Cape & Islands News

Group maps a new bike trail extension

Inaugural Bike Network Master Plan Workshop Draws working group to Wellfleet

   Truro residents gather around maps showing their town's current and potential bike and pedestrian routes at the first in a series of bike trail network workshops held Saturday at the Wellfleet Senior Center. Provincetown, Truro, and Wellfleet residents marked up their respective town maps to reflect their preferred routes and priority development. Photo by Teresa Martin.

Plan will design bike trail from Wellfleet through Truro to Provincetown

By Teresa Martin.

A gray cold Saturday morning didn't detour more than 30 bike and pedestrian supporters from bringing their network ideas to the first in a series of Master Plan workshops. The inaugural workshop, held at the Wellfleet Senior Center, sought public input and hands on planning participation for an expansion of bike routes in Provincetown, Truro, and Wellfleet.

Plan in progress
The group represented a variety of interests, including the Lower Cape Bike Coalition, seashore homeowners, town committee members, and residents who simply wanted to learn more.

"There is no one master plan yet," explained Clay Schofield, Cape Cod Commission transportation engineer, in response to one attendee's repeated requests for specific details.

"We are the plan," he said pointing to everyone in the room, noting that the purpose of the workshops and everyone's participation is exactly that - to share details which will become the master plan.

Funding sought
Funding requests triggered Saturday's workshop. The commission and the National Seashore have filed grant requests for federal money to better plan and manage bike and pedestrian traffic in Provincetown, Truro, and Wellfleet.

Although the federal government has not yet awarded any grant money for the effort, the commission and seashore said community input today is essential to creating a project that works for the region. The groups hope to plan an interconnected network, rather than isolated projects.

Heavy use
The current rail trail, where old railway beds became bike paths, runs 22 miles. Schofield said 400,000 people a year use the system, with peak use of 400 people per hour.

Recent repaving and ongoing maintenance isn't enough to keep up with the demands generated by this volume of traffic. In addition, safety issues arise from crossing busy Rte 6, as well as from competing use of routes by cyclists, pedestrians, and cars.

Initial ideas
The Master Plan, as it now stands, primarily articulates a handful of key goals, including themes of:

• Safety
• Interconnection of elements
• Support for multi-modal transportation
• Minimal environmental impact
• Better biking experience for both visitors and year round residents

Beyond these goals, the plan has nothing set in stone, although it offers up some ideas as places to start. The wide variety of potential options range from building and extending paved bike paths within the national seashore to removing an auto lane on Rte 6 and incorporating bike paths instead, to everything in between.

No consensus in workshop
The assembled group made it clear there was no consensus on the best approach. One seashore homeowner decried an additional paving within the park. Another resident spoke stridently against losing any portion of Rt6 to bicycle traffic.

Other individuals advocated for pedestrian and unpaved trails, commuter needs, family vacation needs, and serious bicyclist use. Another noted the needs of in-line skaters. Several people talked about ensuring path design so that the trails weren't too steeply graded and were accessible to people who rode bikes, not just bike athletes.

Regional Transportation Authority invoked
Busses and the lack of bike racks on busses proved to be a hot spot with the audience.

"Those busses can accommodate only two bikes. That is incredibly inefficient," stated one woman, to nods from those around her.

Safety ideas
Safety issues also triggered a strong reaction, with some attendees demanding cyclists needed education, while others argued that drivers needed to learn to share the road. Everyone agreed Rte 6 was a hazard, but no one agreed on the best method - tunnels, bridges, stoplights, or just running for it - for crossing.

One idea, which gained traction, was that town beach sticker offices and beach entrances provided an ideal venue for educating bikers and drivers alike. In addition, these locations would reach both visitor and resident.

Working sessions
The most productive portion of the day, though, happened when pencils met paper. Armed with large maps of current and proposed options in each of the three towns and sharpened pencils, the groups divided up by town.

Using local knowledge, attendees identified areas of safety issues, "activity centers" (aka, places people wanted to get to and from), population areas, and other factors. They proposed routes and solutions.

Then, they repeated the exercise with maps of proposed rail trail extensions, applying very local knowledge and expertise to draft plan.

More to come
This input, reiterated Schofield, forms the heart of the workshop, which isn't about sharing one plan but about creating a plan by all, that serves region's real needs.

He said there would be additional times and locations for other workshops, but they are not yet scheduled.

Teresa Martin is a well-known Cape Cod technology and business leader who served as  C.E.O. of the Cape Cod Technology Council and was a founder and officer of the OpenCape Corporation, which is dedicated to fixing the Cape's dropped cell calls and upload issues. Read Teresa's tech blog, Cape Eyes on CapeCodToday.com here.

Coast Guard rescues Canadian off Provincetown

Ptown Coast Guard crew saves Canadian sailors from winter storm
Hurricane force winds continue in Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank.

The U.S. Coast Guard reports that two Canadian sailors are safe after receiving report of the upcoming dangerous winter storm from a U.S. Coast Guard aircrew and getting a tow to Provincetown from a Coast Guard boatcrew, Sunday.

"They didn't seem to know there was a storm comin."

Sailors aboard the 37-foot Rodeo were about 150 miles east of Provincetown onFriday when an HU-25 Falcon jet crew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod was performing offshore storm track weather warnings and was contacted by the sailors.

