The Silver Lake Regional School Committee meeting on Thursday, Dec. 2 began with celebratory cupcakes from the culinary department in honor of Attorney Fred Dupere’s retirement. “Your dedication, integrity, and work ethic are an inspiration to all of us; your depth of knowledge is truly impressive and beyond comparison,” Superintendent Jill Proulx said. Committee Chair Paula Hatch added, “You’ve helped us through things big and small… you truly are a part of the Silver Lake family.” Dupere’s son Russell will be taking over as school counsel.

Principal Michaela Gill provided the Committee with a Principal’s report. She had to leave the meeting early as she was participating in the school’s play. In her words, her participation included “lines, a costume change, and choreography.”

Gill said she wanted to recognize some fall athletes including Summer Bejarano and Samantha Faherty who participated in the State Cross Country Championship. “Our girls’ soccer team had a historic season making it to the State Championship game for Division II,” Gill told the Committee. The cheerleading team made it to the State Competition where they placed third and had a bid to Nationals. “I would like to thank all of our coaches and athletes,” Gill said. Gill also said that due to low numbers Silver Lake Regional and Whitman-Hanson Regional requested approval from the MIAA to become a cooperative swim team for the 2021-2022 season. Gill said they were granted that approval and noted that they currently have a cooperative girls’ hockey and gymnastics team with Whitman-Hanson and Pembroke respectively. “It actually is a cost savings for our District,” she said.

Gill told the Committee that proposed changes were made to the school dress code to make it less gender specific and less restrictive overall. She noted that hats and boots would no longer be prohibited but said that teachers could still request that students take them off at their discretion. Committee member Summer Schmaling asked Gill to clarify what constitutes hate speech on articles of clothing. “Anything targeted towards a protected group of individuals,” Gill clarified. Committee member Emily Davis said, “I would just say as a former teacher, I think this is fantastic. I think it is going to allow educators to focus on positive relationship building with students as opposed to constantly asking kids to take their hood off or pull their shirt down or pull their pants up. And I think especially coming out of the pandemic when some of those relationships didn’t have the opportunity to flourish the way they usually would.” The Committee voted unanimously to approve the revised dress code.

Gill told the Committee that the school recently donated over $11,000 to Dana Farber as part of the October Breast Cancer Awareness campaign. She said it was the largest donation to date. She also said that Silver Lake was excited to welcome therapy dogs back through a non-profit organization out of Scituate.

Gill said that 10 CTE students recently participated in a Skills U.S.A Leadership Conference. “The students that participated in the Community Engagement Program built picnic tables for the Hopkinton Y.M.C.A.,” Gill said. Some students created a 90 second video with their group that had to meet specific criteria using only the allotted timeframe. Several Silver Lake students won awards in that category as well as others.

Freshman and Student Council Representative to the School Committee Katherine Arnold provided an update to the Committee as well. “Throughout November we did a bunch of fun activities,” she began. She said the junior and senior girls played a flag football game against Pembroke. “We sadly lost the game, but a bunch of donations were made for Toys for Tots,” she told the Committee. She also said they hosted Laker Day which included school-wide Bingo and prizes. A hypnotist show and pep rally were also held in November. A student vs. faculty basketball game will be held just before the holiday break in December and funds will be raised for the Plymouth Area Coalition for the Homeless.

Middle School Principal Jim Dupille began his update saying he would like to welcome Jessica Kennedy, who is the new part-time adjustment counselor at the Middle School. She comes with a great deal of experience. He told the Committee that the teachers won the annual Turkey Bowl this year which Dupille himself participated in as well. He noted that there were over 500 students who attended the event. “That sharing of that day amongst our students and our teachers and our staff – that was kind of a powerful moment,” he explained. He asked the Committee for permission to hold an out of state field trip to Canobie Lake Park. Committee member Jason Fraser said that he has had wonderful experiences dealing with Canobie Lake and said he felt comfortable sending students there. The Committee approved the trip.

Dupille said they have been awarded the Cape Cod Educational Grant for $500 to support the positive behavioral intervention program at the school. The Committee voted to accept the grant.

