It was a beautiful Spring Saturday last weekend – perfect weather to stop in at the Mayflower Mercantile shop at 4 Mayflower Rd., Plympton, and partake of their Seed Swap, and learn more about the Plympton Garden Club and the efforts to bring it back to its former vibrant presence in the town.
It’s almost time to get a head start on your garden and start some seeds inside – about 4-6 weeks ahead of the last frost is what gardeners advise.
The Plympton Garden Club has a long history in Plympton and has undertaken many beautification projects, not the least of which is the annual holiday tree decoration at the Gazebo on the Town Green. The Garden Club has also spearheaded the Plympton Town-wide Cleanup Day, with the support of the Highway Dept.
Watch for announcements of Clean-up Day and the annual Garden Club Plant Sale.
A hot cup of coffee on a bright spring morning is just the thing. Lady Sunshine coffee brewers brought their trademark yellow VW Vanagon with all the coffee brewing paraphernalia inside to the Seed Swap where customers could buy a hot cuppa coffee. Elizabeth dreamed of building her own coffee shop and the stars aligned for her to bring the world a coffee community on wheels. You can’t help but smile when you see the bright yellow van coming down the road. That’s what it’s all about with Lady Sunshine – bringing a bit more sunshine into the world – one cup at a time.
Mayflower Mercantile, a wonderful old-fashioned store with everything you didn’t know you couldn’t live without, has more events scheduled for Spring:
Wednesday, April 5, from 6 to 8 p.m. Mayflower Mercantile will host an Easter Cookie Workshop put on by Le Sucre Bake Shop. Kacey will teach the ins and outs of decorating five different cookies using Royal Icing. This is a perfect workshop for beginners! Cost is $70 per person.
Stephanie of Gate & Garden Herbal Apothecary in Weymouth, will showcase her items the use of regional flora, using mainly personally foraged or home-grown botanicals. This is a special opportunity to acquaint yourselves with their herbal apothecary on Saturday, April 15, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Kingston Public Library to hold poetry contest for National Poetry Month
The Kingston Public Library will hold a poetry contest from Wednesday, March 22 through Wednesday, April 12, for National Poetry Month in April. The contest is open to all residents of the Town of Kingston and neighboring communities.
Individuals may submit one original poem in any form, but it must be about the theme, “Connecting with Nature,” and suitable for a general audience. The poem may not exceed 35 lines, including line breaks and title. Poems will be judged on creativity, style, and adhering to the theme. Judges from the Greater Kingston area will pick winners in each age category.
The age categories for the contest will be children (ages 5 to 11), teens (ages 12 to 17), and adults (ages 18+). Winners will be announced on Thursday, April 20 or Friday, April 21.
In each age category, top prize winners are eligible to win a $50 Amazon gift card, second-place finishers can earn a $25 Amazon gift card, and the third-place winners will receive a $10 Amazon gift card. The prizes have been generously provided by the Friends of the Kingston Public Library.
The winning poems will be published on the Library website. Patrons must be able to pick up their prize at the Kingston Public Library.
To submit your poem, please submit two pages. The first page should be the title of the poem and the poem. The second page should be the submitters name, title of poem, entry category (children, teen, adult), grade (if applicable), address, phone number, and e-mail address (if available). Please do not put any identifying information on the first page, so judges only see the title and poem.
Submit your typed entry as a Microsoft Word, Google Doc, or PDF attachment by e-mail to [email protected] (Please use subject line – Poetry Contest). Typed entries can be also dropped off at the Reference or Children’s desk of the Kingston Public Library. Poems must be in size 12 font. Fancy fonts, colors, or illustrations are not permitted.
A full list of rules and guidelines is available at kingstonpubliclibrary.org. For more information, please contact Steven Miller, Reference Librarian at (781) 585-0517 x6272 or e-mail [email protected].
Who’s on the Kingston ballot?
Kingston Town Clerk Paul Gallagher has announced the following candidates will be on the ballot for the Town of Kingston’s Annual Town Election, Saturday, April 22. Registered voters may cast their ballots from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Kingston Elementary School’s cafeteria.
Incumbent Sean O’Brien is unopposed in his race to remain Kingston’s Town Moderator. The position is for three years.