"They called us just before we made our last broadcast and headed back to Cape Cod," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Spencer Vince, a crewman aboard the Falcon who was making the broadcasts. "They didn't seem to know there was a storm coming so we told them what the scenario was. They took the warning seriously."

The sailors were on their way from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Long Island, N.Y., but headed toward Cape Cod, after hearing the Coast Guard's weather warning.

At 12:37 a.m., Sunday the sailors called the Coast Guard again reporting their engine was failing and they would need a tow into port. The engine did fail, leaving the sailors in 12 to 15-foot seas with occasional 20-foot swells and no power more than seven miles south of Provincetown Harbor.

An urgent marine broadcast was issued, but due to severe weather conditions, commercial towboat companies were unable to tow the Rodeo.

A 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crew from Coast Guard Station Provincetown was dispatched to tow the Rodeo into port and arrived on scene around 1:35 a.m.

The anchor wasn't holding and with the weather, it was too dangerous to remove the sailors from the Rodeo.

In addition to the 12 to 15-foot seas, the crews also faced 40 to 50-knot winds that gusted up to 60 knots with only 20 feet of visibility.

At around 5:13 a.m., the crews were in Provincetown Harbor and tried to anchor the sailboat and remove the two people aboard. However, the anchor wasn't holding and with the weather, it was too dangerous to remove the sailors from the Rodeo.

The station crew once again took the sailboat in tow, but the towline parted. After putting the sailboat into a stern tow again, the towline then came off the bow of the sailing vessel. Each time the tow was broken, the Rodeo drifted further and further out to sea because of the high winds and seas.

After several tows, both vessels moored safely at MacMillan Wharf in Provincetown at 7:07 a.m.

The local harbormaster assisted the Coast Guard crew at the dock and also took the sailors to get them warm. They declined a trip to the hospital.

"This case is the biggest reason why we highly encourage all mariners to listen to the radio for weather warnings and take appropriate action," said Scott Backholm, the search and rescue controller at Coast Guard Sector Southeastern New England. "These broadcasts really can save your life. Luckily these sailors were listening to our broadcast and were able to head back to shore."

The man and woman aboard the Rodeo are from St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. There were no injuries reported.

Hurricane force winds up to 65-knots and seas of 30-feet still continue for portions of the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank.

Chaplain Robbins and the Barnstable County Correctional Facility

Solid Rock Ministries comes to our county prisoners' aid

By Jerry Rogovin.

Reverend Dave Robbins, chaplain at Barnstable County Correctional Facility (BCCF), speaking with a Roy Lyons, the sheriff's Public Relations person..

Reverend Dave Robbins conducts a Bible study class for a group of inmates at BCCF.

Reverend Dave Robbins prays with an inmate at BCCF.

The withdrawal last February from the Barnstable County correctional facility of a nationwide prison ministry could have jeopardized a program considered quite successful by County Sheriff James M. Cummings.

That it didn't reflects the efforts of Chaplain Dave Robbins and the directors of the Solid Rock Ministries, which Robbins heads. They recognized that they needed to establish a fund-raising vehicle and retain community support for the program to survive. And they had about a month to do it.

Solid Rock emerged as the facility's new ministry. The first step to restore the program as retaining Robbins, which was done by Sheriff Cummings. Next, a nonprofit charitable organization was created, and the Cape Cod community was alerted to the change.

"Several of our directors had to work hard and work fast to accomplish this. But we did it," said Dennis Clough, who chairs the Solid Rock board of directors. "Thanks to Dave, who led our effort, we have in place an effective program that few will realize differs from the national group."

Insiders will realize because the national firm employs 300 chaplains in 24 states and several countries, and had a larger staff at the facility. Robbins had been one of several persons serving the needs of the more than 430 inmates. He is now working with two others at the facility and a network of churches and volunteers.

The correctional facility is located at the Military Reservation in Buzzards Bay. Until 2004, it was in Barnstable Village, housed in a building in use since the 1930s. State-of-the-art, the new facility is almost totally electronic, according to Robbins. "There are no bars," he said. He has been a chaplain in Barnstable for six years, following a four-year stint at the Plymouth County corrfectional facility.

Robbins, who grew up in Weymouth with 10 brothers and sisters, quit school in the 10th grade, when his father died. "It hit me awfully hard, and I rebelled. I started drinking and using drugs," he recalled. Arrests, a suspended sentence and probation before he was 15 worsened his situation.

His social decline continued in Jacksonville, Fla., where he was arrested for armed robbery, and was given a five-year term in the Florida prison system. While there, he did earn a high school diploma, the first sign, he thinks, that he could recover.

"Then I met a chaplain, who told me that God loves me. That was an entirely new concept," Robbins remembered. "Here I was, 1,500 miles from home. I knew no one. I didn't want to continue this way. But I didn't know how to get out of it. Until this man. He persuaded me to read the Bible, and for the next six months I did. And it saved me!"

From there, Robbins moved to Miami to work as a youth pastor in a rescue mission serving homeless people on drugs. Simultaneously, he studied for bachelor's and master's degrees in bible studies and theology over a five-year period.

After graduation and yearning to return to Massachusetts with his wife, who he had met in bible college, Robbins found opportunities to serve as a youth pastor in churches just north of the Cape. For about three years, as his family grew(there are four children), he helped three of his brothers frame houses. In 2001, he joined the Plymouth facility as an ordained minister.