Dupille said the Holiday Head Start party would be held at Head Start this year on Dec. 22. He said there would be carolers, cookies, and Santa. The Toys for Tots program and Coats for Kids program are both also occurring this month. Student Council will be holding Stockings for Soldiers on Dec.7 through Dec.16 for military serving overseas. The Annual Giving Tree will also be held where staff provide gift cards for needy students and families. The food drive, coordinated by Student Council, was held in November. Dupille said that the winter concert would be held on Dec. 14. Basketball tryouts will be held on Dec. 14, 15, and 16. ‘Twas the Week After Christmas, the school play, will be held on Dec. 11 and 12.

Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch said that middle and high school students will take a survey this month that the social and emotional learning taskforce will then prepare next steps from after interpreting the data. There was significant conversation and debate amongst the Committee regarding how that data would be dispersed and used and ways in which participants would remain anonymous. “It’s a busy year and we appreciate all the energy that goes into, not only supporting students, but adding on new things and moving forward with new initiatives that are important,” Lynch said.

Superintendent Jill Proulx also provided an update. Proulx said that the vaccination rate for the middle and high schools for students was nearly 58 percent. The high school alone is at 67 percent. For staff at the high school the vaccination rate is nearly 94 percent and at the middle school it is at nearly 81 percent. The middle school’s overall average is nearly 63 percent, and the high school’s overall average is nearly 69 percent. “The cases in the State are, in fact, rising,” Proulx said. Vaccination clinics were held on Dec. 4 and 9 and another will be held on Dec. 18 from 9-12. The Middle School has tested 19 students and the high school has also tested 19 students. “We have fewer students who need to be tested at the secondary level,” she explained. She pointed out that cases are rising steadily at the elementary level. Committee member Emily Davis asked why students exposed at home also couldn’t be made a part of the test and stay program. Currently, students must be exposed in school to be tested through the school. “My understanding is that test and stay is only for school close contacts,” Proulx said.

Schmaling asked if a child was exposed at home but tests negative, could they return to school. She was told that they could test after five days but would need to stay home until seven days had passed post exposure. Hatch argued that if you are exposed at home you are subjected to continuous exposure rather than limited exposure. Fraser told the Committee that the test and stay program has saved over 50,000 days of learning state-wide since its implementation. He said the number is likely closer to 100,000 days as the data has not been checked recently.

Proulx said the next item for discussion was a recommendation from a School Committee member to put on the agenda whether to send a letter to the Department of Education regarding unmasking and the 80 percent vaccination threshold that must be met. “When and if the school were to reach eighty percent, that does not mean that schools are unmasking necessarily,” Proulx explained. She said the decision would need to be made locally. Davis asked if having Covid in the last 90 days would count toward the 80 percent vaccination rate since having Covid in the last 90 days exempts you from having to quarantine post exposure. Proulx said that it only applies to exemption from testing and quarantining post exposure.

Fraser said his greater concern would be dividing the student body along the lines of those that can unmask and those that cannot if and when the schools hit the 80 percent threshold. Fraser said that other options for unmasking were discussed at the state level including looking at the CDC charts regarding transmission at the county level. Davis said, “We’re pretty far from 80 percent at this point and I think it would behoove us to know if there were other off ramps in the making,” she said regarding unmasking. Fraser pointed out that in the latest numbers, Plymouth County is even further away from the CDC’s qualifications for low transmission. Fraser, who serves on the Executive Board of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC), said that he has been and will continue to push for answers to the questions presented during the meeting that night. Attorney Dupere recommended moving in that direction as opposed to sending a letter to DESE.

Proulx provided a District update which included data received as of this point in the school year. Student enrollment in Grades K-6 is up in Kingston by 13 students, down by 5 in Halifax, and up in Plympton by 32 students. For Grades 7-12, Kingston has declined by 16 students, Halifax has declined by 16, and Plympton has declined by 22. Home school enrollment for K-6 has declined since last year. Home school enrollment for Grades 7-12 has increased District-wide by 7 students.

Leslie-Ann McGee said that the school start time subcommittee had been changed to a working group. McGee asked the other School Committee members if they had any input as they begin to more actively explore the issue. Hatch said that it might be best to get members from the other school committees as well as potentially some parents to participate in the working group. Schmaling asked if the intent behind the working group is to change the start times or see if there is interest in the communities to change those times. Davis said that there is a growing body of evidence that changing the start times would be beneficial. McGee said that there is a lot of evidence out there that they should be evaluating but said that polling the parents and staff would also be important. She noted that she does not have any preconceived notions.

