The Halifax Elementary School Committee met Tuesday, Jan. 2. The topics of conversation were heavy, ranging from hate speech to the preliminary budget presentation.
Chair Lauren Laws asked the other committee members to approve the minutes from their previous meeting. Member Lori Costa-Cline requested that they hold off on voting on the minutes. She explained, “There’s a significant discussion that’s not included… and it was an important discussion that involved diversity, equity, belonging, and inclusion – creating a group focused on that. Why that was necessary – incidents of hate and racist speech at HES; creating a more tolerant culture; work that had been happening in terms of cultural inclusion. So, I think that I am disappointed that we don’t have a recording.” She said that she felt it was important that they have a public record. The Committee voted that they would come back with edits for what to add into the minutes.
Laws said that they added the DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) subcommittee during their last meeting. Beaudry said that as of the start of this year, the school has classified 92 incidents as behavioral issues at the K-6 level. He said that 39 percent of them were code of conduct, 30 percent of them were peer conflict, 13 percent were inappropriate language, 13 percent were noncompliance, and 4 percent were vandalism. He said that of the incidents, 75 to 80 percent of them occurred within the fifth and sixth grade. “We did have an incident, as was brought up last meeting, where there was hateful words towards another student. We obviously investigated that, parent meeting, we had a student meeting, there was discipline that was administered according to our handbook,” Beaudry said. He did note that there were several incidents of writing on the walls in the bathroom that were hateful. “It was typically in the boys’ bathroom,” he noted. He said that they have implemented a program called Hallway Pass where fifth and sixth grade students have to note why they are leaving the classroom, for what purpose, and what times they are out. According to Beaudry this has cut down on these types of incidents.
Costa-Cline asked how these incidents were being communicated to all stakeholders. “Kind of closing the loop with staff, making sure the kid that reported the incident understands what happened,” she explained. Beaudry said that, “we have been hearing derogatory, negative comments and that’s why… we have been working with Dr. Carlos Hoyt who is a speaker and a consultant… so Ryan [Lynch] and I and one of the fifth grade teachers met with this person just to kind of share like what the issues were we were seeing and then this individual shared what they can bring to us and right now we’re in the process of just finalizing the dates… it’s a really neat model.” He said that it would begin with a workshop for teachers and then a workshop for fifth and sixth grade students. Laws asked if there would potentially be room to start these conversations for younger grades so they don’t come to a head in the way that they have this year. Beaudry said that they are absolutely open to that. The Committee asked for further information about Dr. Hoyt.
Hybrid Meeting Request
Laws said that it was requested that they meet in a hybrid form. Laws said that they don’t have capabilities to do that in their meeting space. She said that she did find out that they would be able to broadcast them live on YouTube since she felt that the intention was not so much to participate but to be able to watch in real time. Superintendent Jill Proulx said that Kingston was the only one of the three towns that broadcast live. There was some discussion surrounding the public making comments. The Committee said that people needed to realize that those comments would not be viewed by them during the meeting. They voted to look into the technology to enable them to broadcast live.
Policy Review
Committee member Karyn Townsend said that she would like to see a policy put in place that there would be no food or candy given by a teacher to a classroom at any time. She said that she felt that food should never be given as a reward. Principal Kayne Beaudry said that the policy already exists. Costa-Cline said that while she appreciated the intent, there were specific “cultural events” such as the ice cream social that were centered around food. Laws pointed out that they give out hot chocolate and apples during the Turkey Trot as well. Proulx said that she recommended that they begin with a review of the existing policy.
Principal, Asst. Superintendent, Superintendent Updates
Kayne Beaudry provided the Committee with an update on Star Assessments that were administered in Grades 2 through 6. He said that ELA scores improved by 6 percent and Math by 13 percent. Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch provided a curriculum and assessment update. He said that they have continued their work with consultant Dr. Pia Durkin of Research for Better Teaching. “We did learning walks on November 29, Mr. Beaudry, myself, Dr. Proulx, Mr. DeSantes, Dr. Durkin visited several classrooms and looked at differentiation, learning centers, engagement; Mr. Beaudry followed up with an email to all teachers,” Lynch said. He said that more learning walks would take place in February.
Beaudry provided an update on the water testing that has been ongoing within the school. Lead levels were found to be elevated in all 10 sites that were tested. A company has been hired to do additional testing. “In the meantime, water is only being used for hand washing,” Laws said. Beaudry said that bottled water was being used for water fountains and in the kitchens for any type of cooking. Laws said, “To summarize… we’re not sure if it was the timing of the flushing that impacted the lead results, so the reason we are retesting with someone who – this is someone who this is what they do, they’re professionals – is to make sure either that those tests were valid or they weren’t valid and then we’ll go from there.” “Yes,” Proulx replied.