Two residents are on the ballot for two three-year terms as selectmen. Don Alcombright, incumbent, and Eric Crone are unopposed.
The race for Treasurer is one of two contested races on the ballot. Kenneth G. Maolli and Jessica M. Kramer will oppose each other for the three-year term.
Stephen J. Dunn is running unopposed for the three-year term as Assessor.
Paul M. Gallagher, incumbent, is running unopposed for Town Clerk.
The Planning Board 5-year seat has David Gavigan as its contestant.
Mark Guidoboni is running for the one-year term on the Silver Lake School Committee.
Joanne Coleman is seeking election to the three-year term on the Silver Lake School Committee.
Tricia Arieta, who was appointed to fill an unexpired term, and Jeanne Coleman, incumbent, seek three-year terms on the Kingston Elementary School Committee.
Robert Kostka, incumbent, seeks re-election to the three-year term as Water Commissioner.
There is no candidate for the five-year term on the Housing Authority. Write in your choice.
Two board of Health incumbents, Dennis Randall and Heidi Whipple, will be challenged by Lauren Hache for one of the two three-year terms.
There are no candidates for the two three-year terms as Library Trustee. Write in your choice.
Incumbent Patrick Rooney and Suzanne Haggerty, appointed to fill an unexpired term, will seek re-election to the Recreation Commission’s two three-year terms.
Eileen Moynihan, who was appointed to fill an unexpired term, is seeking election to the one-year term available.
These candidates have been certified for the 2023 Town of Kingston Annual Election ballot. Candidates have until March 21, 2023 to withdraw their name from the ballot.
April 1 is the last day to register to vote in Kingston’s Annual Town Election.
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 or please feel free to contact the Kingston Town Clerk’s office at 781-585-0502.
Halifax votes band instruction
The Halifax Elementary School Committee met on Monday, March 6. Superintendent Jill Proulx went over the budget with the Committee. Earlier in the meeting Director of Business Services Christine Healy told the Committee that the shared cost budget represented an overall increase to Halifax of $58,778. Proulx told the Committee that the version of the budget before them did not include the 0.4 instrumental music position or the part-time math interventionist. The overall increase in the version presented was 1.97 percent. If the music position were added, the increase would be 2.2 percent and if both were added, it would represent a 2.5 percent increase to the total budget. Committee Chair Summer Schmaling said that she would like to see the instrumental position added to the budget. “I don’t think it’s a tall ask to put in $21,000 for our kids to have band, frankly. I think it is a great opportunity for us to share that position with the other towns in the district,” Schmaling said. She also said that she was reticent to use ESSER grant funding to fund any portion of the math interventionist position as those funds may not be available again next year and would instead like to see it added to the budget as a full-time position. Schmaling went on to say that her impression of “the tone of the town” is that 2 to 2.5 percent is a reasonable increase.
A motion was made to approve the 2023-2024 Halifax Elementary School operating budget of $6,359,846, the out- of-district special education tuition budget of $1,962,047, the out-of-district special education transportation budget of $797,759, and the out-of-district vocational education budget of $156,500. The budgets passed and included the full-time positions as discussed.
Schmaling told the Committee there was a request from Silver Lake Youth Cheer to have a flyer go out in the backpacks of students. Committee member Lauren Laws asked for clarification on the origins of the organization as they are not a school sport. Proulx clarified that this was a private rather than a school organization. Proulx explained, “Town organizations that are non-profit – we tend to send those out. This is not a clear-cut town non-profit organization because it is not just Halifax… it was approved last year by this Committee,” Proulx explained. She further said that it is brought before the School Committee for approval due to the policy on advertising. The Committee did vote unanimously to approve.
The Committee voted on the same two policies that were previously voted on by the Regional School Committee and Plympton Elementary School Committee. The first policy was about parental options for opting out of student surveys and the second policy was regarding who has access to security footage from school grounds. Regarding the former, Schmaling said that she vehemently opposed the policy as presented because she would rather the option be opt-in, rather than opt-out of student surveys. Schmaling said, “I just don’t like that they’re not in-house… because they are coming from MGH, Harvard, MPH, I’m good. I don’t think that other entities should have their tentacles in our kids’ brains.” Laws said that she would assume the administrators wouldn’t administer a survey if they didn’t approve of the questions. Another Committee member said that she would like to see there be at least three emails sent out providing opportunities to opt-out. Only Laws voted in favor of the policy and the policy failed to pass.
