The Rochester School Committee met on March 23 with a focus on the local school budget.

Superintendent Doug White presented the $6,076,537 FY18 budget, which is a 2.34% or $138,735 increase over FY17. The increases comprise: $115,081 (6.55%) for special education; $21,793 (0.75%) in professional staffing, $7,251 (2.58%) in regular day transportation; and an unspecified ‘other’ category for $7,281, a new line item. Also noted in the details was a negative $12,671 savings in maintenance and utilities.

White said, “Special education is $1,871,771 and regular day $4,204,766.” In 2016, White’s data showed that the school system served 84 students in special education.

Director of Student Services Michael Nelson explained that towns must pay the first $50,000 in special education costs for a student, and then the district is subsequently reimbursed up to 75% for costs in excess of that amount.

White also said the budget reflects a request to fund a .3 part-time health instructor to achieve health directives identified through the Healthy Tri-town Coalition.

Assistant Superintendent Dr. Elise Frangos discussed the importance of early health intervention. “Challenges in student choices start in the elementary grades … choices in friendships, nutrition and how the body works…” she explained. Frangos said it’s too late to start helping students make good choices in the absence of a program at the elementary level. “We found it’s too late by the time they reach junior high.” With the health educator in the elementary grades, she said, “Kids are going to enter the junior high knowing how to make better choices.”

The budget was unanimously passed.

School Principal Derek Medeiros reported that school enrollment in 2016-17 stood at 471 and that he’s seeing an uptick for the coming year.

Regarding the upcoming MCAS testing, Medeiros said the teachers had completed a run-through with the students using Chromebook technology. He felt confident the students would be ready to navigate the testing platform.

School Committee Chairman Tina Rood congratulated the Destination Imagination teams for their fine performances and said that, of the 14 teams in the district, eight were moving on to the state level competitions.

Frangos said that meetings are planned in the coming weeks to introduce parents to the new report card system that begins in the fall. Meetings are scheduled to take place at Sippican School on March 29 at 6:30 pm and at Rochester Memorial School on April 26 at 6:30 pm. Parents may elect to attend any meetings in the district.

The next meeting of the Rochester School Committee is scheduled for April 5 at 4:15 pm at Rochester Memorial School in the main office conference room.

By Marilou Newell

It has been widely reported that those with their finger on the financial pulse of their respective towns have been direct in telling the ORR School Committee members that their budget request was excessive. In turn, the school committee has been equally direct in saying, “We need more.”

However, on March 21, the ORR School Committee did vote to accept a budget increase of $320,000, a sum falling far short of the $800,000 plus they were seeking. The FY18 ORR school budget was set at $18,093,215. Mattapoisett’s share of the total school district budget is $5,420,566 for FY18, with total school aid certified at $987,558.

As the dust settled, Mattapoisett Town Administrator Michael Gagne moved towards focusing on the future – a future he believes holds the rising specter of financial disaster for the Tri-Towns. Thus, the tone was set for the March 23 meeting of the Mattapoisett Finance Committee.

When asked about recent ORR School Committee meetings, Gagne said, “OPEB (other post-employment benefits) to me is probably the biggest problem to come…. It has all the potential to impact bond ratings.” Gagne said that OPEB stands at $21 million for ORR, without one dollar being set aside in a trust fund.

Gagne explained that state and federal regulations allow municipalities to set up OPEB trust funds that can yield as much as five percent in annual interest, a much higher percentage than allowed in other saving plans. “Those trust funds can’t be touched for anything other than paying for OPEB,” he said.

“The retirement pool is getting bigger … people are retiring younger. That means they are not eligible for Medicare so we have to pay the same insurance rate as we would for active employees … that is costly.” And without money set aside to pay these rising costs, Gagne believes there is the potential for financial ruin to the towns.

And as for soaring health insurance costs, Gagne said rates climbed 11 percent this year.

Gagne told the FinCom members that OPEB needs to be a line item in the school budget. “It’s not something whimsical.”

