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"The Best Resource for Me Is Other Teachers"

via ASCD Inservice by Laura Varlas on 7/22/09

Today we learn from other people's focus groups. Specifically WGBH Educational Foundation's study on how to enhance the social media functions of Teachers' Domain, a free online library of multimedia materials supporting K–12 instruction. Teachers' Domain is supported by funding...

 

 

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FM #44 - This week in Franklin, MA 07/26/09

This is #44 in the series of podcasts for Franklin Matters. Give me about ten minutes and I'll let you know what matters in Franklin, MA for the week ending July 26, 2009

Time: 11 minutes, 23 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes:

Music intro
My intro
FM #44

This internet radio show or podcast for Franklin Matters is number 44 in the series.

You give me about ten minutes and I'll let you know what matters in Franklin, MA for the w/e 7/26.

We'll cover two items this week:

1. The School Committee final budget
2. The Summer Art Institute show

The School Committee meeting on June 23 left me with doom and gloom. The budget deficit had yet to be resolved. The budget was to be level funded. There was no hope of "found money". The numbers were still not balancing and yet tipping in the wrong direction.

How many teachers would end up going out the door?

It seemed likely that a minimum of 40 would. How many more would go was the question that remained. However, I returned from travel to find that of the 60 school personnel notified only 12 would not be returning.

How had this come about?

This was a question several readers here asked me to help explain. I did not have the answer initially. A recent newspaper article did not explain. Even the School Committee meeting on Tuesday, July 21, left me with questions unanswered.

What was the answer?

A conversation with Jeff Roy resulted in the answer. The level funded budget from the Town didn't change. What did change was that all the stimulus funds from either the Federal or State sources were added to the level funded Town budget. That made a big difference. To the tune of $1.1 million. (actually $1,133,953 according to the School Committee)

How did that help?

Instead of ending up with a level funded budget, we ended up with a level funded plus budget. So all the talk of a level funded budget is from the Town Council perspective. The Town did not provide the Schools with anything more than they School got for the prior fiscal year. The Schools benefited by adding the various Federal and State stimulus funds in to the mix to end up with level funded plus.

Is that wrong?

No. At least, I don't believe so. I just wish the discussion around this subject had been more clear. If I spend as much time as I do attending and participating in the various meetings and I get lost, then I can not fault the 'average' Franklin voter for getting lost.

How do we address this?

Better communication is not just a trite answer. The communications and discussions need to be focused with the end user in mind; in this case, the school parents and taxpayers. What will affect them?

What will parents see when they return to school in September?

The school class sizes will be available for one of the August School Committee meetings. Principals are working on the final details for their staffing now (in amongst their summer time off).

What will tax payers see when the next tax bill comes in?

No increase this year due to the level funding. Next year, the fiscal year 2011 will be a different story. Most, if not all of the additional stimulus items used to fund the budget this year are one time dollars. They will not be available next year.

What additional programs were cut?

I am not aware of additional programs that were cut.

Were any of the fees raised?

The fees for after school activities, sports and pay-to-ride remain at last year level.

How can the School Committee improve the discussion?

There is a general reluctance to share the spreadsheets. I understand that the numbers can change. They should be made available. Ensure that they are time stamped and clearly marked that as of this point in time, these are the dollars and this is the effect (i.e. number of positions lost). This would at least help us understand how we go from point A to point B. This will at least ensure that when numbers are bantered back and forth at the meeting, we all can attempt to follow the discussion.

What is the final level funded budget plus number?

You can click over to the School Committee blog to find the numbers there.

A couple of notes to help understand the spreadsheet on the School Committee page:

1. Attrition is the difference between what the 9 retirees were paid and what the replacement teachers will be paid. Hence a savings of $210,000.
2. While the number always talked of that each position reduced costs about $50,000, with 12 positions cut the 500,000 shown by this math should be 600,000.
3. All the dollars on the right column added to the budget are one time dollars.
   

If you still have any questions, please let me know. I'll do my best to explain.

Moving to the second item, the Summer Art Institute conducted as part of Lifelong Learning under the auspices of the Franklin Public Schools, held a brief half hour gathering to showcase the work of the student in the program.

I had published the pictures as part of a video on Saturday but I wasn't pleased with how the final product turned out. I re-did the posting with a slide show of the photos themselves. I think this gives a better view of the art that was produced by the students.

The Summer Art video - http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2009/07/summer-art-institute.html

The Summer Art slide show - http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2009/07/summer-art-institute-slide-show.html

---- ---- ----

This podcast has been a public service provided to my fellow citizens of Franklin, MA

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The musical intro and closing is from the Podsafe Music Network
Jon Schmidt - Powerful Exhilarating Piano Music

Summer Art Institute - slide show

The video published on Saturday was effective but overall disappointing to me as the quality of the students work did not translate well to the video format.

Since the quality of the students work is the reason to share it, let me try again with this slide show.





If you were satisfied with the video, then you can skip this and I apologize for the duplication.

If you were not satisfied with the video, then hopefully this will come closer to the mark.

When can a level funded budget increase?

The School Committee meeting on June 23 left me with doom and gloom. The budget deficit had yet to be resolved. The budget was to be level funded. There was no hope of "found money". The numbers were still not balancing and yet tipping in the wrong direction.

How many teachers would end up going out the door?

