A passenger vehicle collided with a log-carrying truck, ending up underneath the truck, closing down Route 58 in Plympton, near the Winnetuxet Road intersection Wednesday at 11 am.
The single passenger, a woman, did not appear to suffer serious injuries, but was transported to the South Shore Hospital trauma center in South Weymouth as a precaution, according to Capt. John Sjosted. Plympton firefighters were needed to extricate the woman from her vehicle.
Photo on page 2
By Thomas Joyce
The Silver Lake High girls’ basketball team has a new head coach, and they will look to bounce back from a rebuilding year under him.
Now the Lakers coach is Tony Pina, who also coaches softball at Silver Lake. The former Carver Crusaders head coach won 150 games during his decade-long tenure with the girls team–and it only took him one game to get his first win as the Lakers head girls basketball coach.
The Lakers kicked off their season against the Duxbury Dragons on Friday, Dec. 13 with a 42-26 win to improve to 1-0 on the season. In the win, Lily Gustafson, a junior, and Kiley O’Brien, a sophomore, led the way; they scored nine points apiece. The Lakers also showed off their depth in the victory as eight different players scored points for the team.
The Lakers starting five in their first game of the season featured: junior Riley Dunphy as point guard, junior Molly Terbush as shooting guard, junior Erin deMacedo and sophomore Kiley O’Brien as their two forwards as well as senior Holly Reeder-Morning as their center. As a sophomore, Reeder-Morning was a Patriot League All-Start and led the team in scoring. She missed much of last season recovering from a knee injury.
Off the bench, Gustafson provides the team with a boost–as she exemplified in the team’s opening win against Duxbury. Additionally, they will look to senior Jordan Carroll, juniors Lily Noonan and Natalie Bouchard, and sophomores Reese Colon and Samantha Kelly for contributions and to provide depth.
As of Wednesday, the Lakers were 1-2 on the season. They fell 54-36 to Norwell on Monday, Dec. 16 and one day later, they fell 45-31 against Pembroke.
The Lakers next contest is a non-league matchup this Friday at home. They will host the Marshfield Rams (6:30 p.m. start time).
The Plympton School Committee met on Monday, December 16 to hear presentations from two department heads in addition to the usual updates and upcoming budget discussions.
Dennett Elementary School Principal Peter Veneto gave an update on the events of the past month. Report cards went out on December 9 and the school’s holiday concert was held on December 12. “It’s been a great month,” Veneto said. “We had a ton of parents come in for the Grade 2 Heritage Fair; we’ve seen a lot of parents in the building this month – the parent involvement has been terrific and it just goes to show that they’re very supportive of what goes on here and we’re very happy about that.” Veneto also called the Girl Scouts’ Holiday Craft Fair this past weekend “a huge success.” Plympton School Committee Chair Jon Wilhelmsen also had praise for the Thanksgiving feast held at the school last month. The winter break will be from Monday, December 23 to Friday, December 27.
Director of Business Services Christine Healy gave an update on the financials saying, “We’re progressing very nicely through the year; there have been no unexpected events that we haven’t been able to financially take care of.”
Administrator of Special Education Marie Grable gave a presentation, just as she had done at the Silver Lake Regional School Committee meeting the previous week. Grable began by defining special education as “specially designed instruction to help students with various disabilities anywhere from age 3 through age 22. Our focus is to try and equal the playing field for all students so that they can all access curriculum similar to their non-disabled peers.” Grable stressed the importance of the team in special education saying that it takes the cooperation and efforts of many including the student, parents, the school representative, the evaluation expert, the regular education teacher, the special education teacher, the child expert, and community agencies. At 14, the student becomes a legally recognized member of the team process.
The state gives ten classifications for schools to draw upon to determine if a student is eligible for an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Grable said that there are currently 53 students from Plympton, both at Dennett and out of district in K-6, that are receiving services via an IEP. Grable said that the number of students in out of district placements is going down. In fiscal year 2017, there were six out of district placements and in the current year there are only three.
