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.

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.”