It seemed likely that a minimum of 40 would. How many more would go was the question that remained. However, I returned from travel to find that of the 60 school personnel notified only 12 would not be returning.

How had this come about?

This was a question several readers here asked me to help explain. I did not have the answer initially. A recent newspaper article did not explain. Even the School Committee meeting on Tuesday, July 21, left me with questions unanswered.

What was the answer?

A conversation with Jeff Roy resulted in the answer. The level funded budget from the Town didn't change. What did change was that all the stimulus funds from either the Federal or State sources were added to the level funded Town budget. That made a big difference. To the tune of $1.1 million. (actually $1,133,953 according to the School Committee)

How did that help?

Instead of ending up with a level funded budget, we ended up with a level funded plus budget. So all the talk of a level funded budget is from the Town Council perspective. The Town did not provide the Schools with anything more than they School got for the prior fiscal year. The Schools benefited by adding the various Federal and State stimulus funds in to the mix to end up with level funded plus.

Is that wrong?

No. At least, I don't believe so. I just wish the discussion around this subject had been more clear. If I spend as much time as I do attending and participating in the various meetings and I get lost, then I can not fault the 'average' Franklin voter for getting lost.

How do we address this?

Better communication is not just a trite answer. The communications and discussions need to be focused with the end user in mind; in this case, the school parents and taxpayers. What will affect them?

What will parents see when they return to school in September?

The school class sizes will be available for one of the August School Committee meetings. Principals are working on the final details for their staffing now (in amongst their summer time off).

What will tax payers see when the next tax bill comes in?

No increase this year due to the level funding. Next year, the fiscal year 2011 will be a different story. Most, if not all of the additional stimulus items used to fund the budget this year are one time dollars. They will not be available next year.

What additional programs were cut?

I am not aware of additional programs that were cut.

Were any of the fees raised?

The fees for after school activities, sports and pay-to-ride remain at last year level.

How can the School Committee improve the discussion?

There is a general reluctance to share the spreadsheets. I understand that the numbers can change. They should be made available. Ensure that they are time stamped and clearly marked that as of this point in time, these are the dollars and this is the effect (i.e. number of positions lost). This would at least help us understand how we go from point A to point B. This will at least ensure that when numbers are bantered back and forth at the meeting, we all can attempt to follow the discussion.

What is the final level funded budget plus number?

You can click over to the School Committee blog to find the numbers there.

A couple of notes to help understand the spreadsheet on the School Committee page:

1. Attrition is the difference between what the 9 retirees were paid and what the replacement teachers will be paid. Hence a savings of $210,000.
2. While the number always talked of that each position reduced costs about $50,000, with 12 positions cut the 500,000 shown by this math should be 600,000.
3. All the dollars on the right column added to the budget are one time dollars.

If you still have any questions, please let me know. I'll do my best to explain.

In the News - Patricia Ridge, beating the increase, better health

1 - There is an article about Patricia Ridge, one of the custodians at the Kennedy School who was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer:

"She was an integral part of the Kennedy school community, and her sickness is sad and unfortunate," said Franklin Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski. "She's beloved by both the kids and the school."

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

2 - There is an article about local efforts to generate business in advance of the tax increase effective Aug 1.

At Planet Chrysler Jeep on Rte. 140 in Franklin, July has been a "very busy" month, given the government program and rush to beat the tax increase, said salesman Mike Shruhan.

United Regional Chamber of Commerce President Jack Lank is also quoted in the full article in the Milford Daily News here

3 - While dodgeball is not the answer to better health, running might be.

Cohen's foundation has been battling the issue for five years, with an earlier series of eye-catching billboards and continued grants. In Franklin, the Hockomock Area YMCA is using foundation money to develop a response that involves the whole community, not just its schools.

Oddly, they don't discuss running as an option. I guess that is too much of a stretch. Better to get someone walking regularly first. Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.

Breaking the downward cycle

"In Franklin, you basically have a one-in-four chance of not making it through high school. That's a pretty scary statistic," said Light.

Read the remainder of this important point from FHS Principal Peter Light's presentation to the School Committee on Tuesday, July 21 in the Milford Daily News here

If you ever wondered why disciplinary action was taking school time away from the students who were in need of it, there is hope. Peter Light and the FHS faculty are looking closing at breaking the cycle where a student gets into trouble, is given detention, suspended, misses school, can't make up as they fall behind and eventually leaves school. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Now the cycle is about to get changed.

You can wait until several days after the School Committee meeting to read about what happened or subscribe to Franklin Matters and obtain the information as it is published during the meeting.

A subscription to Franklin Matters is free. There are no advertisements here.

This is a public service effort to share information about school and town issues to create informed voters. A voter that is well prepared with factual information will cast a better ballot when the time comes in Franklin.

Subscription buttons are located front and center on Franklin Matters. You can subscribe via email, RSS, or capture the podcast via iTunes.

Summer Art Institute

The Summer Art Institute conducted by Lifelong Learning held a brief open house to showcase the student works. Quite impressive!

The pictures do not do the works justice especially with the transition to the video format but hopefully this will provide some insight into the work produced this summer.




My thanks to all involved are listed in the credits of the movie.
If I missed some one, please let me know so I can make the appropriate correction.

Computer Recycling Event in Warwick, RI

If you have an old computer, monitor or keyboard that you'd like to recycle, you can drive down to Warwick, RI and watch the recyclers in action.

