The Kingston Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, March 26. Chair Kimberley Emberg noted the large police presence there that evening for the potential signing of the agreement between the town and the final candidate for the position of Police Chief, Brian Holmes. The official swearing in will take place on April 11 and Holmes will begin working for the town as of April 15. The Selectmen voted unanimously to approve the agreement. The Police officers present that evening gave a round of applause. Holmes was previously employed by the Stoughton Police Department. Holmes spoke saying, “I’m overwhelmed at the turnout of the men and women of the Kingston Police Department. I want to thank them for being here and I’m truly looking forward to working with all of them. I have a goal and my goal comes from a guiding principle that I received from a sergeant way back in the day… leave people better than you found them.” He also thanked the Selectmen and the Search Committee.
Emberg addressed a dog that was voted a nuisance dog at a previous meeting. The owner is currently in the process of rehoming the dog and asked for an extension to come into compliance. Town Administrator Keith Hickey said, “he believes he has somebody that is familiar with the breed – he has to introduce to the dogs he has now. The owner also let me know that he has reached out to the Kingston Animal Hospital to make arrangements that, if in two weeks from today, the dog has not been rehomed, he will go in a different direction.” Given the past extensions, Hickey said that he did let the owner know that while the Board didn’t want to see a dog put down, he did believe they were at the end of their rope with granting such extensions. Selectman Eric Crone said he was in favor of the extension. The Board agreed to delay the decision until their next meeting.
The Selectmen appointed Brian Payne to the Conservation Commission effective immediately to a term ending in June of 2025. Payne is currently a member of the Open Space Committee and the Community Preservation Commission.
Hickey spoke on the need to reconsider the Town Meeting schedule. He said that given the extensive conversation around the schools’ budget and the need for them to acquire more time to present to the Finance Committee and communities, he suggested moving Town Meeting from May 4 to May 11. This would extend the closing of the warrant as well from March 26 to April 23. This will require the Selectmen to close and vote on the warrant at the same meeting. The Selectmen unanimously voted to approve the amended May 2024 Town Meeting schedule.
Hickey provided a Town Administrator’s update. He said that the boat ramp project is underway. He commended the contractor on working with the Conservation Agent to make sure that the materials were anchored during the recent rainstorms to prevent anything from spilling into the lake.
Hickey said that with the IT Manager retiring, he is looking into contracting the services out. He noted that while it was less money for the town, it also reduced the number of minutes a person is available in the building. He said that he would bring forth a proposal to the Selectmen in coming weeks. Emberg asked if the company would be able to remote into computers and provide IT tech support over the phone, etc. Hickey said that they could offer an employee in the building 8 hours per week to address things that can’t be done remotely. Crone said that in the past they had explored sharing IT staff with the schools amongst other ideas. He recommended doing a shorter contract of just one year as opposed to a longer contract in case things didn’t work out. Hickey also told the Selectmen that the Assistant Town Planner is seeking employment elsewhere.
Finally, Hickey told the Selectmen that he hoped to have the Memorial Day cookout after the parade again behind the town offices. He said that if anyone was interested in assisting or participating, they would love to have the help. He called the previous year’s event “amazing.”
Laker student wins DAR award
The Duxbury Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution held its annual award ceremony on Monday, March 26, at 1 p.m. at the Plymouth Yacht Club, presenting the winners of the Good Citizens award for the academic year 2024.
The Good Citizens Award is an annual award given to high school seniors for academic, community service, and citizenship excellence. Seven students were presented awards for their excellent essays.
The Daughters of the American Revolution is an organization with a rich history while also being relevant in today’s world. More than 1,000,000 women have joined the organization since it was founded over 125 years ago. They became members to honor their heritage as well as make a difference in their communities across the country and the world. Learn more about the amazing history of the DAR and what members are doing today to continue that legacy.
