KINGSTON - September 24 - The Silver Lake Regionalization Study Committee unanimously voted to approve a revised $105,000 contract with the UMass Boston Collins Center for Public Management to conduct a comprehensive financial analysis of potential regionalization benefits across four school districts serving Kingston, Halifax, and Plympton.
The Full Story
The committee’s decision Wednesday evening came after months of negotiations to refine the scope of work. The Collins Center significantly restructured their original proposal based on committee feedback, stripping out public engagement components and focusing primarily on financial modeling.
“I do think this is closer to what the committee is looking for,” said Halifax Selectman Jonathan Seelig after reviewing the revised proposal with Collins Center representative Heather Michaud.
The approved study will be conducted in two distinct phases. Phase One involves creating a baseline report documenting the current state of operations across all four districts - Silver Lake Regional High School and the three elementary districts in Kingston, Halifax, and Plympton. Phase Two centers on comprehensive financial modeling that will project potential cost savings and impacts under various regionalization scenarios.
“Financial modeling is somewhat more of an art than a science,” Michaud explained to the committee. “It is based on a series of assumptions. Those assumptions are defined and then applied to the model.” The financial analysis will examine shared services opportunities, regionalization concepts, and existing contractual obligations including collective bargaining agreements and service contracts.
Plympton School Committee member Jon Wilhelmsen praised the revised approach, noting “I think there’s certainly other things that we could do in the future should we decide to do that. But I think this is the baseline of what we need to do, get a good grasp of where we are, what everything is, and then how it could look.”
A significant concern emerged regarding data collection and staffing resources needed to support the study. Silver Lake Director of Finance and Operations Sarah Hickey warned that “timely provision of documents and data is essential” while noting her office is already understaffed with state reporting requirements and four budget processes to manage concurrently.
“This is additional work for an understaffed office,” Hickey emphasized, raising concerns about the district’s capacity to provide the extensive data requested by the Collins Center.
To address these concerns, committee members confirmed that grant funding could be used to hire external consultants to assist with data extraction. The district uses School ERP Pro financial software, and TMS Solutions was identified as a consulting firm familiar with the system that could potentially assist with data mining.
“If you needed guidance as to how to pull some of this information out of Infinite Visions, I’m actually a super user of that system,” Michaud offered, referring to the former name of the district’s financial software.
School legal counsel Russ noted that the key financial drivers for regionalization analysis include personnel costs, collective bargaining agreements, insurance arrangements, and transportation costs. “Staffing costs is about 80% of your budget,” Russ explained, adding that applying regional assessment formulas to these amounts would provide rough estimates of potential changes.
The study will examine existing regionalized services, including transportation contracts that currently benefit only Silver Lake Regional but could potentially extend to K-12 under full regionalization. Committee members noted that some services like waste management are already contracted jointly, while others like elementary school payroll remain managed individually by each town.
Administrative team members, including Superintendent Jill Proulx, committed to reviewing the extensive data requirements list and determining which items might require external consultant assistance versus what can be handled internally.
The Collins Center will deliver their findings through a single presentation to the committee, with options to include select boards and school committees in that final presentation. The contract includes provisions for draft reviews to ensure accuracy of the baseline data before proceeding to financial modeling.
Committee members made one technical correction to the proposal, clarifying that Silver Lake Regional is not technically part of the superintendency union that governs the three elementary districts, though they work together collaboratively.
Why It Matters
This financial analysis represents the first comprehensive examination of potential cost savings and operational efficiencies that could result from full regionalization of the four school districts. With personnel costs representing approximately 80% of school budgets, even modest efficiencies could translate to significant taxpayer savings across the three communities while potentially enhancing educational services and opportunities for students.
Meeting Minutes
Key Motions & Votes
Motion: Accept and ratify contract with Collins Center for regionalization study. Outcome: Approved. Vote: Unanimous (7-0). (Timestamp: 22:11)
Motion: Accept minutes of August 13th, 2025 meeting. Outcome: Approved. Vote: 5-0 (2 abstentions). (Timestamp: 30:56)
Motion: Adjourn meeting at 6:09 PM. Outcome: Approved. Vote: Unanimous (7-0). (Timestamp: 32:16)
What’s Next
The administration will review the Collins Center’s data requirements list and determine what external consultant assistance may be needed. The Kingston Interim Town Administrator will sign the contract to begin the study. The committee will meet again on October 22nd for a progress update, with a subsequent meeting scheduled for November 19th. Committee members will provide updates to their respective school committees and select boards.