Recommended Reading: Climate Change Report

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

"A massive new federal report warns that extreme weather disasters, like California’s wildfires and this year’s hurricanes, are worsening in the United States. 

The White House report quietly issued Friday also frequently contradicts President Donald Trump. 

The National Climate Assessment was written long before the California fires and the hurricanes. It warns of more, stronger and longer disasters triggered at least in part by global warming. 

Report co-author Katharine Hayhoe says it shows the dangerous weather that scientists said will happen in the United States is already happening."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/zz/news/20181123/government-climate-report-warns-of-worsening-us-disasters

For the full report  https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report

"Heat waves, heavy downpours, and sea level rise pose growing challenges to many aspects of life in the Northeast. Infrastructure, agriculture, fisheries, and ecosystems will be increasingly compromised. Many states and cities are beginning to incorporate climate change into their planning. 

Explore how climate change is affecting the Northeast.

Key Message 1: Climate Risks to People
Heat waves, coastal flooding, and river flooding will pose a growing challenge to the region’s environmental, social, and economic systems. This will increase the vulnerability of the region’s residents, especially its most disadvantaged populations. 

Key Message 2: Stressed Infrastructure
Infrastructure will be increasingly compromised by climate-related hazards, including sea level rise, coastal flooding, and intense precipitation events. 

Key Message 3: Agricultural and Ecosystem Impacts
Agriculture, fisheries, and ecosystems will be increasingly compromised over the next century by climate change impacts. Farmers can explore new crop options, but these adaptations are not cost- or risk-free. Moreover, adaptive capacity, which varies throughout the region, could be overwhelmed by a changing climate. 

Key Message 4: Planning and Adaptation
While a majority of states and a rapidly growing number of municipalities have begun to incorporate the risk of climate change into their planning activities, implementation of adaptation measures is still at early stages."

Read the Northeast section here
https://nca2014.globalchange.gov/report/regions/northeast

Recommended Reading: Climate Change Report

"Students get targeted support in areas where they struggle"

"Calling for a personalized, student-centered approach to reforms, state education leaders gathered Thursday to mark the release of an annual report on the state of education in Massachusetts. 

"Unless we change the rules of operations in our state and give more schools the types of freedoms we allow charters, we will not see that type of personalization, and we will see a continuation of a top-down approach," said Board of Higher Education Chairman Chris Gabrieli, who advocated for empowering individual schools to lead the way on reforms.

A crowd of approximately 300 filled the ballroom at the Omni Parker House Hotel, where the Boston-based Rennie Center for Education Research and Policy released its annual "Condition of Education in the Commonwealth Report." While Massachusetts is a national leader in education, there are still deficiencies in the system that need to be addressed, Rennie Center Executive Director Chad d'Entremont said. 

"Even as a leader, if we stand pat, we will fall behind," d'Entremont said."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20170119/education-leaders-call-for-student-centered-reforms

Download the full PDF for the Rennie Center report
http://www.renniecenter.org/sites/default/files/2017-01/ConditionOfEducation%202017%20ActionGuide.pdf

screen grab of Rennie Center data dashboard

Unrepaired Gas Leaks in Franklin

Each year consumers spend billions on thousands of natural gas leaks. Currently Franklin has 41 unrepaired gas leaks dating back to 2009. This is not only a financial issue for consumers but it is also a safety and environmental issue. I've provided two links concerning gas leaks. Please consider publishing this in Franklin Matters. 

Thank you, 

Jim Hill

#1

City Maps of Gas Leaks | HEET

this is a screen capture of  the interactive webpage marking known gas leaks for Franklin, MA

#2

America Pays for Gas Leaks: Natural Gas Pipeline Leaks Cost Consumers Billions
A report prepared for Sen. Edward J. Markey; Released: August 1, 2013

http://www.markey.senate.gov/documents/markey_lost_gas_report.pdf

Or read the embedded document here:

"the state recommends “common sense” to minimize exposure"

While the decision to continue to build a new turf field at the high school won't be changed, the New England Center for Investigative Reporting is looking into the safety issue.