Plympton grapples with school budget
The Plympton School Commmittee met Monday, March 25 to discuss the school’s budget and how it pertains to the overall town budget. It was a packed audience. Chair of the School Committee Jason Fraser got things started saying, “I’ve been working very closely with town leadership since late January… for how we were going to handle the increases we were seeing toward the cost of education for our small town… our annual town budget is roughly $13 million and the increases we were seeing for education alone were north of $700,000 in increases.” Fraser continued, “In working with the town they said that they could afford approximately $400,000 in increases meaning that we would have to find a way, between Silver Lake’s budget and Dennett’s budget, to cut over $300,000.” Fraser also said that in a meeting in mid-March, Silver Lake cut approximately $155,000 from Plympton’s portion of that budget. Fraser noted that it would mean the Dennett cutting nearly $170,000 that evening which he said would “include reduction of force to staff members here at the school.”
Fraser said that around 4 p.m. that evening he was approached by the Town Administrator Liz Dennehy who offered one-time funds of $62,000. The funds are American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) revenue replacement. “It will allow us this evening not to have to make any reduction of force and keep our staff whole and complete,” Fraser told the crowd. This declaration was met with rousing applause. “There are still some areas we need to trim back the budget even with the $462,000 the town of Plympton has given us to meet the requirements of our schools to function,” he added.
Superintendent Jill Proulx and Business Director Sarah Hickey led off the budget presentation. Hickey began by outlining the changes to the Plympton budget since they last met in late February and presented the Version II budget. The first change was a REAP grant allocation to offset kindergarten tuition in the amount of $24,217. An increase of $1,103 was added due to shared cost adjustments. Version IV of the budget comes in at $4,089,098 and requires a reduction of $173,565. Hickey also said that there was a 31 percent increase in the assessment for Plympton to Silver Lake. She said that the assessment to Silver Lake plus the Dennett budget, put the total cost of education for Plympton at $7,220,419 or a 5.9 percent increase overall. Fraser noted that they would need support at Town Meeting to pass the budget.
Hickey went over some of the overall increased costs in the FY’ 25 budget including contractual obligations, health insurance, special education tuition and transportation, supplies, and utilities. She noted that contractual obligations are not limited to teachers and staff, but also include other contracted services. “We are responsible to take care of the educational well-being of all students in Plympton regardless of their needs; it’s something that this Committee has always held to both legally, but also morally,” Fraser said. He continued, “And we can see the position that it’s pushing us into with the State not really coming through with it’s side of funding to help support the towns to meet the needs of these children.”
Proulx said that the next steps would be further discussion with the towns. She noted that the Finance Committee was set to meet the following week. She went over proposed cuts including minimal ones to both Principal supply and supplies. The technology line was reduced by $15k as was the curriculum resources line. Other reductions included $14k for the sub line as well as $31,200 from a math interventionist line. The math interventionist position is not yet filled so will not result in a loss of a job. Proulx was asked for a list of items and programs that would be included in the cuts. Programs such as Reading A to Z and Typing Club were reported as proposed cuts. Fraser said that while they don’t normally take private donations for the school’s operating budget, something like that could help offset some of the cuts. Fraser said that while the School Committee doesn’t look forward to taking away any resources from the Plympton students, it does bring some relief knowing no one would be losing their job. He thanked Selectmen Chair Christine Joy, Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy, and Finance Committee member Marilyn Browne for working with the schools to get them the $462,000 in increases. The Committee then voted to approve the new version of the budget at $3,975,000.
Once the budget was voted, the Committee took up other business. Fraser said that he met with the Town Manager regarding dogs being allowed on the Dennett property. He said that at this time they are looking into a potential dog park and noted that there was no intent to implement a leash law in town. The town asked the Committee to continue to prohibit dogs from the Dennett property.
Fraser provided the legislative update saying, “we actually made out quite well in Plympton this year with Chapter 70 funding… we received $152,000 more this year than we received last year. One of the ways we’re funding the increases in education we’re seeing here in this town.” He went on to say that it didn’t work out that way for many other towns in the State. He noted that the State is allowing prices of private schools to go up significantly while not supporting local public schools with Chapter 70 funding. “Currently I and colleagues are asking the State of Massachusetts to increase the inflationary index from 1.25 to closer to 4.0,” Fraser said. Fraser said that the per pupil increment for Chapter 70 is currently $30 per pupil, but that it was being requested to increase that to $100 per pupil. He also said they are also asking the State to increase Circuit Breaker funding to 75 percent amongst other things.
