The Plympton Board of Selectmen met virtually on Thursday, April 16 to discuss ongoing developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the weekly selectmen meetings, Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy has also been having weekly conference calls with the townhouse staff.

Dennehy told the selectmen that the most recent guidelines from Governor Baker’s office have granted municipalities the ability to postpone tax payments and waive interests on late payments through June 29. Dennehy said that Plympton Collector Colleen Morin has recommended keeping the May 1 due date but asked that the Selectmen take a vote to waive any interest through June 29 on late payments for tax bills due May 1. The Selectmen unanimously voted to pass this motion.

Governor Baker’s office has also moved the 2019 state individual income tax filing and payment deadline from April 15 to July 15.

On April 16, the Plympton Fire and Police Departments participated in a drive-by parade at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Plymouth to show appreciation to all the healthcare and essential workers there. Many local public safety organizations were also part of the parade. “That was a nice event that made people happy and spread some joy,” Dennehy said.

According to Dennehy, after some bumps in the road, the transfer station is now operating smoothly. “Now we’re in a spot where the employees have adequate personal protective equipment, they’re following all of the social distancing protocols, and they’re doing a wonderful job keeping the facility open. I think that everyone feels more confident now that they are being properly protected as well,” Dennehy said.

The town of Hanson loaned Plympton an electronic message board that has been used to reflect the new hours of the transfer station. Selectman John Traynor, who said he had been to the transfer station that day said, “I would like to reinforce that as well… very well done.”

Dennehy told the selectmen that there were initially some logistical issues distributing brown bag meals to the Woodlands. Council on Aging Director Joy Marble has found a way to streamline the process, however, while keeping everyone safe.

New measures include placing tape on the floor to ensure workers and patrons stay six feet apart. “Joy deserves to be commended on that; she’s put an enormous amount of time into getting these meals out to people,” Dennehy shared.

Plympton was called upon to see if they could also deliver meals to facilities in Carver and Marshfield. “Right now we’re kind of working on that. We don’t want to overextend ourselves and take on more than what we can reasonably handle but we are trying to be helpful to other communities,” Dennehy said. She also said that Jim Mustacaros, who handles transportation for the Council on Aging, had delivered meals to the facility in Marshfield. “Trying to be mindful of our own resources and of Joy and Jim’s time and also the Fire Chief’s time…we want to be sure that Plympton seniors and Plympton residents are being served first with the limited resources that we have,” Dennehy continued.

The Plympton police and fire departments have also been continuing with their disinfecting protocols. Scott Materna, the Director of Building Maintenance for Halifax, has been periodically disinfecting both buildings and has also loaned equipment to the fire department that enables them to fog the ambulance used for COVID-19 related runs.

Inspections and permits continue

Dennehy said that she had received several questions from the public regarding protocols for inspections and permitting. Plympton has been following the same protocols as most of the state, allowing outside inspections and inside ones for new construction only. Chair of the Board of Health Art Morin said that exceptions are being made for emergencies.

Selectman Mark Russo expressed concern for those residents who find themselves mid-project asking, “If this is going to drag on, is there no way of finding a way to keep the permitting process moving so people aren’t stuck in the mud for month after month?”

Morin agreed saying “We have to adapt and come up with different and creative ideas.” Morin went on to specify that he meant this in regard to individuals and realtors as well as the town.

Russo also said, “When all of this settles down, I think we should look at a way for online permitting options… to offer more options to our residents for doing some of these transactions.”

Morin also told the Board that Plympton has brought on Kevin Forgue as the health agent. Forgue, who is a registered engineer, is also the health agent in Carver. Morin said, “We are fortunate to have Kevin on board now.” Morin also said that Halifax health agent Cathy Drinan had stepped in during the interim on several occasions.

Schools report on distance learning

Plympton School Committee Chair Jon Wilhelmsen provided an update on the status of the schools following the second full week of distance learning. Administrators sent a survey to parents, staff, and secondary students in order to receive feedback. Wilhelmsen said that the greatest obstacle thus far has been the wide spectrum of needs throughout the district. Wilhelmsen said that despite hundreds of chromebooks being loaned out, there are still some students who are unable to access technology for one reason or another. According to Wilhelmsen there are students on either end of the spectrum ranging from those struggling with remote assignments to those wishing for more work. “The whole public-school system is setup to provide equal access to all students and you cannot provide equal access in this environment,” Wilhelmsen explained. He also said that Superintendent Jill Proulx deserves a lot of credit for the efforts made thus far.

“This likely is going to continue for this school year and we’ve had a number of conversations with the administration that we need to prepare for the fall,” Wilhelmsen said. Governor Baker officially canceled school for the remainder of the year in the Commonwealth on Tuesday, April 21.

“We need to think forward and I would encourage all of us to think of creative options to keep things moving,” Wilhelmsen continued. Board of Selectmen Chair Christine Joy agreed saying, “We need to learn to do things differently and be more efficient.”