"We're just like a church," Robbins said of his prison ministry. "We do everything a church pastor does, except pass the plate. We know we'll never get it back. In his Plymouth
assignment, he served 1,600 inmates, all men. His Barnstable parish consists of about 438 men and women.

The role of prison ministries has grown in recent years. About seven of 10 inmates released from prison are back within three years, according to a national study. Prison officials and police, to whom the word "recidivism" is quite familiar -- it refers to former prisoners who have been rearrested -- are turning more often to prison ministries to help exinmates make a successul return to their communities.

More than 2.4 million Americans are prison inmates. Of those, 300,000 are women. In the 1970s, this country's entire prison population was about 250,000.

Put another way, one of 32 adult Americans are in prison, on parole or probation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

Prison ministries take two separate directions, Robbins said. In prison settings, they try to meet the spiritual needs of inmates and staff with Bible lessons, preaching, counseling and visits inside the facility.

The second, and perhaps more influential, is their effort after release, when returning to a normal life is most at risk. A ministry, Robbins said, at that time in their lives can help an individual most by communicating how those attitudes, thoughts and actions that caused difficulty in the past can be changed.

"This will bring about effective and measurable changes that allow individuals to return to society prepared and willing to be productive citizens," he said. "In society, we talk about reforming people. I like to call it regenerating them. One's heart has to change for this to happen," Robbins observed.

Today, just a little more than eight months after establishing Solid Rock Ministries, Robbins has seen his program expand. A fund-raising banquet in Falmouth last month drew 250 people, including 25 former inmates. "That was gratifying, on both counts," he acknowledged. "I had my life turned around. Now I can be a part of turning around the lives of others."

Programs at the Barnstable facility include four church services and eight bible study classes each week. All are voluntary. but Robbins reported that more inmates are showing up, particularly younger ones.

The ministry's outreach program has been stepped up. Robbins preaches at area churches and conducts Sunday school classes. Churches in turn provide volunteers to offer bible study courses at the correctional facility. The cooperative effort is extended to finding jobs, housing and stable environments for inmates when released.

"It's tough in those first days when an inmate is released. Someone helped me when I was in the same position. I looked for help from a church," Robbins said. "Most out for a short time don't know how to do that. We can help them learn before they make a mistake, and lose their freedom."

Robbins works closely with Bridge to Hope Cape Cod, a mentoring program that trains people to help incarcerated women after their release. The Hyannis organization, which is sponsored by the Cape Cod Council of Churches, has built and operates a home in which women can live up to three months, according to Linda Bradstreet, founder and
executive director.

BTH has been so successful in helping female inmates adjust to normal life after release, it has been asked by a California correctional facility to establish a similar program.

4Cs names 7 finalists for president

Political hacks need not apply

Cape Cod Community College today released a list of seven finalists to succeed retiring President Kathleen Schatzberg.  According to a memo from Board of Trustees Vice Chair Ralph F. Cahoon, III, the finalists are:

• Margaret Bartow, Ed.D., Vice President for Learning/Chief Academic Officer, Frederick Community College, MD
• Steven Berrien, Ph.D., Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, Nunez Community College, Chalmette, LA
• John L. Cox, Ed.D., Vice President, Finance, Operations and Government Relations, Harford Community College, Bel Air, MD
• Lawrence M. Cox, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer, Compton Community College District, CA
• Peter Grant Jordan, Ed.D., Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness, LaGuardia Community College, NY
• Peter Katopes, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs, LaGuardia Community College, NY
• Heather C. Smith, Ed.D., Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs for Enrollment Services, Bridgewater State University

The seven finalists emerged from a pool of seventy-four applicants.  We note that each of the finalists holds an academic doctorate and holds a high-level administrative position at a public college.  Dr. Heather Smith of Bridgewater State University is the only finalist not currently employed by a community college and is also the only finalist from Massachusetts.

The group includes two women and five men.  Two vice presidents from LaGuardia Community College are among the seven finalists.

We note with pleasure that there is not a single Massachusetts politician among the finalists.  Rumors were afoot that one or another retired political hack was coveting the corner office at 4Cs.  The Board of Trustees clearly decided to limit their finalists to academic leaders in public higher education.

The next step in the selection process is to interview the finalists.  These interviews will be held on November 3rd and 4th.

Lighthouse Charter School finalizes purchase of Harwich Cinema

School should be in its new home for the 2012-13 school year

The closing today of the Regal Cinema 6 on Route 137 in Harwich marks the end of an era for Lower Cape movie goers. Walter Brooks photo.

