The position of Town Treasurer was the only contest on the ballot in Kingston’s Annual Town Election Saturday, April 22. Kenneth B. Moalli won with 360 votes to Jessica M. Kramer’s 258 votes. Only 631 people cast their ballots.
The results are as follows: Sean P. O’Brien, re-elected as Moderator for three years. Donald J. Alcombright, a candidate for re-election and Eric Crone were elected selectmen for three years. Stephen J. Dunn is Assessor for three years. Paul M. Gallagher was elected Town Clerk for another three years.
David W. Gavigan, Jr. will serve on the Planning Board for five years; Mark R. Guidoboni will serve a one-year term on the Silver Lake Regional School Committee. Jeanne M. Coleman was elected to a three-year term. Coleman was also re-elected to the Kingston Elementary School Committee, as was Tricia A. Arleta. Robert R. Koska will again serve as Water Commissioner for three years.
There were no candidates for the Housing Authority, but 24 people wrote someone in.
Dennis N. Randall and Heidi M. Whipple were both re-elected to three-year terms on the Board of Health. No candidates ran for the two Library Trustee positions, but there were 127 write-ins. Recreation Commission saw Ellen M. Moynihan elected to the one-year seat and Patrick F. Roney was brought back for another three-year term that he will serve with Suzanne B. Haggerty. William Watson was re-elected Sewer Commissioner for three years.
School Committee chops budget by $266K
The Kingston School Committee met on Monday, April 10. Superintendent Jill Proulx provided a budget update. She said that she, Christine Healy, Committee Chair Jeanne Coleman, and Committee member Mike Shekane met with the Finance Committee to discuss their request to reduce the budget by $300,000. Proulx said that they may be able to use ESSER funds to pay for the $60,000 required for furniture for additional classes at KES. She said they would also consider taking some of the technology items and moving them to ESSER. Proulx pointed out that if they take recurring costs out of the budget and move them to ESSER, there is likely to be a greater increase in the budget next year when they appear again. Since there were two placeholders for two out-of-district placements and only one was needed, there would be a $30,000 decrease there. Additionally, $10,000 from the Building Utilization Fund could be used to help offset the budget. These savings totaled $150,000.
Proulx pointed out that 80 percent of the budget is salary which is why they need to look at staffing for potential cuts. She said that the removal of a special education teacher would save $65,000. “There would be less scheduling flexibility for students who require co-teaching,” she said of the reduction. Proulx further said that $30,000 could be saved with the removal of a 0.4 music teacher. The third cut would be the full-time paraprofessional. Proulx said that this would mean that there would no longer be a full-time paraprofessional assigned to each classroom. These cuts would total $116,000. Proulx said that since this still lands them about $40,000 shy of the goal, they would then need to turn to cutting classroom teachers which would result in larger class sizes which was already noted as a problem.
There was discussion surrounding the fact that there were budgeted positions within the sub-separate programs that were unfilled and as a result money was being spent on contracted services. It was said that the positions were posted but unable to be filled. “What I’m hearing is if we were able to proceed with the adequate staffing in that program, you’re confident that we would have been able to keep some of those placements in,” Committee member Timothy Lewis said. He said that he was therefore hesitant to fill the behaviorist position and would prefer instead to fill the current vacancies. Grable said she agreed but noted the difficulty in filling the positions. “I would add that Mike [Bambery] brought to the table the amount of time that his adjustment counselor and his current behaviorist were dedicating themselves to the Silver Lake substantially separate program,” Proulx said. Bambery, Grable, and Proulx still advocated for the addition of the behaviorist position.
Lewis asked what could be done in the future to avoid large increases in the budget like what was being seen this year. “It was an unusual year in that we had a population increase in not only kindergarten but in Grade 1. The Committee has approved the addition of several positions which is adding to the increase in the budget. We’ve talked about the issues that are putting pressure on the special education budget; some of which were caused by the pressures of Covid, for example, transportation was increased because smaller transportation companies could not survive… we lost those competitive rates… I think there are some other drivers,” Proulx said. Healy said there was a 14 percent transportation increase. She said she hoped this year was not a precedent setting year.