Grable also spoke about the budget for special education tuition and transportation. One of the ways in which special education is paid for is through the state Circuit-Breaker program which reimburses school districts a percentage of the costs over a certain threshold which are accrued educating severely high needs students. For Plympton, that threshold is any amount over $45,792 per student. Out of district tuition for the town of Plympton this year is $535,381 and out of district transportation is $90,000. Some of these costs are offset through Circuit-Breaker. Two entitlement grants, Grant 240 and a smaller Grant 262, also help offset special education costs. According to Grable, the district needs to be cautious of the fact that the 240 grant is diminishing each year. A good portion of the 240 grant money is used toward the paraprofessionals that are working with the students receiving special education services. Grant 262 which targets students ages 3-5, is mainly used toward contracted services at the preschool level. Grable also said that in speaking with Superintendent Joy Blackwood, Assistant Superintendent Jill Proulx, and Principal Veneto about budget preparations they have decided to include a proposal to add a special education teacher.
Grable gave an overview of the post-secondary Pathways program for students aged 18-22 which helps students transition into the community. The students in the Silver Lake Pathways program were acknowledged during a ceremony in November along with their colleagues in the neighboring communities of Carver, Pembroke, Duxbury, Hanover, Marshfield, Plymouth, and Whitman-Hanson. Grable said, “This program is doing such an outstanding job and all of the programs work so well together. Our students are over in Pembroke, and Marshfield, and Hanover, and they’re working alongside the students in some of the other communities in the communities and the workforce.” Grable continued, “I’m so proud of the fact that the school committee and the superintendent have had the vision to allow this program to move forward.”
Technology Director for Silver Lake Steve Pellowe also gave a brief presentation to the committee. Pellowe referred to the department as “small but mighty” saying that they manage over 7,000 individual devices. Pellowe said that the department’s budget is up only $270 from last year. “We try not to ask for more than we need,” Pellowe explained. Vice Chair Jason Fraser said, “It’s amazing what you’ve done with the amount of money you’ve asked us for the years you’ve been here.” “The budget number is ridiculous but in a great and welcoming way,” Fraser continued. Wilhelmsen added, “I think it also speaks to how you are doing your budget.”
Blackwood said that initial budget discussions had already been had for Plympton. The district will be going out to bid for buses. As mentioned during the special education presentation, the addition of a new special education teacher will be proposed. Of the request, Blackwood said, “I fully support and believe this is the right thing to do; I believe it will be a savings to the town once we educate the public to understand what it will mean if we aren’t able to provide those services within the brick and mortar of the Dennett Elementary School.”
Blackwood said there would be a slight increase in maintenance costs for the building. Wilhelmsen said that he thought it best that regular maintenance items be included in the budget while “one-of” maintenance items would best be paid for through special town meeting. Blackwood also announced the retirement of long-time kindergarten teacher Donna Resmini at the end of the school year. Blackwood said that her retirement would be a great loss for the school but did acknowledge that it would result in a roughly $25,000 cost savings to the school.
Blackwood likened the building of a budget to a puzzle and said that they hope to bring forth a budget that is fiscally responsible while still meeting the needs of those in the building.
The Silver Lake Regional School Committee meeting Thursday, December 5 began with a performance of Frozen Jr. by the Middle School’s Drama Club.
The students, who were led by their Program Director and school nurse Carol Beck, performed a number of songs for the school committee and administration.
Committee Chair Jason Fraser thanked the parents for bringing their students and said, “Break a leg next week obviously, and thank you so much; we always look forward to seeing the students… we never really get to see the fruit of our labors and it is lovely to see.”
Silver Lake Regional Middle School principal James Dupille said, “I want to thank my students for coming and doing Frozen Junior.” He also praised Carol Beck for her work as the program director and told the committee that Beck was a big part of the annual New York trip where she took several students to see Frozen on Broadway. Showtimes for the middle school performance are this Saturday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 15 at 2 p.m.
Nutrition Director Megan Ahrenholz gave a follow-up presentation to the one she had presented in the spring. As she had done in her previous presentation, Ahrenholz brought one of her newer dishes for the committee to try, in this case, mango salsa. Ahrenholz, who is in her second year at Silver Lake, said that the department ended the previous year with a profit of $24,480. The current year is not looking as good with an estimated $10,000 to $15,000 loss anticipated. Ahrenholz said that an 8 percent increase in the cost of food, only one grocery vendor bid, and a decrease in school lunch participation were all significant factors in this year’s loss. Fraser said that they were having difficulty securing multiple bids in other areas as well, including school buses.
