THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – Friday, March 20, 2020 Page 15 Kowloon closes to patrons dining in By Tara Vocino K owloon Restaurant, a Route 1 landmark for nearly 70 years, is offering takeout and delivery service due to the coronavirus. —Tara Vocino may be reached at printjournalist1@gmail.com. A portion of the parking lot was empty on Tuesday night. Kowloon Restaurant is only offering takeout and delivery since large group gatherings aren’t allowed, per the state’s executive order. (Advocate Photos by Tara Vocino) Living with the virus (Editor’s Note: The following info is from an announcement submitted by Julie Cicolini, a member of the Board of Directors for Healthy StudentsHealthy Saugus, providing information on a modification of the program since the closure of Saugus Public Schools because of COVID-19.) H G ere’s how you can help Healthy Students-Healthy Saugus (HS2) make sure no Saugus children go hungry during this national emergency. HS2 is now assisting all students in the Saugus Public Schools with grab-n-go meals. We are not bagging up food weekly as before in order to maintain the social distancing recommendations. USDA has approved waivers to allow schools where at least 50 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced priced meals to continue providing meals to students if the school closes. Saugus is just shy of that 50% requirement. We are grateful for our school administration and community partners that understand the importance of local families with food insecurities during this uncertain time. HS2 is happy to partner with the Saugus school district to offset costs for feeding any student that comes to get a grab-n-go meal. Any student can go to Saugus High School on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 10 a.m.-12 p.m. to obtain breakfast and lunch. Students are fed for five days and will receive two breakfast meals and two lunch meals on Mondays and Wednesdays. On the first day of serving, we provided 65 meals and believe the number of participants will grow as news spreads of the service. We are grateful to all those that have donated to these efforts so far. GE Good Neighbor Fund, Wheelabrator and Whitsons have all contributed in addition to local citizens that have donated through online websites. The uncertainty still exists as to how long we will need to provide this service. If anyone would like to help we are accepting donations online or by mail: https://givebutter.com/HealthyStudentsHealthySaugus. Checks can also be mailed directly to Salem Five, c/o Healthy StudentsHealthy Saugus, 855-5 Broadway. Saugus, MA 01906. Baker files legislation to address municipal government challenges due to COVID 19 ov. Charlie Baker recently announced that his administration will file a package of legislation to help address challenges to municipal governance resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, including potential delays in holding town meetings and adopting municipal budgets for fiscal 2021. The legislation would: • Amend the existing statute that authorizes town moderators to postpone town meetings by 30 days during a “public safety emergency” by adding “public health emergency” as a reason that permits postponement. • Permit town boards of selectmen to postpone town meetings beyond the statutory June 30 deadline (end of fiscal year) when the governor has declared a state of emergency and conditions prevent the completion of a town meeting. • Permit boards of selectmen, at local option, to temporarily adopt lower quorum rules. • Permit continued monthto-month spending into fiscal 2021 by towns based on the prior fiscal year budget with approval of the Massachusetts Department of Revenue’s Division of Local Services (DLS) during a state of emergency. The month-tomonth authorization would continue so long as a state of emergency prevents the adoption of a budget. Cities have similar authority under existing state law. • Permit towns to access their free cash balance for fiscal 2021 spending with approval of DLS. This would be based on the July 2019 certified balance and could continue until a fiscal 2021 budget is adopted. • Permit municipal spending from revolving funds at the level set by their fiscal 2020 appropriation until a fiscal 2021 budget is adopted. • Authorize a three-year amortization period for deficit spending incurred as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. The default rule would require a fiscal 2021 tax rate to provide for one-year amortization, and this change would follow the 2015 precedent for snow removal costs. School and other closures Baker also announced a three-week suspension of school operations for educational purposes at all public and private elementary and secondary (K-12) schools in the Commonwealth beginning Tuesday, March 17, as well as a number of other emergency actions. “We know that a lot of the measures we are putting into place, including mandatory school closures and prohibiting gatherings of 25 people or more, will cause disruption in people’s day-to-day lives,” Baker said. “With the steps we are taking today, we can ensure residents can still access key state services while taking necessary precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19.” The suspension of educational programming would not necessarily affect the availability of school buildings for the provision of food or other essential noneducational services. The administration will provide additional guidance as the end of the closure approaches. The administration said it is “critical” that students and their families, as well as school staff, stay home as much as possible and strictly follow social distancing guidelines. School staff are urged to plan for “how best to equitably provide alternative access to student learning opportunities during this period and potentially beyond.” School personnel are also urged to find ways to ensure, to the greatest extent possible, that families have access to essential nonacademic services for their children – particularly special education and food services. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) will work with school districts to develop strategies and resources to sustain learning and vital services throughout this closure period. DESE has received a partial waiver from the U.S. Department of Agriculture providing greater flexibility regarding food service in certain districts with higher concentrations of lowincome students, and DESE is pursuing additional waivers for the remaining schools and districts. All nonemergency state employees working in Executive Branch agencies were told not to report to their workplaces on March 16 and 17. The administration is working to expand alternative work arrangements for the Executive Branch workforce and develop plans to continue to provide essential state government services. All commercial insurers, selfinsured plans and the Group Insurance Commission are required to cover medically necessary telehealth services related to COVID-19 testing and treatment. Insurers must do so without requiring cost-sharing of any kind, such as copays and coinsurance, for testing and treatment. Additionally, insurers cannot require prior authorization for these services. A sign visible from Route 1 indicates that Kowloon Restaurant is only offering takeout and delivery.
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