Lewis made a motion that they reconsider their previously voted budget with the cuts as outlined by Proulx. Coleman said that she would not support a motion for a $300,000 cut since that would require an additional $44,000 being cut that had not been discussed. She said that she would entertain a motion to cut a total of $266,000 as discussed. Coleman said, “the data as well as the information is out there for any taxpayer who is questioning our budget.” She further said that as School Committee members she did believe it was their job to be at Town Meeting to answer any questions that members of the public may have. The updated budget represented a 10.4 percent increase, down from a 14 percent increase. The Committee voted to approve an elementary school operating budget of $10,239,747, a special education budget of $5,989,065, and an out-of-district vocational budget of $198,000.
Kingston Elementary School Principal Kerri Whipple provided an update. She said that they have been focusing on citizenship. Whipple said that they had their second visit, this time virtual, with author Beth Berry. The students are working with her on creating their own stories. Whipple noted that school pictures took place and due to an error, every student would be receiving a free class picture regardless of whether they ordered one. Whipple said that family surveys went out and that two concerns of note were class size and recess.
Kingston Intermediate School Principal Mike Bambery also provided an update. He said that the art mural event would be April 28. “We’re deep in MCAS… that’s our focus right now… the last day will be the twenty-sixth… things have been going very, very well,” Bambery said.
Fourth grade teacher Brette Blette provided an update for Teacher’s Corner. She said that MCAS testing was underway. “I know that myself included are very appreciative of the PTO donations to our classroom libraries from the book fair… a lot of the students were very excited to get new books,” Blette said. She noted that the grades that have not yet had their field trips were preparing for them. “Hopefully all of the sickness that many of the kids have had over the last few weeks will go out the window with those windows open as we head into the spring,” she told the Committee.
Director of Business Services Christine Healy also provided an update. She told the Committee that there was $300,000 in Circuit Breaker funds that will not be used this year that can be carried over for a reduction in the FY24 budget. They discussed the number of students in out-of-district special education at the K-6 level in Kingston and noted that they were up from a year ago. A Committee member asked if the addition of a behaviorist at Kingston Intermediate School could help keep some of those students in district and effectively save the district from the out-of-district costs. “When we get to the point where we get to an out-of-district placement, the kids, they aren’t accessing the curriculum and that’s the number one threshold for me,” Bambery said. He continued, “If we’ve tried everything possible and then the teacher says the kid is not accessing the curriculum regardless of what we do and what strategy we put in place, that’s when we look to move to an out-of-district placement.” Bambery said that to Administrator of Special Education Marie Grable’s credit, when she had the outside evaluators come in, they were not able to identify any strategies that had not been tried and concurred with the decision to move students.
BOS readies articles for ATM
Tuesday nights meeting of the Kingston Board of Selectmen, April 11, at the Kingston Town House, brought the board together to decide which articles they will recommend at the Annual Town Meeting next week, Saturday, April 29.
Before the regular business of the meeting, Town Administrator Keith Hickey presented retiring treasurer Carl L. Pike a plaque honoring his service to Kingston and commented “I’ve had the opportunity to work with Carl now for just over a couple of years and have found him to be a breath of fresh air, somebody who I can go to with a question and not worry about getting the answer I want to hear but giving me the answer I need to hear. Carl has been a great member of our team and has been an active member of the community volunteering on a number of boards over the years.” Applause and a standing ovation followed.
Selectman Chairman Kimberley Emberg presented a plaque to outgoing selectman Jessica Kramer. Emberg spoke to her service: “You ask questions that make me think about things in a different way and personally I have very much enjoyed being on this board with you and I can’t count the number of contributions you’ve made and the positive impact you’ve had on the town of Kingtson.” Kramer was also treated to applause and a standing ovation.
In a joint meeting with Selectmen, the Capital Planning Committee and the Finance Committee, the three boards and committees reviewed the list of projects they will support at Town Meeting.
1. $45,000 for the replacement of the flooring in the Town House, the Council on Aging and the Public Library.
2. $71,880 to acquire a pickup truck for the Sewage Dept, that will also help the higway with snow removal in the winter, and other uses.
3. $112,000 to replace turnout coats for the fire department. The coats had PFAFs which are known carcinogens and the replacement products will not.
4. $50,000 for engineering of a shared path along Lake St. that will go from the high school to the intersection of Grove St. The project itself is grant-funded over the course of two years.