Ahrenholz shared with the committee several initiatives meant to reverse this trend. Amongst those were beginning breakfast at the high school in early 2020, offering new ala carte options at the middle school, and changing to a lower cost chicken patty. Ahrenholz also shared that she hopes to start a social media account for the nutrition department as well as having all recipes entered into the NutriKids menu planning program so parents, etc. can easily access nutrition and allergen information. Committee member Leslie-Ann McGee said, “I always think its wonderful when anybody comes to any meeting with a problem, also comes with a list of potential solutions, so I applaud you.”
Administrator of Special Education for Silver Lake Marie Grable also gave a presentation to the Committee. Currently, there are 637 total students in the district receiving special education services. The number of students in Halifax is 133, the number of students in Kingston 214, in Plympton the number stands at 53, and for the regionalized schools in Silver Lake 237. In terms of percentages, 16.8% of the Halifax student population have Individualized Education Programs (IEP), 15.1% of those in Kingston do, 16.8% of those in Plympton do as well. For the regionalized grades 7-12, 14.8% of the student population have IEPs. McGee asked Grable, how many, if any, of the students with IEPs were in mediation. Grable said that none of them were.
IEPs are contracts between the school and the family. When disagreements arise between the two parties that cannot be easily resolved, the case is sent to mediation with the most drastic outcome being a hearing before a judge. Committee members agreed that it was wonderful news to hear that none of the IEPs in the district were in mediation. The Committee also applauded Grable and her team for reducing the number of students with disabilities going out of district each year.
Fraser said, “Being able to keep our students here, in home, getting very specific instruction for very individualized needs and saving money at the same time is an unbelievable win-win-win situation. I know these are just numbers, but these are also kids and these kids all have families and the amount of difference that this makes in the lives of so many human beings is just remarkable.”
Grable’s presentation leaned heavily on the concept of equity rather than equality. As explained by Grable, equity equates to fairness, whereas equality equates to sameness. Essentially, just giving everyone the same opportunities does not amount to equality since that assumes that everyone is starting from the same place. Grable played a video for the Committee and administration entitled “Why Special Ed Isn’t” by Jennifer Sommerness. Sommerness argues against students being confined to self-contained special education classrooms. She also argues for thinking of students in strength-based ways.
Principal Dupille gave a report on some of the significant events that have either taken place or are scheduled to take place at the school.
The annual Head Start holiday party coordinated by the National Junior Honor Society is scheduled for December 16 from 4-6:30 p.m. Dupille also reported on the Jingle Ball Tournament this past Monday, December 9 where all participants brought in donations for Toys for Tots.
Other goings on in the spirit of giving include a coat drive from mid-December to mid-January where gently used winter coats will be collected during winter concerts as well as a giving tree organized by Carol Beck where donations will be made for fifty local families. A recent food drive at the school also resulted in donations of over 700 items. Staff and students had the opportunity to face off against one another, Principal Dupille among them, during the Turkey Bowl the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
Silver Lake Regional High School principal Michaela Gill was unable to attend due to a family commitment so superintendent Joy Blackwood showed a video Gill had prepared. Various department chairs were recorded giving an update on changes within their departments.
Melissa Fontaine, the chair of the social studies department, said that they were reviewing changes to the framework to align with statewide curriculum standards. Fontaine also said that they were adding a student-led, non-partisan civic project to their U.S. history requirements. Kelley Depasqua, who heads up the fine and practical arts department said that the department is working toward embracing more modern types of music and will be offering a modern band course that is more in line with rock band style music. On the art side of things, the department is working toward offering more digital media and graphic design-oriented classes. Chair of the foreign language department, Buffy Hines, said that the department plans to rename themselves world languages, rather than foreign languages. Computer science and mathematics chair Kevin Sawyer said that a new course called business and money management will be offered. English and language arts department member Nicole Afanasiw said that a creative writing 2 course will be added as well as a humor writing class. Committee members praised the presentation format.