Curtain Drops at Harwich Cinema
       Regal Closes only cinema
       between Dennis and Wellfleet

This week's sale of the Regal Cinema 6 in Harwich marks the end of an era for Lower Cape movie goers. Constructed in 1987 by Interstate Theatres, the "Harwich Cinema 6" was a state of the art movie house of that era. At the theatre's opening, patrons marveled at the free-standing concession stand and the cup holders in the arm rests. The LED strips running on either side of the aisle were a novelty at the time, as well.
      For Cape Codders who took their children and grandchildren to the Harwich cinema it was sadly noted that Regal Cinemas' web site listed no show times for Harwich following Thursday evening.
      When Interstate built the multiplex in 1987 the Lower Cape lost a bit of "home town identity" because Interstate Theatres used the East Harwich location to consolidate all of their cinemas in the area. Gone were the twin screens at Orleans and Dennisport as well as the historic old movie houses in Harwich and Chatham.
      Many of us cursed Interstate for taking away our downtown cinema but we had to agree the Harwich 6 was a step ahead in technology, sound and ambiance.
      Interstate was subsequently acquired by Hoyts Cinemas and then Regal acquired Hoyts' properties on the Cape. Theatre attendance continued to drop through the past decade to a point where a piece of real estate like Harwich was far more valuable to Regal than was a 24 year old multiplex in a highly seasonal economy.
      With the closing of Regal Harwich the Lower Cape is left with the Entertainment Cinema multiplex at Patriot Square in Dennis and the Wellfleet Cinema as the nearest venue for first run movies.
      We are told that the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School will keep one of the six auditoriums intact as an all-school assembly area.
      When the school starts to hold public functions at their new facility perhaps we will still smell the popcorn in the untouched part of the theatre.
      Thanks for the memories!

Route 137 East Harwich property to undergo $2 million reconstruction

The Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School successfully completed its quest for a facility of its own by finalizing its purchase of the Regal Theater complex and 9 acre property in East Harwich earlier today.

"The purchase of this property is a major milestone and a wonderful opportunity for our school," said Paul M. Niles, Executive Director. "We have learned to thrive at our current location, but the larger building and expansive property in East Harwich will enable us to enhance our programs in ways that are not possible at our current site," Mr. Niles said.

The new building, located on Route 137 a few yards north of the intersection with Route 39 at the Stop 'n Shop complex and near the Mid Cape Highway Exit 11 interchange, consists of approximately 19,531-square feet on nine acres of land. Construction and renovations on the building will begin in December, and the first classes are expected to be held in the new school in September 2012.

The $1.9 million purchase price and $2 million renovation is being financed by a combination of public and private lenders. "The economics of this purchase and renovation are very sound," said Norman Michaud, Chair of the Board of Trustees." Being an owner rather than a renter is critical to the school's long term financial well-being," Mr. Michaud added.

The Lighthouse School is in its 17th year of operation as the only public charter middle school on Cape Cod, serving 228 students in grades 6-8. While the school community is excited about trading the blacktop at the "Underground Mall" in Orleans for the open space at the new site, there are no plans to change the size of the student body. The smaller size of the school is a unique feature of the educational experience at the Lighthouse School. Teachers really get to know their students' strengths and areas of need, and can work to celebrate strengths and remediate weaknesses. With innovative programs like Nature's Classroom, the math benchmarking system, the extensive seminar program and an 8th grade community-building hiking trip to the White Mountains, teachers and students develop strong, life-long bonds.

The Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School has been in its current location at the Underground Mall in Orleans since it opened its doors in 1994. "Saying 'goodbye to the underground' will be bittersweet," Mr. Niles said, adding that the school community is excited to explore ways to integrate itself into its new neighborhood. Some ideas under consideration include the development of community-accessible fields and meeting spaces.

"We look forward to working with our new neighbors in Harwich," Paul Niles said. "Over the coming months we will be continuing to reach out to groups throughout Harwich to explore ways we can work together," Niles said.

Anyone with ideas for potential partnerships should feel free to contact Paul Niles at 508-240-2800.
--
Information through the courtesy of:
Paul Niles, Executive Director
Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School
Office phone: 508-240-2800
Fax: 508-240-3583

Breakfast Café: serving up great food and learning for all

Breakfast Café at NRMS integrates abilities with terrific taste

   Students in Nauset Regional Middle School's popular before-school Breakfast Café work as a fast-paced team to plate freshly-made muffins; the muffin of the day is whole wheat banana, made from scratch. Photo by Teresa Martin.

By Teresa A. Martin

The clock shows a few minutes after 7 am and already the classroom kitchen at Nauset Regional Middle School in Orleans buzzes with activity.

Over at one prep station occupational therapist Daria Rice oversees the chopping of bananas and the measuring of flour. At another station, two students pair up to crack dozens of eggs. The scent of brewing coffee wafts in the air. Breakfast Café has opened for business.

Real customers, real food

School principal Maxine Minkoff receives her breakfast from students in the Breakfast Café. She and many other teachers and staff enjoy the cafe's fresh-brewed coffee and breakfast specials. Photo by Teresa Martin.

At NRMS, staff and teachers don't have to worry about grabbing a donut on the way out the door. Instead, on Wednesday and Thursday mornings, they can order a daily breakfast special, a muffin-of-the day, or a bagel with cream cheese, along with coffee, and iced tea -- all for well under $5.

We're talking real food here. Muffins from scratch. Syrup flavored with infused vanilla beans. Fresh fruit.

"I like the kids to understand that everything doesn't have to come out of a box or a jar," explains Norma Jean Anderson, coordinator of the café and substitute coordinator for the school.

Response from demand

Anderson, who has been a caterer, personal chef, and cooking class instructor for 15 years, started Breakfast Café three years ago after the school sliced the consumer science program, along with food and kitchen safety, nutrition, and basic cooking skills curricula.

Maybe the school couldn't afford to keep cooking as part of the school day, but middle school kids, it seems, love food. And given a chance, they love learning how to make it. The before-school Breakfast Café and the afterschool Iron Chef Club arose from ashes of the curricular cuts.