5. $133,843 replacement of two Police Interceptor vehicles
6. $50,000 for engineering for various traffic safety improvements around the town. “We probably have $75 million in road work that needs to be done in order to bring it up to the condition that people would like to see . This will help us prioritize the road improvements around the town.
7. $320,100 to replace a dump truck with plow and sander for the Streets and Parks Dept.
8. $500,000 for the means to do a number of road and sidewalk improvements around the town.
The Capital Planning Committee voted these projects unanimously to bring to town meeting.
Proposed lease payments:
9. $87,770 to re-mount and refurbish ambulance numbers 1 and 2 – the first payment of five years.
10. $205,910 for the third-year payment of the seven-year lease of the purchased ladder truck.
11. Second-year payment of a five-year lease $155,307 for the replacement of engine 1.
12. Fifth year of a seven-year lease $18,995 for acquisition of a backhoe
13. $47,730 second year of a five-year lease on the replacement of a 1995 Mac Truck
14. $51,270 second-year on a five-year for the replacement of a dump truck.
These were unanimously voted to bring to town meeting.
The Capital Planning Committee turned down a number of requests by the school department as they were not capital projects according to the definition, including repairs to ceilings and walls in the middle school, material for playground surfacing, and $50,000 for repairs to the Middle School roof. Hickey agreed saying the items were maintenance items, not capital projects.
Hickey told the group that the two roofs, Intermediate School and Elementary School both need to be replaced. He advised that fixing the roof on the Middle School so that it can wait until the town can bid the replacement of the two roofs together, saving the town moneuy on a larger project.
The Main Street water main project was moved for favorable action with funding of $1.69 million from several sources. The sum was moved and moved to favorable action.
On a vote of 3 to 2,l the Financew Committee voted to approve Article 9 for the construction of new wasteater leaching fields at a cost of $1.6 million. Chairman os the Sewer Commission Elaine A Fiore spoke to the article that the town is in line potentially for an SRF – State Revolving Fund – in the sum of $11,622, and also have an earmark and bond bill for $71 million toward construction of new leaching fields. She selectmen that she should hear whether the funds have been approved by mid-July. If the are not approved, then the project would not go forward. Her project, she said, was “shovel ready”. “Our leaching fields are 20 years old. n This project is pro-active so that new leaching fields will be4 ready for use when the existing fields age out.
Chairman Emberg asked if sewer lines go by a house are they required to be connected? Fiori answered that Yes, it must be connected. “Everybody is connected. There isn’t a choice.
Kingston has had to turn down several housing developments because the sewerage capacity isn’t available, and Selectman Kramer asked if providing this additional sewerage capacity will encourage more housing. Fiori said that they want to connect existing homes tin order to mitigate the nitrogen effluent into Plymouth Bay, not to encourage new construction. Fiori pointed out that the new leaching fields would be for backup of the systems now in place that are 20 years old. She couldn’t guarantee that the system won’t fail tomorrow or in five years.
The plan, she continued, is to build out the Davis property to hold all four tanks. and the Country Club and Landfill properties will become backup leaching fields.
The nitrogen level is going to be prevalent in Kingston in the next few years. We want to pick up more houses on the sewerage lines to help alleviate that problem. The new leaching field will help alleviate the problem. We’ve been planning for this for a long time. It’s just that funding is available now, especially to help keep the additional nitrogen out of Plymouth “Bay. The vote was 3 to 2 in the affirmative.
The Capital Planning Committee and the Finance Committee adjourned at 6:33 and 6:30 respectively.
Selectmen then approved the transfer of an aquaculture license from lease 1 to lease 3. John Wheble spoke to his request saying that the swap would make it easier for him, even though the new license area was a bit smaller. Shellfish Constable Joe Zlogar, Jr., stepped to the mic in support of the swap. Wheble has 60 days to vacate his current lease and return it to the town. Zlogar said there is a waiting list for people who want an aquaculture license and would have no trouble finding a replacement.
ARPA funds requests
Hickey told selectmen he has two requests for ARPA funds, the first being a request from the school committee to fund the replacement of one of the HVAC rooftop units at the high school Rather than put it on the town meeting warrant, if ARPA funds could be used, the town could then deduct the $188,175 from their Silver Lake assessment.