The Silver Lake Regional School Committee began their virtual meeting on April 9 with a public hearing on whether to accept school choice for next year. Despite an option for public participation by joining the Zoom meeting, there was no one from the public wishing to speak on the matter. The Committee did discuss internally.

Before her retirement, former superintendent Joy Blackwood had said that the Committee might consider it for some of the grade levels with lower enrollment. The consensus seemed to be, however, that most grades are trending toward higher class sizes particularly with the loss of two teaching positions at the middle school level. Committee Chair Jason Fraser explained that the district could specify the number of seats as well as what grade levels would be open for school choice. Although voting in favor of it this year wouldn’t require Silver Lake to do so again, they would have to see the students accepted through until either their graduation or their decision to take themselves out of the district.

School Committee member Edward Desharnais brought up the possibility of having to take on students that have been expelled from other schools and said, “it’s a slippery slope and once you start it, it’s hard to back off from. I would hate to sacrifice the quality of our school.” Committee member Gordon Andrews made a motion not to accept school choice. The decision was unanimous.

Another major discussion during Thursday’s meeting was whether to honor April vacation this year or continue with remote learning in its stead. Monday, April 20 is a non-negotiable day off as it is Patriot’s Day. School Committee member Leslie-Ann McGee was in favor of eliminating the break this year as she said it would allow them to shave days from the end of the year. Desharnais said he was against cancelling April vacation as he said he had spoken to several teachers and felt that they were stressed out and in need of a break.

Fraser invited a father from the public who had reached out with concerns about remote learning, to speak at Thursday’s meeting. The father, a Halifax resident, said he had experience teaching in both private and public tech schools.

He described his family’s situation saying his wife was home-schooling an elementary aged child while also caring for a toddler. He said that they were experiencing some technical issues while trying to practice remote learning.

“April vacation might be a good chance to break and fix some of the technology problems,” he explained.

Committee member Christopher Eklund said he could see it both ways. Ultimately, the Committee voted not to cancel April vacation with McGee being the lone holdout.

The Committee also discussed what kind of help could be given to students who have high stakes testing. On April 10, just a day after the Committee met, Governor Baker signed a bill that waived the MCAS test-administration requirement this spring. The ACT test has also been postponed from April 4 to June 13. Proulx said that a number of online resources are available to students who wish to have help preparing for the ACT or the Advanced Placement (AP) tests. Silver Lake Regional Principal Michaela Gill said that the College Board has been hosting live tutorials daily for students wishing to prepare for their AP tests. Gill also said that the format of the AP tests have been modified and will consist of a 45 minute free response portion only.

The remote learning experience thus far was also discussed at length. The first few weeks after closing both the middle and high schools on March 16 consisted solely of voluntary learning with teachers and students electing whether or not to participate in a number of different enrichment opportunities. Beginning Monday April 6, however, the expectations were changed based on guidance from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). The administration and Committee were in agreement that having only one week of data at their disposal made it difficult to troubleshoot and make changes as necessary. Proulx stressed the importance of flexibility as they navigate what is brand new territory to all involved. “I think that the teachers have done a great job of reinventing the way that they deliver and develop a curriculum.” Proulx said. Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch, who had met with Department heads regarding remote learning, agreed saying he was, “Very impressed, big picture, to watch us transition how education has been done for probably a thousand years.” Proulx and Lynch said that one of their goals is to start to think about ways for sharing out best practices for distance learning as they emerge.

Administration and Committee members discussed the difference between continued, maintenance education versus new learning. Fraser pointed out that in many private school settings, they are pushing forward with new learning. Proulx spoke at length about equity and the importance of Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). Proulx also acknowledged that some families are already overwhelmed and struggling with the remote learning. She also said that in their efforts to provide variety and choice to students, it may have been overwhelming. Desharnais said he was hearing estimates that nearly 20 percent of students were not participating in the credit/no credit remote learning that had been established. The Committee asked what could be done to reach those students. Proulx and Lynch said that the first step would be to reach out to the families themselves followed by a counselor or an administrator. Proulx said that they are trying to avoid scenarios where children don’t have access to learning because there are things going on in the home that prevent them from participating. After establishing the continuation of the free and reduced lunch program assuring that students had access to chromebooks was high on the priority list. Lynch and the technology team provided over eight opportunities for families to pick up chromebooks with over 700 devices distributed.

Gill said that while there has been a learning curve across the board, the response from teachers has been a mostly positive one. Middle School Principal Jim Dupille said, “I really give a lot of credit to the flexibility and hard work of my staff.” Dupille said that his staff has been making all necessary preparations for “step up” day despite the uncertainty of whether it will be able to be held. Logistics had to be worked out as well including how many students could be managed simultaneously on a Zoom call.

Eklund brought up the number of states that have already cancelled school for the entire school year. As of April 14, nineteen states had made that decision. Fraser, who also serves on the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) Board of Directors, said that MASC is advocating that if Governor Baker extends the closure past May 4, he just cancel school for the remainder of the year in part due to the stress caused by the uncertainty.