The Superintendent gave a report that included an update on the budget process. Blackwood said that she had met with the principals of the various schools to have initial conversations. The hope is to have a clean budget by January. Among the requests to potentially be made in the school’s budget is the addition of a teacher for the Allied Health program at the high school as well as potentially making the part-time adjustment counselor position at the middle school a full-time one. Fraser said that the addition of the allied health teacher would qualify the program for Chapter 74 funding which would practically pay for the additional cost of bringing on another teacher. For her part, Blackwood would like to see more hours added for the school resource officer at the middle school. Currently, Plympton is paying for 8 hours a week, but Halifax voted against funding the position at town meeting. Kingston currently pays for the high school resource officer. Blackwood believes that the position should be built into the police budget as is done in other comparable districts. Blackwood would also like to see a full-time nurse leader position added. Blackwood also said that she would like to see the pay for substitute teachers increase from $85 to $95 per day and for substitute nurses from $125 to $175 daily. Blackwood urged that the increase is only fair and would ensure better applicants to fill the positions. The district will also be going out to bid for bus transportation.
Fraser gave an update on the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) Conference that both he and Blackwood attended in November. Fraser said he had the opportunity to take a picture with Attorney General Maura Healey.
Fraser said the he told Healey that Silver Lake would potentially be interested in signing onto the lawsuits that the state is pursuing against the vaping industry. Both Principal Gill and Principal Dupille have been tracking some of the data related to school spending on the epidemic. The Committee recommended that it be complied into a document of some sort.
Fraser also said that Resolution 1, which Fraser wrote and which bans polystyrene foam from public school cafeterias by the school year 2022-2023, was passed by the MASC. There are currently three bills at the State House regarding such a ban. Fraser said he was hopeful that this resolution would help give those bills momentum.
By Thomas Joyce
After undergoing a rebuild last season, the Whitman-Hanson/Silver Lake girls’ hockey co-op appears to be in a position to take a step in the right direction, led by a Silver Lake-heavy team.
A young team last season, the Skaters had just two seniors on their roster. They got off to a slow 0-7-0 start, but enjoyed better results as the season progressed, picking up at least a point in the standings in six of their final 12 games to finish the season at 4-13-2.
The team enjoyed most of its success last season offensively–primarily from the stick of senior captain Alyssa Murphy, a Kingston native. A Patriot League All-Star last year, she had 42 points on the season (27 goals, 15 assists) and nearly half of the team’s 62 goals.
On top of that, Lilly Ulvila (9 goals, 3 assists) of Kingston showed promise as a freshman last season, finishing second on the team in goals scored; junior Ellie Grady (7 goals, 6 assists), also from Kingston, ranked third on that list. Outside of Silver Lake, Emily McDonald (6 goals, 9 assists), a junior at Whitman-Hanson, was also a key offensive contributor as a sophomore last season, ranking second in total points.
Junior Kat Gilbert, a Halifax native, returns in net for the third straight season. Before high school, she had not played goaltender full-time, so she will continue to gain experience. Defensively, however, the Skaters likely won’t have a ton of depth after two captains to graduation on that side of the puck.
The Skaters first game of the season was this Thursday, Dec. 12 on the road against Bishop Stang. Their next game is this Saturday, Dec. 14 on the road against the Canton Bulldogs. That game will take place at the Canton Ice House (7:55 p.m. start time, according to My Hockey Live).
Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus were the guests of honor at the Plympton Fire Dept. Saturday morning. Good little children stopped by to enjoy breakfast with the Jolly Old Elf and his bride, and to tell their secret wishes for Christmas morning. Mrs. Claus gave each child a candy cane.
More Photos by
Kristy Zamagni-Twomey on pages 8, 9, and 13.
The first item on the agenda at the Tuesday, Dec. 10 Halifax selectmen’s meeting was the Council on Aging (COA) Director search. One of the final two candidates is the current assistant town clerk in Halifax, Sue Lawless. Chair Troy Garron said, “I think by appointing Ms. Lawless it sends a message out to the town employees that there is an opportunity to move up within the organization.” Selectman Gordon Andrews and Selectman Tom Millias agreed with the decision to appoint Lawless as the new COA Director. Millias said, “A big thank you to the screening committee… it was a long time, there were a lot of applicants, there were two rounds, it was a lot to ask of volunteers and we want to thank you all.” The interim COA Director Brenda Fitzgerald will stay on for a few weeks to overlap with Lawless in order to provide training.