Gagne then asked the support of the committee in seeking the selectmen’s approval to move forward with an ‘operations and fiscal strategic review’ of ORR district spending in partnership with Rochester and Marion.

“I want to do a five-year study of the budget…. Let’s get a professional to come back with some recommendations,” said Gagne. “We need to drill down…. This is the way to get the towns the information they need to make decisions as to where we are going in the future,” Gagne stated. The committee members gave their support.

FinCom member Betty Pennington asked, “Isn’t it the responsibility of the school committee to allocate their money?”

“Yes, they have complete autonomy. They can move money around as they want,” Gagne replied.

Gary Johnson, another committee member, interjected, “But the problem is OPEB and retirement.”

Gagne said that several years ago Mattapoisett had added a line item to fund its municipal OPEB liability. Of the ORR budget, he said, “We need analysis … we can’t go another two years [without savings] … we have got to plan.”

Johnson asked, “Can’t we say, ‘You build an OPEB plan or we’ll do it for you and take it out of your budget?’”

Gagne responded, “Yes.”

When asked about a Proposition 2½ override, Gagne stated, “That would be a Band-Aid … we need to identify the problems, achieve fiscal prudence, and tackle the problem.”

The Tri-Town board of selectmen representative during the ORR school negotiations was Mattapoisett Selectman Paul Silva. In a follow-up, Silva added to the school budget conversation.

Silva said a request to have a bifurcated health insurance plan for new hires had failed to pass. “This year we needed a 50-50 split.” He also expressed concern that the district’s Excess & Deficiencies budget line item, a reserve fund, Silva explained, that is set aside for emergencies and had once held $800,000, had been “drained away” over the years to balance the ORR school budget. “That’s not how that is supposed to be used,” Silva said.

In other FinCom business, Gagne provided the members with an administration budget that includes increases to group health insurance – up $202,000; Medicare tax up $35,000; and workman’s compensation up $21,088. Gagne also said small increases were needed for the tree warden – $2,164 to cover tree maintenance and removals; shellfish propagation – $4,000; and $6,576 for the natural resources department primarily for shellfish policing he said. Ending on a positive note, Gagne pointed to savings in utility expenses to the tune of $20,000.

Meeting with the committee members on this night was new hire Heidi Chuckran, CPA, to discuss the town accounting department budget. Chuckran is the former City of Brockton auditor whose experience and expertise were lauded by Gagne.

Chuckran said that Mattapoisett “is a hidden gem” and that “not many towns fund their OPEB,” a critical area she said.

Chuckran presented a level-funded budget for her department with small upticks in seminars, conferences, and statewide travel. She said these were necessary to maintain her certifications.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Finance Committee is scheduled for March 30 at 6:30 pm in the town hall conference room.

By Marilou Newell

It was the liveliest of all of the candidate’s forums so far, said emcee Sharon Lally at the annual COA candidates’ forum, but as one candidate for selectman said as he exited the building, “I’d rather schedule a colonoscopy.”

Sparks started to fly between Richard Nunes, Greenwood “Woody” Hartley, and Bendrix Bailey, the candidates for Board of Selectmen, once they took to the podium on March 23 to address voters and each other.

Selectman Nunes, the incumbent of 15 years in the race for Rochester Board of Selectmen, said his interest is to keep taxes affordable, maintain fiscal responsibility, and to keep the town’s rural character. He touted board accomplishments, such as the 2016 Community Compact with the governor, the regionalization of the 911 dispatch which will save taxpayers $150,000 a year, and the initiation of a 2009 investigation into non-resident students attending Rochester Memorial School.

Nunes said he also supported the new gas station/convenience store location at Routes 28 and 58, and opposed the solar farm once proposed for the center of town.

“I am only a taxpayer in Rochester,” said Nunes. “I don’t conduct business in town or have family members who do,” said Nunes, whose speech then turned to focus on Hartley and some conflicts of interest alleged by Nunes. “Mr. Hartley has a couple conflicts of interest,” he said. Hartley’s wife, Sharon Hartley, is on the Rochester School Committee “and a staunch advocate for schools.” Nunes also said Hartley’s sister is a member of the Rochester Women’s Club, owners of the building that the Town leases for the town hall annex at $30,000 a year.