The second request was from the Water Dept. to help defray costs of replacing the Main St. water main. They have previously received approval for $419,260 and are seeking an additional $503,349 of AROA funds making the total ARPA contribution for the project $922,609. The Water Dept. has other unexpended warrant articles from previous years that will make up the balance without having to borrow, Hickey told the board. There are sufficient funds left in ARPA, leaving just under a million dollars if the board approves these, available for any potential future needs. We have about a year and a half left to expend these funds. Kingston was awarded about $4 million in ARPA funds.
School budget shortfall
Jeanne M. Coleman, Chairman of the Kingston School Committee, asked selectmen to consider a request to withdraw funds from the Town of Kingston Special Education Reserve Account, that has a balance of $218,334, to help fund a budget shortfall of $700,000 caused by unforseen out-of-district tuitions and enrollment.
Coleman told the board that they were anticipating an additional $213,000 in extraordinary relief to help cover the shortfall. The board approved the request.
Rent Control Board
Selectman Donald Alcombright brought up the warrant article that would cede the authority of the Rent Control Board to the Board of Selectmen the authority to act in its stead. Town Administrator Hickey told selectmen that dealing with the current board has been challenging, through no fault of anyone, just that it was very difficult to get the town’s work Done in a timely basis.
Chairman Joseph F. Casna, Jr., told selectmen he hadn’t been aware that two of his board members had not renewed their terms of service and he couldn’t then get a quorum to meet. He then said the situation was solved when Selectman Donald Alcombright, a former member of the board, stepped up to fill one of the vacancies they were “back in business”. “The Rent Control Board has been in existence for as long as I can remember … it’s a great resource for tenants … and the people who live in the pre-manuafactured home communities, and … I think it speaks to the heart of the town. … We’re a non-political thing, it doesn’t cost the town a penny, They can come to us if there’s a dispute over fees or rents or anything along those lines.” Casna continued that he had spoken with some of the residents who have been actively in volved in this for years, and they said that they would like to see it continue as well. “So I don’t see the downside.”
Town Administrator Hickey spoke up, “No disrespect to the committee, … it took weeks to get a signature and I understand all the ins and outs and this guy resigned and that person resigned and we don’t understand. We could not do business and what we did, in my humble opinion, was harm the person who was looking for assistance because it took weeks to get it. When, if the board of selectmen had the authority to act, it would have been done as early as two weeks from the time they requested it.”
Casna said, “It came out exactly the way they wanted it to come out. The way it should have come out.” HIckey retorted, “It should have come out in January, not March.”
The board voted 3-2 to remove the article from the town meeting warrant and keep the Rent Control Board as is.
CPC Report
Joanne Cullen, Chairman of the Community Preservation Committee, told selectmen her committee had a difficult year this year because the Blackstone Swamp project last year left our funds somewhat depleted.” They grant money they got can’t be used until the next fiscal year. CPC funds must be used in three specific areas: Affordable Housing, Historic Preservation, and Open Space and Recreation. It was difficult to fund some projects when the funds weren’t available to spend until next fiscal year.
She did say that her committee voted to give the Affordable Housing portion of the CPC funding to the stewardship of the Kingston Affordable Housing Committee as they had no projects pending because they have no funds to begin them. Now they have the means to begin.
Regarding the equipment purchase projects, numbers 1-11 of Articles 20-24, Hickey said there is sufficient free cash to fund all of them to get these projects done now. If the town waits, the cost will only be higher. The board voted unanimously in favor.
Veterans’ Memorial
Bob Ketter, Chairman of the Veterans’ Memorial Committee asked selectmen to help fund the veteran’s memorial which will be a granite structure to be placed on the front lawn of the Town House.
Kingston has the highest percentage of veterans or veteran families in the country, other than those with military bases. “We really want to get started,” he said. Selectmen voted 4-0, with one abstaining, to approve the warrant article asking the town for $187,000 from free cash.
Treasurer/Collector
Article 24 would ask the consolidation and change for the elected Treasurer and Tax Collector positions to be consolidated into one Treasurer/Collector position that would be appointed by the Board of Selectmen. Selectmen voted to support the article 4-0 with Selectman Kramer recusing herself from the vote.
Cedar Street
Selectmen heard Patrick and Caitlin Sullivan of 16 Cedar St., ask Selectmen to support their Citizen’s Petition that asks for the town to accept Cedar St. as a public way. The couple were advised that acceptance of roads needs a specific procedure, beginning with the Planning Board, and submitting a survey of the road to be considered. The couple expressed concern that the drainage problems that are crumbling the asphalt and creating a pond in the road by their house will prevent emergency vehicles access to the area as it did last season.
