The Halifax Elementary School Committee met in-person on Dec. 6 at the Town Hall. It began with a school attorney providing guidelines for future school committee meetings including that masks would not be required as they would be held at Town Hall instead of a school building. A vote was taken, and the protocols were adopted by the Committee.

The meeting, which was well attended, was open for public participation. A resident said she was having difficulty accessing the meeting times and agendas. Committee Chair Summer Schmaling said that due to the open meeting law, agendas are posted 48 hours prior to the meetings. She pointed out that the meetings are also available on the district website via the calendar.

Another resident who said she is a parent of a student at Halifax Elementary spoke saying she gathered from the agenda that the Committee would be requesting of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) that they give authority to local governing bodies to determine what is best for their schools as it pertains to COVID-19. She addressed the Committee with a number of questions that began “What makes you as a Committee think…” She questioned why they would believe that Halifax should have different mandates than the rest of the state as well as why it would be a good time to lift the mask mandate while cases of COVID-19 are on the rise. She asked rhetorically if they conferred with the school nurse, staff and administrators, and parents before deciding to take a vote regarding COVID-19 restrictions.

The Halifax Teachers’ Association made a statement. Elizabeth Antoine spoke on behalf of the HTA saying, “First and foremost we are here to express our goal in building a successful and respectful partnership between the Halifax Teachers’ Association and the Halifax School Committee…as the HTA we would like to address the public comments made at the Selectmen’s meeting.” At this point, Schmaling interjected and said that if they wanted to address comments from the Selectmen’s meeting, they would need to be placed on a Selectmen’s agenda and attend one of their meetings. A member of the audience asked if the comments were regarding the School Committee and Schmaling told her that it was irrelevant if it happened during the Selectmen’s meeting. Much later in the meeting another resident tried to address Antoine’s statement being cut short but was told simply, “moving on” by Schmaling.

Schmaling addressed the letter that she wrote to be sent to the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. She said she would also like to see the letter be sent to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Commissioner, Governor Charlie Baker, Senator Michael Brady, and Representative Kathy LaNatra. Schmaling said that the letter was in response to a lack of a response from a letter sent in September seeking information regarding COVID protocols. Schmaling said that the letter was public record and anyone could have access to it at any time.

Committee member Lauren Laws said, “I do agree that some of the information in the letter needs to be clarified but I think some of the reasoning as to why is a little bit not transparent… I agree with a lot of the points of what’s the endgame – how do we get back to more normalcy?” She continued, “At this point with cases rising, I mean, I feel like keeping our kids in school is a top priority and so far there are studies that show that masking works.” Laws further said that she didn’t believe any questions regarding masking or not masking should be kept in the letter. “Let’s not appear to be on one side of the mask issue,” Laws said. Schmaling asked for edits and Laws provided what she would like to see removed from the letter. Schmaling and Laws have notoriously been on opposing sides of the masking debate with Schamling adamantly against mandates and Laws in favor of them. Laws said she didn’t believe the letter should be sent without input from the community. “Take a look at this room and see how many people are masked and I think you might see how our community feels about it,” Laws said. She later stressed that she felt it important to survey the school population and the town regarding the issue.

Schmaling asked for a motion to send the letter to the aforementioned parties. The Committee agreed to send the letter and moved onto a discussion of what that letter should entail. Gordon Andrews, who is not only a school committee member but also a Halifax Selectman, said he felt that he needed more time to think over the contents of the letter and that he would potentially like to see the Committee make a public records request as a public body to gather the information used by DESE to make their decisions. Attorney Dupre spoke up and said that to his knowledge, DESE has not been responding to any school committees that have reached out with questions. Dupre suggested asking the Mass Association of School Committees to request those kinds of records from DESE.

