In what must have been the safest room in the Tri-Town, more than a dozen representatives from the Rochester Police and Fire departments, Cape and Islands Emergency Medical Services, the Board of Selectmen, and various administrative divisions gathered on March 21 to discuss a major change for local rescue crews.

Currently, Rochester’s EMS and Fire Rescue is designated Basic Life Support, which means personnel is limited to firefighters who work with restricted resources, responsibilities, and procedures. For instance, if a Rochester resident calls 911 with chest pain, a local ambulance is neither equipped nor authorized to transport the patient to the hospital. They would have to liaison with an Advanced Life Support-designated ambulance from a neighboring town at some point along the route and release the patient to the ALS personnel.

In Cape and Islands EMS Region 5, Rochester and Nantucket are the only towns that are not currently at ALS level. Local officials are pushing for this to change by way of an article at the Rochester Town Meeting on May 20.

“There are financial matters to consider, but the most important consideration is the level of care we are providing people,” said Rochester Fire Department Chief Scott Weigel. “I think the townspeople deserve it, and I think the townspeople will vote for it.”

The ALS status would bring with it a need for more personnel and equipment, costs that are estimated to come to more than $375,000. But RFD Lieutenant and EMS Coordinator Kevin Richards explained that those costs will be offset by both an equipment grant from St. Luke’s Hospital for the town’s two ambulances and additional revenue opportunities from a call volume increase and increased billing reimbursements, based on past years’ figures.

“There’s an opportunity cost right now,” Richards said. “We’re missing out on revenue that could be ours, and yet we’re still doing a great deal of the work when those calls come in. ALS status will aid us greatly in these life and death matters, while also erasing that loss of revenue.”

Richards cited a 40 percent increase in the number of Rochester ambulance runs since fiscal year 2010 in advocating for ALS status. He attributed the jump to weather, auto accidents, and an aging population.

“This year, we had 184 from January to March alone, due mainly to the February blizzard,” he said. “We had 65 in that same time frame last year.”

Weigel, Richards, Chief Dispatcher Tracy Eldridge, and other local rescue personnel were joined by Director Bill Flynn and Deputy Director Alden Cook of the Cape and Islands EMS Region 5, as well as David Faunce, Regional Director of the EMS Council of Southeastern Massachusetts, in fielding questions from Rochester Selectmen Bradford Morse, Richard Nunes, and Naida Parker, and Town Administrator Richard LaCamera. The officials foresaw issues surrounding management, labor, questions about contracting private ambulance companies, and budgetary concerns, but the consensus was to continue moving forward with the initiative pending more scrutiny from the Board of Selectmen and the Finance Committee. The next Board of Selectmen meeting will take place on April 8, when the item is mostly likely to be revisited.

By Shawn Badgley

Competition is heating up, with seven elected town position openings, including a member of the Board of Selectmen. Three positions are unopposed, including Assessor, Moderator, and a slot on the Marion School Committee.

Polls will open at 8 am and close at 8 pm at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post on Route 6 at 465 Mill Street in Marion on Friday, May 17.

Incumbent Selectman John Henry is running for a three-year term, with two challengers, including William Dale Jones of Register Road and Edwin North of Cove Circle.

Bradford Eames is running unopposed for the position of Assessor, a term of one year.

Incumbent David Titus is running unopposed for Moderator for a one-year term.

Incumbent Board of Health member Albin Johnson III is running for a one-year term with Kerry Reynolds of Joanne Drive opposing.

Two Planning Board positions are open, with three individuals running for the two seats: Jerry Ferrari of Point Road, Norman Hills of Front Street, and Sherman Briggs Jr. of River Road are on the ballot for the two open positions. The position replaces Thomas Magauran, whose term has expired.

One position on the Marion School Committee is open, with Christine Ann Marcolini running unopposed for the seat left by Brad Gordon, whose term expired. One position is open on the Old Rochester Regional School Committee, with Michelle Ouellette and Linda Harju running to replace Tom Shire, whose term has expired.

Two openings on the Open Space Acquisition Commission are available, with three individuals running, including Geoffrey Paul Moran of Spring Street, John Rockwell of Point Road, and Randy Parker of Mill Street.

As of Friday, there was a possibility of a ballot question relating to the purchase of a fire engine and whether the purchase would be part of a debt exclusion. There is not yet confirmation of the question appearing on the ballot.

By Joan Hartnett-Barry

The Old Rochester Regional District Joint School Committee Meeting started and ended with reports from Superintendent Doug White, the most significant of which was the recent ratification of the contract with the teachers’ union. ORR Professional Educators Association members unanimously approved the agreement to a four-year contract on March 20. No specifics were detailed in press releases from Dr. Colin Everett, president of the association, but he is quoted as saying there was preservation of benefits for “employees who might come on board in the future.” Health care concessions were one of the central issues that needed resolution before the union members would agree to the contract.

White then went into details regarding his yearlong evaluation and implementation of new assessment guidelines and tools for administrators and teachers.

With the focus on using a variety of measurement tools White said he was “impressed” with his in-class observations and was confident that over the next two years real progress would be made in achieving the goals needed for both the students and the teachers.

Employing the type of management tools common in today’s corporate setting, White discussed District Determined Measures and Partnership for Assessment of Readiness of College and Careers testing.

DDM is a statewide evaluation system in which educators receive two separate ratings: Summative Performance Rating and Student Impact Rating. The combination of these two provides the professional education staff with informed evidence of the teacher’s effectiveness and the students’ response to the academic program. From these measurement models, schools and school districts will have the information necessary to build education plans that better serve the student population, while providing the educators with feedback for their continuous improvement. DDM models are geared to a two-year process to ensure measurements are calibrated and information is accurate for improvements and decisions.

White also shared that PARCC, the next generation in standardized testing for grades 3-12, will be impacted by the DDM program and implementation. Between these two measurement models, “real progress” for the ORR Joint School District can be achieved, White assured the group.

Some members of the joint committee from the Tri-Town area expressed appreciation for the work Dr. White has undertaken, along with the district-wide impact these changes will bring to the communities. Although change across three different school systems will take time to fully implement, the consensus of the members in attendance was positive.

In a separate matter, the Project Grow Program, which provides for the education needs of children with special needs, was discussed from a fiscal impact viewpoint. There had been ongoing discussion that possibly a financial burden was being placed on some towns more than others within the ORR joint school district. The group heard that research from surrounding towns with joint school districts proved most were providing Project Grow Programs in the same manner as the ORR program and therefore, ORR was in synergy with towns in the region. The night’s quorum passed an agreement that the current allowances for providing education to this specific group would stay in place and that policy would be written to memorialize the current plan.

By Marilou Newell