Stop Signs
Selectmen were asked to support the placement of two stop signs near the Jones River to prevent speeding vehicles from hitting the old stone bridge and disrupting the neighborhood. Hickey told selectmen that he had contacted Old Colony Planning Council to study the traffic there and selectmen would look at the data. Selectmen agreed they could not support the stop signs without more data.
Country Club Way
David Fuller, 233 Country Club Way, asked selectmen to fund an as-built survey for his street and acceptance of it as a Kingston public way.. Fuller pointed out that there are funds left in the contractor performance bond that would fund the survey, but not enough to finish the street work. Town Counsel advised him that the selectmen actually have control of those funds and they are the ones to ask, not Town Meeting.
Fuller agreed he would ask the town meeting to pass over his Citizen’s Petition article.
Bruno argues against MBTA action plan
The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, April 11. Selectman Chair John Bruno said he wanted to provide an update on the MBTA Action Plan. “Just to refresh our memories, the State, about two years ago, passed a law regarding what they call MBTA communities, which lucky for us we are one, where they are trying to force us to change our zoning to add a significant amount of multi-family housing. I don’t have any problem with multi-family housing, and I do think we need to add some to Halifax. What I do have a problem with is overreach of the State government on this project,” Bruno said. He further said that he had drafted a letter stating his opinion which he would like to see sent to State representatives and surrounding towns. He then proceeded to read the letter which can be found in the recording of the Selectmen’s meeting on Area 58. “Glad to sign it and send it along,” Selectman Jonathan Selig said. “I think the only way we can really address this, other than crossing our arms and refusing to do it, which is going to cause problems, is to bring our representatives in – that’s what their job is. Their job is not to show up on Facebook every other day saying I went to a Needle Scout ceremony, I just got appointed to this community or that community – their job is to look out for us and I think we need to put the heat on a little bit… it’s time that they did their work,” Bruno said.
Bruno said that Police Chief Joao Chaves, Highway Surveyor Steve Hayward, and Fred Corrigan with the Traffic Safety Committee were all in attendance to discuss changing the speed limits on Route 106. “You can’t just go changing speed limits, especially on 106 or any numbered road. We might take care of it, but it is still a State road, so you have to have studies done,” Hayward said. He further said that the change would be to make the speed limit 25 mph throughout all of Halifax unless otherwise posted. Corrigan argued using excerpts from State law that you do not need a survey done to change the speed limit.
Chaves said that it was brought up at Town Meeting a few years ago and voted down. “The issue with asking the State to do a study is they could actually tell us, your street is too low,” Chaves said. He further said that 85 percent of the vehicles that travel that road do so at an average speed of 41 mph when the posted speed limit is 35. Corrigan noted that Old Colony Planning Council (OCPC) does these studies without additional cost to the town. Selig said, “I know there have been residents that have been concerned where 106 is getting built up with businesses so I wouldn’t be opposed to slowing things down in that business area but we just have to be sure we aren’t opening up a can of worms with setting a town-wide speed limit so I would be for the OCPC recommendation.” Corrigan asked if anyone asked why the Traffic Safety Committee was formed and Bruno said, “I absolutely do” and referenced a pedestrian that was struck. The Selectmen agreed to contact OCPC.
Appointment to Zoning By-Law Review Committee
The Selectmen had an appointment with Jeremy Gillespie to discuss his appointment to the Zoning By-Law Review Committee. “I just see a lot of things in there that could be simplified and then things that need to be addressed,” Gillespie said. “I know… you’re a very passionate guy especially about environmental things in the town… you’d be open to, I guess, other takes on different issues and other ideas and working together to come to some sort of consensus?” Selig asked. Gillespie said “absolutely.” Resident Alan Dias spoke up saying, “I did send a letter to the Board suggesting that they not appoint Mr. Gillespie based on his Facebook posts, his anonymous complaints to DEP, Conservation Commission and I don’t know that that type of action would be helpful to the town.” A Conservation Commission member disputed the claims saying that Gillespie never files anonymous complaints. Bruno said that he doesn’t have a problem with someone being passionate and unafraid to tell the town when they are wrong. The Selectmen voted unanimously to appoint Gillespie.
