Old Rochester Regional School Committee member Margaret McSweeny has the entire committee on her side of the MCAS debate, and a unanimous March 7 vote adopted the Thrive Act Resolution recommending that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) downgrade MCAS testing as the sole standard of public education and an essential hurdle to high school graduation.

            Appealing to data, local school districts have been arguing that MCAS is a biased test that unfairly divides students according to economic status.

            “This doesn’t eliminate MCAS, but it does move in the right direction of taking away … some of the power that it has over school districts and over students trying to graduate and who may not do well on this test for multiple reasons,” explained McSweeny before the vote. “The MTA fully supports this act. I want to make sure ORR is on that list of school committees who are in support of this bill and getting over the MCAS and onward.”

            McSweeny researched other participating municipalities’ drafts and liked Somerville’s resolution for its breadth and the potential she saw for agreement among ORR committee members “so that MCAS couldn’t hold the scores against it and also it couldn’t stop graduation. And those were the two things that I think the majority of us agreed on.”

            McSweeny said the matter will be discussed at the state house next month and encouraged committee members to write the state house as individuals. She later suggested that some of the money spent on MCAS testing could be more effectively be spent in other ways.

            Committee Chairperson Michelle Smith recommended the committee go with the Somerville version of the draft. Smith publicly thanked McSweeny for bringing forward the matter and spearheading the committee’s action.

            Committee member Matthew Monteiro stressed the importance of understanding that the measure does not remove accountability from the school system to establish academic standards but removes MCAS as the sole measure of those standards.

            “There’s plenty of other accountability for students and school systems,” he said.

            ORR has a transportation contract.

            The committee approved separate memorandums of agreement between the district and the local school system for the towns of Rochester, Marion and Mattapoisett for 2025 transportation.

            Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Howard Barber explained that bids came in higher due to the comprehensive nature of the bid package. The process was redone so that each town had its own bid process suited to its particular needs.

            McSweeny said she is grateful to Barber for his work on complex negotiations.

            The School Committee discussed the current status of the Facilities Condition Assessment, divided by Nelson into two pieces to address over the spring.

            Regarding the process, ORR Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson said that during the 60-day window of the town meetings (May 13 in all three towns), the ORR School Committee would need to vote to authorize the towns to take on new debt. All three towns must approve at their respective annual town meetings to move the question to ballots that would allow voters to respond to those ballots.

            Regarding the goals, the ORR District wants to invest in the building, thus the Facilities Condition Assessment that is essentially complete. The next step would be to identify a set of priorities, most likely starting with safety, HVAC, etc.

            Nelson, in his report, said the FY25 budget negotiations have been among the most challenging of his tenure.

            At Barber’s recommendation, the committee approved the transfer of $100,000 from the operations budget to capital planning.

            The ORR School Committee voted to approve the continuation of the FY2024 Safe and Supportive Schools Grant, accepting a second $10,000 grant from the state. Nelson explained that the year-two amount will bring the total for the program to $20,000. He said the first $10,000 helped each of the Tri-Town school districts to build a building-based team that could identify areas of improvement that they could support in the second year.

            Nelson said the year-one effort confirmed the need to address the students’ social and emotional needs through explicit instruction. Year-two funds, he said, are meant to identify “what that would look like at the different levels.”

            Particularly at the elementary and junior high level, they have gone beyond a social-emotional curriculum to a character-strong focus at the junior high and high school, explained Nelson, who further noted that the goals of the program align with the ORR District’s Strategic Plan and the Superintendent’s Goals.

            “It’s nice when we have these three moving pieces tied together,” he said.

            The committee voted unanimously to approve a student trip to Portugal and Spain in April 2026. Mike Nailor was on hand to report on a successful trip to Italy and Greece and discuss the proposed trip to Lisbon, Portugal, for two nights and then to Seville and Madrid, Spain, ending with a bike tour.

            The committee was eager to publicly thank Marion resident John Menzel for his $4,000 donation to the high school for the purchase of two 3D printers in the engineering classroom (technology lab).

            In his report to the committee, ORRHS Principal Mike Devoll highlighted achievements and recommended public recognition at a future meeting for senior track athlete Tyler Young, who broke the school record in the 1,000 meters and junior Wesner Archelus, who won the MIAA Division 4 state championship in the 55-meter hurdles with a 7.91-second time in the preliminaries and a 7.77 time in the final.

            The committee entered executive session and only returned to adjourn the public meeting.