More than cooking

Not only does the Breakfast Café serve up great food, it also serves up a multi-dimensional dollop of student learning. Twice a week, students prep, cook, manage orders and customers, serve, and clean up.

But wait, there's more! Last year occupational therapist Daria Rice approached Anderson with an idea. Rice works with middle and high school special needs students, often focusing on life skills. Nutrition and food preparation appear high on her list of core skills.

What if, she said, we shape Breakfast Café into an integrated program, that welcomes and supports kids with a variety of abilities - from physically or cognitively disabled to honor students - in the shared activity of cooking?

Food: the great leveler

Everyone loves food. In a kitchen, everyone has a role and every role matters. Today's Breakfast Café has kids working side by side with each other, preparing, cooking, taking care of customers, and cleaning up. Last school year, the integrated plan went into effect and the Breakfast Café became even more popular.

Members of Team Breakfast Café, along with program co-coordinators Norma Jean Anderson (center) and Daria Rice (left center), check an incoming order for the $3.50 breakfast special of Finnish pancakes, sweet potato oven-baked homefries, and fresh fruit. Photo by Teresa Martin.

"Everyone contributes," says Johanne Kieffer, education assistant for the district's Alternative Program, who joined Breakfast Café this year to provide support to students as needed.

Small things mean strong outcomes

Creating a café that works for all turned out to be fairly straightforward. It just took a little awareness, a few small steps, and a willingness to give it a try.

For example, stations have reminder signs: "Hot Water! Lots of Soap! Elbow Grease!" says one at the sink. The signs offer prompts for those with a cognitive disability.

Rice and Kieffer add a critical layer of support as well. They break down tasks into smaller steps and turn kitchen moments into teaching moments - helping one student count change for an order, or helping another consider which of three tools would be best for mixing.  They deliver their support quietly and within the flow of kitchen activity.

Expansion

The success of Breakfast Café led to it launching an outpost this year. Anderson and Rice began running an afterschool cafe at the high school that, like Breakfast Café, integrates students of differing abilities. It draws upon the Best Buddies project, which matches special needs students and mainstream students, as well.

Instead of breakfast, the new high school cafe focuses on creating fresh and tasty baked goods for the school's store. It makes the muffins that go on sale in the morning, for example. Not surprisingly, the new items have been a hit and the students who cook and deliver them to the store are feeling pretty proud about their wares.

Breakfast is served

Meanwhile, back in Breakfast Café, time whizzes by.

"Can you tell me how much yogurt we need"? asks Rice.

"That's 'eggscellent' " jokes a student displaying a handful of eggs.

"Check the bagel station," directs Anderson.

"This is called a ramekin," says Rice.

"The pay station is ready," reports a student.

The oven timer beeps. The phone rings. It's show time!

Out go the whole-wheat banana muffins with cranberry butter, the Finnish pancakes with vanilla spice sauce and sweet potato home fries, the bagels with cream cheese, and of course the coffee -- all the order of the day at Breakfast Café.

Teresa Martin is a well-known Cape Cod technology and business leader who served as  C.E.O. of the Cape Cod Technology Council and was a founder and officer of the OpenCape Corporation, which is dedicated to fixing the Cape's dropped cell calls and upload issues. Read Teresa's tech blog, Cape Eyes on CapeCodToday.com here.

Towns tackle employee health care costs as insurance rates continue to skyrocket

New legislation will help municipalities keep the lid on rising health care costs

Town employees to take on deductibles, increased co-pay

By Gerald Rogovin

Legislation signed last July by Governor Deval Patrick that gives cities and towns more control over skyrocketing health insurance costs has already had a strong impact across Massachusetts.

It is expected to reshape health insurance for municipal employees on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard in the next 15 months.

The new law will allow towns in the region, by vote of either their town meetings or selectmen, to create plans that could significantly reduce costs in the first year after adoption. It will also make it easier for the towns to bargain with their unions on health insurance.

Estimates vary. But towns could save as much as 13 percent in the first year. A quarter of that amount would go to employees and retirees. This is based on gross estimated savings plus what could be saved as a result of lower rates.

Towns can opt to join the state Group Insurance Commission plan, or create  GIC "look-alike" plans of their own. The Cape Cod Municipal Health Group, the joint purchasing organization for Cape towns since 1987, will take the second approach.

Francis (Skip) Finnell, chairman of CCMHG's steering committee and a founder of the organization, described the regional group as having "more robust" programs than GIC. "We have wellness and health risk reduction programs. GIC doesn't have those. We have a zero co-pay prescription drug import program. GIC doesn't have that either."

"GIC does not administer COBRA governmental units. That's a built-in service in our plan. Employers can vote on our decisions. But they have no control over what happens with the GIC," Finnell said.

Another reason the steering committee will develop its own regional plan is that there are too few hospitals and providers here, he noted. "The only hospitals on the Cape and Islands are Cape Cod Health Care in Hyannis, Falmouth and Vineyard Hospitals," he said.

"Back in 2002, employee health insurance costs represented 7 percent of the total budget. This year it's 13 percent. This isn't voodoo statistics. It's all too real." - Bud Dunham, Sandwich Town Administrator

Concerns were expressed on the Vineyard that shifting more of the costs from the towns to their employees would be burdensome. Chilmark Selectman Warren Doty told the Vineyard Gazette, "Our employees are middle-class folks...[this change] is crunching down on regular, working folks."