50k for Park Commission and Youth and Recreation
Bruno said that there was an issue of $50,000 that needs to be allocated between the Park Commission and the Youth and Recreation Commission. At a previous Selectmen’s meeting, the Board had gone over Youth and Rec Director Dick Steele’s proposals for using a share of the funds. Steele said that they were looking to take care of some of the more costly items in their small budgets. He noted that they were looking for approximately $16,000. The Selectmen agreed to submit the Youth and Rec request for the $16,000 of earmarked funds while allowing the Park Commission to take another week to finalize their requests for the remaining $34,000.
Open Seat on Board of Registrars
Haddad told the Selectmen that there was an opening for the Republican seat on the Board of Registrars. He said that the Board of Registrars would submit three recommendations or nominations and then the Selectmen would select one for a three-year term. The Selectmen had a brief discussion regarding whether to choose Gordon C. Andrews or Summer Schmaling. “I know they’re both passionate Republicans and I think both would, for that capacity, be fine – splitting hairs,” Selectman Selig said. Bruno moved that they appoint Schmaling and they all agreed unanimously. “And that’s just because I had to pick one,” Bruno explained.
Morse Brothers Update
Haddad said, “they did notify us that they would be moving a second pile of dirt with two trucks – they would be avoiding the school bus schedule. We obviously have had various discussions with counsel and engineers, we brought in our Water Commissioners, Water Superintendent to make sure that there was no negative impact on the water. We’ve been assured by everyone involved that there is not and at this point, they are not digging anything further.”
Review of Town Meeting Articles
Haddad said that Town Meeting would be held at 6:30 p.m. on May 8. “It’s only an annual town meeting, we do not have a special town meeting,” he explained. He said that the election would be on Saturday, May 13 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Haddad reviewed the articles with the Selectmen. “Many of the articles are housekeeping, annual articles,” Haddad said. There were no significant changes to salaries of town employees. He did note that they are recommending a part-time Conservation Agent. “The Wetlands Protection Act and our bylaws are very diverse and they require a professional who really understands this. If we get a call for enforcement, we are really limited in who can go out and make that assessment,” Haddad said. He noted that it was a recommendation of the Conservation Commission. The town also wishes to add a Deputy Chief to the Police Department.
Regarding the schools’ budgets, Haddad said that overall, they are at a 2.9 percent increase, and the Elementary School is at a 5 percent increase. “We’ve had discussions with our schools to voice our concerns that we cannot continue to sustain large increases like this,” Haddad said. There was an article for $38,000 to support the School Resource Officer.
“We have a total operating budget of $28,113,913 for this year,” Haddad said. “One million more than last year,” Bruno said. Haddad noted that despite the large increase, the budget is mostly level-funded.
Some of the larger expenses from the Capital Plan article included a wield excavator for the Highway Department for $150,080, ADA Compliance projects for $500,000, town hall portico repairs for $50,000, library window replacements for $45,000, A fire command vehicle for the Fire Department for $80,000, and two police cruisers for $110,000.
Article 22 allows the Board of Selectmen to lease a landfill for the purposes of solar for up to 30 years. Article 23 is a petition article to increase the size of the Board of Selectmen from 3 to 5 members. Article 24 is an article to change the Town Clerk, Highway Surveyor, and Treasurer/Collector from elected to appointed. Bruno noted that he was not in favor of either Articles 23 or 24. “I don’t see how it gets any more efficient by increasing the size,” Bruno said of increasing the members on the Board of Selectmen.
Happy 100th Birthday, Charlie!
Saturday, April 15, Halifax resident Charles N. “Charlie” Bauer, Jr., was surprised by family and friends with a birthday celebration at Henrich Hall, featuring a cake made by his daughter, Nancy Lemon, and a catered luncheon for the more than 50 guests who came to wish him well.
Throughout the afternoon, a slide show ran with photos of a life well-lived. He is a veteran of World War II, Army Air Corps ball turret gunner, and worked as a plant supervisor at Goddard Memorial Hospital over 30 years until his retirement.
His son-in-law Herb Lemon, read the Citation that was read into the Congressional Record to be kept in perpetuity.