Principal Peter Veneto provided a Principal’s Report. He said that the talent show the previous Friday evening was very successful and thanked CASA as well as all of the parent volunteers for their efforts. He noted that after 13 years with Dennett Elementary, paraprofessional Tracie Sweeney accepted a position elsewhere as an adjustment counselor. “Happy for her, very sad for us,” Veneto said. He also told the Committee about report cards, parent-teacher conferences, and the bookfair. Additionally, he said that MCAS season was beginning and said that the fifth grade had a visit from a comfort dog ahead of the exams.
While Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch was unable to attend, Superintendent Proulx did tell the Committee on his behalf that he had submitted a copy of the Student Opportunity Act Plan for their review and acceptance. Proulx said that every three years, districts are required to submit an updated plan to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). “Each district is required to identify one to three evidence-based programs they are implementing to close achievement gaps,” Proulx said. A Committee member asked about a position that was being funded through Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER). Fraser explained that ESSER funding is federal funding that exists for just one more year before expiring. Lynch’s proposal included using Student Opportunity Act funds to cover some of those expenses after the additional funding isn’t available any longer through ESSER. Proulx noted that beginning in FY’ 26 they will need to find a different funding source. After significant discussion, the Committee did vote to approve Lynch’s proposed submission with just one member abstaining from the vote.
COA can’t offer foot services
The Plympton Board of Selectmen met in-person on Monday, March 11 with all three members present.
Selectman John Traynor said that the Board of Health issued a letter stating that the podiatry services for the Council on Aging could not be held at the Town House. “So I think we basically have to go back and have a plan B.” Director of Elder Affairs Colleen Thompson spoke on the matter saying, “I’m a little upset. It never even occurred to me that we would need to speak to the Board of Health. And in my correspondence with Liz [Dennehy] that never came up.” Thompson also said that she felt that the discussions around the services escalated quickly and said that while the Board of Health argues that she didn’t ask their permission, she was not included in the letter they sent despite it directly affecting her department. Thompson called the Board of Health’s arguments “spurious at best” and said that there is little difference between the podiatry services and the blood pressure and sugar and cholesterol checks that are done. “There’s no privacy and there’s medical waste, but we do them because it’s not really a big deal,” Thompson said. She continued saying that there is support from the nurse and noted that the doctor “has done this for years” and knows how to sanitize properly, etc. She spoke with Carver who runs a similar program about shared services, but said it is so popular that they already have a waitlist.
Thompson told the Selectmen, “I think we need to figure out a way to get the seniors more services in Plympton.” She emphasized that more thought needs to be given to how this can be done. She proposed creating a medical room to be used for medical needs. Selectmen Chair Christine Joy told Thompson that the podiatry services are not a “dead issue” saying they just need to find a place better suited to the program. Traynor said that he believes most would prefer a public space over a doctor going into homes due to safety concerns. “Let us take this back and see what we can come up with,” Joy said.
Regarding annual town meeting preparations, Town Administrator Liz Dennehy said, “At this time, we’re actively working with all of the departments on articles, budgets, all of that, so all of that is in full swing.” The annual town meeting warrant closed on the last Monday in March. Regarding budgets, Dennehy also said, “Our financial team internally, we’re all working very hard to figure out our finances going forward and how we might want to structure things and keep our debt at an even level as some of that falls off.”
As customary, the Selectmen discussed their raves for the last few weeks. “I think I have a rave though for the Financial Committee that’s been working on the Fire Station; I think you guys, which is Marilyn Browne from the Finance Committee, Kathryn Shepard, Christine Kelly [Treasurer/Collector], Elizabeth [Dennehy], Lisa Hart [Accountant]… and Jon Wilhelmsen, I think this is kind of outside their normal, everybody’s basically not getting paid, they’re volunteers so I’m very impressed with their willingness to put in time; hopefully it will pay off,” Traynor said.