The security camera policy allows for security footage to be released to first responders in the event of an emergency as well as allowing for parents to come into the school to watch footage provided that student faces are blurred. The policy failed to pass as well. Schmaling told the Committee that she would share any feedback they might have with Jason Fraser, who chairs the Policy Sub-Committee.
Halifax Elementary School Principal Kayne Beaudry provided an update. He said that the Halifax Police Department has been doing safety presentations with each of the grade-levels to discuss different safety drills including lockdowns and fire drills. “Just sharing the overall message that the school is a safe place and what do we do when we come into those kind of emergency situations,” Beaudry explained.
He also told the Committee that they just celebrated Read Across America week with many special events including dress-up days centered around Dr. Suess. He said that the School Council was planning a survey to get feedback from parents during parent-teacher conferences. Those conferences will be held on March 23 which is also an early release day. A book fair will also be held that week.
Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch said that in February the elementary school principals in the Union along with Curriculum Coordinator Melissa Farrell attended an OpenSciEd curriculum training. “We learned about the new science units – the two science units that are being adopted in line with OpenSciEd; it’s about helping students learn about phenomena-based approach,” Lynch explained. He said the sixth-grade teachers also went to a training on it. He said that the hope is to eventually expand the program beyond sixth grade.
On the Appalachian Trail
Linda Redding
Special to the Express
The Halifax TRIAD met on Tuesday, March 7, 2023 at the Halifax Town Hall. Halifax resident Dave Thurston was the guest speaker with a presentation on his 2022 hike of the Appalachian Trail (A.T.).
The presentation included pictures that Dave took along the way. He shared stories and discussed items from his hike that were on display including his tent, walking sticks and the medal he earned for completing the Appalachian Trail.
Dave started on the Trail. on March 1, 2022 at Springer Mountain in Georgia. Hiking the Appalachian Trail was a childhood dream for Dave and on October 12, 2022 he fulfilled that dream reaching the summit of Mount Katahdin in Maine.
Dave noted that preparing for the seven month 2194.3 mile hike included daily long walks with a backpack weighing about thirty pounds. Hikers on the Trail must carry all their food and supplies. At points on the trail there were “Trail Angels” who would have water and food to help out the hikers. His wife would mail new hiking shoes and supplies to check-in points along the trail.
On the Appalachian Trail Dave was known as Christian. Hikers take on a trail name that they use along the trail with other hikers and at check-in stations. Dave’s “Certificate of Congratulations “ for completing the Appalachian Trail features his trail name.
Area 58 Community Media recorded the presentation and it will be available on the Halifax Community Channels and on the Area 58 Community Media YouTube page.
TRIAD is a partnership between local and regional groups to help inform and educate seniors. Halifax TRIAD meetings take place the first Tuesday of the month at 10 a.m. in the Great Room of the Halifax Town Hall.
The April meeting will feature first responders from the Halifax Fire and Police Departments..
BOS will return to in-person meetings
The Plympton Board of Selectmen met Monday evening, March 13, to discuss and vote on several issues, including whether or not to continue meeting remotely or to resume in-person meetings as have some other town boards, including the Plympton School Committee.
The law that made remote meetings acceptable under the Open Meeting Law, was passed in the wake of the COVID-19 shutdown in order that municipalities could still conduct their business while being in quarantine. That allowance expires on March 31, at which time full in-person meetings will need to resume. The state legislature has a bill before it to extend the remote meetings deadline for two years, allowing the towns the option of meeting remotely until March 31, 2025.
The question before the board was whether or not selectmen would seek to continue their remote meetings or return to in-person meetings. Selectman John Traynor spoke in favor of continuing the remote meetings because of their convenience and also spoke to the merits of in-person meetings, the best, in his estimation would be a hybrid of both, with the ease and convenience of the ZOOM meeting, and the option of people coming in for an in-person experience. Chairman Christine Joy said, “We’re not there yet,” to which Traynor replied that it was tested and it worked flawlessly.
Joy further stated that with ZOOM meetings, there has been greater public participation and that often, in person meetings were not attended by any members of the pubic.
