned in the classroom to the practice of solving real-world problems.
, WPI’s continued mission is to transform lives, turn knowledge into action to confront global challenges, and revolutionize STEM through distinctive and inclusive education, projects, and research. WPI’s project-based curriculum engages undergraduates in solving important scientific, technological, and societal problems throughout their education and at more than 50 project centers around the world. Today WPI offers more than 70 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs across 18 academic departments in science, engineering, technology, business, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts. To help address ongoing challenges, improve lives, and help create a more sustainable world, WPI faculty and students pursue groundbreaking research in such areas as the life sciences, smart technologies, materials and manufacturing, and global initiatives.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has opened a Public Comment Period for the MBTA Communities Act now through Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, at 11:59 p.m.
To access the public comment form online, go to https://www.mass.gov/forms/mbta-communities-regulations-public-comment-form
The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (EOHLC) had filed emergency regulations with the Secretary of the Commonwealth to support ongoing implementation of the MBTA Communities Law.
The filing came six days after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued an opinion affirming that the state’s MBTA Communities Law is constitutional. The decision affirmed that under the law each of the 177 communities included in the MBTA Communities Law must have at least one zoning district of reasonable size where multifamily housing is permitted as of right. It also affirmed the Attorney General’s right to enforce the law.
As part of the opinion, the court wrote that the previous administration did not correctly advance the guidelines for the law’s implementation. The court directed EOHLC to publish the law’s guidelines in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act in order for the law to be enforceable. Emergency regulations are in effect immediately and for 90 days. EOHLC intends to adopt regulations permanently following a public comment period.
“These regulations will allow us to continue moving forward with implementation of the MBTA Communities Law, which will increase housing production and lower costs across the state,” said Governor Maura Healey. “These regulations allow communities more time to come into compliance with the law, and we are committed to working with them to advance zoning plans that fit their unique needs. We look forward to soon celebrating more communities joining the 116 that have already said yes to housing.”
“Firefighters, teachers and essential workers deserve to live in the communities they serve,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “Cities and towns that have taken action recognize that the MBTA Communities Law creates housing opportunities for their residents, and we look forward to supporting communities who have yet to act and help them come into compliance.”
The emergency regulations do not substantively change the law’s zoning requirements and do not affect any determinations of compliance that have been already issued by EOHLC. The regulations do provide additional time for MBTA communities that failed to meet prior deadlines to come into compliance with the law.
“We want to make sure these communities have adequate time to develop their zoning, conduct public engagement activities and bring that zoning to their local legislative bodies,” said Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Ed Augustus. “Local involvement is critical in developing zoning districts that put multifamily housing where communities have determined are the best locations.”
Communities that did not meet prior deadlines must submit a new action plan to the state, outlining their plan to achieve compliance, by 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 13, 2025. These communities will have until July 14, 2025, to submit a district compliance application to the state.
Communities designated as adjacent small towns still have a Dec. 31, 2025, deadline to adopt zoning.
A total of 116 communities have already adopted multifamily zoning districts as a result of the law and more than 3,000 housing units are already in the pipeline to be built in adopted districts.
The MBTA Communities Law (Section 3A of the state Zoning Act) was passed near-unanimously in 2021 by a bipartisan Legislature with the intention of removing exclusionary zoning barriers to housing production. The law requires 177 communities to zone for multifamily housing. It does not require development.
Multifamily zoning district design is a locally controlled process. More information on community categories, deadlines, and zoning requirements can be found on the Mass.gov website under “What is an MBTA Community”?

Plympton Town Clerk Tara Shaw has announced that nomination papers for the town’s annual election of officers are available during regular town clerk hours, Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The last day to submit nomination papers to the Board of Registrars is Friday, March 28, 2025.
Positions for election include one Selectman for three years, one Board of Assessor member for three years, one Board of Health member for three years, one Constable for one year, two Finance Committee members for three years, two Library Trustees for three years, one Library Trustee for two years, one Moderator for three years, one Planning Board member for five years, one Plympton School Committee member for three years, and one Silver Lale Regional School Committee member for three years
Town election will be held Saturday, May 17. Residents may cast their ballots from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. at the Plympton Town House, 5 Palmer Rd., Route 58, Plympton.
If you are not registered to vote, the last day to register to vote for the Annual and Special Town Meetings is Friday, May 2, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The annual town meeting will be held at the Dennett Elementary School, 80 Crescent St., on Wednesday, May 11 at 7 p.m. The Special Town Meeting, within the Annual Town Meeting, will be Wednesday, May 14, at 8 p.m.

The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Jan. 7. The Selectmen had an appointment with Mike Martin and Health Agent Bob Valery to discuss Hemlock landfill repair options. Martin, who has been working on monitoring the landfill since 2008, is a Project Environmental Scientist and Senior Program Manager with TRC Companies, Inc. He said that in 2021 he began noticing additional erosion which has continued to worsen since then.