FreeGeekProvidence is holding this event at New England Institute of Technology today. The text of their email provides additional information:

Today we're having the Providence Bruins Mascot "Samboni" come in just for our recycling event, and HOT 106 will be giving away prizes and doing live cut in's all day. We'll have tee-shirts for sale and lots of recycling to do.

The Free for all Recycling Extravaganza is from 9-1 today at New England Tech. See www.freegeekpvd.org for more info.

That's 95 (either direction) to exit 13, the airport connector, to the end to Post Road. Take a Right on Post Road (or head South) and it's half mile on the right.

You can see on our News Room, we have lots of media coverage and that's not including the TV spots either.

So even if you only have an old keyboard, or a half ton-truck of computer waste, or you just want to meet all the geeks responsible for all the great things going on at Free Geek, join us at New England Tech.

NE Real Estate Journal features Franklin

As mentioned during the Town Council meeting of 7/15/09, the Planning and Community Development Dept worked to get a nice spread on Franklin in an issue of the New England Real Estate Journal. You can find the information about Franklin online at NEREJ or here in the PDF extract:

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Great work Brian, Beth and team!

Farmers Market - Noon to 6:00 PM

The Farmers Market will be open today from noon to 6:00 PM on the Town Common.

This is your weekly opportunity to help the local economy and to get quality food items.

"dropped in rank, from 22nd lowest, to 28th lowest"

In 2008, Franklin's rank jumped to seventh highest, with the average Franklin teacher's salary at $66,361, compared with the total average of $63,520.

The group generally agreed that Franklin teacher salaries only appeared to outpace those of their peers because the district has laid off or lost a great percentage of its younger, lower-paid teachers.

Read the full article on the work of the Financial Planning Committee in the Milford Daily News here

Trail meeting in Blackstone

Someday, wouldn't it be nice be able to bike from Franklin to Providence, or Worcester or to Western Mass without having to deal with the traffic on a road?

"It would be great if every community had a trails committee and would give it some support," said Lisa Mosczynski, president of the Metacomet Land Trust, a nonprofit conservation group dedicated to protecting open space and natural resources in south central Massachusetts.

The trust and the Grand Trunk Trail Blazers trail group are inviting the public to the gathering at Blackstone Public Library, at 86 Main St., at 7 p.m., to collaborate on establishing a non-motorized, 80-mile, east-to-west trail linking Franklin and Blackstone with the Pioneer Valley in western Massachusetts.

Help make this dream a reality!

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

Cafe Dolce's coffee source spotlighted

The idea behind stimulating one small business is that the company will then buy more things wholesale and help other companies and their employees, said Ted Welte, president and chief executive officer of the MetroWest Chamber of Commerce, based in Framingham.

“It’s all about the multiplier,’’ he said. “If people are spending money on a new roaster, say, that starts flowing through the economy of whoever produced that, and then more people can be serviced out of the coffee shop, and that means more money coming in.’’

The multiplier in this case is a federal stimulus loan recently provided to Red Barn Coffee Rosters of Upton. Red Barn is the coffee supplier for Cafe Dolce in Franklin.

I have tried several of the blends during my visits to Cafe Dolce and found them to be good and tasteful.

Have you visited Cafe Dolce recently? Try their Red Barn coffee and keep the multiplier effect going!

Read the full article from the Boston Globe West edition on the Red Barn stimulus loan here

Downtown Partnership and Chamber of Commerce on LinkedIn

I have mentioned previously that I have joined the Franklin Downtown Partnership and the United Regional Chamber of Commerce in an effort to expand my knowledge about businesses here in Franklin.

Both of these organizations have groups on LinkedIn.

You can request to join the Franklin Downtown Partnership on LinkedIn here

You can request to join the United Regional Chamber of Commerce on LinkedIn here

If the links don't work for you, you can

1. Sign in to LinkedIn with your account
2. Go to Groups
3. Search for each by name
4. Request to join the group

The group owner will approve your membership. You can adjust your group profile settings (how many emails, etc.) at any time after your membership is approved.

Once a member of a group, connecting directly to others within the group becomes easier.

My LinkedIn profile can be found here

School Committee Mtg 07/21/09

The collection of live reporting from the School Committee meeting held on July 21, 2009 are found here:

• Live reporting - closing items
• Live reporting - Superintendents report
• Live reporting - Action Items
• Live reporting - FHS facility review submitted
• Live reporting - FY 2010 update
• Live reporting - FHS update - part 5
• Live reporting - FHS update - Part 4
• Live reporting - FHS update - Part 3
• Live reporting - FHS update - part 2
• Live reporting - FHS update - part 1
• Live reporting - School Committee 7/21/09

Franklin School Position Reductions

The total number of position reductions for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 from the Franklin School Dept through layoffs is 12 per the School Committee meeting on July 21, 2009. The total position reductions since FY 2003 is now 139.



If teachers retired and weren't replaced, would that count as a lost position also?

Live reporting - closing items

Cafasso - can we have an update on enrollment in August?
Sabolinski - the principals will be back, we'll look to do that for the meeting the 11th.


School Committee entering in Executive Session not to return.

Live reporting - Superintendents report

Sabolinski - It has been rather busy since the students have left. It feels like school hasn't really ended. There will be a whole new face to Franklin High School when it opens this September.