Joy said that her rave was for Colleen Thompson. “I love that she feels so strongly about this (foot services) that she doesn’t want to let it go. It is an important issue. We just need to find a way to make it work in a suitable location,” Joy said. She continued, “It’s definitely a service that’s needed. If there’s waitlists for other towns than it’s something that we need to offer.”
Traynor proposed reaching out to neighboring towns. “This might be an opportunity for a shared-services grant,” Joy said. Selectman Mark Russo emphasized Joy’s rave for Thompson. His second rave was in regard to shared services saying, “I think we need to continue to always be on the lookout for shared services that might work and might model and bring forth others. I’m glad that comes up and I think that’s one of the ways out of the endless financial struggles the town has.” His final rave was for the “super raw early spring days.” He said that those days really make the later beautiful spring days “all the more wonderful.”
‘Eggs’cellent egg hunt inside
Plympton Police Dept. put a lot of smiles onto young faces with a bunny-hopping Easter egg hunt. While torrents of rain moved the fun and games inside, nothing could tarnish the event.
Bunny helpers filled about a thousand eggs with chocolate and candies. All the kids got a treasure trove of eggs to bring home, as well as Easter toys, crafts, coloring, games, and treats. It was a fun afternoon on a ferociously rainy day!
In addition, kids could also fill out an entry form for a free raffle and choose a chance for a fancy basket, some donated by Plympton residents. A fan favorite was a Paw Patrol themed basket.
The grand prize basket was won by Lauren O’Connor. Everyone had a wonderful time, with many thanks to the Plympton Police Dept. for hosting such a fun-filled rainy afternoon.
Fernandes calls for immediate halt to Pilgrim Nuclear’s forced wastewater evaporation
Fernandes and legislative colleagues issue letter demanding Holtec stop forced wastewater evaporation at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant
BOSTON – Tuesday, March 26, Representative Dylan Fernandes joined legislative colleagues in calling on Holtec leadership to immediately stop the forced evaporation of radioactive wastewater at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant.
“The forced evaporation of untreated radioactive wastewater raises health and safety concerns,” said Rep. Fernandes. “Holtec has repeatedly breached the public trust and needs to be held accountable for the safe decommissioning of the power plant. We are calling on them to stop forced evaporation until MassDEP can analyze the health and safety implications for the people of Plymouth and the surrounding communities.”
The letter, signed by legislative colleagues from across Cape Cod and the South Shore, calls on Holtec to stop the forced evaporation of radioactive wastewater until the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) can fully analyze this untested method of wastewater disposal.
Holtec previously proposed discharging over 1 million gallons of radioactive waste directly into the Cape Cod Bay. This plan was met with significant public opposition and was tentatively denied by DEP. Instead of seeking a safer alternative, Holtec installed electric submersion heaters to evaporate the contaminated water without notifying the public or state regulators. This method results in higher exposure to radioactive tritium for surrounding communities.
“We deserve transparency and accountability when it comes to the handling of nuclear waste and residents deserve to know exactly whether forced evaporation will impact their health and safety,” Fernandes continued.
Fernandes has served as the State Representative for the Barnstable, Dukes, and Nantucket district since 2017. He’s running for State Senate in the Plymouth and Barnstable district to succeed Senator Su Moran, who announced last November she would not seek re-election.
Plymouth Philharmonic and Kingston Public Library to present String Quartet Concert on April 3
Kingston – The Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra and the Kingston Public Library will jointly present a free string quartet concert titled, “A History through Music,” on Wednesday, April 3 at 6 p.m. at the Kingston Intermediate School auditorium, 66 Second Brook St., Kingston.
“We’re excited to collaborate with the Kingston Public Library in presenting a free chamber ensemble concert for the community,” said Kim Corben, Executive Director of the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra. “Over the years, we’ve been fortunate to utilize the Kingston Intermediate School cafeteria for some of our concert rehearsals. In appreciation, we hope students, families, and Phil fans will come out to enjoy a free evening of beautiful music.”