Plympton Soccer Girls play at Gillette Stadium at U10/U12 night
The Plympton U10 and U12 Girls went to Gillette on Saturday, April 8, for a fun night of soccer. This is a seasonal event, put on by the New England Revolution organization to get teams who play at the U10 and U12 soccer levels to come out with their players and families. More than 40 teams can sign up and bring their team out to play a game on the field at Gillette. Following their match, teams return to cheer on the New England Revolution later that night. It was a special night for everyone!
Teachers voted 3% increase
The Plympton School Committee met on Monday, March 27. Dennett Elementary School Principal Peter Veneto provided an update. He said that current enrollment stands at 241 students. Veneto said that the School Psychologist Mrs. Jenkins had a baby boy in March. He also said that on March 16 the Dennett students performed at the All-Band District Concert. “This is something that did not even exist seven, eight months ago… they did a great job.” Veneto also said that they recently held their school talent show. He thanked Mrs. Hemple, Mrs. Hickey, Mrs. Sheehan, Mrs. Prario, and Mrs. Murphy for their work on the talent show. Veneto noted that there were a lot of school events upcoming with spring on the horizon. Those include Field Day, Future Laker Day, Ride Your Bike to School Day, and potentially a blood drive in June.
Veneto said, “The Fire Department came down to do lessons with all our students from kindergarten to Grade 6. They did a great job, and the kids really got a lot out of it: I witnessed some kids playing jeopardy games; I saw fifth and sixth grade kids actually putting on helmets and jackets and putting out a live fire.” He thanked Captain John Sjostedt.
Regarding contract negotiations, the Committee voted to approve the contract with the teachers for a three percent increase over the next three years. They also voted to approve the aides’ contract at a three percent increase over the next two years.
Committee member Jason Fraser spoke on behalf of two updated policies. “These are the policies that we spoke about a meeting or two ago… one on surveys being given to our students here at the Dennett and some of the polices and protocols we would like to see in place to ensure that parents have all due notice, both the fact that they are coming, the content of the questions, access to the questions, and contact people for opting-out and also the guidance office reaching out,” Fraser said. “The security policy has to do with who has access to our security cameras and under what situations,” he explained regarding the second policy. The Committee voted unanimously to accept the policies.
Fraser also touched on SEL (social and emotional learning). “The SEL working group is actually a mixture of School Committee, parents, administrators, and teachers working together to try and bring programming that is consistent within the school building to have consistent expectations within the building, consistent language from classroom-to-classroom K-6,” Fraser explained. “I appreciate being part of the group… I appreciate the teachers who volunteered to help with the early work, but this is really something that we’re going to have to wrap our arms around and really join as a community to make sure we are supporting our kids here,” Fraser said.
The Legislative report was given by Fraser who said that remote participation will be extended until March of 2025. “Extra dollars to make sure that the free school meals for all we hope to go through June 30,” Fraser explained. He continued, “Other than that, the House Ways and Means Committee has had some testimony delivered to them for some of the other items that we would like to see included in this year’s budget, but nothing has been reported out.” May 4 will be MASC (Massachusetts Association of School Committees) Day on the Hill. He said that people will be invited to hold meetings with their State representatives and State Senators.
Superintendent Jill Proulx told the Committee that Silver Lake Youth Cheer wished to have registration flyers sent home with students advertising the program. Proulx made it clear that despite their name, they are not affiliated with the school. Similarly, Silver Lake Hoops, which is a private program not affiliated with the schools either, also wished to have their flyers distributed in the schools. Proulx noted that the program has been running in the district for at least as long as she has been there. The Committee voted to approve.
Committee Chair Jon Wilhelmsen told the Committee that the school would have a warrant article at the upcoming town meeting for $30,000 to complete work on the three classroom floors that were requested. There will also be an article at the special town meeting to move $60,000 from out-of-district vocational and then another still undetermined amount to be transferred from regular day as there was some surplus there. They will also need another transfer from some other town source. “Just to clarify all of the transfers are for this year to supplement our special education line due to some changes in tuition and education that were not anticipated in last year’s budget,” Wilhelmsen explained.
Regarding the additional surfacing that needs to be laid on the playground. Director of Business Services Christine Healy said that they can use the Mass Higher Education Consortium to lay the surfacing. This would allow for it to be done as quickly as possible, ideally as soon as school wraps for the year.