Fraser provided a legislative update. He said that Massachusetts State Senate President Karen Spilka delivered a mental health bill that has yet to be passed. It would bring about 2,000 more mental health care workers to the State. Fraser said that certifications in the State can be archaic. “This bill would address some of those issues to streamline the process; it would also create a state database of available beds for mental health treatments,” Fraser explained. He continued saying that last month, Children’s Hospital in Boston said it was taking them an average of 35 days to find an available bed for patients in mental health crisis. He said the bill would also make it harder for insurance companies to deny referrals for mental health care.

“$4,000,000,000 in federal funds have been finally approved; they’re starting to unveil how those funds will be spent,” Fraser said. Unlike others who think they spent too much time deciding how to spend the funds, Fraser said he was grateful for how deliberate the legislature was in taking the time to decide how to spend the one-time funds. He noted that the State took $100,000,000 out that was specifically earmarked for school infrastructure funds. One-hundred billion dollars was taken at the federal level. He said he is going to D.C. in January to meet with their delegation and one of the first things he would ask them to do is work to put that $100,000,000,000 back into a federal infrastructure bill to support aging schools amongst other things.

McGee brought up the stabilization fund that was proposed to be a receptacle for things that would not have to be taken out of E&D. “The tone from the towns has changed tremendously this year,” Fraser said of the fund crediting the work of Committee member Chris Eklund. Eklund said they met with the three towns back in November and received a bit more support for the stabilization fund than what was seen in the spring when it was viewed as “rushed.” He said that version 1 of the capital plan was reviewed earlier that night and noted that the tennis courts were still “kind of a question mark.” He said that it may end up as an article this year as it likely won’t fit into the capital plan.

The Halifax Board of Selectmen met on Tuesday, Nov. 23. Former Town Administrator Charlie Seelig was no longer present as his resignation was effective Nov. 20.

Interim Town Administrator

The Board had an appointment with former Pembroke Town Manager Edwin Thorne to discuss hiring him as Halifax’s interim Town Administrator. Thorne, who served in Pembroke for 21 years, said he has been in the business for nearly 40 years in a career spanning multiple states. Selectman Troy Garron asked Thorne, “What’s your management style?” Thorne replied, “I take a lot of it from my upbringing in New Jersey and being in athletics all the years that I was in… I played baseball at East Carolina and I was never the best player on the team but somehow I made all subject conference two years in a row. I’m a team kind of guy and I think all the department heads will find that out.” Regarding his former experience he said, “If I had to be tough, I can be tough but that wasn’t my style.” Selectman Ashley DiSesa asked how he dealt with disgruntled people. “I think you use a lot of thought into the process of making a decision for the employee and for the organization and town; different kinds of things have happened over the years; I had an employee commit murder in one of the places I worked; there’s not really a whole lot that I haven’t seen,” Thorne said. He continued, “I think that I would just use my expertise and my experience to get through the process, so the resolution is in the best interest of the community.” “I like him,” Garron said in summary. The Board voted to award Thorne the interim position. “Thank you very much, I’m honored,” Thorne replied.

Holidays in Halifax

Halifax Fire Chief Jason Viveiros gave an update on Holidays in Halifax which will take place on Saturday, Dec. 11 from 5 to 7 p.m. “It’s going to be a little different than we’ve had other years; the Committee met; obviously we still face a lot of challenges with the pandemic still going on. We decided it would be best to have an all-outdoor event this year.” He continued saying there would be a tree lighting ceremony, performances by the Silver Lake Chorus, an ice sculpture, farm animals, food truck vendors, and a large-scale movie. Multiple local companies have all made contributions to this year’s event including one of the town’s newest marijuana establishments Flower and Soul.

Aldana Rd. Land Transfer

The Board also discussed the Aldana Rd. land transfer. The deal dates back to 2019 when Joan Pierce with the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife met with the Board to request purchasing an area of Peterson’s Swamp. The Board and Pierce came to an agreement that included a transfer of land behind Aldana Rd. from the State to the town. Ownership of the sliver would allow the town to be able to eventually pave the road. Selectmen Chair Gordon Andrews read an update from Pierce that said, “We received the executed deeds; I will prepare for the Commissioner to sign when she’s in the office next week.”