The 45-minute program will feature a variety of musical periods including baroque, classical, romantic, and contemporary. The string quartet will perform Loure from Third Suite for Cello by Johann Sebastian Bach, the Minuet from Quartet in D minor by Joseph Hayden, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig Van Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 13, Franz Schubert’s Moment Musicaux, the String Quartet in F Major by Antonin Dvořák, and Libertango by Astor Piazzolla.
Kingston Public Library Reference Librarian Steven Miller will introduce each piece, and the concert will conclude with a brief question and answer session with the musicians. The quartet features Plymouth Philharmonic members Ana-Maria LaPointe and Aleksandra Labinska on violin, Elizabeth Christensen on viola, and Peter Zay on cello.
The concert is sponsored by the Kingston Public Library Foundation, with additional funding from the Kingston Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.No admission or registration is required to attend the concert which is geared towards middle school and high school students, casual music lovers, and regular concert goers of the Plymouth Philharmonic.
About the members of the String Quartet:
Ana-Maria LaPointe has been Concertmaster of the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra since 2008. She also performs with the Lexington Symphony and Nashua Symphony Orchestra.
Aleksandra Labinska is the principal second violin of the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra. She is a versatile violinist performing as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.
Elisabeth Christensen is the principal viola of the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra. She is the managing director of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, working closely with the music director.
Peter Zay is the principal cello of the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra. He also serves as the acting assistant principal cello of the Hartford Symphony and as a member of the New Bedford Symphony.
New England orchestras as the Portland Symphony (ME), the Boston Modern Orchestra, the Springfield Symphony (MA), he also appears regularly as the newest member of the long standing, Connecticut based New World Trio. He is a soloist with the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra’s Learning in Concert program for over 50 local elementary schools in Southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and as a member of the Mosaic String Trio, he has collaborated to create and perform many varied and engaging educational programs for thousands of school children throughout Connecticut. Zay is a private cello instructor in the Boston region and on the teaching staff for the Wayland Public Schools.
About the Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra
The Plymouth Philharmonic Orchestra is a premier non-profit cultural institution in Massachusetts. Dedicated to artistic excellence and community enrichment, the orchestra offers world-class performances, innovative outreach programs, and strong community partnerships. Now in its 108th season, the Phil’s mission is to inspire, engage, and entertain through the power of live music. For more information, visit plymouthphil.org or call 508.746.8008.
About the Kingston Public Library
Established in 1871, the Kingston Public Library is a community-driven organization, a center for learning, collaboration, creativity, fun and an environment for lifelong learning. The Library is dedicated to providing the residents of Kingston with cultural enrichment, recreation, learning opportunities, and supporting the community with practical help in their everyday lives. Our knowledgeable staff willingly and capably provide the assistance needed to ensure each patron’s success, in a place that is comfortable and welcoming.
For more information you can visit the Kingston Public Library at kingstonpubliclibrary.org.
Winnetuxet Bridge redux
MassDOT will consider comments on the replacement of the Winnetuxet Rd., Plympton, bridge over the Winnetuxet River until Friday, March 29. Comments should be mailed to Heidi Davis, MassDEP Wetlands Program, 100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900, Boston, MA 02114 or email [email protected] by the March 29 deadline.
After much commentary last fall, the new design of the replacement bridge, will be much the same as the existing bridge, but will be wider, to accommodate two lanes. A full superstructure bridge replacement is proposed, with most of the project underneath the bridge, making a stronger support structure.
DOT’s John Goggin, said the project is scheduled to be advertised this summer and a contract awarded in the fall. He anticipates that the majority of work will occur in 2025.
Wooden rails on the sides of the bridge will be similar to those currently in place, so it will essentially look much as it does today but will be much stronger.
School budgets in trouble
Silver Lake District towns were scrambling after Thursday, March 14th’s meeting with the combined Silver Lake school committees, when they learned that the budget, a “level-services” budget, was going to increase a whopping $6.7 million over last year, due largely to special education increases, including special ed transportation. The new district business manager, Sarah Hickey, presented a two-hour slide show depicting her take on the budget and her new formula for calculating the combined budget and its individual town shares.
