Putting five school committee members in front of a Chromebook and telling them to make the angry bird chase the pig yields a more interesting Marion School Committee meeting – at least for a little while, anyway. Long enough on December 3 for the committee members to explore a few of the 345 new Chromebooks the Old Rochester Regional School District recently purchased.

Committee members took a shot at some online coding by spending a few minutes on the website code.org, which students will use one hour per week dedicated to learning how to code.

School Committee Chairman Joseph Scott’s face – lit by the glow of the open Chromebook before him – smiled as he followed along with Superintendent Doug White’s instructions to make the angry bird chase the pig.

The Chromebooks are also a tool that the four Tri-Town school districts will use to administer the new PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) assessment in later months of the 2014/2015 school year to grades 3 through 11.

Assistant Superintendent Elise Frangos, who recently attended a PARCC workshop at Bridgewater State University, said “PARCC readiness” for both students and teachers is currently a priority. She referred to “waves of training” that will be forthcoming.

Frangos said that during her day in Bridgewater, she had the opportunity to sit and take the English Language portion of PARCC for grades 3 through 6.

“Just to find out what it feels like,” said Frangos. She urged parents to visit the ORR homepage and click on the link for sample PARCC tests so they, too, can experience the new assessment their children will be taking. “Not that these tests are a barrel of fun,” Frangos said eliciting a few laughs. “[But] these are lively tests,” she continued. “Very unlike the MCAS.”

Frangos also touched upon the Old Rochester Regional High School’s latest achievement of making the Advanced Placement (AP) Honor Roll and how it is never too early to encourage young learners to consider participating in AP classes in high school.

Talk to your students and children, suggested Frangos. Make AP classes part of the conversation and plant the seed to succeed “and to believe in themselves with that mindset that they can achieve…”

Frangos said the central administration is looking for ways to assess what the school is doing well, in regards to the AP program, and how it can move forward and expand to include more Special Education students with IEPs and 504 Plans.

“Because everybody can succeed at AP,” said Frangos.

Also during the meeting, discussion of Marion’s 40B housing development was brief due to the limited information available at the time of the meeting. The lottery was to be held that same night as the meeting, and White reported that after reviewing the data available from the families’ applications, there lies the potential for 35 school-age children to move into the Marion School District. How many will actually move in was still unknown at the time.

There has been a slight delay in the availability of the 30 units, however, with completion pushed back into mid-February to early March, still a relatively short time for Fiscal Year 2016 budget consideration.

“But we need to think about that as we move forward,” said White.

The committee approved a budget transfer totaling $38,619.29 involving adjustments to salaries from changes in staff.

The next meeting of the Marion School Committee is scheduled for January 7 at 6:30 pm at the Marion Town House.

By Jean Perry

Highway Superintendent Barry Denham came to the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission meeting on December 8 to discuss the application filed by Field Engineering for the removal of the decrepit culvert on Acushnet Road. But, as oftentimes is the case, one thing leads to another.

Denham told the commission that it was important to remove the culvert before winter storms cause more damage and that if the headwalls of the culvert should collapse, a much bigger problem might follow – flooding of the surrounding area. He will return in two weeks with more information on the work needed.

His attendance gave him the opportunity to bring up another issue – the Brandt Island Road subdivision.

Denham reported that he witnessed street construction taking place on Nantucket Drive that he believed was in violation of orders from the Conservation Commission and the Planning Board. He said the road had been extended another 250 feet beyond the existing road; however, drainage problems should have been addressed before more roadwork took place, he said.

ConCom Chairman Bob Rogers told Denham that the Planning Board had jurisdiction over the roadwork and the drainage system, but Denham countered by saying, “Boards should work together … I believe it’s important for [boards] to know what is going on – on these projects.”

Rogers tried to truncate the topic, but Denham said, “I thought it was prudent to bring it up.” Rogers said he was not willing to continue without the developer being present.

Conservation Agent Elizabeth Leidhold confirmed to Rogers that reclamation areas should have been completed before more roadwork was done and that it was part of their Order of Conditions. Denham was thanked for his report.

Daniel Eilertsen of 20 Water Street, represented by Engineer David Davignon, came before the commission regarding an 82-foot landscape wall. The dry-laid stone wall received a negative determination, but the applicant was asked to call the conservation office when construction began.

Daniel Oliver, 40 Water Street, also represented by Davignon, filed a Notice of Intent to provide beach nourishment consisting of the placement of 25 cubic yards of beach sand above the mean high water line. Oliver received a standard Order of Conditions and must provide grain analysis for every repeated fill in the future.

James and Debra Jones, 3 Cove Street, represented by Engineer Richard Charon, came before the commission with their Notice of Intent to raze the existing dwelling and construct a new single-family home, pile-supported with a velocity zone foundation. The Joneses have purchased additional land abutting the original lot, giving them additional footage to construct a slightly larger structure. They received an Order of Conditions and must also plant additional beach grass patches on the property.

Charon also represented Blue Wave, LLC with their continued Request for an Amended Order of Conditions for a solar farm on Crystal Spring Road due to stormwater management plans that had to be changed.

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection mandated that the applicant use newer stormwater calculations that require all acreage covered by solar panels be considered non-permeable. This is a change in policy for the MassDEP and came as a surprise to the applicant. Blue Wave had asked for clarification of the change, but instead received a response that the regulations are ‘evolving’ and thus the new calculations were necessary.

They developed a new plan that seems to make the water volume more than the system can handle.

“It’s a numbers game,” said Rogers. He said the plan modifications made the numbers look more conservative. He assured those in attendance that the plan would be more than adequate to handle water in spite of what the numbers look like.

Rogers did not think a new Order of Conditions was necessary because that the conditions already in place were sufficient, but he would have liked a letter from the DEP acknowledging that they initiated the change. Charon said that, although such a letter had been requested, the DEP had thus far been unresponsive.

In the absence of a letter from the DEP, the commission requested that Town Engineer Gary James review the updated calculations to confirm their accuracy. Blue Wave produced a check in the amount of $1,000 to cover those additional costs.

Previously, the area underneath solar panels was considered a permeable area by the DEP for the purposes of calculating stormwater drainage system designs. Tina Davies of the DEP confirmed to Crystal Spring Road resident Peter Wolski that the regulations are in fact evolving. Davies told Wolski the change was due to problems with solar projects in other areas.

Wolski implored the commission to find out more. He felt the commission should be interested in why the DEP is revising their policy. Rogers said it was “unprecedented.”

Blue Wave’s hearing was continued for another two weeks to give James sufficient time to review the new calculations.

The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conversation Commission is scheduled for December 22 at 6:30 pm in the Town Hall conference room.

By Marilou Newell