Selectman Mark Russo said that he didn’t think the legislation to allow the continuation of remote meetings had passed the legislature and suggested the board wait to vote on the matter until the legislature voted. He did say that remote meetings were able to run more efficiently. Joy said she was in favor of returning to in-person meetings until the legislature votes, making the March 27 meeting the first in-person selectmen’s meeting. That meeting is also a continuation of the SLT hearing for its Spring Street location.
On Joy’s motion, the board voted unanimously to return to in-person meetings as of March 27.
Plympton resident Pat Burke, after the vote, because he had difficulty getting into the ZOOM meeting, said he wished the town would continue both in person and remote meetings, saying it might encourage people to participate in town government.
In other matters, Town Clerk Tricia Detterman brought to selectmen the question of allowing Vote by Mail for local elections. Other towns in the commonwealth have decided to eliminate that option, citing its cost and the unnecessary burden of another vote by mail. State and federal elections would not be affected. Detterman said that she was personally in favor of keeping the vote by mail option. “Hopefully we get more people participating in the electoral process.”
Selectman Traynor told the board that the Town of Sharon, where Deborah Sampson went to live with her husband Benjamin Gannett and where they are buried, was promoting a “forever” stamp in honor of the commonwealth’s official heroine. The Sharon Historical Society Feb. 9, 2023, voted unanimously to support the issuing of a Deborah Sampson Forever Stamp. The Town of Plympton Board of Selectmen voted to join in support of the effort. People who wish to support the new stamp may write a letter of support to Stamp Development, Attn: Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room 3300, Washington, DC 20260-3501. The deadline for mailing your letter of support is the first week in April.
Town Administrator Elizabeth Dennehy told the board that Plympton would discontinue its regionalization of the Animal Control Officer services, effective immediately, with a vote of the board. She said that Carver had not been able to provide the service for a number of reasons and that both towns found it would be easier just to sever the relationship for now.
Selectmen voted to allow the bicycle race “Harbor to the Bay” permission to ride through the town on Sept. 23, from 7:30 to 10 a.m. on Spring St., Brook St., and Mayflower Rd. This will be their final bike ride.
As for the Raves that usually close the meetings, Russo told the board about serving on the Community Preservation Committee with David Chandler, who passed away last week. Russo remembered that he would come 20 minutes early to prepare for his meeting and Chandler also took to coming in 20 minutes early and the two would talk about everything from the state of the economy, national banking, politics, down to chain saw maintenance. After years of these pre-meeting visits Russo said he found that the conversations with Dave were the perfect preparation for the upcoming CPC meeting. Chandler, the board agreed, was a lovely gentleman and will be dearly missed by the town.
Traynor agreed with Russo and wanted to give a shoutout to the police who were able to put together a presence at Chandler’s funeral, with an officer at the door for the wake and two officers to accompany the funeral, all at short notice.
On another note, Traynor said he was happy to see there were 60 people at the Pay-T trash seminar held March 4 at the Town House, because there wasn’t enough space at the library to accommodate the crowd. The presentation by Highway Superintendent Rob Firlotte will be repeated Saturday, March 18, for those who didn’t attend March 4, also at the Town House. There will be refreshments and coffee at the library for those who have already seen the presentation.
Traynor also told the board the Recreation Commission is full and active and working with Liz Dennehy with some funds that have been earmarked for their use. Traynor recalled the days when Plympton didn’t have enough players to field a softball team so the town sent their players to Halifax. This spring, he told the board, there will be four Plympton softball teams!
The meeting adjourned. The next meeting will be the continued hearing for SLT on the Spring St. project. It will be in-person, in the Deborah Sampson room of the Plympton Town House, 5 Palmer Road.
Building inspector terminated
The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Feb. 28. They began the meeting by going into Executive Session to discuss the possible discipline or termination of the Building Inspector James Perry. Selectman Naja Nessralla recused himself from the hearing and deliberation. Upon returning from Executive Session, Selectmen Chair John Bruno said that they voted to terminate Perry, effective immediately. According to the town’s website, Steven Solari has been named as the interim Building Inspector/Commissioner.
