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| Franklin All Town MICCA Showcase Concerts |
My name is Emily Laliberte, and I am currently a 7th and 8th grade science teacher at Remington Middle School. I am proud to be entering my 20th year of teaching in Franklin, and each of those years has been a rewarding experience. I've often found myself boasting to fellow educators about the working conditions here and the high quality of education we've always been able to provide in spite of ongoing budgetary issues. One of my greatest joys has been witnessing the district’s long-standing commitment to inclusion.
However, my primary concern—and the reason I’m speaking to you today—is to ensure that the full impact of the proposed changes to our Middle School Model is understood. While the goal is to save $1.4 million, it’s crucial to recognize what we stand to lose in terms of educational quality, and most importantly, who will ultimately bear the brunt of this cost savings - our students.
My journey began at Oak Street Elementary School as a special educator, before transitioning to Remington in the same role. Over the years, I’ve worked with countless families who moved to Franklin specifically for our exceptional special education services. Eventually, I made the decision to transition into a general education classroom, believing I could continue to support inclusion by creating a science environment where all students feel welcomed, valued, and empowered to learn.
That being said, I recognize that our community is facing serious financial challenges and requires significant changes. Over the course of my two decades here, we’ve discussed the budget every year, and each year we've been faced with the threat of severe cuts—many of which have already occurred.
Franklin has been a place where outstanding educators are trained and mentored, only to be lost to neighboring districts year after year. It’s clear that consolidation is necessary to address our district’s financial shortfall. While the proposed consolidation plans are intended to benefit the community financially, I’m concerned that the impact on our students has not been fully considered.
We’ve been assured that “class sizes will remain within the limits,” which is technically true. However, it hasn’t been made clear that many middle school teachers will see their rosters increase by nearly 50%, from about 80 students to 110-120 students. This increased workload will significantly affect the quality of education we can provide.
For me, this means less time to build meaningful connections with my students, understand their personal interests, sports activities, family dynamics, and cultural backgrounds. It also means less time to collaborate with families, respond to emails, and create individualized lesson plans and behavioral interventions that meet the needs of each student. The students who will be most affected by these changes are those with the greatest needs—whether academic, social-emotional, or otherwise.
You may wonder how we can maintain class sizes while increasing the number of students. The answer lies in major restructuring of grades 6 through 8- changing to more of a mini-Franklin High model instead of staying true to the more developmentally appropriate middle school model.
Content teachers will now be expected to teach five sections per day of each subject. While the content of each class will remain similar, this shift means more students requiring accommodations, more parents to communicate with, and more grading - while being provided with less time during the day to do these tasks.
Additionally, students will have fewer opportunities for unified arts, dropping from three classes per term to two, which reduces prep time for content teachers. Students who choose to participate in our robust music programs will do so at the expense of opportunities to participate in Computer science, Art, or other unified arts classes.
Currently, our Unified Arts model allows core content teachers to have 80 minutes of prep per day on average (with some days being shorter or longer). This time allows us to work regularly with special educators, related service providers, administrators, students, and families. With only one 45-minute prep per day, most of our time will be spent preparing lessons and materials, leaving less time for these essential collaborations. Personally, I don't believe I'll be able to provide the inclusive experience for students that I have always taken pride in.
These changes could also mean that special education meetings might need to occur during instructional time instead of during extra prep periods that already exist in the schedule. This could result in students missing out on valuable instruction if their teacher is attending an IEP or 504 meeting. 20% of a roster would mean that potentially 22-24 class periods each school year could be without a certified educator leading them or access to necessary support staff.
I am aware that we are “getting” many things in this consolidation, like more consistent and clear departmental support, additional content-based UA offerings within that one period, and a more streamlined and consistent experience across the town. I’m looking forward to working with new people and getting to meet with my content-area counterparts more regularly. I continue to be worried that these positives will not outweigh the challenges and will result in more teacher turnover at a time when finding new educators is challenging.
I understand that many of the details about how these changes will unfold are still being worked out, and some of these concerns may be addressed between now and September. I deeply appreciate the extensive work of our administrative team, Craig Williams especially (seriously when does he sleep?), and look forward to continuing to work together to the benefit of our student population. Thank you for your time.