Regarding solar panels, Wilhelmsen told the Committee that they likely noticed some paneling already on the building. “They’re moving fast with that; they’re moving forward in April,” he said. He noted that the town would be paying to have five or six different boxes that will be added to the building. They won’t all be able to be placed at ground level so siding will be removed from a section to put in a proper backer board. This would allow for siding to be replaced in the future without disrupting the board.
Wilhelmsen told the Committee that they had some equipment in the Dennett kitchen to be declared surplus. Nutrition Director Megan Ahrenholz asked that the Committee vote to approve declaring both the steamer and steam kettle as surplus as she has a grant to purchase updated equipment. “It’s important to note that… some of the equipment we are getting rid of has been here for 50 years so it’s definitely time for an upgrade and I’m sure it will have a significant impact on our electricity bill,” Wilhelmsen said.
Proulx said that the next meeting would be the school choice hearing which is held annually. The meeting will be on Monday, April 24.
Halifax votes down school choice
The Halifax School Committee met on Monday, April 3. They began the meeting with their annual school choice hearing. Committee Chair Summer Schmaling said, “school choice allows residents and students from other towns to choose Halifax Elementary as a school that they can send their child to even if they don’t live in our district.” No one from the public asked to speak during the hearing and there was no conversation amongst the Committee on the topic. Superintendent Jill Proulx said that the Committee would need to cite a reason for declining school choice. Schmaling said that she felt it would be a financial hardship to the town to accept school choice as well as the negative impact it could potentially have on class sizes. The Committee voted unanimously against school choice.
For correspondence, Schmaling said that Committee member Jim Keegan had submitted his letter of resignation with a year left on his term. “His position is open on the ballot in the spring,” Schmaling explained.
Updates were given for the standing committees including PTO. It was said that they are running an HES apparel fundraiser. Discussion was also had at the last PTO meeting surrounding the increased costs associated with busing for field trips. There was some talk of fundraising per grade rather than per pupil since some grades have significantly more students than others.
Principal Kayne Beaudry said that Grade 5 had MCAS for ELA the first week of April and Grades 4 and 6 the second week of April. Grade 3 will have their ELA MCAS the week after April vacation. Beaudry also said that they had a 70 percent response rate to the School Council survey. Schmaling asked what the survey included. “Every couple of years, we put together a survey that we send out to families and it’s about the climate in the building, the effectiveness of our staff, the relationships that we’re building here in the school; and it’s all designed around our strategy for district improvement at the building level,” Beaudry explained. Beaudry said that the book fair during conferences raised almost $15,000. He said that the PTO “generously bought a book for every student in kindergarten through fourth grade.”
Beaudry told the Committee that each year they send out a student placement feedback form for parents. He said that placement teams are starting up now before the end of the school year. “We don’t take teacher requests, but we look for some feedback in terms of how their child learns best or if there’s any particular friendships or any details that a placement team will know,” he explained.
Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch said he had an update on the elementary school team leadership meeting on March 16. He said that Beaudry and Assistant Principal Brian DeSantes shared their data on student growth with the other elementary school principals in the district. “They played a leadership role in our session by sharing their data… and the way in which they track student growth and achievement over the course of the year… they did a great job with the visual display… we thought that was great to share with all of our elementary principals because data analysis is a key part of student growth,” Lynch said. Lynch said that the assessment tools used include both DIBELS and Star Math and Star Reading. Beaudry said that the most useful data is typically from the spring scores to the fall ones as there is usually a dip over the summer.
Bunny hops to Plympton Police Station
Saturday, April 8, the Plympton Police Station became a stop on the Easter Bunny’s route to deliver eggs all around. Hundreds of eggs were hidden around the station and outside in the yard. Eggs, prizes, raffles, donuts, games and goodies were enjoyed by all.
Kingston Town Election is Saturday, April 22
Kingston’s Annual Town Election will be Saturday, April 22, at the Kingston Elementary School, 150 Main St,, off Route 3A. Polls are open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
There are still positions open with no candidates. They are: Housing Authority, 1 seat available for a 5-year term and Library Trustee – two seats available for 3-year terms Check the Town Clerk’s website to see if you qualify for an absentee ballot. See www.kingstonma.gov for additional information under Election News. If you have any questions please feel free to contact the Kingston Town Clerk’s office at 781-585-0502.
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