The Selectmen also held a hearing to determine if they will be opting-out of mail-in voting for local elections. Town Clerk Sue Lawless gave a brief description of the purpose of the hearing. Lawless said, “typically, these elections are low-interest and given the increase of unfunded mandates from the State, it would be a cost-savings for the town to opt-out. While I understand that the idea of vote-by-mail has become popular by many, I do not feel that the Town has made the changes necessary to support it. My office is currently a part-time office and the vote-by-mail process is very labor-intensive.” She went on to say that many residents did not return their mail-in ballots. Lawless also clarified that absentee voting will still be available. A new hearing would be held annually to determine whether to opt-out of mail-in voting.
The Selectmen opened the hearing to public comment. Resident Frederick Corrigan inquired what the cost was that made it prohibitive. Lawless said that while she didn’t have a dollar amount, the real issue was a staffing one. Corrigan responded saying, “I can’t see where we can take 437 people in this small town and say just because you’re old and you don’t have a car or you have a disability, you can’t vote.” “As stated previously, anybody with a disability or a reason why they cannot go to the polls, has an option to absentee ballot,” Lawless answered. Selectman Jonathan Selig said, “I can see both sides of the issue; I’m not into limiting voting access, if there’s a way, we can get creative to get people there – I have a minivan, I can drive folks there.” The Selectmen voted to opt-out of mail-in voting. Bruno noted that come May, if there’s an issue, they will make a different decision for next year.
Bruno said, “Just in case this crowd is here for the Morse Brothers part of the agenda, those four things are kind of standing things on our agenda until we get them resolved so we were supposed to have an inspection of the property today but because of the storm, we weren’t able to do that. We intend to get it done this week and we will report back to the Board this week… if anyone’s here for that, that’s all we’re going to talk about tonight is that part of the update.”
Town Administrator Cody Haddad asked the Board if they would like to reevaluate how reappointments are handled. Selig said that he would like to see the Boards and Committees become part of the appointment process since they have more expertise on the specific subject matter than the Selectmen. Bruno said that he is usually in favor of reappointments and noted that in his career as a Selectmen, he can only recall maybe one time where he didn’t vote in favor of reappointment. Bruno said that if a Board has an opinion on a reappointment, he would certainly be in favor of hearing their input.
Haddad addressed getting specialized training for Boards and Committees including 40B training for the Zoning Board of Appeals. He said that they have reached out to necessary parties to setup the trainings. He said he is also working with the Attorney General’s office to set up some open meeting law trainings including some that are specific to Halifax.
Haddad also addressed a grant application for Halifax Mobile Home Estates to have trees removed at a cost of $750,000. “I have been working with the State to draft an application… but ultimately my recommendation would be… to vote to allow the Town Administrator to submit it… if we are awarded it, then you would vote to approve it.” The Selectmen need to oversee the project. The Selectmen agreed to pursue the grant on behalf of the Mobile Home Estates.
The Selectmen also dealt with a live entertainment request for Halifax Pride. Authorization has already been granted for use of the Town Green on June 17. The entertainment would include Silver Lake Regional High School students, a family-friendly drag performance, and a DJ. The request was already approved by the Fire and Police Chiefs as well as the Board of Health. The Selectmen voted unanimously to approve the entertainment request. The Selectmen also fielded a request for use of the Town Green on Saturday, April 22 by the Boy Scouts for a bottle/food drive fundraising event. The Selectmen also approved this request.
Haddad told the Selectmen that they had a team formed in town to work on the Council on Aging project which had some funding approved during Town Meeting. He said they would need to come into compliance with Massachusetts procurement law which requires that a building project projected at over $1.5 million must bring in a project manager to oversee the whole process. The Selectmen approved Haddad moving forward as necessary.
Haddad addressed the MBTA Action Plan that had been the subject of much debate during recent Selectmen’s meetings. The Selectmen had ultimately voted to approve moving forward with the Action Plan. Haddad said, “On Feb. 17, I received a letter from the State under Secretary of the Department of Public Housing and Community Development… notifying us that they have accepted our Action Plan and that we are in interim compliance through December 31 of 2024.” He further said that he had a meeting with Old Colony Planning Council for technical assistance moving forward.
Mayflower Church to host Chowder Fest March 18
KINGSTON …Mayflower Church will host a free Chowder Fest dinner at the Briggs Building, behind the church, at 207 Main Street, Kingston, beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 18.