Via @HuffPostPol: The movement against #syntheticturf is growing http://t.co/1PgScDgsET @SHPFC @FranklinMatters @jeffroy @KarenSpilka

— Turf Grass Forum (@turfgrassforum) May 10, 2015

Part of the article published at Huffinton Post:

As opposition mounts, some consider the fields a solid waste problem, and question what towns would do with the thousands of pounds of crushed tires if the issue reaches a tipping point. The momentum of concern has pushed the California legislature to consider legislation prohibiting the use of state funds to build new fields with recycled tires and that would require towns and cities to examine cleaner alternatives before launching a new project. The Los Angeles Unified School District and the New York City Parks Departments already have stopped construction of new fields with crumb rubber following past concern about lead content. 

Artificial turf advocates say there are multiple studies that show fields are safe, while critics argue that there are no conclusive tests to prove such claims and that waiting for definitive evidence of a health hazard leaves children unprotected. 

More than 300 such fields have been built in Massachusetts during the past decade and they are becoming a coveted sports alternative for student athletes in towns from Boston to Attleboro, New Bedford to Springfield, according to a survey of field construction companies carried out by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting. Athletes who play on the fields are well acquainted with the black pellets – a spray of which is often kicked up by bouncing balls and running children, and gets into cleats and tracked into homes and mixed with laundry after practice.

FHS girls soccer team kicks off a home game on the turf field at FHS in October

Continue reading the full article here
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/09/toxic-turf_n_7218728.html?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000016

For more information about the New England Center for Investigative Reporting, you can visit their webpage here  http://necir.org/

The MA Dept of Health letter on the topic can be found here
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2071976-dphturf.html




Updated: from the Sun Chronicle
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/local_news/local-officials-confident-turf-fields-are-safe/article_6348fdfa-f6c4-11e4-8774-9fe08004b4cf.html

Report card changes coming to elementary schools

Report card changes that were supposed to implemented this school year have been moved out to next year. So parents should be aware that the report card format currently used does not align with the standards being taught in the classrooms. Parents should participate in one of the forums being scheduled to review the proposed changes to the report card.




Parent Meeting Schedule
Oak and Kennedy = Jan 22, 6:30 PM (at Oak St Library)
Keller and Davis Thayer = Jan 30, 6:30 PM (at Keller Library)
Jefferson and Parmenter = Feb 6, 6:30 PM (at Parmenter Library)
Weather date (if needed) = Feb 12, 6:30 PM (TBD)


The letter to the parents was posted to the Franklin Schools webpage here
http://franklindistrict.vt-s.net/Pages/FranklinDistrict_News/01C5CCDE-000F8513

Franklin Library: 2013 Annual Report

The Franklin Public Library entry for the 2013 Annual Report has already been posted to the Library webpage.

You may recall that the Annual Report is produced each year and generally available for the election in November. As a cost reduction, fewer paper versions have been printed and more 'soft copies' via the web have been made available. The Annual Report for 2013 covers all business during the fiscal year for 2013 which began on July 1, 2012 and ended on June 30, 2013.

Rather than waiting for the release of the full Annual Report, you can read the section on the Library here:






This was posted to the Franklin Library webpage
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Library/2013Annual%20Report.pdf

Rep Roy: State House Report

Hi Franklin Matters, Steve Sherlock thought you'd be interested in this: http://us6.forward-to-friend2.com/forward/show?u=a03272e278ec395d5f164106a&id=2259d7813e Did you find the link interesting? You can forward it on to your friends, too: http://us6.forward-to-friend2.com/forward?u=a03272e278ec395d5f164106a&id=2259d7813e You can subscribe for more emails at: http://jeffreyroy.us6.list-manage1.com/subscribe?u=a03272e278ec395d5f164106a&id=43d5611856 * Note: if any of the URLs above are not clickable, you can copy/paste them into your web browser.

Franklin Police: Crash Reports Online

The Franklin Police Department is pleased to announce that we have partnered with Police Reports.US to provide a service that allows our crash reports to be purchased on line.  PoliceReports.US is now the industry leader in Massachusetts for on line accident report distribution.

