The Rochester School Committee unanimously voted to reopen the school on a full-time basis to Grades K-2 during the committee’s January 21 Zoom meeting. The pivot will be effective on Tuesday, February 2.

            “I’m pleased for everyone, especially our children,” said Committee Chairman Sharon Hartley. “We do the best we can in our schools, and I’m so proud, I am truly proud. I’ve been in a lot of schools. I’m truly proud to be a part of this school where we do better all the time. We are committed to our children. Thank you very much, everybody.”

            The decision aligns Rochester with Mattapoisett in getting what administrators call the youngest learners back in school on a full-time basis. Marion School Committee had discussed the matter but had yet to vote on a K-2 re-entry plan.

            In presenting the plan, Old Rochester Regional Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson referenced the special School Committee meeting on December 17 when the ORR administration presented a logistical action plan for the re-entry of Grades K-2 back to full, in-person attendance at Rochester Memorial School. Nelson said feedback from parents and guardians has helped shape the plan.

            The K-2 action plan for RMS calls for three kindergarten classrooms, one with 17 students and two with 16 if the two cohorts are combined. The plan calls for three first-grade classrooms, one with 18 students and two with 17, and the second-grade classrooms would have 18, 14, and 21 students, respectively, if the two cohorts are combined.

            ORR has reviewed technology for the plan, said Nelson, and is confident the plan can be implemented “with full fidelity from a technology standpoint.”

            Moreover, the logistics, the redesign of class space, and rearranging of furniture, hygiene stations, etc., will be managed by the school administration facilities team as soon as a pivot date is set. That date was established less than an hour into the meeting.

            Food personnel is ready, and so is Amaral Bus Co., said Nelson. Any K-2 student currently using the hybrid learning model would be accommodated five days per week; any new requests would be offered on a first-come, first-serve basis.

            RMS Principal Derek Medeiros tweaked the details of the December 17 re-entry presentation based on feedback. Portable sinks will be added to the media center and the gymnasium, allowing students to wash their hands on-site. Kindergarteners will be allowed to stay in their familiar classrooms because the present space can accommodate six more desks without compromising a minimum of 6 feet of social distance.

            The story is different for first graders, with all three classes scheduled to move into different spaces. One class will move to the music room, a second will move to the art room, and the third to the band room.

            Second graders will utilize a moving wall to open up space in one room, while another class will move into the gymnasium. The gym also has a movable wall, and there is a hand-washing station just outside the room. The other second-grade group will move into the current remote-teachers room.

            “The nice piece about the movement here is the students will not be moving to an unfamiliar adult … and actually staying in their current room,” said Medeiros. “We’re moving to some communal spaces, so we’re utilizing some of our special spaces [and] our specialist teachers will be moving to special locations.”

            Medeiros said only four students would need to change teachers to make the plan work.

            Grades 3-6 will remain in the hybrid model.

            Arrival, lunch, and dismissal adjustments would include using the current K-3 arrival and dismissal locations only for K-2. Third graders will move to the area being used by Grades 4-6. Due to the number of students in the same area, recess would be tweaked so that students remain with their homeroom group, simplifying any need for contact tracing.

            Nelson reported seven RMS students and one staffer in isolation, 16 individuals in quarantine, and, to his knowledge, Rochester still has not experienced in-school transmission of COVID-19 to date.

            “[A full return] is really important to [the children], from a mental health standpoint and from a learning standpoint,” said Rochester Health Nurse Connie Dolan. “I’m so impressed with the collaboration and planning.”

            Nelson asked the School Committee to deliberate and consider taking action to a start date for an official action plan. According to Nelson, based on guidance from the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, preschool, special education students with high needs, English language learners, and children in foster care or dealing with homelessness have been primary focuses for ORR administration.

            Medeiros displayed two calendar options. Option 1 starts K-2 full in-person on Monday, February 8; Option 2: starts K-2 full in-person on Monday, February 1. Medeiros said he favored beginning February 1 but cautioned the committee that Mondays are half-days to accommodate professional development for the faculty. With that explanation, the committee asked that Option 2 be amended to a Tuesday, February 2, start, and that was the option that was unanimously voted in.

            Committee member Tina Rood asked about the contact-tracing process and about personal protective equipment. Dolan outlined the process, and Nelson said he is very confident in PPE supplies.

            Rood also asked about absenteeism since the Christmas break. Medeiros said anywhere between five to 11 students needed to be out of school either due to close contact or a positive test.

            Once the K-2 return to school was settled, Nelson shifted the topic to a reintroduction of the Student Opportunity Act (SOA), a three-year, evidence-based plan to increase school funding.

            The SOA is meant to close achievement gaps, monitor success in reducing achievement gaps, and engage families in the process. The pandemic put the SOA on the back burner, but DESE has recently asked school districts to re-engage in producing their own SOAs.

            Calling the program an unfunded mandate, Nelson said that Medeiros collaborated with other district principals and started drafting an SOA. Medeiros summarized the progress on developing an SOA for RMS, including assessment tools. Medeiros said that Marion and Mattapoisett are using the same tools and that teacher training is part of the three-year program.