Proulx began her update by thanking Director of Business Services Christine Healy for her 28 years of service to Silver Lake. “Christine is not only a remarkable Business Director, but human being… we’re going to miss her and we love her very much,” Proulx said to a round of applause. “It’s been an amazing journey and I have learned a lot and I’ve met a lot of wonderful people,” Healy said.
Proulx told the Committee that the Commissioner has approved their amended regional agreement that includes the inclusion of Pre-k officially into the Silver Lake Regional Agreement. She said it also brings the agreement up to date with all current laws and regulations. She also spoke on some calendar updates saying that if there were no weather-related cancellations, the last day of school would be June 13. The Committee did vote to approve the calendar.
Budget Presentation
Proulx and Beaudry presented a budget narrative and capital plan to the Committee. Proulx said that they begin each year with discussions with the Technology Director, Special Education Director, and the Curriculum Coordinator. They also ask that principals begin discussions with their teachers. Proulx noted that the budget would be based on level services which she noted is different than level- funded. Level services keeps things functioning as they currently are whereas level- funded would require cuts. She said that Pre-k would now be a Silver Lake expense and Silver Lake positions in the elementary schools would now become town employees. “Silver Lake does not exist as an elementary entity,” she said. Laws asked how many people that impacted and was told it was three paraprofessionals in Halifax. Other changes included that grants would now be used to defray out of district vocational costs.
“There are increases to the Halifax budget. There are five paras and a part time speech language pathologist in the budget; in the past that was funded through a grant… you’re going to see an increase in the salary lines,” Proulx said. She said that shared costs’ increases represented about $12,000. She said that Circuit Breaker was estimated at 70 percent or $750,000. The Regular Day represents an increase of 12.32 percent or $783,751. The special education tuition and transportation represents a 63 percent decrease. The total budget is a 10.3 percent decrease of $955,207.
Additionally, Proulx said that shared costs, while included, do not reflect potential contractual changes. Additional staffing requests were also not included. The budget as presented that night did not include potential enrollment increases such as kindergarten or a reduction for technology hardware.
According to Beaudry the anticipated class average for next year is 19, down a bit from this year. He said that a notable increase is $7,000 for a reading intervention program. He said that the teaching supplies line is down. Beaudry also shared proposed costs beyond the level service budget. Those included a special education teacher estimated at $65,000, a part-time ESL teacher at $32,000, a building substitute, and a Hero Academy proposal. The Hero Academy would be a summer offering for approximately 60 students in Grades 1 through 6. He said it would be for students who are partially meeting expectations who typically don’t receive services during the school year and are likely to have regression over the summer. The total increase for these services would be roughly $140,000. Beaudry also went over capital needs including water testing and plumbing, student and staff bathroom upgrades, and a gym bleacher replacement.
The building substitute cost would not increase over previous years, it would just be a difference of day-to-day sub rates over a permanent building substitute. The Committee agreed that it should therefore be added into the budget. Costa-Cline noted that the town had asked them to do level service. “It’s in our best interest to listen to the direction of the town and be respectful of their ask; I think we are in a difficult situation with asking for more than level service even though I think it’s a compelling need that has been made for all of those additional items,” she said. She further said that while she is comfortable with the building sub and potentially the special education teacher add – she didn’t feel that the town could afford the other requests. The School Committees’ next meeting will include a public budget hearing.

The Kingston Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Dec. 19. Chair Kimberley Emberg was absent; Vice-chair Don Alcombright, who was donned in a festive cat Christmas sweater, led the meeting. Selectman Sheila Vaughn was wearing a Santa wig and beard to start the meeting.
Earth Removal Hearing
There was a public hearing for earth removal for PK Realty Trust. “The applicant asks to be able to remove 1,100,500 cubic yards of sand and gravel off site from 20 acres… off Route 44 for preparing the site for cranberry bog water supply, tailwater pond construction; the requested hours of operation are Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday 7 a.m. to noon,” Alcombright read. He further said that the plans are available in the Selectmen’s office at the Town House where they can be viewed during regular business hours.
Town Administrator Keith Hickey said that he had the opportunity to speak with the applicant before the hearing. Attorney Timothy Angley spoke on behalf of PK Realty Trust saying, “The bog is planned to be an organic bog that will ultimately be an education resource and facility that is going to be operated by the Cardinal Cushing school. This is planned to be a resource combining not only the bog but the wetlands to be able to provide a unique outdoor opportunity for students with special needs as well as other students from the surrounding towns and communities.”