All parties benefit when a police department puts their crash reports online with Police Reports.US:

• It reduces the cost to the insurance company who wants to process the claim faster
• Citizens have the convenience of access to reports 24/7 and no longer need to drive to the Police Department for a copy of the report
  

Citizens can purchase reports using a credit card at:
http://franklinma.policereports.us/ 

Reports are available for crashes from January 1, 2012 to present date.  Any reports older than January 1, 2012 must be requested at the police station.



Additional information can be found on the Franklin Police page
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Police/index

Franklin, MA: MCAS 2010 - presentation document

Take a few minutes this morning to preview the presentation on the MCAS results for the Franklin School District. This presentation is scheduled for discussion at the School Committee meeting on Tuesday, Nov 16, 2010.

I am looking forward to the discussion, I like the layout of the data. It covers the major points on how we are doing and provides comparisons to the DESE districts most like us as well as to the Hockomock League schools.

2010 MCAS Results for Franklin, MA

View more presentations from Franklin Matters.

What questions about this data would you ask on Tuesday night?

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view the document.

Franklin, MA

Franklin, MA: summer reading

Looking for some summer reading?
Something more than a paperback novel or a magazine from the grocery store check out line?


Try the Financial Audit Reports for 2008 and 2009. You can obtain both reports from the town website here:
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Admin/Audits/


If you find a term you are not familiar with, look it up with your favorite search engine. The results should include one or two dictionary references, an entry for wikipedia and perhaps some professional references including higher education institutions.


By the time you finish reading and studying, the summer will be over!


Enjoy!






By the way - if you are interested in the Town budget documents, you can find the prior years here:
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Admin/previous

You can find the current Fiscal Year 2011 budget here:
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_Admin/FY%2011%20Budget/



Franklin, MA

Franklin, Medway - Library opportunities

A very good read on the opportunity to further combine the operations of the Franklin and Medway Libraries.

Franklin Medway Library Report - 5/04/10

"It's often very hard to find information like that"

Hoping to inform and encourage awareness among Massachusetts residents, a nonpartisan research group has launched a Web site where people can click around and see specific line items in the state budget, track overall spending and gather other related information.

"The idea is to improve transparency so that anyone in the state can see clearly what we're doing through government," said Noah Berger, executive director of the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.

Visitors to browser.massbudget.org can study how much money lawmakers have decided to spend on roads, bridges, education, public safety and other areas of government over the past 10 years.

"People really should have the ability to see how much is being spent on each of those things and be involved in debates about the quality of services that they want and that they're getting in their communities," Berger said

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

Gee, wouldn't it be nice to be able to do this with the Franklin budget? The Financial Planning Committee report provides the numbers and trends on some specific areas. You can view the report here.


Franklin, MA

Parmenter School notice on half days this week

Parmenter School notice on half days this week reports cards come out Tuesday, originally uploaded by shersteve.

I believe report cards come out Tuesday.

The elementary schools will have half-days to provide time for parent conferences on the Thursday (3/19) and Friday (3/20).

Fire Dept - Reports

In addition to the statistics provided in the 2008 Annual Report, the Fire Department publishes their performance statistics monthly to their section of the Town web site.

You can find the Fire Department page here

You can find the report section here

You can find the monthly response statistics here




If you have not picked up your hard copy of the report at Town Hall, you can try to view it online here: http://www.town.franklin.ma.us/pages/FranklinMA_Clerk/2008arpt.pdf

Coverage of the Fire Department begins on Page 82.

School Committee Meeting 1/8/08

The Brick Task Force presents their report (photo)

Brick report intro (audio)
Brick report presentation (audio)


As additional sections of the audio from the meeting are prepared, they will be posted here.

Brick Task Force Presentation

BrickTaskForce_80108, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Members of the Brick Task Force made their presentation to the School Committee meeting Tuesday, January 8th.

Their report can be found here.

Audio files from the presentation and question answer period will be made available here during the week.

Per Chairman Jeffrey Roy before the presentation was received: The School Committee would not be taking a vote or action on the report tonight. Any decision on the Brick classroom will be "resolved in due course during the budget process".