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| Voices of Franklin: Middle School teacher wants us to "recognize what we stand to lose in terms of educational quality" |
7:00pm Joint Budget Subcommittee Meeting
https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_02122025-1560
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| What's happening today in Franklin? |
Join us for open discussions on the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget, feedback on last year's override ballot question, the structural deficit this coming year, and the priorities of the community!
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| Listening Sessions starting January 30 |
Shared from -> https://www.franklinma.gov/home/news/upcoming-joint-budget-subcommittee-listening-sessions
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| "Socksgiving Drive" for Heading Home |
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| donated more than 1,400 pairs of socks to Heading Home |
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| Franklin Music Boosters: Middle Schools' schedule spring concerts, 6/4, 6/5, & 6/6 |
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| RMS Reunion for Class of 2024 |
"New Date: The Class of 2023 reunion for our former Remdawgs has been rescheduled to Tuesday May 30th from 2-3 pm.
We hope to see you there! @FHSPantherbook @MrHanna_FHS @TriCountyRVTSD" https://t.co/p4crppfcUC
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| Remington Middle School Class of 2023 reunion - May 30 |
FM #979 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 979 in the series.
This session of the radio show shares part of the Franklin, MA School Committee meeting held on Tuesday, April 25, 2023.
The meeting was conducted in a hybrid format: all of the School Committee members, school district personnel along with some of the public were in the Council Chambers. Some members of the public participated via Zoom conference bridge.
Quick recap:
Heard from an update from Remington on their “Power of Moments” approach
Listened to and questioned the proposal for redistricting effective in Sep 2024 with an option for some affected by it to move to their ‘new’ school in Sep 2023. The Committee is scheduled to vote on the proposal at their May 9 meeting
Approved the middle school trip to the Grand Canyon and nearby national parks scheduled for April 2024
Approved the consent agenda
Entered executive session to continue negotiation with ESP/LPN bargaining unit and did not return to open session
Links to the meeting agenda and associated documents released for this meeting are included in the show notes. The link to my notes taken during the meeting is also provided.
Let’s listen to this segment of the School Committee meeting April 25, 2023
Audio file -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-979-franklin-ma-school-committee-mtg-04-25-23
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Agenda document ->
https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/uploads/scagenda_4-25-23.pdf
Remington’s presentation document
https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/uploads/remington_school_committee_update.pdf
Redistricting Analysis Report
Packet folder contains the documents released for this meeting
My notes captured during the meeting (in one PDF file)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pV6xJrcvwMGU1jMVzWjckHnVz1Abg37k/view?usp=share_link
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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like something here, please let me know
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
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| School Committee hears about the "Power of Moments", then spends time questioning the redistricting proposal (audio) |
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| screen grab of redistricting recommendation |
a. Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 30A, §21(a)(3) to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining with the ESP/LPN, unit as an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the School Committee and the chair so declares.
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| Franklin, MA: School Committee Agenda |
The Remington Jefferson School is a water stop for the 2-day riders. It has a reputation for being one of the better water stops on the route. The riders tend to arrive between 8:00 and 10:00 AM on Saturday morning, Aug 6.
More about the route and PMC https://www.pmc.org/sturbridge-inn-provincetown-logistics
Donate to one or more riders, or to the PMC itself https://donate.pmc.org/
The Franklin PMC Kids ride is scheduled for Sep 25 to start/finish at Remington Jefferson also. https://kids.pmc.org/franklin
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| Pan-Mass Challenge rides this weekend, water stop at Remington Saturday morning |
Remdawg Gazette - Literary Edition 2021 = https://sites.google.com/franklinps.net/remdawg-gazette-literaryed2021/home
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| Remdawg Gazette - Literary Edition 2021 |
"MAEA is happy to share that the virtual statewide Youth Art Month exhibit is now live! Congratulations to all of the artists with work in this exhibit.Take a moment to check out the FIVE galleries of art and be sure to leave a comment (reply) below to sign our virtual guest book.We know all of the art educators who worked hard to make this exhibit come together would love to hear from you!"
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| Remington Middle School featured in MAEA virtual art exhibit |
"Amazing performance! Great job to ALL involved!"
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Horace Mann Parade Route:
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| Annie Sullivan Parade Route: |
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Remington Middle School Parade Route
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