Snowplow Drivers

Highway Surveyor Steve Hayward spoke on wages for people hired by the town to drive snowplows. “Last year we were paying $20.33,” Hayward said. Garron said, “How is it compared to the other towns?” Hayward responded, “It’s a joke.” He continued that on average, Halifax pays $5 less than every other surrounding town. The Board voted to support Hayward in his efforts to pay drivers a more comparable wage.

Animal Shelter

There was a discussion regarding the agreement with the Lakeville/Halifax animal shelter. Police Chief Joao Chaves said it was the same contract that was signed each year with the only difference being an increased fee to hold dogs from $15 to $25. “We’ve actually only surrendered one dog this past year; a dog that was involved in a dog bite incident, so the owner actually requested to surrender the dog themselves,” Chaves said. Chaves said he was trying to look into Kingston’s prices. The Board decided to move the decision to the next meeting until the Kingston prices could be investigated and compared.

IT Needs

Cesar Calouro met with the Board to discuss possibly using ARPA/Cares Act funds to purchase an interactive display to facilitate interactive Zoom/Google Meets/Microsoft Teams meetings. “Right now, upstairs, we don’t have anything. Here we have that display screen which is a regular TV screen but that’s actually going out to the front lobby of Town Hall to replace the bulletin board,” Calouro explained. He continued that he would like to see something be added upstairs and in the room they were currently in to allow the continuance of the hybrid style meetings.

Calouro was looking at an interactive display that would cost around $5,000 and would be able to be wheeled around different rooms. “I just don’t know that we’re going to utilize it,” DiSesa said. DiSesa expressed concern that not enough Boards were currently using the hybrid style meeting approach to warrant the expense. “I think it’s great if we’re going to use it,” she continued. Calouro expressed that many Boards and Committees have reached out to him expressing a desire for such a device. The Board decided to vote on the issue during their next meeting.

Comcast Public Hearing

During the Board’s meeting there was a town of Halifax public hearing on the Comcast Cable license renewal. The Executive Director of Area 58, Richard Goulart, asked to speak. “Halifax currently receives five percent of the revenue from Comcast brought in, that is the maximum that is allowed generally speaking. Halifax also gets $25,000 capital each year. Over the ten-year period, we’re basically looking for something in the similar vein,” Goulart said. “While we can justify more than that for capital, we know they’re not going to go higher than that,” he continued. Goulart also told the Board that Comcast is the only company looking at ten-year contracts as other companies such as Verizon were looking toward five-year contracts.

The attorney explained that there was no decision making to be made by the Board of Selectmen that night as it was an early-stage hearing for public input only. “From the town’s perspective, I think it would be nice to see an upgraded upload speed from Comcast,” Andrews said. Andrews also said that the Cable Advisory Committee has tried to solicit Verizon to come into Halifax many times without any success. The Comcast representative told the Board he would have someone that handles upload speeds reach out to them. A resident also spoke to express disapproval of Comcast’s services saying, “I would rather see the town not renew the license with Comcast even if we had to spend the extra money to go Satellite or any other options.”

Former Selectman Tom Millias also spoke saying, “I have the same lament I have had for years… I think the public should know who’s paying for it and where the money is coming from; there is no definitive place on the Comcast bill that lets anybody know that they are paying for this [the local channel].”

He went on to say that he wasn’t advocating for or against Comcast but rather for clearer indication of what they are paying for on the bill. Millias also pointed out that Area 58 is also now available on Youtube to everyone. The Selectmen closed the hearing for the night but left it open for public comment until December 10.

There was a joint meeting of the Halifax Elementary School Committee, the Kingston Elementary School Committee, the Plympton Elementary School Committee, the Silver Lake Regional School Committee, and Union 31 on Thursday, Nov. 18.