As the initial shock subsided, representatives of all the member towns spoke up saying that even if they taxed up to their levy limit, they would not be able to meet the proposed increases, most of which are state mandated, without going back to their towns for overrides.
Jason Fraser, Plympton’s school committee representative on both the elementary and regional committees, as well as the Massachusetts Association of School Committees President-elect, was able to untangle the spaghetti lines and bring some sanity to the situation. Based on his advice, the Regional School Committee and the individual member towns voted to decrease assessments to member towns by $1,605,000 by cutting $855,000 from the budget itself and taking an additional $750,000 by drawing down the Excess and Deficiency (E&D) Fund to offset the assessments of member towns.
Fraser said that he wouldn’t ordinarily suggest using E&D revenues that are set aside to cover unexpected mid-year tuitions and services for special needs students, however this year he said, “as in FY25 we are assuming a large portion of the three towns’ Special Education cost which will make Silver Lake eligible for over $1.1 million in Circuit Breaker revenue starting in FY26. We are fortunate for the stewardship of the past and present Silver Lake School Committee members to have a fully funded and certified E&D fund.”
Significant cuts are now being considered at the local school committee level. “Kingston is looking at between $1 to $1.5 million in cuts. Halifax is considering $300,000 to $700,000 in cuts, and Plympton has proposals for $160,000 in cuts… Silver Lake did acknowledge they may need to cut further at a later meeting date but didn’t want to cut too deep before seeing what the local committees delivered”, Fraser continued. “It is common knowledge that it is far easier to amend a number down at Town Meeting than up. If the burden of cuts is shared as evenly as possible, it is likely Silver Lake will need to come back to the table for some hard conversations and possibly an even harder vote.”
Jon Wilhelmsen, who represented Plympton on the school committee for more than a decade suggests that the budget increase comes down to these items:
• A very significant increase in Special Education (SPED) costs – particularly out-of-district placements, though it would appear there are also increases to the in-district costs that contribute to very significant cost increases district-wide. “…there is literally only so much that the towns can pay to do this and as a result there will need to be cuts to the budgets in each of the three towns as well as at Silver Lake to bring this into fiscal balance.” Citing the upswing in out-of-district services as a major contributor to the cost increase, he hopes that many of these services can be brought back in-district over the next few years to mitigate the long-term impact.
• Sorting the Out-of-District setup – The district has been set up like this for more than 20 years – and DESE (the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education) knew or should have known about it. DESE also does regular audits of the school programs and until last year, never had any issues with the set up – but none of the prior set-up has a material impact on the $6.7m level-service budget the towns are now facing.
• A largely new central office staff – who in fairness, is learning their role but appear to have a significant issue in communicating effectively. We have spent many weeks talking through the Silver Lake budget and it was only Thursday night that it became clear that SPED costs are largely driving the increases.
“Overall,” Wilhelmsen continued, “it is disappointing to see these numbers, but if that is what they are, then we must work around them for the students, the staff, and the three towns’ residents who have to finance this. It will mean cuts in all the schools as well as increases in budgets. Hopefully this is a high point and that we will see decreases in subsequent years so that we can appropriately restore cuts. I just wish we had gotten to this understanding weeks ago.”
Former school committee member Gordon C. Andrews told The Express, “The biggest issue is 14 students at $980,000, were not factored into this year’s budget …” then an additional 30 students were added for the upcoming budget. “We should not be finding out now the causes of the budget increases, in the middle of March, that the budget is this far out.” An enormous increase has been shown since the first assessment calculation presented in February. “No one understood why the increases were so large and everyone believed it was a mistake in the reallocation of programs from the changes of the regional agreement.”
“Its been talked about – the sustainability of the town of Halifax to afford the rate of growth of Silver Lake has been an issue with the budget was growing ($1 million) year to year, with an assessment of approximately 33%.” Andrews said, “the administration and the town of Halifax should have known the impacts of the enrollment changes and the budgetary cliff that the town was facing even before the increases in special needs education. “I am worried about the students and staff at the elementary school as they will have to take the brunt of the cuts that are required due to the town not understanding the impacts of the enrollment shift at Silver Lake, which was able to be forecast and was previously planned.”