But Sandwich Town Administrator Bud Dunham had another view. "In FY2002, we paid out $3.3 million for health insurance for town employees. In FY 2012, it's $8.9 million, an increase of 170 percent. Our total budget for that period rose by 40 percent. Even a town manager with a calculator can't figure out how to break even with that equation," he said.

In an early look at cost estimates for health insurance in the next fiscal year for the town's 583 active employees and 169 dependents, Dunham recalled that a $2 million shortfall appeared probable. "Without an override or substantial cuts, we didn't think a balanced budget was possible," he said.

"Back in 2002, employee health insurance costs represented 7 percent of the total budget. This year it's 13 percent. This isn't voodoo statistics. It's all too real," Dunham added.

None of the specific costs will be known until February for deductibles and co-pays. But, based on current information, Dunham thinks that Sandwich can reduce its health insurance costs in the plan's first year by 12-13 percent, or $1 million. Seventeen different employee unions will be involved in negotiating with the town.

Sandwich ranks third behind Barnstable and Falmouth in the region in the number of employees. Yarmouth, for example, covers 208 employees with health insurance, but no retirees. Its current budget is $2,951,715, according to Finance Director Sue Milne.

Before the new state law was passed last July, towns were prohibited from making any kind of change in setting costs, as the result of an arbitration case involving Dennis firefighters, according to Dunham.

CCMHG's steering committee took a series of three votes in late September and early October to determine which way the organization would go. The final vote, on October 5, adopted the GIC look-alike approach. Of 36 voting, all but two favored adoption. Provincetown was the only town in opposition.

The organization represents all of Barnstable County's towns and Martha's Vineyard, which merged with it, and has two seats on the steering committee. Nantucket has yet to decide how it will proceed, according to Finnell.

"With health care costs going up by about 10 percent a year without a corresponding rise for co-pays, there is a strong need to rebalance." Carol Cormier, VP of Group Benefits Strategie

Changes to be voted in coming months will keep options offered by Harvard Pilgrim and Blue Cross Blue Shield. No benefits are expected to change. But the cost to employees certainly will, according to Carol Cormier, Vice President of Group Benefits Strategies in Auburn, Mass., CCMHG's consultant. She pointed out that health care costs have risen swiftly in recent years. But co-pays and deductibles for municipal employees have remained almost fixed.

There are no annual deductibles for service currently. But they are expected to be adopted when the regional plan is established. Estimates suggest $250 for an individual to no more than $750 for a family will be the initial schedule.

Office visit co-pays are expected to rise, according to Cormier. They would double to $20; go from $10 to $35 for a visit to a specialist; from $20 to $100 for an emergency room visit; and from zero to $500 for an inpatient admission to a hospital.

"With health care costs going up by about 10 percent a year without a corresponding rise for co-pays, there is a strong need to rebalance," Cormier said.

About 10,500 town employees on the Cape and Islands, 21,000 including dependents, will be covered by the municipal health group plan, Finnell said. "While we won't know until early 2012 what the costs will add up to, this new law will help our towns."

"It's not all we wanted. But something had to be done. Municipalities all over the state were going broke before the new law was adopted.It had become a budget-buster to insure the health of town employees. It will now be evened up a bit," Finnell observed.

Cape Cod lost 6,478 students in past decade

Cape-Wide School enrollment drops 17.93%
Lower Cape drops are even greater at 19.12%

The Cape’s school districts have lost almost 18% of their students in the past decade, according to data obtained from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. 

As Cape Cod’s student count dropped, schools have been forced to tighten their belts and now face increased competition from “school choice destination” districts, charter schools and vocational technical schools. See the chart on the right.

Competition Works

Cape Cod Today has reported on the increased climate of competition between some of the Cape’s public school districts.  Clearly the districts least devastated by the population drop are those that have already stepped onto the competitive field.

The biggest winners in the struggle for enrollment are the Sturgis Charter Public School in Hyannis (106.5% increase), Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School (33.3%), Upper Cape Regional Vocational Tech (12.5%), and Cape Cod Tech in Harwich (10.88%).  The Truro Central School grew 15.87% since 2001, a net increase of 20 students.

Nauset, Chatham and Harwich managed to minimize their losses with aggressive marketing as school choice “destination schools”.  Chatham’s enrollment dropped by only 4.82%, while Harwich and Nauset both kept their losses below 15%.

Sandwich kept its losses to a modest 15.61%, one of the perks of operating one of the 500 best high schools in the United States.  The competition on the Upper Cape should heat up now that Sandwich is wisely considering a $50,000 marketing campaign for Sandwich High School as a school choice destination.

Overwhelming Losses

Meanwhile, the four elementary schools in Brewster, Eastham, Orleans and Wellfleet ignored the school choice success of their Nauset middle/high school district and remained closed to school choice, with Brewster suffering a 28.84% loss while it remains hamstrung by the Eddy School build during a population surge years ago. Orleans and Eastham lost 22.75% and 26.92% respectively. Wellfleet grew by ten students. See the chart on the right.

Provincetown lost the most students – a 61.18% loss equal to 197 students.  With numbers like that it’s a small wonder that Provincetown High School will soon close.  Many anticipate the district’s total dissolution within the next few years.