President and CEO of the Cardinal Cushing Centers Michelle Markowitz spoke next. Of the work being done at Cardinal Cushing she said, “For almost 80 years now, we have been providing supports, education, vocational and recreational programming for students and adults with disabilities… farming is something that any one of us in this room could learn… we found that our students, the first few trips we made to the cranberry bogs were incredibly impactful; we saw their self-esteem soar.”
Bill Madden from JF Engineering said they were asked by PK Realty Trust to evaluate the property that they purchased. He said that they evaluated and reviewed the bylaw of the town regarding earth removal. “What we’re intending to do is create the level area for the cranberry bog to be constructed on, slope all the surrounding areas, and then come in and excavate for the bog and the water supply.” Madden said that a portion of the work will fall in the water resource overlay district. He said that monitoring wells were in place so that they can monitor the water table elevation any time during the construction process. He said that they filed a stormwater prevention plan through the US Environmental Protection Agency. “We want to return any water that we use for agricultural purposes right back to our tailwater pond… it serves both purposes – water supply reservoir and tailwater. That creates a closed system – nothing comes into the site and nothing comes out of the site,” Madden explained. He said that any excess water would be used for sedimentation and erosion control on the side slopes. He also said that they planned to start heavy vegetation growth early. The side slopes would be seeded as well. “All the areas around the bogs would be essentially our dike roads and sideways,” Madden said.
A Carver resident spoke saying that she was an abutter to a different earth removal project noting that it has amounted to a “sand mining” operation. “The permit was allowed back in 2011, here we are 2023. We have tolerated sand in our gutters, not being able to open our windows if there is the slightest breeze… everything in the house – the vehicles would get coated in sand silica. We have tolerated the tractor trailers and the dump trucks – 25 a day. The most I counted was 56 in one day. Now, if you can imagine the vibrations from these trucks going back and forth. We have dealt with a lot of things over the years. Are you prepared to protect any abutters that are close enough to this project from the downside of this project?,” she asked. “What my husband and I have gone through over the years, it sucks, it really sucks,” she said emphatically.
Madden then presented several reasons why this project was different than the one the previous speaker mentioned. “As I said, we’re not going to be impacting the roads, we’re not going to have travel, you’re not going to have some of the inconveniences or the long-term… we’re trying to have as minimal impact on the neighborhood as possible. There really aren’t any neighbors in this area – it’s industrial land and it’s open forest land,” Madden said.
Jimmy Powell, who is both a Kingston resident and the Ecology Program Director at the Jones River Watershed Association, said he reviewed the plans thoroughly. He asked, “is our earth removal bylaw not no touch ten feet from the water table?” He noted that the plan said otherwise and said, “that just seemed like an oversight to me.”
Meg Sheehan spoke next saying, “I’m an environmental attorney with decades of experience in environmental law working with public interest groups here in Southeastern Mass. I’ve worked on many, many earth removal projects including many with Mr. Madden.” She continued, “I just want to get right to the point here. This project is not allowed in the residential R8 zoning district.” She cited a court case where the town of Plymouth denied a project and the Supreme Judicial Court upheld the decision. “Many, many projects like this have tried to evade bylaws in Plymouth, Carver, sometimes quite successfully because no one is watching until now.” She said that the project in Plymouth was almost identical to this one except that it was for a Christmas tree farm. “This project is not allowed in this zoning district… if you approve this you are violating the laws of this State,” Sheehan said. She said that it didn’t matter the intention of the project or how many stormwater plans, etc. were in place. “This project appears to be one more ruse to get the sand and gravel out of there… I have seen 100 of these ruses… enough is enough and we are drawing the line,” she said. She urged residents to visit https://www.sandwarssoutheasternma.org/.
Selectman Eric Crone asked, “Can somebody tell me what the profit is on a cranberry bog versus annual profit on a cranberry bog of this size versus what is the profit 1.1 million cubic yards?” Sheehan said that they estimate it to be about $15 million. “The price of sand and gravel in Southeastern Mass has quintupled,” she said. She added, “The cranberry business as everyone knows is in an economic decline… it’s a breakeven business at best… who is kidding who, this is not about cranberries.” Angley replied that the quality of the gravel is worth maybe $3 million, not $15 million. He also said that the purpose of the project is to be an educational resource. Crone asked if that meant that it would be not for profit. Angley said that they would make a profit off of the materials mined but noted that it was minimal.
Crone asked, “There’s a ton of abandoned cranberry bogs, why not just take one that’s already built next to a pond, I mean they are all over the place so why not just take an existing one and make that an educational non-profit?” Angley said that it wasn’t possible to convert an existing one into an organic one. Crone retorted, “but that’s not what we found; we called and they said pretty much all the organic cranberry bogs in the State were converted.” Angley said, “That’s not my understanding and I may be misinformed.” He noted that the location near the wetlands and the access point made it ideal for the intended use.