Kingston’s school committee representative said last Thursday they would consider moving their town meeting date to give their town more time to deal with the budget.
To add to the perfect storm of budgetary catastrophe is the lack of the state’s SPED reimbursement formula to accurately take into account the actual rate of inflation, according to the Boston Globe, Tuesday, March 12. According to the Globe, towns statewide are grappling with shortfalls due to the state’s new formula.
Plympton School Committee asks for tiered cuts to budget
The Plympton School Committee met on Monday, Feb. 26. Chair of the Plympton School Committee Jason Fraser acknowledged previous Committee Chair Jon Wilhelmsen and Food Services Director Megan Ahrenolz in the audience.
Director of Finance and Operations Sarah Hickey provided a financial report which Fraser said might inform some of the conversations that would take place later about the budget. “There are deficits in special education transportation, tuition, and contracted services,” Hickey said. “The budget for FY25 takes this into consideration. The Special Education Department is currently working on filing a Circuit Breaker Extraordinary Relief claim with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education which if approved will offset this cost, but at this time I recommend that the Committee puts in a budget freeze for the remainder of the 2023-2024 school year,” Hickey continued. Superintendent Jill Proulx said that she was also in agreement. “Since last month, that overall function line went from a positive $209,000 to a negative $15,000; what occurred in one month to change these numbers so drastically?” Fraser asked. Proulx said that it was their understanding that payments were updated to reflect “multiple areas.” Hickey said when all was said and done by the end of the year they anticipated having a $215,000 deficit. There were three additional students that fell into the out-of-district special education category. Fraser noted that this was two years in a row that they were facing this situation with a deficit of $300,000 last year and approximately $200,000 this year.
Proulx gave a budget presentation which she said was based on Version 2. Proulx told the Committee that changes for FY25 include that Pre-K and out of district special education tuitions for Pre-K and Grades 7-12 are now Silver Lake expenses per the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). Shared-cost positions will now be paid according to regional agreement percentages. The extended school year will now be paid out of each school’s budget, where last year it was paid out of a revolving account.
Proulx also covered the impact of special education costs. Plympton’s portion of the programmatic budget of Pre-K, including renting the building space, is $293,833. “If these tuitions were to remain in the Plympton budget; they can’t, but let’s say that they did, it would cost Plympton $617,315,” Proulx said. She continued, “anticipated transportation for FY25 would be $167,878… something to keep in mind, Circuit Breaker in FY26 for out-of-district tuition and secondary and Pre-K will go to Silver Lake in the future, but for FY25 Plympton is able to spend the entirety of Circuit Breaker on Plympton. Circuit Breaker is the Massachusetts program that provides reimbursement to public schools to aid in special education costs.
Increases to the Plympton budget also include two new paraprofessionals at $56,000 and a shared curriculum coordinator at $15,993. Extended school year costs are estimated at around $65,507 for 31 eligible students. Decreases to the Plympton budget include $1,079,026. The money that previously would have been a Plympton expense is now a Silver Lake expense per the DESE requirements. Fraser said that he was confused how $1 million was taken away from the budget but $800,000 was added back in which amounted to a 25 percent increase over the previous year. “So the FY24 budget… the forecast was low at $625,000, just in tuitions alone,” Proulx said, referring to special education tuition. She continued, “the forecast, again, was below what we are currently spending. In FY24, currently we are at about $1 million and we only forecast for $625,000, so that’s $400,000 there.” Fraser clarified saying that the mistake in last year’s budget resulted in the issues being seen now and Proulx confirmed. Committee member Dan Cadogan asked how the forecasts were so far off and Proulx answered that they have since realized where their mistakes were in anticipating costs. She also acknowledged that changing needs of the students themselves, as well as increases in costs, have also played a part.
Hickey also went over changes from the Version 1 to the Version 2 budget. She noted that she had previously had a teacher double counted in the teacher salary line. A Circuit Breaker estimation was also added into this version with a savings of approximately $700,000.
