The deadline for candidates to file papers for the May 20 Mattapoisett Annual Election passed Monday, March 31, and now the finalized list of candidates reveals that only one race will be contested.

Catherine Louise Heuberger and Erika Osetkowski are both running for town clerk; another potential candidate, Sherri Panek, pulled papers back on January 8, but never returned to file them.

The majority of the other candidates running unopposed are incumbents; however, a couple of new names have joined other unopposed races, like Harry Hunt III, who filed for the one-year term on the ORR School Committee that was previously vacant. Mattapoisett School Committee member Nicholas Decas is not running for re-election and Peter LeBraun is now running unopposed for the seat. The vacant two-year seat on the ORR School Committee has only one candidate, Cynthia Johnson.

Current Board of Selectmen Chairman R. Tyler Macallister is running unopposed for re-election, and incumbent Assessor Raymond Andrews is also running again, uncontested.

Moderator John Eklund, Water/Sewer Commissioner Daniel Chase, and the incumbent for the Board of Health, Carmelo Nicolosi, are all running unopposed for re-election. There is only one candidate for Planning Board, incumbent Thomas Matthew Tucker.

The two candidates for the two slots on the Trustees of Public Library are both current members, Ruth Oliver Jolliffee and Virginia Callery Beams. The Community Preservation Committee will also retain its status quo with its two current members, Jodi Lynn Bauer and John DeCosta Jr., running unopposed.

Two seats on the Mattapoisett Housing Committee remain vacant at this time, with no candidates appearing on the ballot.

By Jean Perry

Criticism over the decision to eliminate Good Friday as a holiday may prompt Marion School Committee members to ask the Joint School Committee to revisit the matter and rescind the vote.

Marion and Joint School Committee Member Christine Winters asked Superintendent Doug White on April 2 if a committee has ever gone back on a vote in the past, vocalizing her opposition to the decision and clarifying that she voted against the change.

“I know by law that you, as a district, can set your own policy,” said White. He mentioned that someone in the minority could ask for reconsideration on a matter, but he said he needed to check the committee by-laws.

“I’m personally disappointed in how it was handled,” said Winters. She thought the committee did not seek feedback from the public nor was adequate time provided for discussion.

Vice Chairman Jay Pateakos, also a Joint Committee Member, said he would have voted against the change if he had attended the meeting.

“There’s been a lot of mumblings around the three towns,” said Pateakos about the Good Friday change. “It came from Rochester,” he stated.

Chairman Joseph Scott said that during his seven years on the committee, the school calendar never passed without some degree of debate.

Marion resident Joe Napoli spoke against the change to make the religious holiday a normal school day. He said he would not be politically correct saying the United States was founded as a Christian/Judeo-based country. He also said that years ago when he was on the School Committee, the district tried eliminating the Good Friday school holiday.

“And it didn’t work well at all. The community was up in arms,” said Napoli.

He claimed it backfired when a significant number of students and teachers did not attend school that day, sending the substitute teacher budget line item into a deficit.

“Things like this serve to alienate the community,” said Napoli. He then turned to Sippican School Principal Evelyn Rivet and asked her why the students no longer recited the Pledge of Allegiance in the morning. She told him that he was mistaken, and that students stand every day for the Pledge of Allegiance – a tradition that has never changed.

In other matters, the total debt from 54 delinquent school lunch accounts has exceeded the $1,000 mark. A draft by-law presented by Food Service Director Caitlin Meagher prompted some committee members to question whether or not the policy would be detrimental to the young Sippican School students.

“I struggle with this,” said Winters after reviewing the draft policy.

The draft policy imposes a maximum of seven lunches allowed charged to a deficient lunch account. At that point, if the account remains in arrears, the child is offered an alternate peanut butter sandwich or cheese sandwich lunch and milk.

Another part of the draft policy reads, “[Sixth] grade students with outstanding balances will not be signed out of the Marion School District until the debt has been paid.” Beside it, in parentheses, it reads, “not sure if we can do that.”

Winters pointed out that a student is in line and takes a lunch before reaching the register; hence, that child would not be aware of the account debt until he/she reached the register. She was concerned that lunch would be taken from a student’s hands and switched for the alternate lunch.

“That will not happen,” said Chairman Scott, acknowledging that there are some logistical issues with the draft policy that need to be reviewed. “But we need to do something.”

Sippican School has the highest lunch account debt of the three towns and has been the most challenging for administration to address.

“It’s just that we have some families who are taking it to the extreme,” said White. He said Marion needs a policy with “more teeth to it.”

“I really don’t want us to be in the collection business. It’s not who we are,” said Winters. “I struggle with this aspect of it.”

School Council Representative Lynne Parks Kuhl opposed the draft policy, saying, “In this economy, we really don’t want to differentiate children.” She advocated finding a way for the community to donate to bring the lunch account debt down. She did not approve of the alternate lunch.

“I can’t imagine a child getting half a lunch,” said Kuhl, noting that it would be stigmatizing. She said the district had to somehow determine which accounts are owed by people in need and those which are owed by people who are just not paying the bill.

“I know this is a community affair, and we want to do what’s best for our students,” said White. Principal Rivet asked the committee if the Principal’s Account could pay down the accounts. White said the funds could be spent however Rivet sees fit.

Also at the meeting, Assistant Superintendent Dr. Elise Frangos reported that the SAT exam is being reconfigured, and “bizarre words” such as ‘ubiquitous’ and ‘ostentatious’ would be replaced with more common, useful words like ‘synthesize.’

“It will no longer be about ‘tricks’ and ‘jumping through hoops,’” said Frangos.

Frangos also gave a presentation on the new District Determined Measure, a new statewide policy requiring teachers of all subjects to gauge student learning and progress through two different modes of assessment.

Frangos gave the committee sample DDMs from other districts and went over the benefits of using DDMs.

“They’re good assessments,” said Frangos. “They really are an indicator and give us epiphanies … and insight [into students’ learning].”

Also during the meeting, the committee discussed and debated with Kuhl the current reading curriculum and the differing opinions between the committee and the council that a new curriculum should be purchased.

Kuhl said the council prefers that the money go toward technical training for teacher development, while the committee prefers to improve reading skills. The committee will meet with the council during the School Council’s May 6 meeting.

Before adjourning, the committee voted to approve the new transportation bid.

The next Marion School Committee meeting is at 6:30 pm on May 7 at the Town House.

By Jean Perry