The event is open to the public from 4 to 6 p.m. All are invited to attend, and no RSVP is needed. There is no cost. Pastor Anton Brown said that the Chowder event is one of the church’s popular community programs. “We are all about outreach, and meeting more members of the community. Our event is a great chance to have people come by, say hello, and enjoy a free chowder dinner.” The church has hosted the event for nearly ten years.
Additionally, attendees will have the chance, if they choose, to participate in some good-natured competition and vote for the “best chowder.” Dozens of chowders will be available, prepared by different members of the church.
Mayflower Church hosts Sunday Morning Worship live as well as online, at 10 a.m. each Sunday. The service is also broadcast Sundays at 7 p.m. on WPLM 99.1 FM. Mayflower Church is located at 207 Main Street, Kingston, MA 02364. Reverend Anton Brown serves as Pastor. For additional information, please call 781-585-3167 or email [email protected].
Plympton school budget up 8%
The Plympton School Committee met in-person onMonday, Feb. 27, for the first time in nearly three years. Previously, meetings had been held virtually.
Superintendent Jill Proulx shared Version Two of the budget with the Committee. Regular day is at 3.13 percent, special education is at 22.24 percent, and the total budget is an increase of 8.56 percent. Committee Chair Jon Wilhelmsen asked which numbers in the budget were down that would likely increase next year. He said he was worried for down the road when laptops or other equipment would need to be replaced. Director of Business Services Christine Healy said that the funding Technology Director Steve Pellowe has received in grant money, would last for several years. Tech, textbooks, and instructional software were the three areas named in the budget as having significant decreases. “We cannot guarantee that that’s going to carry over to another year where it wouldn’t go back up again,” Wilhelmsen said of those areas. Committee member Jason Fraser called the budget “extremely tight” and “fiscally responsible” despite the seemingly large increase. The School Committee voted to approve the 2023-2024 out of district vocational budget of $60,000, the special education budget of 1,388,644, and the regular day operating budget of $2,854,051.
Proulx said that earlier this year they became aware of some problems surrounding the integrated preschool program. She said the main problem is that Silver Lake Regional is a Grade 7 through 12 program and does not include elementary. Wilhelmsen said, “Just so everyone’s clear what programs we are talking about – we are talking about the integrated preschool, which is pre-k, the sort of in-district special ed programs that are K-6… we’re also talking about certain support staff within our budget for our special ed, in-building program.” The State is allowing for a grace period so the district can make necessary changes.
Proulx said that they need to look at a multitude of factors including the need for additional staffing as well as increases to tuition as they look to find the best option for restructuring. Wilhelmsen said that one option would be to fully regionalize the entire district where you would have a single school committee overseeing everything. Proulx explained that an entire grade level could be added to the regional district but noted that the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) would not allow for individualized programs such as the special education program, to be added to a district. Fraser asked if they could consider running a collaborative in lieu of the program being added to the district. Proulx explained that it could incur additional costs as staffing would need to be added as it couldn’t be shared. Proulx said that as of right now, they can either fully regionalize or one of the schools could fully absorb the programs. Fraser said that he was not interested in having the discussion surrounding fully regionalizing and Wilhelmsen said he thought that the residents of the three towns would likely feel similarly. “Plenty more to come on that,” Wilhelmsen said of the discussion. Fraser said, “I’m just a little surprised that DESE isn’t working harder to make what we have work considering it is right and good for kids.”
Wilhelmsen said, “Kingston is footing the bill for certain extra work for this program; they’re not being compensated for it. The people are doing the work and they’re doing it because there are students in their building and they would not neglect any student in their building but we’re not (we and Halifax) are not paying any percentage based on our students being in that building for administrative staff, for school psychologist, for nurses, for whatever, and that is something that we need to address regardless.”
Fraser gave an update on two policies. He said, “One has to do with access to our security cameras… it’s basically who is allowed to view our cameras and for what reasons and what rights parents have to any of the footage on cameras, for which circumstances.” He further said that the policy allows for emergency responders to access the cameras during emergencies. Parents are also allowed to come in and view the recordings though he noted that faces of students would be blurred. The second policy has to do with the current policy surrounding student surveys and the rights of parents to be notified when said surveys are given. Fraser said that parents would be given plenty of time to opt-out of surveys and would also be given sample examples of questions.