“I need to make the Silver Lake budget and the Plympton budget work together,” Fraser said. “I can’t look at either one of them in isolation because I have to send both of them to the same voters and the same taxpayers… I basically want to see us get as deep into the negatives as possible without hurting the school that I’ve worked for 11 years get where it’s at,” Fraser continued. He noted that they were still looking at an increase to Plympton’s budget of $700,000. “Which alone, is a 5.4 percent increase to my town’s budget without a single other penny being spent on another department – Police, Fire, Highway, anything else, and we had a substantial increase last year,” he said.
Proulx said that the regular day budget reflects an 11 percent increase, special education reflects a 38 percent decrease, substitutes are level funded, utilities have been increased by 5 percent, and shared costs are included but not updated to reflect any potential changes. The total budget is a decrease of 4 percent. Fraser asked if they had realized any savings from the solar panels in the utilities. Hickey said that she wasn’t able to answer that question just yet due to some outstanding and confusing Eversource bills.
Fraser said that he would like to see the Administration come up with four tiers of cuts, each consisting of $40,000. The Committee agreed that they were hopeful that those cuts would not come to be, but all felt that it was necessary that they review them at their next meeting.
Proulx told the Committee that not included in the budget was any additional staffing or potential kindergarten enrollment increases. “English language learner needs, since the last time we met, we got feedback from our English language teacher who helped provide services to our students here. Plympton currently reimburses Kingston about $2,000 per year; the issue is that Kingston needs this person to be full-time. Both Halifax and Plympton have seen an increase in needs that Kingston can no longer provide services for because they’ve had such an increase in needs as well. … we’re recommending a 0.5, part-time English language-learner person here,” Proulx said. She said that they felt that if Halifax and Plympton went in on a teacher together, they would be better off as it would then become a full-time position. Fraser asked if a comparison could be brought to the Committee to show the difference between contracted services versus a full-time employee with benefits. “I need to show due diligence and a cost comparison to the Finance Committee to show why we’re asking for this,” Fraser said.
Hickey shared with the Committee the draft assessments for each of the towns for Silver Lake. She also shared the percent increase to each of the towns’ overall operating budgets. Fraser reiterated that the schools’ budgets in Plympton represented a 5.4 percent increase to the town’s overall operating budget and a dollar amount of $700,000. “Again, trying to figure out how we can get that number smaller and figure out how the town can afford this, is really the next step,” Fraser said. Plympton’s share of the Silver Lake assessment was shared to be roughly 11 percent.
“We will continue to look at ways to possibly refine our estimates and continue to look for areas where we may be able to save some money,” Proulx said of the budgets. Fraser said, “We have benefitted greatly over the past three fiscal cycles from additional Chapter 70 funding from the State and this year the trend continues. We were at about $750,000 back in FY22 and looking forward to FY25, we have an annual increase from the State of $164,000 net of receipts for Chapter 70 for the local budget here in Plympton… another piece of the puzzle to help the town wrap their arms around and their heads around.” He noted that it wasn’t included in the schools’ budgets as the money goes directly to the towns.
Proulx said, “We have confirmed through the Department of Education that we can continue to operate food services through the revolving account provided that the Silver Lake School Committee votes to continue that practice under the USDA which is different than the other reasons why we’re untangling financial responsibilities for the upcoming school year… if it is voted by the Silver Lake School Committee it would mean that the cafeteria workers will remain Silver Lake employees as well.”
Fraser addressed that the rules prohibiting dogs from the Dennett Elementary School fields hasn’t seemed to reduce the amount of dog waste. He said that a larger conversation would likely be necessary with the Selectmen. “It seems like we almost are punishing the good dog owners in town by not allowing them to use the fields responsibly,” Fraser said.
Hickey provided an update about getting a certified safety inspection of the playground done. She said that a quote from the vendor for a few thousand dollars was expected soon. The inspection process for the rubberized surface can only be done once the exact specifications for installation are provided or it would result in an automatic fail. She also noted that the surface needs to be above 32 degrees to do the test. Additionally, the playground must be closed for two days to complete the inspection.
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