Unpleasant Surprise in Orleans

While most school districts reduced their teacher ranks because of declining enrollment, Orleans’ taxpayers are in for a surprise.  Orleans employed the full time equivalent (FTE) of 25.9 teachers in 2004 and employed 25.1 teachers in Fiscal 2011.

While most school districts reduced their teacher ranks because of declining enrollment, the taxpayers in Orleans are in for a surprise. Orleans employed the full time equivalent (FTE) of 25.9 teachers in 2004 and employed 25.1 teachers in Fiscal 2011. (School profiles show teacher counts only back to 2004.)

By comparison, Brewster’s elementary schools employed 39.1 teachers in Fiscal 2011, down from 59.6 in 2004 – a drop of the full time equivalent of 20 teachers.

         Why are we publicizing
   the Cape's school problems?

At Cape Cod TODAY we have have very specific reasons for our increased coverage of education.

1. The two most important matters for any media to coverage are defense and education.
2. Defense is a 'national' concern, and our focus is "Cape Cod 24/7," so that makes education our number one concern.

Orleans Elementary is in a difficult place.  Their enrollment is a bit too high to cut back to a single classroom for each grade level but balancing class sizes leaves two under-enrolled classrooms.  Welcoming school choice students might ameliorate this situation, putting $5,000 checks on those empty desks now collecting dust.

Orleans Elementary School today enrolls approximately the same number of students as was lost by Brewster in the past ten years.  One conjectures that, if Nauset were a PK-12 regional school district, Orleans Elementary could be closed and its students bused to Brewster.  Something like this may be necessary when the day comes to replace OES’ aging physical plant – especially if Orleans’ citizens are faced with devastating tax increases to fund the sewer system so many seem hell-bent to construct.

 The Smart Will Survive

Virtually every school district on Cape Cod is affected by the loss of almost 6,500 students.  Indeed, everyone is eating from the same trough but the trough has 18% less food than it did a decade ago.  This means some school districts must go hungry and others may starve. 

Academic excellence, strong school choice marketing and smart leadership will determine which school districts will remain standing when the competition for students is decided.

Read the education series:

• Why Education?
• Cape's Public Schools must operate like businesses to survive
• Monomoy Regional: The Feisty New Kid on the Block
• Sandwich educational consultant decries "school-to-prison" pipeline
• CCLCS director responds to MCAS scores
• Lighthouse Charter grapples with MCAS, AYP
• Nauset Super. Hoffmann opens up. Kudos to Eastham FINCOM

Why Education?

School Pride Shines in Sandwich
A well-spent $50k to market school choice

By Walter Brooks, staff members

Why are we publicizing
the Cape's school problems?

Our teacher friends at the Cape's schools tell us that all the faculty lounges are abuzz with emotions running from pride to bitterness at our ongoing coverage of education on this Narrow Land.
   Wallace Sayres said it best, "Academic politics is the most vicious and bitter form of politics because the stakes are so low."
   Of course both beauty and bitterness are in the eye of the beholder, and we at Cape Cod TODAY have very specific reasons for our increased coverage of education here.

1. The two most important matters for any media to coverage are defense and education.
2. Defense is a 'national' concern, and our focus is "Cape Cod 24/7," so that makes education our number one concern.

We began this story as a news article, but it has probably morphed into a quasi-editorial as well.

We will begin with strong praise of Sandwich School Committee member Robert P. Catalini for having the vision to advocate branding Sandwich High School as a school choice destination.  If the school board supports his marketing initiative this may well become the best $50,000 Sandwich ever invests in its schools.

Sandwich High as a “Destination School”

As the Cape’s population declines, competition is heating up among the public school districts.  Some districts, like Sandwich, realize this while others slumber and hope for better times.

Sandwich High School has a lot to offer.  It boasts the highest percentage of students proficient or advanced on the both MCAS Grade 10 English Language Arts and Grade 10 Math. See the charts below. 

The school ranks in Newsweek’s top 500 high schools in America.  With approximately 1,000 students currently enrolled, Sandwich High School is large enough to diverse course offerings yet its academic achievement appears unencumbered by the school’s size.

For those concerned by the demographics (see chart below) of where their kids currently attend high school, Sandwich High has a 97.4% Caucasian population and only .4% of the students for who English might not be their primary language.  Only 10.4% of students at SHS fall into the Low Income demographic versus 34.2% state-wide and a far cry from other towns in their vicinity. 14.5% of Sandwich High School students are in a special education program versus 17.0% state-wide.

Sandwich High offers an atmosphere of excellence to its school choice “customers”. Like Nauset Regional High School at the other end of the Cape, SHS has the critical mass to offer a rich, large-school experience while offering the small-town caring that ensures each child is treated as an individual.

The Teachers Did Their Jobs

The past two years have been tumultuous ones for the Sandwich Public Schools.  With seemingly endless drama surrounding multiple administrators plus disharmony among the school committee, we cringed every time the next news story about their schools began to hatch.

While one ugly story after another played out in the media, something remarkable was happening in the Sandwich school district.  Quietly, without fanfare, the teachers were doing their jobs!  They went to school every day and connected with their students.  While their administration imploded, the teachers and building principals motivated their students to excellence.

Last year Sandwich lost the equivalent of 42.3 students to school choice in other districts while they attracted 24 students.  If the proposed marketing program brings in ten new school choice students at $5,000 each, that makes back the $50k investment and they go right-side-up from that number forward.