The Selectmen also discussed the public hearing held the previous week to discuss the possibility of entering into a host community agreement with Bud’s Goods and Provisions to establish an outdoor marijuana growing facility in town.
Bud’s president and CEO Alex Mazin was present at Tuesday’s meeting but didn’t speak. Town Administrator Charlie Seelig said there were about forty abutters and other interested residents present at the hearing. Several residents mentioned concerns regarding odors as well as the appearance of the fence which would surround the facility. Millias said, “I heard concerns but I didn’t hear outright, vocal objections.” Seelig asked the selectmen if they were interested in gathering further public opinion before taking steps toward a community host agreement. The selectmen decided that while they didn’t need another public hearing, they wanted to give residents another week or so to submit comments regarding the proposed facility.
MacFaun appointed to Board of Health Steven MacFaun had a joint appointment with the Board of Selectmen and Board of Health to interview for an open position on the Board of Health. MacFaun, who said he has a background in septic, said he has been to several of the Board’s meetings and also attended a convention recently to learn more about issues pertaining to the Board of Health. Garron asked him if he attended town meetings and MacFaun replied that he does. Millias said, “Years ago, everybody kind of stereotyped the Board of Health with septic systems and that is just not the case anymore.” MacFaun assured Millias that he understood the complexity of the issues facing the Board of Health. Alan Dias, clerk for the Board of Health, moved to appoint MacFaun. MacFaun was unanimously appointed with the support of both boards.
Several other openings on various boards and committees were also discussed during Tuesday’s meeting. A talent bank form was submitted for the Municipal School Building Committee. An application for the Planning Board vacancy was submitted after the deadline but the Selectmen agreed to setup an appointment for her to come before them. According to Andrews, the applicant has a background in real estate.
The revised site plan for Amanda’s Estates was approved by the Planning Board by a vote of 2-1 last week. The Party Trust still must go to the ZBA for approval for new special permits based on their site plan.
The Board also voted to approve a number of license renewals for 2020 for many of the business in town.
Holidays in Halifax is this Saturday
Seelig said that Breakfast with Santa will be this Saturday, December 14 at 8:30 at the Halifax Elementary School. The event serves as the prelude to Holidays in Halifax which is currently in its 25th year. “We’ve had one every year, rain, snow, winds, warm weather like we may have this year,” Seelig said. A number of events are planned for this year’s festivities, all to take place on December 14. “I hope everyone will be able to make it out,” Seelig said.
By Thomas Joyce
Dominant is the best word to describe the Silver Lake High football team’s Thanksgiving day performance.
The Lakers hosted the Pembroke Titans on Thursday, Nov. 28 — and beat them with ease. The Lakers came up with a 54-0 victory.
At halftime, the Lakers led 21-0. Their first touchdown came on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Ben Lofstrom to Sean Waters in the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, a 16-yard rush from Matt Gabra put the team up by two touchdowns. And then senior captain Will Hesketh, a center and linebacker, punched in a one-yard touchdown run later in the quarter; Hesketh broke his leg in the first game of the season, and this was his first game back. All three extra point kicks were good; during the game, both Waters and Drew Keiran kicked for the Lakers.
Midway through the second half, Owen Thompson scored on a five-yard touchdown run following a 30-yard run to put the team in scoring territory. Dylan Landers then intercepted Pembroke and had a five-yard touchdown reception from Lofstrom.
Shortly after, the Lakers got another defense stop and Lofstrom connected with Waters for a 30-yard touchdown. Before the third quarter ended, Bobby Shields also had a 14-yard touchdown catch.
In the fourth quarter, Lofstrom connected with Waters on one last touchdown: a 22-yard pass. It put Waters at over 1,000 receiving yards on the season. As a thrower, Lofstrom exceeded 2,000 yards passing.
The Lakers defense was sharp in the contest. They finished the year strong, producing back-to-back shutouts against Nauset and Pembroke.
The Lakers finish their season at 6-5 with this win. With the loss, Pembroke finished the year at 1-10. This also means the Lakers hold a 10-4 lead in the all-time series and have won four of their last five Thanksgiving Day matchups.