As far as what has been done in 2024 with the landfill, Martin said that in February there was drone imaging completed and in March they developed landfill repair and expanded solar concept. In June of 2024 the wetland delineation was completed and in July they completed a site walk with MassDEP. Finally, in September they met with the Town Administrator and Board of Health in Halifax regarding next steps.
Martin also walked through a brief history of the landfill saying that from the 1930’s to 1971 it operated as a burn dump. From 1971 to 1977 it operated as a municipal solid waste landfill. He said that doing repair work every few years will, in the long run, cost as much or more than doing one major repair to deal with the problems in their entirety. He said that this kind of “patchwork” is not addressing the overall erosion problem.
Martin presented the first repair option with an associated cost of approximately $40k. This would include removing sediment from the drainage swale and culvert, removing a portion of the swale that has collapsed, and regrading erosion areas. Martin noted that this option does not address the underlying issues that are causing the erosion. He said that the erosion is occurring somewhere in the range of 4-10 years.
Option 2 includes rebuilding the entire side slope at a much higher cost. The benefit would be that it would be a long-term solution. “How is it we can charge the construction company to bring soil in for a government project?” Chair John Bruno asked. Martin explained, “MassDep back in 2013 and 2015, they issued some soil policies… they have a lot of excess construction soil out there that contractors have to get rid of… so when they go to get rid of it, they pay a fee so they have these facilities that take that clean soil and charge a nominal fee depending on the level of contamination.” He said that all of the construction costs would be covered by the soil. Town Administrator Cody Haddad said that based on MA General Law they may have to appropriate the funds before being reimbursed.
Selectman Jonathan Selig asked what type of soil would be being brought in and was told it was typical of what you would naturally find in a residential environment. “We’re not looking at any type of contaminated soil or anything like that?” Selig asked and was assured that was not the case. Martin was also asked about the pesticide used to kill invasive species and was told that it would be injected directly into the ground rather than being sprayed.
Bruno asked if they even had enough money to fund option one and Haddad said they would need to make a capital request and bring it to town meeting. Bruno said that they would need to do some research regarding the project as well as financing for either option. Bruno said he would also like to take a tour of the area to better understand.
The Selectmen also met with John Guiod regarding an appointment to the Conservation Commission. Guiod was a firefighter for 23 years and currently works part-time as a paramedic. Asked about what sparked his interest in the Commission, he said, “It starts with living on the lake and, of course, having 250 acres of water in my backyard, it raises some interest in that.” He also said that he is at Burrage several times a week. Guiod also said that he recently joined the Monponsett Watershed Association. “I would encourage independent thinking which I think is important for any Board or Committee or Commission; some voices are louder than others and I would just encourage you to stay the path and keep your own voice,” Selectman Thomas Pratt said. Pratt also asked if Guiod had any close personal relationships with existing members of the Commission and was told he did not.
The Selectmen and Haddad also discussed Haddad’s performance review as they approached the anniversary of his hiring. While Haddad received high marks across the board, the area where there was room for greatest improvement was transparency. Haddad said he attempted to provide outreach to the community through things like Cody’s Corner online. Pratt said that his marks were more geared toward what he sees as a lack of trust between the public and the Selectmen and Town Administrator in general. “I don’t think it’s reflective of effort and I don’t put him [Haddad] alone on it either; I put us on it as well. And I don’t think it’s a transparency thing, I think it’s a disconnect,” Pratt said.
Later in the meeting when discussing the procurement of energy resources Haddad said, “we are not part of an aggregation, so a lot of communities team up with other communities and then they go out as a conglomerate and buy electricity for the residents at kind of a bulk rate and Halifax was not part of that… I worked with Colonial Power and we locked in a rate… I’m happy to share that this past quarter we saved the community, as a whole, $71,000 and over the past five quarters we’ve saved Halifax residents just over $500,000.” Bruno referred back to the transparency issue saying, “I would like to see this kind of information better broadcast… maybe the social media thing needs to have a little bit about this.” Haddad said that he was working to condense and consolidate the social media piece.
The Selectmen also took up an amended Host Community Agreement with Elevated Roots. The State has mandated that the three percent impact fee be removed though Haddad noted that they still get the three percent local tax. The Selectmen voted to approve the updated agreement.
They also took up an employment contract with Kathy Evans for a Public Health Nurse. Haddad said that it was through the Public Health Excellence Grant. “It’s six communities that are part of this; we get a substantial amount of money from the State that fully funds it and basically it allows for each of the six communities to provide public health services above and beyond the bare minimum,” Haddad said.
Evans would serve as a nurse for all six communities at no cost to those municipalities. Selig asked if her being a member of the Conservation Commission would be a conflict of interest. Haddad said she would need to submit a form to be hired as a special municipal employee which would be approved by the Selectmen. Pratt asked about what her hiring process was like and Haddad said that several applicants were brought before Valery and the rest of the hiring committee. Pratt asked how many applicants there were and Haddad said he didn’t have that information. They said that they would vote to approve the contract at a subsequent meeting.
The Selectmen did approve a number of other contracts including one with Paul S. Kapinos & Associates, Inc. as well as the Lakeville Animal Shelter.