The summer programs are running, enrollment is off the chart.

The FHS Experience starts on Monday. Enrollment last year was 25 students, thus far it is about 75.

Pay-to-ride our enrollments are down slightly. We sent letters out three weeks late due to the potential of fee increases. Applications are still being accepted.

Fees - athletic, activity and pay-to-ride have not increased this year.

Cafasso - What would happen to extracurricular activities was hard to determine?
Sabolinski - We will have some, there is no late bus. We can do an update later on the offerings. There may be changes in offerings, we will work to offer as much as the students are willing to get engaged in.

Live reporting - Action Items

4. Action Items
a. I recommend acceptance of a check for $102.88 from the Franklin Music Boosters for a nurse for a field trip for the Middle Schools. Motion to accept, approved 6-0
b. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1,000.00 from the Franklin Country Club for the FHS Hall of Fame Award Scholarship. Motion to accept, approved 6-0
c. I recommend acceptance of a flowering magnolia tree, valued at $300.00 raised from donations, planted in the bus loop at the Oak Street Elementary School. Motion to accept, approved 6-0
d. I recommend acceptance of a check for $3,000.00 from the Horace Mann PCC for In-House Enrichment at HMMS. Motion to accept, approved 6-0
e. I recommend acceptance of a check for $90.33 from the Remington PCC for a nurse for their 8th grade celebration. Motion to accept, approved 6-0
f. I recommend acceptance of a check for $2,800.00 from the Parmenter PCC for supplies. Motion to accept, approved 6-0

Live reporting - FHS facility review submitted

The Town submitted the documents today to the MSBA.

The next step is to get the feasibility study signed off on by the MSBA. Then hiring and obtaining the project manager. The MSBA will tell and determine what we can do each step along the way. It will likely be more different than previous building projects.

Cafasso - The project manager is important, he/she takes over the communications with the MSBA.

Live reporting - FY 2010 update

53 million was needed as level service, that number never changed.
The other number that never changed was the number we could expect from the Town Council. 50 million never changed.

Approx 3.5 million dollar gap. How we were bridging that gap? What savings or revenues were coming in were changing.

We couldn't predict how many were retiring, etc.

Sabolinski - some of the ways we bridged the gap also did not change. The teachers taking the wage freeze helped to save 23 positions. Some prepayment of special education tuitions ($200,000). Stabilization was cut significantly by the Governor, we got our final number last week ($219,000). Circuit breaker extraordinary relief.

We were able to bring 29 on July 2
We can bring back 21 more now but have not determined the final positions until we meet with the principals.

10 teaching positions, (5 PE/health and 5 librarians) are the total lost this year.
We did lose the one data analyst and the asst principal were lost as well.

Live reporting - FHS update - part 5

Communications

I have tried to be open about why decisions are made. I have an online newsletter that people can access regularly. You can find it -> http://franklinhighschool.wordpress.com/

One of the things I am experimenting with next year with Twitter.The messages can be received via cell phones (i.e text messages). We need to experiment before we try to go full bore.

Next year our avg class sizes will be 20-25 for the core academics. This is about as good as your going to see. We have also increased the instructional time for the core courses. The teachers should be able to go deeper into a topic, cover enrichment items, etc. In terms of supporting individual students, we will support them at a significantly higher level than we have done in the last several years.

We are going to look at how we do Panther Pride night. When you have a public school where 93% of the students take SAT's (here at FHS) and compare favorably to the areas privates schools, we need to advertise that better.

The 8th Grade Open House we revised this year and received positive feedback. We paid some of our teachers come in on a Saturday. The parents got a better sense of what Freshman year work would be like.

We will study the parent conference format. There are some positive elements to it but it is hard to have an honest conversation when you are in such a public forum. One of the things to cover is scheduling. A parent may not want to get up from a teacher, it affects the overall scheduling.

Those are some of the activities that we have planned for next year. Success at FHS is tied to how much income the parents have. The graduation rate of the lower income students is only 78% and that is shocking. We have to look at that and address it.

They did try some special tutoring programs with requested attendance. It was well recieved, some students thought it was the best thing that they have done for them.

The detention threat (2.5 hours) is an effect for some of the population but not for all. We are structuring an alternative, this tutoring program. There is a connection between discipline and academic performance. We need to give them more time in an academic environment to ensure that they don't fall behind and drop out.

Armenio - The parent conferences were a little like speed dating. If this is the first time yur finding out you have a problem, there is a communication problem. Maybe with Edline there will be a chance to get the information before hand.
Light - we were expecting teacher to do a lot. Teachers went from having 100-110 student to a 140-150 students and expecting the same level of information is a problem. What can we reasonably expect teachers to do? The teachers couldn't do the job in the time alloted. We need to rethink the process and provide the support.

Mullen - up until last year, I really didn't mind too much. They weren't a place to have a real conversation and you knew that. The freshman collaborative with the additional lines it was really long to get through.

Rohrbach - Not to sound like a broken record, it is amazing what you ahve accomplished in a short period of time. Do you have a sense of the freshman class?
Light - we don't have a real good number just yet. It is significant shift, possibly about 100 heading from the 8th grade to private schools. The enrollment in the other classes are steady. We should still gain overall about 60 students. We do survey those we find out are going to private school. We find that the number one concern is class size.