The Tuesday November 26 Halifax Board of Selectmen meeting began with the Board hearing a complaint by a town employee against one of the selectmen. Chair Troy Garron suggested moving to executive session but Gordon Andrews asked to remain in open session. Former Planning Board secretary Terri Renaud said that Andrews had accused her both in email and in public meetings of destroying documents.
The documents in question are the April 10 site plan for Amanda’s Estates. Andrews said he made a public records request in February or March and was told the documents were available. According to Andrews, however, when he went to the Planning Board he was told the only available plans were the approved ones from September. Andrews said that he explained that the minutes showed that the records should exist and claims that Renaud told him that older plans are destroyed once newer ones are approved. Andrews said that he told Renaud that plans that were displayed during a public meeting cannot be destroyed and must be kept as part of the public record. Renaud said she had no recollection of saying that she got rid of previous plans when newer ones become available.
Renaud brought her direct supervisor, Building Inspector Robert Piccirilli, as well as her colleague, current Regulatory Board secretary Arlanna Snow to testify on her behalf. Snow said that she did not want to make a statement but would answer any questions directed to her. Piccirilli said that he recalled seeing emails in which Andrews asked Renaud to sign something acknowledging that the records were lost. Piccirilli further said that at some point the accusation escalated from the files being missing to the files being destroyed.
Andrews was able to secure a copy of the plans from the town clerk’s office. Andrews said that when he reviewed the signed plans from the Planning Board from September 14, there were post-it notes on the plans. Andrews expressed concern that the missing Planning Board plans from April would have had similar notations on them.
Selectmen Chair Troy Garron asked Andrews what motivated him to ask for the plans. Andrews then recused himself and sat with the public before stating, “I asked for a copy of the plans because of the lawsuit I have against the town which prove that the original plans that came in, which Charlie’s memo discusses, shows everything on one lot.”
Selectman Tom Millias asked Andrews if his accusations were malicious to which Andrews replied, “Was it malicious? I don’t think so, I think it was declaring the facts. She told me that she gets rid of plans when new ones come in. I told her you can’t get rid of plans, it’s a violation of public records.”
Millias asked Renaud if there were various people going through the folder containing the document in question due to the litigation involved. Renaud acknowledged that there was and pointed out that the door to the office is open during the day. Millias said, “so literally anyone could have misplaced them, misfiled them, taken them.”
Garron asked Renaud what her expectation was to which she answered, “I wanted to state my case. Something was said against me and I just wanted it to be brought forward and prove my innocence that I did not do this.” Garron said, “It’s a difficult situation. We have two town employees who represent the town and to my knowledge who have done good work … my feeling right now is to take no action on it because there is no right or wrong in this particular situation at least from my standpoint.” Millias agreed saying, “I don’t think we can come to any conclusion here. I don’t see an action being taken other than airing it out.”
Renaud said she was satisfied with the opportunity she was given to speak her mind. Andrews asked that the process for viewing public documents be reviewed suggesting possibly signing out documents.
Seelig said that Fuller Street resident Melissa Sheridan had requested that stop signs be placed in the intersection near Fuller, Cedar, and Wood streets. Sheridan said that she had seen several accidents at the intersection during her time living there. The Police Chief and Highway Surveyor were also in agreement that stop signs were needed. The Board approved the installation of two stop signs in this area.
The Police Chief and IT Specialist notified Seelig about the Video Surveillance Registration Program. It is a completely voluntary program that enables residents to register any cameras they have with the police department. If an incident were to occur in the vicinity of a registered camera, the police could use the footage as part of their investigation. Seelig stressed that registration is optional and even if registered, residents are not required to surrender footage.
Drew McGlincy appeared before the Board for an appointment to the Finance Committee. McGlincy, who had the recommendation of the Finance Committee, said that he has internship experience both on Wall Street as well as internship and job experience at IBM. His degrees are in finance and information systems engineering. The Board voted to appoint him. The next step will be for McGlincy to be sworn in as the newest member of the committee.
Seelig gave an update on the budget process saying he met with the Finance Committee and most of the department heads the previous week. According to Seelig, the town should be able to do a level service budget with most of the departments. “We’re not going to encourage them to submit for increases and such… but keep the number of people you have, the number of hours, the service level,” Seelig said. The Board and the Finance Committee said that departments should submit alternate budgets beyond the level service if they felt there were needs that were not being met, etc. Seelig said, “There’s no guarantee obviously that we’re going to have the money for that but at least that may continue the conversation about what the town’s needs are.”
