Franklin Matters: In the News: homelessness topic at Town Council meeting; Wasik candidate for Natick principal

Thursday, February 13, 2020

In the News: homelessness topic at Town Council meeting; Wasik candidate for Natick principal

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"The town, like so many other communities in Massachusetts, is struggling to find homes for the poor and disabled, underscored by the local housing authority’s waiting list of 3,500.

“The numbers are crazy – there is just not enough housing in the state of Massachusetts, in the town of Franklin and in the country for the people who need it,” Authority Executive Director Lisa Audette told the Town Council on Wednesday night. “The incomes have gone up, (and) people who are born and raised in this town, they go off to college, come back to this town – they can’t live here. You can’t afford the rent, you can’t afford to buy a house. A lot of those people with college degrees would be qualified for public housing.”

Social services coordinators from the Franklin Senior Center also spoke about transitional assistance available, saying they’ve assisted 14 Franklin families in the last year, 11 of them being adults with no children. Causes of their homelessness ranged from having mental health, substance and medical problems to joblessness. Many are left without a place to live because of natural disasters like fires or personal tragedy like being the victims of domestic violence."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20200212/franklin-seeks-answers-to-homelessness

For my notes from this segment of the meeting Wednesday night
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/02/live-reporting-housing-and-transitional.html

"A Franklin elementary principal is a finalist to be the next principal of Lilja Elementary School in Natick, interim Principal Robin Welch announced Wednesday.

Stefani Wasik, principal at the Davis Thayer Elementary School, is in the running for the Natick job with two other candidates. She is in her second year as principal of Davis Thayer, after serving as its assistant principal for the previous five years. She is expected to visit Lilja Elementary on Feb. 26, spending most of her day there before going to Town Hall to meet with Superintendent of Schools Anna Nolin and other administrators.

Wasik began her career teaching second grade in Somerville, then fourth grade in Milford and Dover. She holds a master’s degree in educational administration from the University of Massachusetts Boston and a bachelor’s of arts in elementary education and psychology from Saint Michael’s College in Winooski, Vermont.

In September, the Franklin School Committee voted to hire an outside consultant to analyze whether Davis Thayer should be closed, with Superintendent of Schools Sara Ahern pointing to the building’s age and the district’s declining enrollment."