“It is my understanding that Mr. Hartley will be representing the Women’s Club tomorrow regarding the Town and its leasing arrangement,” said Nunes.

Nunes also said it was Hartley’s town meeting article that voters approved, making the town meeting minimum quorum go from 75 to 100, the reason Nunes said the 2015 Annual Town Meeting was almost null and void due to it proceeding without a quorum.

“This was perplexing given the fact that less and less registered voters are showing up at Town Meeting,” said Nunes.

In closing, Nunes said, “An affordable Rochester is a constant battle and can only be sustainable if all residents speak up, and that is why I am asking for your vote on April 12.”

Next up was Bailey, saying, “I’m running for selectman because I love Rochester.”

Bailey has been on the Planning Board for five years.

Bailey later added that he would forfeit his selectman’s salary of $4,100 annually to put towards a line item to upgrade the town website, which he deems outdated.

“I must think there are some things that need to be changed, and I do,” Bailey said. The top two things, he said: leadership and transparency.

His first example of poor leadership is the offensive color of the mandated trash barrels.

“We have big blue and orange barrels in this town,” said Bailey, and on every Friday, he said, the town looks like one big construction site. Middleboro received “prettier barrels, red like cranberries,” with green or yellow tops. “And they just look a little bit better,” he said, adding that no one had the opportunity to have any say on the colors of the barrels.

And the 911 dispatch regionalization, said Bailey, while he is unsure if it will save money for the town, what interests him is the lack of transparency the Board of Selectmen took in adopting the measure. “How was it handled?” he asked. Were workers consulted? Was the fire chief consulted? “The answer is ‘no,’” he said.

“None of those people were engaged in that process,” said Bailey. “It was just something the selectmen did on their own … and that’s not transparent.”

Bailey gave a hands-on demonstration of the town budget, having constructed a three-dimensional bar graph from a wooden block and different colored rods representing the town departments. The one depicting the school budget, of metal, towered above the others. Bailey has been very vocal about his opinion on the ORR school budget, agreeing with Tri-Town officials that the School Committee has created its financial burden through bad contract negotiations.

Bailey also griped about only having a part-time fire chief instead of a full-time one, and the police department not having Tasers.

“That’s one of the first things I’m gonna do,” said Bailey. “Vote for some change in town government,” he urged voters.

When Hartley approached the podium, he let out a “Wow.”

“Wow. I really don’t know where to begin,” Hartley said. “I’m a little shocked, disappointed,” he said, that the election had “degraded itself to national politics,” referring to Nunes’ attack.

“I think it’s pretty sad,” Hartley said, while defending his wife and sister for their volunteer work and how all the money collected by the Women’s Club nonprofit goes back to the community. “No one takes a dime,” said Hartley.

Hartley defended the quorum increase, saying the town was growing and so should Town Meeting. Nunes, he added, supported the article at the time, although Nunes later stated that he supported it “as a courtesy” to the then town moderator, Hartley.

Hartley said he has served the Town of Rochester for 45 years – from Cub Scout capacity, to town moderator, to now when he cooks breakfast for the seniors at the COA.

“I have a little business experience,” said Hartley, a cranberry grower in town. “A lot of us work in town – Thank God we do – it’s not a conflict of interest, that’s called community.”

Hartley said he sees opportunity where people see problems. “I have the ability to bring people together for a common goal.”

“We do need to start planning,” said Hartley. “We need to let data give us direction, not emotion.” He continued, “We need to get all the people who need the money together, including the schools.” Hartley said open communication and transparent government were key, criticizing the Board of Selectmen for holding executive sessions before roughly 30 meetings, 70 percent of meetings, according to Hartley.

“You will have a choice,” said Hartley. “Your choice was made quite clear tonight … Ask yourself, who has been working for this town for 45 years already?”

You can view the entire program on ORCTV online by visiting www.orctv.org.

Election Day is Wednesday, April 12.

By Jean Perry