Rohrbach - what about helping the parents with the technology changes?
Light - we have used email primarily. The world has fundamentaly changed in terms of the speed of communication. We can fight it, or find ways to utilize technology to improve out ways.

Rohrbach - it should save on supplies
Light - moving to the digital format, we are saving big bucks avoiding printing.

Cafasso - to respond on the shed rate from 8th grade to Freshman year. The average the last several years was 8-10%. The number Peter is talking about is probably triple. Your changing that tonight and a lot of that is perception. People have been concerned about the school budget.

Light - there are some folks returning back from private school who had been there. It will be interesting to see what the numbers in and out balance out to when we do the numbers in August.

Roy - thank you for addressing the issues on a point by point basis. You are addressing the circumstances without drowning in sorrow. You have some losses yes, but there are improvements. You are so inspiring, I am going to have to ask you to come more frequently.

Live reporting - FHS update - Part 4

The Senior Class gift along with some money from the Athletic Dept is to bring some flat screens into the building to have a rolling show of the announcements for the day.

One request from the student always was to open the bathrooms during the day. We did try an experiment with some open, one monitored and one not monitored. The monitored one did get some graffiti, the other did not. We will continue to monitor this situation and try to use the passing time to allow for visits to the bathroom. Once in class, they should stay in class.

The lunch period lengthened. The passing time lengthened.

Mullen - Not a school culture question but I thought of it. Community Service is that still going to be part of the school?
Light - That is one answer I don't have fully yet as that is one of the staffing items that I have open and will be resolving soon. We do excel in this area with the number of hours of community service that our students perform.

Live reporting - FHS update - Part 3

Guidance and administration

All guidance will be located together and actually switched into the space where the administration offices were to be more of a focal point. A computer lab will be set up for students to come in and do research on colleges. Guidance should be all about college and career planning. It should be structured over the four years and not just in the last couple.

The Administrative structure is changing at FHS. One of our Asst Principals will have an academic focus; with MCAS and the department heads, and teachers in the evaluation process.

Asst Principals for Student Services, they will work with adjustment councilors to ensure that there is a learning process associated with the punitive process.

Live reporting - FHS update - part 2

Technology center

many folks are coming in to re-order the books in the library, keeping the Dewey Decimal numbering but with a new layout.

There are a total of eight learning pods coming into the Technology Center. It will be opened extended hours with ESPs on staggered hours. Trying to create an atmosphere where student should be able to come in anytime of the day and feel comfortable.

There will be a writing center with a certified writing teacher. They can work with the classroom teachers to work on specific projects.

200 laptops will be available for students to check out during the day. Students will be encouraged to bring in their own laptop or netbook into school to work on in the classroom or the Technology Center.

The school is fully wireless enabled now. For security reasons, a student can not print directly to the school systems. They can save a file up to their folder on the school system and print it from their.

Implementing Edline (?) a parent focused portal for viewing the student grades later. It will be opened up early to enable some of the forms that the parents are required to fill out. Hoping to open Edline around October 1 for student grades. There will be a professional day used for training the teachers before Edline gets opened to the parents.

Mullen - the writing teacher will not be handling a course load.
Light - correct

Sabolinski - the laptops were purchased from the Town capital budget and not from the school operating budget.

Roy - I am loving hearing about the writing center, the technology center, the use of these tools.

Light - one initiative I did not mention is Moodle. Any teacher that wants to do an online portion for one of their courses can use it. I think we have about 30 teachers involved with it now.

Sabolinski - The Moddle thing will roll out more in the later part of the year. Tim can only do so much with the technology initiatives underway.

Live reporting - FHS update - part 1

Peter Light, Principal

A couple of staffing issues are still outstanding so not all the info can be provided tonight.

Carnegie unit = measure of instruction time, works up to the credit hour

Moving to 6 credit course, an increase of 25 instructional hours per course

Three options for meeting physical education credits

1. in class at FHS
2. in an interscholastic sport for FHS
3. in a program of min 30 hours of dance, etc with an outside organization

Courses were re-entered into the system to provide new course numbers
Boston College provided advice that the scoring for GPA was disadvantageous for the FHS students, now moving to a 5 point scale that is more of a standard across the spectrum

Armenio - since January, I am amazed at the things that you have had to do. I understand the GPA for the first time now.

Light - It is the same process for calculating GPAs but now on a 5 point scale instead of the 17.5 point scale we did use.

Armenio - If I understand you, there are three ways to obtain credit for physical education.
Light - We are following almost exactly to the letter of the law the State guidelines.

Light - students determine the pathways that they would declare in the Fall (assigned to class, interscholastic sports, or outside). They select it early on and provide the certification at the end. If there are changes during, they are some restrictions but they would need to follow through.

Mullen - to clarify for the PE thing, it is 30 hours for the year, so they have to do only one season of a sport?
Light - yes, the interscholastic sports would put in far more than 30 hours as most would be doing a couple of hours a day. Only one sport season would be required.

Mullen - we've been talking about changes at the FHS for a long time. I don't think that when you made the first change, we all realized that the snowball effect was coming down the way it has.
Light - we have taken a huge hit with the PE changes, we'll see what that does with the MetroWest survey. We will be able to do so other things but it will be a change.