Andrews said, “If we were going to send a letter requesting all the information, I would also be requesting what are they going to do to increase access to all the students who are behind developmentally for the summer and following years… I think if we’re going to send another letter it should be detailed – these are the things that are important to Halifax.” Andrews alluded to masking causing developmental issues and asked what the MASC will do to combat those issues. Laws countered that everything cannot be blamed on the masks as there were other significant factors related to the pandemic that have caused delays, etc. “I think we kind of need to take a bigger picture approach…I feel like there is a lot more to this letter than when are we getting masks off,” she said. Schmaling asked for edits to be sent to her. The Committee voted to table the letter until more details could be gathered.

Schmaling took a moment to acknowledge the retirements of Halifax Elementary School grade 3 teacher Matthew Kaetzer and grade four teacher Robert Dray as well as school attorney Fred Dupre. The Committee members had a multitude of kind things to say about all the retirees.

An update was given on the PTO. A mingle and jingle event was held in lieu of breakfast with Santa. The event included pictures with Santa and a raffle. Youth and Rec also provided a brief update. The basketball program is utilizing the gym 7 days a week. Stem, Game Club, and Art Club are still currently on hold due to COVID.

Principal Kayne Beaudry provided an update. He said that after school programs were all booming and filled to the max when COVID hit. He said they are working toward getting those programs back up and running. He said that a successful lockdown and evacuation drill was run at the school. The turkey trot and food drive was successful despite the chilly temperatures. He said that over 2,000 donations went to the Halifax food pantry as well as over $13,000 in turkey gift cards. Beaudry also said that $13,000 were raised during the PTO book fair. Holiday vacation will begin on December 24 with everyone returning on January 3.

Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch gave an update on curriculum updates. He said that they have been focusing on how to make progress on their social and emotional learning goal. He said that a student survey on the issue was implemented and nearly 90 percent of Halifax students completed it. It assessed a number of social and emotional areas. He said that teachers will be trained on how to assess the results.

Lynch also provided an update on the three rounds of ESSER funding which is intended to aid in areas affected by the pandemic. He said that the Halifax allocation for ESSER II was about $106,000. Lynch said that the ESSER III funding for Halifax has been submitted but they have yet to receive the confirmation regarding the $225,000 allocated there. Lynch said that a minimum of $10,000 of the ESSER II funding must be spent on social and emotional learning. Schmaling asked what they had planned for ESSER III. He said they just spent money on some assessment programs to identify needs in reading and math as well as English learners. He said that working to make progress toward student supports in social and emotional learning would be high on the priority list as well.

Superintendent Jill Proulx provided a district update. She said that she and other administrators had met with Beaudry to prepare for the budget presentation for January. She went over some enrollment data including homeschool enrollment for K-6. It has gone down in Halifax from 16 students to 15 students for fiscal year 2021-2022. For grades 7-12, across the towns, homeschool has risen by 7 students. Halifax total enrollment has decreased by 5 students at the elementary level and 16 students at the secondary level.

Proulx said the social and emotional learning taskforce will be expanded to include all grades k-12. Included in that is an anti-bullying curriculum. She said it will be expanded to the middle and high schools to ensure a common language within the schools surrounding social and emotional learning. She said that inclusion standards are being implemented to ensure that those on IEPs are not in a substantially separate program unless absolutely necessary. “When we pull students out of the classroom, we tend to find that the gap grows,” Proulx said.

Proulx also talked about growth mindset. She said, “Our expectations, our beliefs in our children and the children’s belief in their own ability to persevere have a profound impact on whether or not they will persevere and have the tenacity and grit to succeed.” She went on to say that we should have troubles and be able to say, “I’m not good at that yet” as opposed to just “I’m not good at that.”

Proulx also addressed the posting of vaccination rates for staff and students. Schmaling said her initial reaction was that she would not want that to happen but said that she wanted to open it up to the Committee as a whole. “The vaccination rates are already public,” Laws said. “I figure since it is public information, why not make it accessible,” she continued. Schmaling said, “I didn’t think it was an appropriate place for it to be on the school website.” Laws suggested possibly a link to where it could be found. Schmaling asked why do it for COVID vaccination status when it isn’t done for other vaccinations. Most of the Committee seemed against publishing the rates on the school website.