Dust or a $5k check?

Dr. Carolyn Cragin, transitional superintendent at Monomoy Regional School District said it best.  “If there are five empty desks in a classroom, what do you want to see on those desks?  Do you want to see dust or a $5,000 check?”

Kudos to Sandwich for embracing the new reality of competition between school districts on the Cape.  Sandwich High School has an excellent “product” to sell. We believe their proposed marketing program will benefit their school district for years into the future.

Read the education series:

• Cape's Public Schools must operate like businesses to survive
• Monomoy Regional: The Feisty New Kid on the Block
• Sandwich educational consultant decries "school-to-prison" pipeline
• CCLCS director responds to MCAS scores
• Lighthouse Charter grapples with MCAS, AYP
• Nauset Super. Hoffmann opens up. Kudos to Eastham FINCOM

Business and personal: domestic violence is everyone's issue

Personal loss and business cost calculated at awareness breakfast

   Lysetta Hurge-Putnam, executive director of Independence House, lights a candle for each domestic violence death in Massachusetts last year, as volunteers representing each lost life stand together in a line. The memory ceremony closed the domestic violence awareness month breakfast Oct. 21 at the Cape Codder in Hyannis.

By Teresa Martin

In a morning of both emotional swings and clear-stated fact, the Cape's annual Domestic Violence Awareness Month Breakfast delivered on its promise of awareness and education Friday morning.

After seeing the data and hearing personal testimony, the 40+ breakfast attendees left the Cape Codder with a clear message: the cost of domestic violence hits business bottom lines and personal life every day, all around us.

Chilling numbers

Lysetta Hurge-Putnam, executive director of the Hyannis based Independence House, set the tone by reporting that her agency alone served more than 2500 people last year - all victims of domestic violence. Here. On the Cape.

Keynote speaker Courtney Cahill, director of the domestic violence unit for the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office, and president of the board of Employers Against Domestic Violence (EADV), picked up the theme citing a 2008 CDC study that looked at the cost of domestic violence.

The nation-wide study found 1 in 5 employed adults were victims of domestic violence - and the cost created by the abusers' actions went far beyond their victims' well-being. The abusers created 1.4 billion days of lost productivity for business and $3.8 billion in medical and mental health costs, as well as an undocumented amount of legal expenses.

She also noted that the Washington State Domestic Violence Task Force determined that the number one cause of injury for women in this country is, no, not automobile accidents, but domestic violence. Domestic violence lies behind 35% of all emergency room visits by women.

Control issue

Too often people both underestimate and misunderstand domestic violence. "It is about having control, not about loss of control," said Cahill.

This pattern of control takes place through emotional, financial, and verbal, as well as physical means, she said. 

Victims are victims not the cause

All too often, victims get blamed for causing the violence. "We've all heard people ask - 'well, why doesn't she just leave him?'" said Cahill.

• Some batterers endlessly apologize and their victim keeps a flicker of hope alive that things can and will change.
• Some hold the purse string, making it impossible for their victims to leave. Cahill cites examples where victims trying to leave are blocked from accessing money in joint accounts, whose abuser puts a hold on credit cards, and who throughout the relationship control all funds.
• Threats against children, family, and friends provider abusers with another control tool, making it difficult for a victim to 'just leave'."

"Abuse can only stop if you stop the abuser," she said firmly.

So what's a workplace to do?

Given the enormous costs, a business - no matter how small - needs to address the issue. Even the smallest 3-person company can work with local agencies and police to craft a policy that includes confidentiality and practical response. The EADV also provides resources and direction.

Companies hold legal liability as well. For example, OSHA regulations stipulate "a workplace free from recognized hazards" and has been triggered by non-response to domestic violence -- not just by hazardous chemicals and sharp spinning blades. A spouse making threatening calls to the workplace is considered a "recognized hazard" - in both the abuser and the victim's workplaces.

It Happened to Me

"It is a silent killer. Verbal and emotional abuse can kill you," said 'Kelly' standing in front of the group after Cahill provided the data and putting a face on the reality of the impact and costs of domestic violence.

Kelly dated a physically abusive boyfriend in high school, left that behind, and then met and married a man who seemed so nice and was so different from her high school beau.

Through tears, with a voice that started out quivering but steadily grew stronger as she talked, she told of her initial love for her husband, and then how over time her reality became surviving and protecting her three children.  She described spending a 22 year marriage kept on a financial allowance gained each time by begging and groveling for it, and of living with constant verbal and emotional attacks and threats.

"Make the abusers accountable for their actions," she told the group. "That's the most important thing we can do."

Death

For 23 people in Massachusetts last year, death was literal.  For the past 11 years, the breakfast has concluded the same way: with lighting of memory candles.

This year, as a member of the Independence House staff read each name and short history, Hurge-Putnam lit a candle and a volunteer stood to join a line at the front of the room.

In the dimmed conference room, candlelight flickered brightly, reflecting off the cards printed with the names of the men and women lost to domestic violence last year. By this light, by the light of 23-life candlelight, no one could mistake the cost.

Teresa Martin is a well-known Cape Cod technology and business leader who served as  C.E.O. of the Cape Cod Technology Council and was a founder and officer of the OpenCape Corporation, which is dedicated to fixing the Cape's dropped cell calls and upload issues. Read Teresa's tech blog, Cape Eyes on CapeCodToday.com here.