Trahan - You'll be telling the parents about the various options available to them
Light - I sent a draft to Maureen today a letter describing the changes. It is in the final stages of proofing. I have one or two staffing items to finalize so I am hoping to have it early next week.

Cafasso - Can you make sure we get copies of that?
Light - It was my intent. It is actualy addressed to the Franklin community not just the FHS parents.

Cafasso - Have you figured out all the re-jiggering with the schedule.
Light - I have a close version in the system running now. It was running as I left and it should be ready when I go in to school in the morning.

Cafasso - Are you going to take some time off?
Light - Yes, I am planning to. After this week and next, I plan on taking a couple fo weeks with the family.

Live reporting - School Committee 7/21/09

Attending: Armenio, Cafasso, Mullen, Roy, Rohrbach, Trahan
Missing: Kelly


1. Routine Business

Citizen’s Comments - none
Review of Agenda - none
Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the June 23, 2009 School Committee Meeting. Motion to approve - Passed 5-0, 1 Abstain (Mullen)
Payment of Bills - Mr. Kelly
Payroll - Ms. Armenio
FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence:
1. Letter from Mrs. Kristin Redpath.
2. Response from FSC to Mrs. Redpath

FM #43 - This week in Franklin, 7/19/09

This is #43 in the series of podcasts for Franklin Matters. Give me about ten minutes and I'll let you know what matters in Franklin, MA for the week ending July 19, 2009

Time: 8 minutes, 59 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes:

Music intro My intro FM #43

This internet radio show or podcast for Franklin Matters is number 43 in the series.

You give me about ten minutes and I'll let you know what matters in Franklin, MA for the w/e 7/19.

We'll start with what happened this past week

• Town Council meeting 7/15
• Ribbon cutting at Shades IN Place
• Third Thursday

Town Council approved a license transaction for a new operator for what had been recently Caso's bar & Grill.

Town Council had the most discussion on the vote to fund the renovations for the museum
The discussion centered around the use of the capital funds, they can't be used for operational purposes. Deb Bartlett's main objection was the amount at this time for the museum when there are other items on the capital wish list that are wanting. The vote was 7-1 Bartlett against, Doak was absent, all others voted for the museum.

Town Council also voted to take advantage of the local tax for hotel and meals, voting separately for each item by the same 7-1 vote. Vallee voted against both saying it was the wrong thing to do for the economy at this time, forgetting the more important item (in my opinion) that these are the first non-residential tax revenue sources to be allowed Franklin. Without them, the inevitable overrides in our future will be higher.

The DPW provided an update on the Water status.
The Planning and Community Development group provided an update on the economic development areas and priority development site progress made thus far.
Both presentation are posted and available on Franklin Matters

The Downtown Partnership had another good event on Third Thursday. I participated with other members of the United Regional Chamber of Commerce at the ribbon cutting for the new showroom for Shades IN Place. Pictures and other details from Thursday are found in the posting “From stained glass to blue grass”

What does this week hold for us? A couple of key meetings will occur.
School committee mtg 7/21
Financial Planning Committee 7/23


The School Committee meeting on Tuesday will explain how their budget got balanced. They had last met on June 23rd and were facing cuts of 40 plus teachers. Somehow the number got reduced.

“There will be no teachers laid off except four gym teachers, all the librarians, and a data analyst, Roy said. “

How the number was balanced was not successfully explained by the Milford Daily News article. I am looking for the meeting to provide the insights required to understand where the cuts did come from.

The Financial Planning Committee meets on Thursday this week. I will be unable to attend but I would be looking to find out when the final presentation is ready and when the update to the Town Council is going to be scheduled.

Given the TC will likely be handling the final FY 2010 budget adjustments in their first August meeting, I would guess that this might be a prime topic for the second August meeting.

We'll see how this plays out.

Please stay tuned in

---- ---- ----

This podcast has been a public service provided to my fellow citizens of Franklin, MA

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The musical intro and closing is from the Podsafe Music Network
Jon Schmidt - Powerful Exhilarating Piano Music

King St and I495 Construction

From the MassHighway website, this is the project description for the I495 and King St intersection construction work underway.

FRANKLIN- RECONSTRUCTION ON KING STREET AND I-495 RAMPS

This is a safety and traffic improvements project. It extends along King Street from Union Street to Upper Union Street and also includes Upper Union Street from King Street to Constitution Boulevard and all four I-495 ramps at King Street. It involves roadway improvements as well as intersection signalization improvements.

Project includes widening of King Street to provide two lanes in each direction with left and right turning lanes at appropriate locations; widening and realignment of Upper Union Street to make Constitution Boulevard the major traffic movement; upgrading the signals at the King and Upper Union Street intersection and providing two left turn lanes from King Street onto Upper Union Street.

New signals will be installed at the intersections of I-495 southbound and northbound ramps, and the signals at the King and Union Street intersection will be upgraded. The signals along King Street will be synchronized to provide better traffic flow along King Street.

Existing concrete pavement will be removed from all four I-495 ramps and ramps will be reconstructed with full depth asphalt pavement. In addition, project involves drainage improvements, curbing, new sidewalks, wheelchair ramps, pavement markings, signing, landscaping, a closed circuit television camera for traffic monitoring on I-495, and other incidental work. This project will require temporary and permanent easements for its implementation.

You can find this on the MassHighway web site here. Select Franklin to see the current project status. Project 602962. By the way, it also shows completed projects.