Vaughn said, “I just don’t understand why we need to move 1.8 million tons of sand and gravel for a bog… I just don’t understand how we have to move all of that just to have an educational site for a bog for Cardinal Cushing.” She added, “I really think Cardinal Cushing is a great school; I think it is amazing… it’s just, to me, moving that much sand and gravel for a bog, it just doesn’t make sense to me.” Angley said that the long-term goal would be to make it more than just a bog with barns and livestock, etc.
Town Administrator Keith Hickey said, “I don’t think we’re interested in getting into a debate this evening between two counsels who have obviously opposing views on what this land will be used for.” He asked both Angley and Sheehan if they would provide some information that they can use in their peer review and their review with legal counsel. “I think, at this point, there’s a lot of questions from our point of view, from the Town’s point of view, with the amount of sand and things of that nature, we’ve asked… about needing some additional information before the Board of Selectmen can make a decision,” Hickey said.
Michelle Frost of Quincy spoke saying that her daughter is a student in the vocational program at Cardinal Cushing. “She has been afforded a number of vocational site opportunities; she loves the goat farm – that is a big one. She comes home with a lot of soap. She has done window washing; she has a really diverse set of opportunities… but it is the cranberry bog that is her passion.” She noted that this particular location was chosen for accessibility. “By building this to spec, you are opening this up to a tremendous amount of kids and adults who, their disabilities make it really hard for them to engage otherwise,” Frost said. “When you have a child with a disability, it is really hard to get to a place where you can look beyond that and just stop worrying, you have to find your new footing, so Cardinal Cushing and people like Michelle are critical to providing purpose and joy to other students,” Frost explained. She said that her daughter who works in the cranberry bog earns money that way and wants to eventually buy a home. “This has the potential to be a difference maker for so many students, like my daughter and the community, and the more people are around kids like mine, the more they learn the skill of looking past the disability,” she told the Selectmen.
Executive Director of the Jones River Watershed and Kingston resident Pine duBois spoke next. “When I first set foot in Kingston it was on an abandoned cranberry bog… and we turned that into an organic cranberry bog,” duBois explained. Children from Brockton and other locations were brought in to work and get an education on that bog. “So I really appreciate what was just said… but this site… taking down the site 75 ft to eliminate the drainage to Indian Pond… is going to damage the 3 ft deep to 4 ft deep Indian Pond 66 acre natural heritage site; it is an endangered species site. It is important to Kingston, it has been important to Kingston and it will continue to be important to Kingston as long as it can have water to fill it up and where that water comes from is the water that they are going to trap because it is no longer going to get to Indian Pond,” duBois said. duBois also shared concern that the geology and hydrology of the area will be changed potentially affecting the water table and noted that they will happily make other options in Kingston available to Cardinal Cushing for this purpose.
Vaughn said that they will continue the public hearing until January 16. Included in her motion was that PK Realty provide $10,000 for a peer review of the earth removal application. The peer review company must be selected from the Planning Board’s list of acceptable options. The Board voted unanimously to approve Vaughn’s motion.
Other Business
The Conservation Agent spoke to the request for the Blackwater Memorial conservation restriction. Little was said about the matter other than that a lot of work had been put in over the last year and it was now ready to be voted upon. The Board voted unanimously to approve. The Selectmen also approved some liquor licenses and live entertainment licenses.
Hickey asked that the Board rescind just over $24,000 of $50,000 of approved ARPA funds for several reasons outlined in a document shared with the Selectmen. He said that they have some additional ARPA fund requests. He said, “We’ll have about $10,000 in ARPA funds – we have to spend those funds by the end of 2024…. There is well over a million dollars that has been approved for a variety of projects primarily Water Department and School Department that have not been spent yet.” The new requests include a system that would notify the Fire Department members on duty if there was a call for service. The second request was for an air conditioning system for the Reed building used by the Recreation Department for a summer daycare program. The third item was for a new chiller unit for the elementary school. The final request was to replace the Opticom system at the intersection of Wapping Rd., Evergreen St., and Pembroke St. The Selectmen approved the uses.
Hickey provided a few more updates saying that the Wastewater Treatment Plant project had reached substantial completion. He also noted that the leaks in the fire suppression system at the Town House and Senior Center had been improved. He also said that the town has installed security cameras at the playground at Gray’s Beach due to ongoing vandalism.
Before adjourning, the Selectmen wished everyone Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas and complimented the town on the various holiday events around Kingston.