Special Education Presentation

The first presentation of the evening was given by Special Education Director Marie Grable. “Marie is here this evening to give you a general overview with regards to special education and the costs associated with it,” Superintendent Jill Proulx told those assembled. Grable said that the special education team needs to evaluate students to determine if they meet the criteria to receive an IEP. The categories used include autism, developmental delay, intellectual, sensory, neurological, emotional, communication, physical, or health impairment. Grable said that developmental delay applies up to the age of 9. She said she considers it a blessing as it gives them time to evaluate the youngest students accurately.  Once a disability is determined, a comprehensive evaluation then takes place. She said the goal is to make sure the student has the ability to access the same opportunities as other students. She used a graphic to differentiate between equality versus equity with the latter equating to access to the same opportunities. Current regional program offerings include the Developmental Learning Center (DLC) and Pathways, the Structured Learning Center (SLC) or Therapeutic Learning Center (TLC), and the Language Based Learning Center (LBLC).

“Our overall student population for students receiving special education services has increased over the last few years,” Grable said. The number currently stands at 673 students – an increase of 30 students over last year. The percentage of students with an IEP for each of the schools is 16.3 percent for Halifax Elementary, 17.3 for Kingston Elementary, 13.7 for Plympton Elementary, and 15.1 percent for Silver Lake Regional. The state average is 16.7 percent.

Kingston Elementary School Committee member Jeanne Coleman asked Grable if there had been an influx in requests for evaluations this past school year. “How are we doing in meeting all of the requirements for getting a student evaluated for their IEP?” she continued. Grable said, “we are on track with every referral that we have received since the beginning of the year to make sure that all of those evaluations are completed by the 30^th and 45^th day.” She confirmed that they have had an increase since the beginning of the year.

Grable also shared a slide on special education tuitions and transportation budget. She explained that Circuit Breaker “is setup to allow districts to seek some reimbursement for the… very costly tuitions that we are paying for out of district placements.” Grable shared an example of an actual student tuition where the total claim is $109,953. The foundation, or the amount the state assumes the district can absorb, is $46,704, and the net claim is $63,249. The potential return is $41,112 and the actual town impact is $68,841. Entitlement grants are another way that the district can offset tuition costs.

Grable told the Committee that there will be a virtual meeting of the Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) on Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. She said it would be a review of basic rights and parents’ responsibilities and rights as it pertains to their child’s IEP.

Technology Presentation

Steve Pellowe, the Technology Director, followed Grable with a presentation. “I’m here to basically present an overview of the technology budget and give a background and some information on, not only where we were, but where we are and where we’re going and why it costs so much,” Pellowe said. He said that they have made significant progress in the district in the ten years that he has been there and credited that to the School Committee and the taxpayers. Some of the highlights include a new network infrastructure in all buildings and wi-fi coverage in all educational spaces as well and 1-1 Chromebooks in school or take-home for grades 2 through 13. All four districts have also been unified into a single unified network that has provided both cost savings and management time. There are also new phone systems that are tied into one system. In addition, they are building inventory for tracking devices and projecting future replacement needs.

Technology categories within the budget include school management/curriculum software and subscriptions, technology management, supplies and repairs, and technology hardware and assistive technology. Regarding upcoming challenges, Pellowe cited the replacement of Chromebooks that have a limited life expectancy. He also said that by the 2025-2026 school year, district-wide there will be 300 wireless access points aging out. Other replacement needs include projectors in all of the buildings. Also by 2024-2025, the laptops bought for staff during COVID will begin to need to be replaced as will network infrastructure and phones.

Pellowe also shared that the responsibilities for IT are increasing with items that were not previously considered to be IT responsibility now falling under their scope. Such items include security cameras, phones, access control, clocks/intercoms, alarms, and gas meters. “This strains our already thin IT resources,” Pellowe explained.

Regarding support Pellowe said that the last recommendation from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) was 1 technician for every 400 devices. This is significantly more devices per technician than the for-profit industry. He said that currently the district is running at a ratio of 1 technician to every 3,000 devices. Halifax Elementary School Committee Chair Summer Schmaling asked what the solution was to this problem. Pellowe said one option is to bring in more technicians. Another would be to have a management company come in to assist the department. “There is no one solution that I can put my finger on without saying really it comes down to money,” he explained.

Schmaling brought up the bulk purchases, including the teacher laptops, that were bought using the CARES Act funding. She said that looking back she is wondering if they should have staggered it more to extend the life of the items purchased. She suggested possibly buying 1,000 Chromebooks per year over three years as opposed to purchasing 3,000 Chromebooks in a single year. Pellowe called it an excellent question and said they have a tool called Chrome Gopher that looks at age-out times and evaluates what they have. He further said that companies are now being advised to make technology last closer to six years as opposed to four.