The Committee also reviewed and discussed the test and stay program. Proulx said that the test and stay program is intended to allow close contacts to stay in school as long as they remain asymptomatic and receive a negative rapid test each day. They must also monitor for the development of any symptoms. Close contacts exempt from quarantining or test and stay are those on buses, those who have previously been diagnosed with COVID in the last 90 days and are recovered and without COVID symptoms, and those exposed in the classroom while wearing a mask and spaced at least 3 feet apart. Schmaling said that she has been asked if one sibling is awaiting a COVID test, should the other stay home. She said that no, they should not. Additionally, Schmaling mentioned that the test and stay program is intended only for those who were exposed in school. Beaudry said the nurse notifies close contacts that were within six feet but only those within 3 feet qualify for test and stay. It was also mentioned that children who qualify for test and stay are allowed to take the bus.

Schmaling said she has been asked what constitutes an outbreak. She said the nurse said that 20 percent of the student body being out sick with an illness would qualify as an outbreak. Proulx said that thus far there has been no evidence of classroom spread.

The Plympton Board of Selectmen met virtually on Monday, Dec. 6.

The first appointment of the evening was with the Finance Committee and Wage and Personnel. Chair of the Wage and Personnel Alan Wheelock said he was looking for this to be a collaborative meeting to discuss a cost-of-living increase without a vote or decision being made until the following week. “We have done our usual research and I think one of the things that we would like to hear from the Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee on… is what components you would like to see incorporated into this [fiscal year 2022 plan]… this is a very, very unusual year that we have experienced and that we will continue to experience.” Selectmen Chair Christine Joy asked Wheelock if he had a recommendation. Wheelock said that the social security recommendation for a cost-of-living increase is 5.9 percent. He said that the number came as a surprise to many of the surrounding communities including Plympton. Wheelock said their recommendations have nothing to do with the school or police departments. “Our scope is quite small, I think it is less than 30 people that our recommendations have an impact on,” Wheelock said.

Chair of the Finance Committee Nathaniel Sides said that the town has never voted for a number that matches the social security recommendation in his six years with the exception of a recent year affected by COVID. He said that five out of six of those years the town has voted higher than the social security recommendation. “The overall dollar impact for the typical one percent, two percent increase… for this small group of employees when you calculate it all out… that pencils out to $25,000 or $30,000 impact out of an $11 million budget,” Wheelock explained. He acknowledged that going from the one or two percent increase to five percent was a significant jump. Wheelock said a possible solution might be a one-time bonus for the affected employees instead of blindly following the social security guidelines.

Joy said, “while your scope is pretty small… your recommendation is used in many contracts that the town has; wages are based on Wage and Personnel.” She also said that those numbers would be factored in when negotiating with the school as well. “It has pretty far-reaching tentacles with what we recommend,” she continued saying that the town couldn’t maintain more than a one or two percent increase.

Selectman Mark Russo said the question is whether the last 30 years of low inflation or this year is the aberration. “I had been feeling like the number of 2.5 sounded good,” he continued. Russo said they had to be careful with respect to precedent but said that he thought a bonus to reach the 3 percent number might be a rational approach. Selectman John Traynor said, “I think a year from now we’ll know if this year was an aberration.” Traynor said that 2 to 2.5 percent sounded right. He went on to say he was unsure about the bonuses as it would affect the contracts with other town employees. Wheelock confirmed Traynor’s suspicion that all the surrounding towns they spoke with were falling in the 2 to 2.5 percent range.

Elyse Lyons with Wage and Personnel said she would like to ask that the bonus be considered a one-year adjustment rather than a bonus. Sides pointed out that the town often has an issue with retention. “I think that would send a message that Plympton is a town that cares about their employees,” Sides said of the adjustment. Regarding retention Traynor said that to him it seemed to mostly apply to fire and police and said that he felt it was less about salary and more about moving to a more dynamic environment.