Note: Like most State websites, the performance is better with IE than Firefox.

Concerts on the Common - Christie Leigh

Christie Leigh will be appearing Wednesday, July 22 for Concerts on the Common 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM.

Mike Rutkowski will perform for the Children's Concert from 6:00 Pm to 6:30 PM.

One committee vacancy could be your opportunity

They say: "many hands make for light work."

There are a dozen open committee vacancies across the Town's organization.

For a complete listing, check out the Town website here. The Town web page includes a link to obtain the proper form to apply for the vacancy that you would be interested in.

Not sure if it would be good for you?
Contact one of the existing committee members to find out more information. The Town website has a listing of the Boards and Committees here.

Why not consider volunteering for one of the positions?
This could be just the opportunity you were looking for!

What kind of society would it be?

"An extraterrestrial being, newly arrived on Earth – scrutinizing what we mainly present to our children in TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, the comics and many books – might easily conclude that we are intent on teaching them murder, rape, cruelty, superstition and consumerism. We keep at it, and through constant repetition many of them finally get it. What kind of society would it be if, instead, we drummed into them science and a sense of hope?"

– Carl Sagan, Describing the World as It Is, Not as It Would Be, written for The Washington Post, January 9, 1994

This random quote came from the Wizard of Ads

School Committee - Agenda - 7/21/09

1. Routine Business

Citizen’s Comments
Review of Agenda
Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the June 23, 2009 School Committee Meeting.
Payment of Bills - Mr. Kelly
Payroll - Ms. Armenio
FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence:
1. Letter from Mrs. Kristin Redpath.
2. Response from FSC to Mrs. Redpath

2. Guests/Presentations

Teacher Retirements:
1. Sylvia Bacca - FHS 34
2. Joseph Lynch - FHS 22
3. Debra Murphy - FHS 29
4. Fran Bositis - HMMS 38
5. Rebecca Miller - Keller 13
6. Elizabeth Martucci - Oak St 36
7. Faith Wadleigh - Oak St 8
8. Theresa D’Amato - Parmenter 24
9. Walter Feldman – FHS 38

FHS Update – Peter Light

3. Discussion Only Items
a. Budget
b. FHS Facilities Project

4. Action Items
a. I recommend acceptance of a check for $102.88 from the Franklin Music Boosters for a nurse for a field trip for the Middle Schools.
b. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1,000.00 from the Franklin Country Club for the FHS Hall of Fame Award Scholarship.
c. I recommend acceptance of a flowering magnolia tree, valued at $300.00 raised from donations, planted in the bus loop at the Oak Street Elementary School.
d. I recommend acceptance of a check for $3,000.00 from the Horace Mann PCC for In-House Enrichment at HMMS.
e. I recommend acceptance of a check for $90.33 from the Remington PCC for a nurse for their 8th grade celebration.
f. I recommend acceptance of a check for $2,800.00 from the Parmenter PCC for supplies.

5. Information Matters

Superintendent’s Report
a. Facilities Update
b. Summer Program Update
c. Pay-to-Ride Update

School Committee Sub-Committee Reports

School Committee Liaison Reports

6. New Business
To discuss future business that may be brought before the School Committee.

7. Executive Session
Contractual Negotiations
Confidential Legal Update

8. Adjourn

Wachusett St - Under Construction

The DPW has published a listing of road projects underway on the Town website. It is not a complete listing as Wachusett St doesn't appear to be on it and there definitely is work being done.

From time to time, the work requires the road to be closed and there are detour routes posted on utility poles.

If you are driving in the area of the Parmenter School, be aware of the Wachusett St construction until further notice.

Planning and Community Development Presentation

This is the presentation document used by Director Brian Taberner and Beth Dalhstrom for the Town Council meeting on July 15th.

Department Of Planning & Community Development FY 2010

View more presentations from Steve Sherlock.

For additional notes on the Town Council meeting you can find them here

DPW Water Presentation

This is the presentation document used by DPW Director Robert (Brutus) Cantoreggi for the Town Council meeting on July 15th.

DPW Waterworks Presentation July2009

View more presentations from Steve Sherlock.

Additional notes from the Town Council meeting can be found here.

MBTA Alert - Franklin/Forge Park 7/18 - 7/19

Franklin/Forge Park Commuter Rail Alerts

Because of necessary track work on the Franklin Line, passengers will be bused from Forge Park-495 to Franklin and from Franklin to Forge Park-495 on Saturday July 18th and Sunday July 19,2009.

It is anticipated that delays of up to 20 minutes may result from this necessary work. We apologize for any inconvenience that may result.

Next steps in Education Reform

Governor Deval Patrick announced two new pieces of legislation to take the next steps in education reform. This video summarizes his announcement.

To learn more about the legislation, please view the fact sheet, the Readiness Schools legislation and the Charter School "Smart Cap" legislation.

To learn more about the Commonwealth Readiness project and watch the rollout and read their final report.

Visit the original information on the Governor's page here.

How do you go from stained glass to blue grass?

How DO you go from stained glass to bluegrass?

Well, if you happened to be in Franklin on Thursday July 16th, it was pretty easy to do.

The United Regional Chamber of Commerce helped Roger Magalhaes open his new showroom for Shades IN Place at 76 Grove St, Franklin at 11:00 AM.

