<p>The high school committee has rescinded a vote that would have permitted an overnight homeless shelter at Martha’s Vineyard Community Services.</p>
The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School committee has rescinded a vote it took Nov. 7 that would have permitted an overnight homeless shelter for a second winter on school-owned property at Martha’s Vineyard Community Services.
The high school committee will take up the matter again at 6 p.m. Nov. 28, after member Kris O’Brien of Oak Bluffs called for the original vote to be rescinded based on information from the town’s police chief. Ms. O’Brien had voted in favor of approving the winter shelter at the Nov. 7 meeting.
“I asked before we voted if there were any issues and we were told that there were not,” Ms. O’Brien said at the committee’s Nov. 15 meeting.
“I spoke with the chief of police today. There were eight calls that the Oak Bluffs police department had to respond to in the 10 weeks that the shelter was open, and I consider that to be an issue,” she said.
Oak Bluffs town administrator Deborah Potter also attended the Nov. 15 meeting, strongly expressing disappointment that the town was not consulted before the committee decided to extend the winter shelter agreement, an action that was not on the Nov. 7 agenda.
“We had no idea that this was even going to be discussed,” Ms. Potter said. “We would have brought these concerns to you if we had been informed.”
The winter shelter request came up last week in response to a letter from community services executive director Beth Folcarelli at the Nov. 7 meeting. Although it did not appear on the meeting agenda, the high school committee discussed the request, and principal Sara Dingledy told the committee that she had not heard of any incidents at the shelter.
“It was smooth last year,” Ms. Dingeldy said last week.
The request prompted debate among school committee members, with Kimberly Kirk and others expressing concerns that the shelter was approved last year as a short-term fix, not as a permanent location.
“It was only for a few weeks when we actually approved it,” Ms. Kirk said. “Is this now going to be a long term solution?”
But other committee members felt strongly that it was important to continue the shelter.
“I don’t disagree with the concerns,” Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter, 3rd said. “But I know there is an emergency here, homelessness is a serious matter…I’d hate to see people not have a place to go.”
The measure was approved, with three members voting against it, including Ms. Kirk, Lou Paciello and Kathryn Shertzer.
Use of the community services building for the winter shelter began in January of this year, when the high school committee unanimously agreed to hold the shelter at the community services building across from the high school. At the time, shelter manager Lisa Belcastro of Harbor Homes, the Island’s homeless response nonprofit, said that there had been no calls to police for violence at the previous location in the parish house of St. Andrew’s in Edgartown.
“The most times I’ve called police is for P.C., protective custody,” she told the high school committee on Jan. 10, explaining that when a guest insists on leaving the shelter during a particularly cold night, a staffer may call police to pick them up so they don’t freeze outside. Ms. Belcastro also mentioned a persistent off-Island visitor who was too mentally ill to admit to the shelter and had to be removed by police.
At the Nov. 28 meeting, Oak Bluffs officials will be invited to speak, along with Ms. Belcastro and MVCS chief executive Beth Folcarelli, who has supported the shelter’s request to operate in the former early childhood building for a second winter.

Comments
Here we go not in my backyard
Bob EdgartownHere we go not in my backyard. Of course there will be some issues with a shelter. There are plenty of issues at the school as well but we do not shut the school down. This is not how we should treat our fellow people who need a hand up. The woke high school committee has spoken find another place to help these humans just not in my backyard.
That's real nice of the
Charlie Callahan So Boston/EdgartownThat's real nice of the muffies and buffies on this island. I wonder how many of them ever spent a 20 degree night on a park bench.Mutha and fatha probably still wipe there noses etc for them. 90% of the people on this island could care less for those less fortunate than us. Look in the mirror and picture your kids sleeping on the street
At last, some common sense.
Sarah Vineyard HavenAt last, some common sense. MVCS was never the right location for this. Too many security risks to small children, to staff, and property. These are facts. This was supposed to be a temporary measure last year. MVCS has done their part, now we know how it turned out. It is someone else’s turn. Please do not risk the safety of the staff of MVCS.
Bob from Edgartown, The
Tom TisburyBob from Edgartown, The school committee first and foremost agenda is safe guarding the students, don't speak ill of the board performing their assigned task. Bob it sounds like you care enough to get involved, you could volunteer to cook, hand out clothes and blankets or visit the humans you spoke of and offer your time.
https://www
Islander MVhttps://www.mvcommunityservices.org - Maybe the MVRHS SC should have read the mission statement and services provided by Community Services before allowing them rent and build next door to MVRHS. MVCS serves people with drug addiction, mental health and homelessness every single day.
Anything that is subsidized
Rational Person Oak BluffsAnything that is subsidized increases. I remember when Hyannis was a quaint seaside community. Then they had a few homeless people and the right thing to do was open a shelter, right? 30 years later it's a haven for homeless people all over the place and junkies left and right. These people need mental health and addiction services, not a place to crash.
The 8 calls that were made,
Seriously? EdgartownThe 8 calls that were made, what time did those calls happen? Most definitely not during school hours. Are the people going to the shelter ever at the shelter when there is a large student body at the high school? I don't see community services putting up an issue with all this, and they have young children in the daycare literally around the corner. Eight calls in ten weeks—that is less than one call a week. This shelter, yes, was supposed to be a one-year fix, but now it is needed as people are living in the woods, in their cars, and in sheds; they need shelter and safety just as much as the students you are all looking out for. Does there need to be a better long-term solution? without a doubt. But to pull away approval a little over a week when individuals have been holding out until November 27th, and freezing in the woods is not looking out for anyone. I am appalled by the comments that are made by the board. Yes, the location is not ideal. I would like to hear more from Harbor Homes to find out what they think could be done to meet in the middle. A long term solution is needed, but at this point so is a short term solution.
Not so long ago, when my
Mary Holmes Oak BluffsNot so long ago, when my children were at the MVRHS, I chaperoned two two years in a row, groups of MVRHS students and youth fellowship teens from multiple island churches: St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, West Tisbury Congregational Church, Edgartown Federated Church, and the Methodist Churches to Boston's Common Cathedral's City Reach Program, http://commoncathedral.org/. It was truly an impactful educational experience for students and adult chaperones alike. A compassion building weekend that explained to us the gaps that created the situation of being unhoused for so many and asked us to be the community that welcomed those who fell through the gaps, with their struggles and challenges, so that with our care and understanding could be part of the solution. Now, we no longer need to go to Boston to find this crisis. Let's be part of the solution here.
Desperate times creates
Mike SomewhereDesperate times creates desperate people.
A chaperoned situation is far better than encountering someone that does not have shelter or food.
That could be dangerous.
I live down a mile long road and having people on the woods is frightening.
If there is space available why is it being denied.
A supervised shelter is the answer.
OB should be ashamed for not allowing this.
Homelessness can be overwhelming psychologically and emotionally.
MV is no place for homeless folks.
Not enough support structure in place.
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