A decision will be made during the December 14 meeting of Wage and Personnel.

Town Administrator Liz Dennehy said the Plympton Hazard Mitigation Plan had been finalized and approved by necessary state agencies. The Selectmen voted unanimously to adopt the plan.

There was also a discussion of an appraisal of town-owned land located at Old Brook Street. Russo said they had previously discussed the viability of the site for Habitat for Humanity. Dennehy recommended getting an appraisal done for the land as a buildable lot versus a lot with restrictions. The options as presented were for the town to keep the lot, the town to go through the correct channels to sell the lot, or the town to partner with a non-profit to utilize the lot for affordable housing. Joy said it was her understanding that they likely would not use this lot for Habitat for Humanity due to its proximity to some industrial businesses. Traynor made a motion that the town get an appraisal for the lot. Russo voted against the motion, but it did pass with the support of both Joy and Traynor.

The cost of transfer station stickers was discussed as the cost of waste management went up 25 percent last year. The projected revenue shortfall for 2022 was nearly $19,000 just for household refuse. It was recommended that a $200 sticker increase in cost to $240 and the senior sticker be increased to $120 in order for the town to break even. The sticker price has not been increased since 2012.  “It’s either going to come this way or it is going to show up in the tax rate,” Traynor said of the increase. “I think this is fair to the citizens and to the town; it’s regrettable that things are going up, but they are,” Russo said. The Selectmen voted to approve the increased rates. The recycling stickers stay the same price as previously at $30.

Two appointments were made during Monday’s meeting. Both Cameron Broderick and Nathan Cristofori were named as part-time police officers to indefinite terms.

Dennehy provided a Town Administrator’s update. She said that both the Green Communities Grant and the Hazard Mitigation Grant were nearly complete. She did note that they were denied an IT grant but said that they are currently conducting a full assessment of the town’s IT needs so it would put them in a better position to apply next year. Dennehy said that herself and Traynor had been working with multiple department heads to try and be better prepared for an emergency, long-term power outage. Public outreach messages and warming stations were discussed. She said they were also in talks with Carver about a possible overnight shelter should the need arise.

Plympton Elementary School Committee Chair Jon Wilhelmsen told the Selectmen that the paving at the new playground at Dennett Elementary would be happening that week. “The hope is that they will be able to open that up in the very near term; we were not able to put down the rubber surfacing due to the weather… we will put the rubber surfacing down in the spring,” he explained.  He said the hope is that the playground can be used during the winter with wood chips in lieu of the rubber surfacing.

Russo’s rave was for new Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and her slogan, “we can do big things if we get small things right.” He said his rave was for her thirty-something energy and not being “burnt out.”

Joy said her rave was for town government and the “awesome team” Plympton has assembled. “I just feel fortunate to be part of this team all the time,” Joy said.

Traynor said he had two people come forward with raves. He said that a resident who’s relative was in an accident had high praise for multiple members of the fire and police departments. Another resident came forward with a rave for those departments as well.

Our friend, Cathy Drinan, 69, died Sunday after being critically injured in a fire at her home in Plymouth. Cathy was the much loved and respected health agent for the towns of Plympton and Halifax for many years before her retirement in 2019 and a talented columnist for the Plympton-Halifax-Kingston Express.

Plymouth Fire Dept. responded to the call to the home at 10:22 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8, after a 10-year-old neighbor saw the fire next door and alerted parents who made the 911 call to Plymouth emergency services.

One Plymouth firefighter was later transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital where he was treated for first and second degree burns to his ears, neck, and back.   His ears took the worst of it, Plymouth Fire Chief Ed Bradley told the Express. “This (injury) was steam burns from the water being used to control the fire.   The heat was intense.”

The victim was transported via MedFlight ground crew to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston where she later died.

The cause of the fire was likely an electrical failure in the living room, Bradley said, though the fire remains under investigation by Plymouth Fire Department investigators, along with the fire investigation troopers from the Fire Marshal’s office.