            The committee voted to approve the work with the understanding that it will be presented again when the schools are in a better position to enact it.

            ORR’s Director of Student Services Craig Davidson discussed regulations that came about from the state in 1997-98, quantifying the school year at 900 total hours (990 for secondary students). In the pandemic, the state now requires 35 hours of live instruction over a 10-day school period. Medeiros followed up with specific examples of implementation.

            Hartley said that she had hoped to have an FY22 budget completed and ready for the meeting but said it would take another meeting for completion.

            Nelson publicly offered condolences to Facilities Director Gene Jones, who recently lost his beloved wife, Peggy.

            Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Howie Barber shared his monthly report. Of the $6.3 million budget, Barber said just under $200,000 remains unencumbered.

            The committee voted to approve Barber’s $5,000 budget transfer request from the Transportation Preschool account to address legal litigation fees.

            Reports from the Nelson and Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Janell Pearson-Campbell were approved.

            Davidson told the committee that kindergarten report cards would be distributed across all three towns on February 4 and 5. A parent session for kindergarten registration will be held via Zoom on February 3 at 6:00 pm with a March 1 deadline. Preschool screenings were scheduled for January 27 at Sippican Elementary and on March 10 at RMS. Project Grow applications are open.

            In place of his traditional Principal’s Report, Medeiros thanked the committee for its support of the school amidst its current transitions.

            In her ORR District School Committee report, Rood told the committee that Portuguese is being added as an elective.

            In her Tri-Town Education Foundation report, Robin Rounseville said the subcommittee met on January 12, and that grant applications are being finalized; $6,500 is available in grants.

            The Anti-Racism Subcommittee has met frequently, according to Kate Duggan, who noted plans to join some committee members at a YWCA event focused on race.

            The committee broke into an executive session and only returned to adjourn the open session. The Rochester School Committee’s next meeting will be at 6:30 pm on March 4 unless a compelling reason to meet sooner emerges.

Rochester School Committee

By Mick Colageo

            It took years of legal actions and an Enforcement Order issued by the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission, which was ultimately upheld in court, but on January 25, most commissioners were ready to call the Seabreeze case officially closed.

            Daniel Craig’s 4 Seabreeze Lane property was deemed in compliance with an Enforcement Order that required the landscaping to either be removed, replaced, and, in some areas, replanted to return it to its natural state as part of a wetlands systems.

            Craig had had native soils and plantings removed and some areas filled to create an expansive lawn area in violation of “no-touch” conditions he had received for some areas along the property’s border. Once it was brought to the commission’s attention by the Buzzards Bay Coalition that unpermitted activities had taken place, an Enforcement Order was issued. Years later, all parties seemed ready to move on.

            Chairman Mike King read from two letters issued by the BBC’s attorney, Corrine Petersen, that recognized that the repairs complied with peer-review consultant and environmental engineer John Rockwell’s recommendations. It was noted that Craig and his team, which included another environmentalist, Brandon Faneuf, had followed all the recommendations Rockwell had issued and that, in the BBC’s opinion, a Certificate of Compliance could be issued after two growing seasons.

            King noted that Enforcement Orders could either be issued or lifted and that there is no provision that allows the granting of the COC before the order is lifted. Another sticking point was the stipulation of two growing seasons. If the order was lifted, how could that requirement remain in place? King said that the remediation had been completed to Rockwell’s specification and, if the order was lifted, another could always be issued if it was determined that the new plantings had failed to establish and thrive after two growing seasons. Further, King said, the BBC would be observing the site into the future.

            Member John Jacobson asked if the Enforcement Order created a problem for the Craigs and asked, “What sort of efficiency does lifting the order create (for the commission)?” But King said several times he was ready to “move on,” as did members Chapman Dickerson and David Lawrence. The majority ruled, and the order was lifted.

            In other business, the commission continued a Notice of Intent filed by Jackie Firsty, 61 Long Plain Road, in partnership with Blue Wave, LLC for an access road off Long Plain Road to a proposed solar array located in Acushnet.

            Jeffrey Haywood, 18 Nashawena Road, received a negative determination of applicability for the construction of a deck addition to an existing dwelling within a flood zone.

            The Preserve at The Bay Club, lot 121 Split Road, received an Order of Conditions in a re-opened public filing for the construction of a single-family home.

            Dan Wells of Goddard Consulting, LLC, representing Gerald Randall for property located adjacent to Route 195, was informed that a peer-review consultant would be needed for the Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Delineation filed by Aaron Halimi. The sheer size of the area needing wetlands delineation certification warranted the additional review. “It’s in everyone’s best interest,” said King, adding that bids would be requested from three engineering firms, and the matter would be taken up again on February 8.

            Another solar project, Randall Lane, LLC, was briefly discussed. King said that many abutters had called the office with concerns primarily around the use of the historical stone bridge and the conditions and impact to existing dirt roadways into the designated area from the lane. He said that a new plan of record had been received and that it noted an intermittent stream and other wetland features not previously recorded. The filing was continued until February 8.

            Also continued to February 8 was an NOI filed by Alexander Bauer, 7 Nashawena Road, pending DEP review.