The Committee dealt with unfinished business. Wilhelmsen said that he met with the Police Chief to discuss putting out a sign to let people know that dogs are prohibited from the fields on the school grounds. Regarding the playground, Director of Business Services Christine Healy said that they will be ready to put the new surfacing down in the spring. Regarding the ongoing solar project at the school, Wilhelmsen said, “giving credit where credit is due, I have to thank the folks at DESE for being incredibly prompt in getting us their approval.” He said that panels should be placed on the backside of the building by April. “Hopefully that will have some incremental impact on our cost for electricity,” he explained.
Wilhelmsen gave an update on Capital Improvement and said that himself, Dennett Elementary School Principal Peter Veneto, and Director of Facilities Matt Durkee met to talk through some of the pressing items for the year ahead. He said there are no excess funds this year so they will need to think about things “a little bit differently.” He said that they will need to pay for a few classroom floors through an article at Town Meeting. He also said that improvements to the roof will likely be paid for with ARPA funds. There is a plan to use Town Properties Committee administrative funds to pay for an infrared study of the Dennett’s roof to determine what next steps need to be taken and what will be the associated costs.
Fraser provided a legislative update. Regarding private special education schools, Fraser said that typically the State governs how much those schools can raise their tuition. He said that they usually see three or four percent increases but that a 14 percent increase was approved for FY24. He said that the Governor would be releasing the House One budget soon but said that it appears that Plympton would be receiving an additional $40,000 in Chapter 70 funds next year. “Special ed Circuit Breaker is fully funded already in this first version of the budget for the year at 75 percent but she also included four times more dollars for extraordinary relief which is not paid back for the year that has already gone by; we can access those funds for the years that we are encumbering those expenses,” Fraser explained. He called it the first inning of a nine-inning budget process but noted that it is looking good for schools so far.
Fraser said that State Representative Kathy LaNatra filed legislation that would increase the special ed reserve fund from two to five percent. “This would, again, allow municipalities to establish a Special Ed reserve fund of up to five percent of net school funding in case they ever face extraordinary special ed costs; we’re at the cusp of that locally.” Wilhelmsen asked if there would ever come a time when the State would just take over special education. “We have had that discussion several times that special ed is the unifier of all school districts across the State. When we find assistance in special ed, it helps urban schools, rural schools, and suburban schools – wealthy districts and poorer districts, all the boats rise together when special ed is addressed … we are still advocating for it to be a ninety percent reimbursement at three times the foundation number,” Fraser explained. He further said that the State wants school districts invested financially so they would likely never take over 100 percent of costs.
Veneto provided a Principal’s report which began with letting the Committee know that enrollment stands at 240 students currently. He told the Committee that no one has applied for the open School Psychologist position saying it was a problem for many districts right now. He said that three people interviewed for a building substitute position but all three took other jobs. In a more positive update, Veneto said that the school is celebrating Read Across America.
Fraser told the Committee that the Governor’s press release on her budget was “a little bit nebulous about some language changes that the State’s going to be putting into this year’s budget to lessen restrictions on ESSER dollars from the State perspective to allow school districts to spend down those moneys before they sunset in a more fluid way.” Esser refers to Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds that were issued to schools as a result of the Covid pandemic.
Superintendent Jill Proulx provided an update on students attending private, parochial, and charter schools. She said that Plympton has gone down from an all-time high of seven students to just two students this year. She said that overall students in the three communities attending private, parochial, or charter schools is actually up despite Plympton’s numbers falling. Proulx also said that one student in Plympton is utilizing school choice.
CLINTON, NY–Caitlyn Smith, of Kingston, has been named to the Dean’s List at Hamilton College for the 2022 fall semester.
To be named to the Dean’s List, a student must have carried a course load of four or more graded credits throughout the semester and earned an average of 3.5 or above on a 4.0 scale.
Smith, a senior majoring in history and religious studies, is a graduate of Silver Lake Regional High School.
Halifax Police Dept. visits TLC Country Day School
Officer Cushman and Officer McIntyre had a great time visiting TLC Country Day School recently. They spoke with the kids about the role of a police officer in a community and got to see some of the projects the kids are working on. Thank you to the staff at the school for having our Officers stop by for a visit!
Courtesy photos – Halifax Police Dept.
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