            The next meeting of the ORR School Committee will be held on Thursday, April 11, and the next meeting of the Joint School Committee will be held on Thursday, March 28. Both meetings will start at 6:30 pm and be held at the ORR Junior High Media Room, 133 Marion Road, Mattapoisett, MA 02739, and via live streaming.

ORR School Committee

By Mick Colageo

            Coming before the Mattapoisett Select Board on March 26 were members of the Mattapoisett Tree Committee and others with a singular message: The creation of a committee to oversee and facilitate not only community engagement but decision-making for the village road reconstruction project is necessary.

            The Tree Committee had asked to be placed on the evening’s agenda to once again stress their assertion that they have not been included in the process, that complete transparency had not been forthcoming from the Select Board office, and that the enormity of the project warrants the establishment of a committee, the sole purpose of which would be to keep the community informed and assist with the overall design of the project.

            Before inviting public comment, Select Board Chairman Jodi Bauer stated that the creation of a committee is not pertinent to a road project. Bauer said she has confidence that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation would do their best and does not want to delay or lose out on $16,000,000 in grant funding.

            Town Administrator Mike Lorenco took umbrage at the notion that the public is not being fully informed, saying, “You know everything I know,” and reminding all in attendance that there have been numerous public meetings regarding the road-construction project.

            Select Board member Jordan Collyer shared that the expected 25% design needing review by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation had missed a deadline, chalking it up to the town’s engineer VHB. The Transportation Improvement Program grant is now slated for distribution in the state’s 2027 budget cycle. That gives the town an additional year to influence the design, he said. Collyer also reminded the meeting members that a public meeting will be scheduled for July.

            Select Board member Tyler Macallister said, if the town doesn’t move forward with this project, it will be left to another board to tackle this complex project and that with other major projects on the horizon, the disposition of the Town Hall building, possible school consolidation and the town’s historic wharves, it was incumbent that the board move forward. He said the road-reconstruction project will be something his grandchildren will benefit from and that delays will only jeopardize the roadways.

            Collyer once again stated that the town has not received the 25% design from VHB.

            “In my humble opinion, let’s analyze what we have (once the documents have been released by VHB),” said Collyer, adding a suggestion to think about other options that might spare the felling of some trees such as making Water Street one-way. “But we don’t have the full picture yet. … This project frustrates me; no one wants taxes to go up. We have other projects to consider.”

            Collyer mentioned the large price tag that the town will be facing when capital projects are funded for infrastructure improvements at Old Rochester Regional High School. “We need to talk together now that we have more time,” he said.

            Tree Committee member Mike Immel rose, saying, “We want to be part of this.” Immel said the people have a right to be fully involved. Other attendees agreed with Immel’s points, including the creation of a committee to assist the town in the design process with VHB and MassDOT. He said that there were residents in the community qualified in architecture and engineering who can help.

Carlos DeSousa, a retired engineer and chairman of the Mattapoisett Marine Advisory Board, wondered aloud how the board would manage a project of this scope. Collyer said the Highway Department would oversee the construction.

            Tree Committee Chairman Sandy Hering also urged the creation of a committee to partner with the Select Board and others in the roadway-reconstruction project. She said that she didn’t want to go the route of a citizen’s petition but would if necessary. She invited the board to vote now for the new committee.

Collyer said, “I will give it appropriate consideration.” But he also said that a citizen’s petition might prove useful because, “…then it will be the will of Town Meeting,” and thus the board would be compelled to follow through in establishing a new committee. He concluded, “You can exercise your right.”

            In other business, the Select Board met with Tech MD, the technology company that has been working with the town on various network programs, hacking fail-safes, and capital planning for future computer needs. The IT team’s presentation listed the following changes in the new contract proposal: comparable cost to FY23, increase in 24/7/365 service for all town IT systems, more townwide efficiencies and unlimited predictable support costs.

            Also coming before the board was King Lion Lynne Foley and member Mike Rosa to discuss the annual Harbor Days event taking place July 18-21. The popular craft booths will be open on July 20 and July 21 with strawberry shortcake and fish fry night still on the menu. The need for traffic review and other safety matters were well in hand, they said. Visit the Lions Club website for more details.

            The board also announced the selection of Chris Canney as building commissioner.

            The next meeting of the Mattapoisett Select Board is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, April 9, at 6:00 pm.

Mattapoisett Select Board

By Marilou Newell