Saying, “now it is time for some good news,” Pellow told the committees that this year the FCC offered the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) to help provide devices and connectivity to those that could demonstrate a need. This equates to 65 Chromebooks for Dennett Elementary, 125 for Kingston Elementary, 250 for Kingston Intermediate, and 100 for Halifax Elementary. He said that Silver Lake Regional is still awaiting a decision. They are also waiting for a decision regarding staff devices in all districts. He also said that the district is continuing to take advantage of E-Rate funding for all eligible services and in the current fiscal year, there are commitments for over $46,000 in funding.

Plympton Elementary School Committee and Silver Lake Regional School Committee member Jason Fraser said to Pellowe, “You are extremely conservative with your budget, and I think we’re seeing that with how you disperse your funds for personnel and the numbers that you’re showing comparing what you’re actually dealing with with the amount of devices per person compared to what DESE is recommending; it’s an astronomical feat that you’ve accomplished. I want to make sure that you do not play your numbers as conservative as you come up with some plans for us moving forward.” He continued, “I think it might take a couple of years to really roll out the development of your team to where it should be and I want you to be very specific and very purposeful in putting together that plan… every dollar I feel that I’ve ever voted yes for in any of your budgets, Steve, feels like an investment to me and that investment has paid dividends in our towns and to our children.”

Curriculum Presentation

K-6 Curriculum Coordinator Melissa Farrell was next to present the elementary curriculum budget proposals as well as the Title I grant. Farrell shared that the contracted services for teaching budgets stand at $6,870 for Halifax, $2,719 for Plympton, $2,714 for Kingston Elementary, and $8,700 for Kingston Intermediate. Costs for textbooks were $98,812 for Halifax, $36,718 for Plympton, $87,825 for Kingston Elementary, and $95,618 for Kingston Intermediate. “Textbooks have evolved a lot in my time in this role; they are now defined as consumable workbooks/physical materials but also any software that is integrated with the packages of print materials,” Farrell explained. Farrell said there was about a 12 percent increase in textbook costs this year over last year due to science. Instructional software costs were $33,706 for Halifax, $22,164 for Plympton, $27,373 for Kingston Elementary, and $42,164 for Kingston Intermediate.

Farrell, who has been the Title I Director since 2017, showed the fluctuations in the grant allocations from 2017 to 2022. “We have seen it go all the way from $344,637 down to $156,013, back up to $261,126,” she explained. She said they need to be flexible in how they use these funds due to the fluctuations. Title 1 pays for tutors who are licensed teachers. Currently Halifax has 3 tutors, Kingston 6, Plympton 1, and Silver Lake Middle 2. “These support reading and math intervention,” Farrell explained.

Debate over Calendar Change

“There was a proposal made by our Union 31 Chair that we consider a calendar change; that we take a pupil day and turn it into a half day at the elementary schools for conferences,” Proulx said. She said that since the schools share buses, they would need to come to a consensus between the multiple school committees. Proulx said the date would likely be December 8. Clarification was made that parents would be given the option between in-person and virtual conferences. Fraser made a motion on behalf of the Silver Lake Regional School Committee to allow the administration to come up with that day. Silver Lake Regional voted in favor of the motion just as Plympton Elementary School Committee previously had. Halifax also voted in favor of adding the day to the calendar.

Coleman, who serves on the Kingston Elementary School Committee, said that parents have reached out saying it would be a hardship to add the day into the calendar due to difficulty finding childcare. She said for that reason she would be a no. Kingston School Committee member Timothy Lewis also expressed concern over adding the day. Kingston Elementary School Chair Sheila Vaughn said she did not feel like it was right to force all the towns into the same vote as she felt that members of her community had reached out to her separately. “Our town, I really do feel like, does not want this,” she said. In the end and with reluctance, Lewis said, “In the spirit of cooperation… I make a motion to amend the calendar for a half pupil day on December 8 or at the discretion of the administration.” All but one of the Kingston members voted no. This meant that a consensus was not reached, and the day will not be added to the calendar.