            Conservation Agent Liz Leidhold told the commission that work planned on a solar array situated at the town’s landfill will commence soon, now that wetland flagging is complete.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Conservation Commission is scheduled for February 8 at 6:30 pm.

Mattapoisett Conservation Commission

By Marilou Newell

            Thrilled with the January 13-14 COVID-19 vaccination clinic’s success for first responders from Marion, Mattapoisett, Rochester, and Wareham, and with the state’s green light to schedule the prescribed second round, the Town of Marion doesn’t want to get ahead of itself.

            “The consensus is just trying to deal with Marion going forward,” said Dr. Ed Hoffer, chairman of the Marion Board of Health, during the board’s January 20 meeting. “First responders from four towns … but the numbers when we get into the general population are going to be much higher. I think that’ll be biting off more than our geography can chew.”

            Health Nurse Lori Desmarais reported that 170 vaccinations were administered on January 13 and 150 more on January 14. It is presumed that the same people will come back to the Cushing Community Center in Marion for their second round during the second week of February.

            Beyond that is a matter of speculation, as the state still hasn’t determined its model for larger spheres of the population. Once the state allows the beginning of Phase 2 vaccination, the target will be people age 75 and over or with two or more co-morbidities (additional conditions or illnesses that can be physiological or psychological).

            According to Desmarais in her Health Nurse’s Report, Marion has had 297 positive cases since the beginning of the pandemic, including 64 currently active cases. The important trend, she noted, is that while the town’s initial spike occurred inside the Sippican Healthcare Center (nursing home), “It’s now community transmission that we’re seeing at this point.”

            The staff at Sippican Healthcare Center received its first round of COVID-19 vaccine on December 30. One of the nursing home’s staff was an active, positive case, while 98 have recovered; 116 have tested negative. The recent increase in positivity rate in the state has resulted in Monday and Thursday testing. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health touches base with Sippican on a weekly basis.

            Desmarais’ report also updated school statistics, including the following: Sippican School had eight people in isolation, eight in quarantine, and 28 confirmed since the beginning of the pandemic. The numbers were identical for Old Rochester Regional High School. At the junior high, three were in isolation, 19 in quarantine, with 16 confirmed cases since the beginning.

            Tabor Academy has been on an extended break with a plan to return at the end of the month. Students are to quarantine before arrival, be tested upon arrival, and will be required to stay on campus for two weeks.

            Flu vaccine is still available in Marion but is not in demand. The protocol for COVID-19 vaccine is that patients must wait 14 days to take it if they have had another vaccine.

            As Mattapoisett recently made plans to bring back Grades K-2 for full, in-person learning, the Marion School Committee is seriously considering a plan to do the same at Sippican School. Desmarais said a full return for K-2 children would maintain 6 feet of social distancing.

            Board member Dot Brown said, “I have no objection,” citing the fact the school calendar is beyond the holidays and has a better plan than what the state requires. Hoffer added his approval. BOH member John Howard asked if there is any guidance for children with co-morbid conditions. Hoffer noted that there is not yet an approved vaccine for anyone under age 16 and that such cases are individually treated by pediatricians.

            In his Health Agent Report, Dave Flaherty said “great advances” had taken place at 464 Front Street, one of two Chapter 2 sites. The property was under a demolition order, where its occupant Lauren Fisher had faced animal cruelty charges. According to Flaherty, substantial progress was evident, and he considered Fisher to be compliant. The property is up for sale, and building permits are in order for the ongoing work, according to Marion Building Commissioner Scott Shippey.

            “If anyone would like to go do a site inspection, she’d be happy to welcome it,” said Flaherty, noting extensive cleaning and renovation, the replacement of floors and bathroom fixtures. “I wasn’t there, but I saw the pictures, and I think it’s a big 180 (degree turn) for the site. I think she’s in substantial compliance as of now.”

            The board voted unanimously to rescind the demolition order, but the condemnation order would fall under Shippey’s purview. Board member Dot Brown noted that an occupancy permit would be needed.

            The report was less optimistic at 33 Pitcher Street, where Flaherty was having difficulty getting in touch with the responsible party. Flaherty told the board he discovered a deed at the Plymouth County Registry of Deeds and called the owner’s attorney, who said he would pass the information on to the daughter of the deceased owner. “He couldn’t promise me, but he said he would try his best. I told him Marion needs to start a dialogue,” said Flaherty.

            The board discussed an emerging concern about the number of cars parked on evenings at the Brew Fish restaurant. The governor’s order is a 25 percent maximum of capacity. Flaherty was advised to visit Brew Fish during the prime eating and drinking hour, discuss with management, and “establish their view of things.”

            Flaherty said there had been no food service-related complaints; there were some masking concerns. Flaherty performed four re-inspections. Dunkin’ Donuts had a positive coronavirus test and had to close its lobby for deep cleaning but has since reopened.

            Flaherty reported one Title 5 septic system inspection report, saying that Title 5 installations, in general, have been slow but should pick up. He also attended weekly emergency management meetings but noted that the local CERT volunteer program is in limbo.

            The next meeting of the Marion Board of Health is scheduled for February 2 at 4:00 pm.

Marion Board of Health

By Mick Colageo