Seelig also shared that Silver Lake had indicated that the salary budget might be going up $700,000 which represents roughly $200,000 for Halifax. “I don’t like telling a department, in essence, and saying we can’t afford you… but not saying so gets us into a position in March where we’re having this argument then.” Seelig said that he attended the Silver Lake Regional School Committee meeting in October to ask them to submit a revenue driven budget.
Andrews also shared with the other Selectmen and Seelig that a large group of parents turned out for the previous night’s Halifax School Committee meeting to request that an additional teacher be added to support the large class size for Grade 3. The Kindergarten class has only 65 students, but Grade 3 has 100. As a result, the class size for Grade 3 is 25 students. Parents asked that either another teacher be added, or one transferred from elsewhere. Andrews said that he recommended to the parents in attendance that they attend town meeting as the mechanism to fund an additional teacher would likely be an article at town meeting. Andrews also pointed out that negotiations are scheduled this year for much of the school staff including cafeteria workers, paraprofessionals, and teachers.
Highway surveyor Steve Hayward spoke to the Board and Seelig regarding a fee list for cremation. The costs are not for cremation itself, but for a spot to store the ashes similar to a burial plot. Hayward said that he had reviewed the fees charged by other local communities while preparing his list. Hayward said that the single pillars would cost the town $180 but the purchase price would be $500. The Board, who act as cemetery commissioners, approved the concept and fee list.
Eagle Scout projects
Three Boy Scouts from Troop 39 met with the Board to review their plans for their Eagle Scout projects. Connor Burgess plans to build a 20 ft. by 20 ft. pavilion for the HOPS playground.
Scott McKee’s project will be the revitalization of the Harry Brown Nature Trail. McKee told the Board that the trail was originally constructed by one of Troop 39’s first Eagle Scouts. “I’m hoping to bring it back to some of its former glory by re-clearing the trail and adding benches and a bird watching area at the end for people to go out and enjoy nature,” McKee explained. He went on to say that he plans to build a walkway over some of the wet marsh lands.
Joseph Boardman intends to refurbish the Ruth Perkins reading garden outside of the Holmes Public Library. In addition to pressure washing and staining the pergola, Boardman plans to mulch and edge the garden area and sand and finish the benches. Boardman also plans to remove the cracked concrete and add a purple martin birdhouse.
Garron thanked the scouts for beautifying the community. Building Inspector Robert Piccirilli added, “I would just like to say I’ve had the pleasure of watching some of these guys. I’m looking forward to working with you guys. Anything you need, please come see me.”
By Thomas Joyce
With winter sports season starting up this past Monday at Silver Lake High, here is a refresher of how each of the varsity teams fared last season.
Boys Basketball
The Lakers made it to the Division 2 South sectional playoff bracket, but fell to Tech Boston on the road 80-50. The senior-heavy team finished their season at 13-9.
Girls Basketball
The Lakers underwent a rebuilding year, going 5-15 on the season.
Gymnastics
The co-op with Pembroke had yet another strong season; they earned their fourth straight Patriot League title. Ava Dorsey, a freshman last season, earned the Patriot League MVP award.
Boys Hockey
For the third straight season, the Lakers made it to the Division 3 South sectional playoffs via the Sullivan Rule. They went 8-11-4 last season and lost their top two scorers to graduation.
Girls Hockey
The co-op with Whitman-Hanson had a down year, going 4-13-2. However, the team was on the younger side and showed growth throughout the season. After starting the year at 0-7-0, they went 4-6-2 in their final 12 games.
Swimming
On the girls side, Alexa Connors earned Division 1 State titles last season. She got one in the 200 (1:50.84) another in the 500 freestyle (4:53.14). A senior this season, she has an opportunity to defend those titles once again.
Track
Both track teams enjoyed positive results last season; during the regular season, the girls went 4-1 and the boys went 3-2. Each team had their share of contenders at the state meet and Riley Paskow went to All-States for the girls; she came in 13th place in the 600 meter at the event.
Wrestling
The Lakers sent a pair of wrestlers to the Division 2 state tournament last season, including Kyle Cipullo (195), now a junior.