Fairhaven Select Board meets with Rep. Sylvia, Teachers

By Beth David, Editor

The Fairhaven Select Board had a full agenda on Monday, 2/24/25, including an appearance by members of the Fairhaven Educators Associa­tion (teachers’ union), and newly elected state representative, Mark Sylvia. SB member Charles Murphy was absent.

The board had discussed in pre­vious meetings which priorities they wanted to discuss with Rep. Sylvia who is serving his first term at the state house. He has been going to the different towns in the 10th Bristol District to talk about their priorities.

Mr. Sylvia said he has sponsored eight bills and cosponsored bills that are important to the district. He is going through the 6,000 bills filed to find others he may want to co-sponsor. He is looking for bills that pertain to issues affecting the district, such as water and wastewater issues. 

He noted he signed onto a bill that would create a municipal building authority, that would work like the Mass. School Building Authority, reimbursing municipalities for public buildings.

Rep. Sylvia told the board he did not get his committee assignments yet, but he asked for transportation and agriculture. 

SB chairperson, Stasia Powers, said the town is interested in regionaliza­tion opportunities and hoped Mr. Sylvia could help them identify some options as he went around to the different communities.

Ms. Powers also said rising hous­ing costs are a priority for the town, and noted the state has some housing funds to allocate. 

SB member, Andrew Saunders, said the town would be sending up a new charter soon. He also cautioned against regionalization going to far out geographically. He noted the most recent change to using a regional service for 911 service. 

“It’s not working very well,” said Mr. Saunders. 

He also said the replacement of the Fairhaven-New Bedford bridge was a priority for the town.

Mr. Saunders said the state needs to give more in local aid. He noted that the so-called rainy day fund has more than $8 billion in it. The interest alone is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and that interest could go to the cities and towns. He noted the town has a $750,00+ deficit that is bound to get bigger. 

Ms. Powers also noted that the millionaire’s tax flipped from 60% going to education and 40% to transportation, to just the opposite. She said the town would like to see it stay at 60% for education because education benefits everyone. The MBTA is more limited.

SB member, Andrew Romano, asked how the board could help advocate for lower utility bills, such as write a letter or sign onto other letters.

Rep. Sylvia said it is always helpful for the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) to hear from municipalities. He said he would direct them on where to send it. It is important to get as much as they can on the record.

Mr. Sylva also presented a state flag to the board.

The board also discussed the budget proceedings, receiving a second draft from Interim Town Administrator, George Samia, who told the board that the deficit had closed a bit, from $1.4 million to $785,000. All departments had been asked to shave off 2% from their budgets. The out of district school costs went down, so that helped, he said. 

The budget process is still in the early stages. The governor has not released the numbers for state aid to munici­palities, so he used last year’s number, adding that it will probably be a little higher. The question is, how much higher. 

The Finance Committee and the SB will continue to meet to find ways to balance the budget. Meanwhile, all the union contracts are up for negotiation this year. 

The Fairhaven Educators Associa­tion showed up in force with matching t-shirts and signs that read:  Fund Our Schools, Fuel Our Future; Fund All the Kids All the Time; Strong Education Needs Strong Funding.

FEA President Melissa Duarte addressed the board, asking them to find a solution to properly fund the schools. 

She told the board that schools do more than teach reading, math, science, and history.

“We prepare the next generation of problem-solvers, contributors, and engaged members of society,” said Ms. Duarte. “Yet, year after year, our teachers are expected to do more with less — less funding, fewer resources, and an ever-growing list of challenges.”

She said investing in schools is about the future of Fairhaven. Families choose where to live based on school quality and that leads to strong businesses.

“We understand the challenges of balancing a town budget, but education is not an expense — it is a necessity,” said Ms. Duarte.

She said they were asking for a commitment to the future of Fairhaven. 

“An investment in education is an investment in Fairhaven,” she said. “When we support our schools, we shape the future of our town.”

The visit was prompted by the ongoing negotiations between the union and the district. In a follow-up email Ms. Duarte said the town asked the School Department to cut 2% from its budget and that would result in “deep reductions across the district, which is already operating with minimal staff and resources.”

The town funds the schools at 2.3% above net spending (the state’s mini­mum requirement), which is far below the state average of 25%, she said in the email. 

Responses from board members were not encouraging.

Ms. Powers noted that the town was in the middle of a “very tough” budget process. 

“We’ll do what we can,” she said.

The board discussed the proposed numbers and said the actual amount was higher for the school depart­ment, not a 2% decrease. 

Mr. Romano noted that the town has in­creased fees and they are “pushed against the wall.”

“I’m probably the only one on this board that was taught by half this room,” he said, and added that he “ran the gamut” of what the school had to offer, and that those programs were “vital.”

Mr. Saunders asked Ms. Duarte what amount she needed.

She answered that she was not in charge of the budget.

Mr. Saunders asked for more “context,” asking if they like what they are teaching, and what they would change if they had more.

Ms. Duarte said the state sets the curriculum. 

She noted, how­ever, that when she started at Hastings Middle School, she was the fourth Spanish teacher. 

“There are zero now [at HMS],” she said. “Those are the kinds of things we would like to see back.”

Ms. Powers reiterated her concern that the governor was changing the split from the millionaire’s tax to send more to transportation. The money was intended for education, she said.

In another matter, the board  chose Groux-White Consulting to assist them in the Town Administrator search.

SB member Keith Silvia advocated fo the town to conduct the search itself and not hire a consultant. He voted “no,” but the measure passed.

The board also voted to include a Town Meeting warrant article to change the election date to the first Tuesday in June instead of the first Monday in April. 

Ms. Powers argued for the change, saying that Town Meeting is the first Saturday in May, when the budget is voted on. That means that the newest members of the board are trying catch up, after having been elected only a month earlier, and the board members who have been working on the budget since December are gone. 

The board agreed it would be better to have the same person stay on the board until after TM. 

Mr. Romano noted that when he came on last year he and Mr. Saunders did not even get their own budget books. 

The article will ask TM to change the election to the first Tuesday in June, and change the polling hours to 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., instead of starting at 10. The changes are more in line with national and state elections. 

The board also had three executive sessions. An appointment with New England Preservation and Develop­ment, LLC, was canceled and an executive session was added to discuss litigaion with that company, which has been trying to acquire the Rogers School to build housing units. The company entered into an agree­ment with the town, but then did not meet some of the requirements of the agree­ment, according to the town. The company disputes that charge and has been in a court battle with the town since 2020.

The board also met in executive session to discuss contracts for the police chief and fire chief; and to discuss litigation, Fairhaven School Department vs. Fairhaven Zoning Board of Appeals in Mass. Land Court over the ZBA’s repeal of the permit for the storage shed at the high school.

•••

Click here to download the 02/27/25 issue: 02-27-25 Puppies

Support local journalism, donate to the Neighb News with PayPal