The father in attendance proposed the idea to extend the academic year to 900 hours bringing the last day of school to the very end of June. He said, “I have a child with an IEP and it is definitely difficult to get her to focus in general. Getting them back into the school longer is better than this experimental untested curriculum.” Fraser said he was unaware of any other district contemplating extending the school year. Andrews questioned the possible financial implications of pushing school to June 30. Director of Business Services Christine Healy said that it would likely mean finding $300,000 to $400,000 that they don’t currently have. Committee member Eric Crone was concerned with the levels of anxiety in people’s homes saying, “Asking them to continue for another week or two could be problematic with the levels of anxiety people are dealing with. Personally, I don’t think it’s a good idea.” Eklund said he was a fan of more learning hours and was concerned with kids not being ready to progress to the next grade. “If we can get more time out of the teachers and not punish ourselves financially, I’m for it,” he told the committee.  Eklund, who is part of the negotiations team, offered to bring the idea to the teachers with the Committee’s backing.

The Committee asked Proulx and Lynch to come back to them with further data based on the first two weeks of official, remote learning including feedback from building principals and curriculum coordinators. The Committee agreed to hold a meeting on April 23 at 6:30 p.m. with Union 31 and all school committees to discuss remote learning and adjustment of practices. The public is encouraged to attend.

A brief conversation was also held regarding the budget. Fraser said that Silver Lake will need to adjust their budget once the new numbers are received from the state. Healy offered some good news saying that there will be a savings of $99,000 in next year’s budget thanks to the bus contract coming in far lower than estimated.

As of April 8, there are 15,202 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts with 1,194 of those in Plymouth County. According to data received on April 7 there have been 356 deaths in the state as a result of COVID-19. The state is releasing the number of confirmed cases and deaths by county only citing privacy concerns as the reason for not releasing statistics by city and town. According to Mass.gov, “To protect privacy and confidentiality of individuals who test positive for COVID-19, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health only publicly reports positive case counts and deaths by county. The decision to share more detailed case counts by community rests with each city or town, based on the assessment of the situation in their own communities.” Local communities have made varying decisions regarding whether to share this information with residents, but Halifax, Kingston, and Plympton have all elected to share information regarding town-wide cases on their town websites.

The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Halifax was reported on March 20. Since that time, the number of confirmed cases has increased to 10. According to town administrator Charlie Seelig, the numbers are continuing to increase incrementally.

He explained, “Because of the small population in Halifax, there’s some randomness in that the town may not have any for a couple of days, then have two cases on a particular day.”

Seelig said that he believes residents are adhering to social distancing guidelines. “They are being creative about trying to get together while following the guidance on social distancing.

For instance, having “birthday parades” where friends and family will pass by a child’s house in cars with noise and greetings to celebrate the child’s birthday,” he explained.

When asked why the town has elected to share the town-wide numbers, Seelig said he believes it is about both transparency and trust. “If the town is giving out information, then our hope is that the residents trust that the information given is accurate. Part of that trust is based on transparency, such as providing the number of positive cases.

We’ve not provided any other information (demographics, geography) because, especially with a small town, residents may try to use that information to identify the individuals.”

Seelig was clear to state, however, that short of a sudden increase by several magnitudes, the number of cases in town should not be cause for a change in behavior. “Residents should follow the social distancing protocols and practice good hygiene. That’s what will be most effective,” he said.

According to Seelig, one of the most persistent requests coming into the town is for information regarding the recent whereabouts of those with confirmed cases. It is the public health nurses, rather than the Board of Health, who are responsible for contact tracing. Those with close, sustained proximity to the infected are then given recommendations for how to proceed.

Seelig said that giving too much information as to the infected person’s recent activity could jeopardize their privacy. “If someone wanted information such as “On Friday, Individual X was at 10 Main Street from 8am to 4pm, then went to the Acme Grocery Store from 4pm to 5pm, and got take out from Generic Pizza at 5:15pm and then went to 100 State Street for the rest of the day” it would almost certainly end up in the identification of the individual,” he explained.

Like Halifax, the town of Kingston has also elected to share updates on their town website including the number of confirmed cases in town. As of April 7, the number of confirmed cases in Kingston has been holding steady at nine since March 30.

Chair of the Board of Selectmen Joshua Warren said, “Although it is impossible to quantify if or how the Town’s proactive approach to closing public buildings, parks and playgrounds weeks ago has contributed to our number of cases remaining at 9, we are confident that everybody’s ongoing efforts to stay at home unless it is absolutely necessary, and to maintain social distancing guidelines and proper sanitation practices has only helped to keep Kingston’s number of confirmed cases at 9.”

Plympton, who has a much smaller population than Halifax and Kingston, has two confirmed cases as of April 7. Chair of the Plympton Board of Health Arthur Morin said it is the responsibility of the Visiting Nurses Association (VNA) to perform an interview with infected individuals and perform contact tracing.