Dec 8, 2010 - a new meeting was added to the Town Council calendar. This is the annual exercise to set the tax rate. I hope to have the data in time to update the analysis that I did last year. I expect the tax rate to increase from the 12.03%. The question is will it go higher than the 14.21% rate that was set in 1997. The low rate for the record was in 2007 at 8.86$
You can find last year's analysis here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2009/11/fm-50-slidecast.html
Jan 25, 2011 - a presentation and discussion on the issue of full vs half day kindergarten. As has been said frequently by the School Committee, full day is on the table this year. It is likely to be included in the level service budget they initially come forward with. How much revenue the school budget can expect from the Town and state will determine how much of a gap there will be, and hence what options they'll need to consider to balance the budget.
Jan 29, 2011 - school budget workshop, this will be a good opportunity to get into the details and nuances of the budget, cost drivers, etc. The information in this session will set the stage for the school budget actions to come later.
Feb 1, 2011 - announced as the presentation of the school budget formal presentation at the regularly scheduled School Committee meeting.
If you heard the School Committee on Tuesday evening, you heard clearly that they are not interested in changing their ways of communication.
Given the reluctance of the current School Committee to consider changing their ways, anyone with any interest in the schools needs to start taking an interest now.
Re-districting is another distinct possibility, they really should have done it earlier to avoid some of the imbalance in class sizes amongst the schools. They have chosen to move slowly. Why? Maybe they can answer. I won't speculate for them.
Both of these issues affect the entire school population. Never mind getting into a tough budget year next year AND the high school renovation pending some realistic dollar figure being attached to it after all kinds of speculation.
Given all this, one would expect a significant communication effort to come forward. As was made clear by their litany of excuses explanations during their meeting Tuesday, they are comfortable with their efforts and don't see the need to change.
You can ask them. You can get involved.
Franklin, MA