Roger has operated his business from his home in Hopkinton for three years and found the opportunity to showcase the work that he can do for windows here in Franklin. He also collaborates with Carol Collord and Deby Carlson to provide complete window treatments with matching furniture coverings or accessories. Roger focuses on the hardgoods and performs the installation. Carol and Deby will provide the softgoods to complete the whole treatment.


A sample of a stained glass effect window at Shades IN Place. The effect is created with a layered plastic decal carefully covering the glass. Roger explained to me that to obtain the same effect from real stained glass would cost four times as much.

Additional photos of Roger's new showroom are available online at the Shades IN Place web site here



The contingent of United Regional Chamber of Commerce members gathered around Roger (in the center with the cap) to prepare for the official ribbon ceremony.






Franklin Planning Director, Brian Taberner talks with Roger proudly holding a couple of welcome plaques from Congressman Jim McGovern's office and from Senator Karen Spilka's office.





What is the crowd gathering for at Rick's? Could it be the free single scoop ice cream cone provided compliments of Middlesex Savings Bank? or could it be the bluegrass music?






It probably was a combination of the two as folks gathered around enjoying the ice cream on a summer evening listening to the bluegrass band; Obi's Boys, get into real foot tapping music in the parking lot at Rick's.





So mark your calendar for August 20th.

Look for the Third Thursday signs outside the participating businesses and enjoy the evening in downtown Franklin! Third Thursday is a collaborative effort of the local businesses coordinated by the Franklin Downtown Partnership.

Franklin Farmers Market Noon - 6:00 PM

The Farmers Market will be open today from noon to 6:00 PM on the Town Common.

This is your weekly opportunity to help the local economy and to get quality food items.

Site prep for Walgreens continues with Four Corners Bldg gone

Site prep for Walgreens continues with Four Corners Bldg gone, originally uploaded by shersteve.

If you have any photos of Four Corners as it was being taken down that you would like to share, please let me know.

If you have any interior photos of Four Corners as a school building that you would like to share, please let me know.

Today - Third Thursday

TODAY

On Thursday, July 16th, the Franklin Downtown Partnership presents its monthly Third Thursday event. Hosted in July by Rick’s Restaurant and Salon Sorella, and sponsored by Middlesex Savings Bank, the event will feature Obi’s Boys performing timeless and traditional bluegrass favorites, along with ice cream, giveaways, and open houses by Franklin Downtown members.

Salon Sorella will give away free beach balls and sun awareness sample packs, and will hold a free drawing for sun-safe airbrush tanning. Artbeat, the Creativity Store, will offer free face painting and balloons from 4:30 to 6 pm, along with lemonade and cookies. Sarapaan is holding an open house at their new location next to Café Dolce, and Emma’s Quilt Cupboard & Sewing Machines will preview their broad selection of Christmas fabric, samples, and decorations.

In addition, Pretty is Pink will offer 20% off all Vera Bradley purchases along with bubbly and treats, and Jane’s Frames will host an artists’ reception featuring local artists James McCue and Robert Collins. Bob Collins will discuss the compositional elements of landscape, as well as how and why artists design landscapes while he works with acrylics on canvas. Refreshments will be served.

Franklin Downtown Partnership, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering greater vitality in the downtown commercial district and to serve as a vehicle for public policy discourse. The Partnership sees Franklin’s downtown as the heart of the community. The Partnership’s mission is to lessen the burden of local government through public improvement activities, which combat community deterioration, preserve the historic downtown character and educate the public about the architecture and history of the area. The Partnership office is located at 9 east Central Street. For more information you can contact Executive Director, Lisa Piana at (774)571-3109 or at downtown.franklin@yahoo.com

Middlesex Savings Bank, a $4.0 billion financial institution, is one of the largest independent community banks in Massachusetts. Headquartered in Natick, the bank has over 600 employees in 25 towns and offers a full range of personal and business financial services.

Town Council Mtg Smry 07/15/09

The collection of live reporting from the Town Council meeting of 7/15/09 can be found here

• Planning and Community Development Presentation
• DPW Water Presentation

• Live reporting - meeting wrap-up

• Live reporting - action items (continued)
• Live reporting - Action items
• Live reporting - Planning & Community Development
• Live reporting - Water Q&A
• Live reporting - License hearings
• Live reporting - Water update
• Live reporting - Town Council 7/15/09

• Town Council - Agenda - 7/15/09

Live reporting - meeting wrap-up

Zollo - can you explain what the contruction at Exit 16/King St is doing?
Nutting - this will be a $3.5 million project to widen the entrance to the industrial park, add lights to both exits, have double lanes under the bridges. You might want to take Exit 17 for some time.

Feely - provides a brief update on the school building committee in response to a request from Zollo. Bottom line, the Town could go for a debt exclusion as early as Dec 2010.

There is an agreement in principle on what the renovations would be, initial plans could be submitted in Aug 2009. Assuming these plans are accepted, then the plans would be worked to a finer detail with a project manager, etc. and re-submitted. Assuming this set of plans are accepted by the State then the Town would have 120 days to approve a debt exclusion.

My note - the operative word would be "renovations". There was no mention of a new building only renovations.

Live reporting - action items (continued)

1. Resolution 09-50: Increase of Local Excise Tax on Hotels and Other Public Lodgings Motion to approve : 7-1 (1 no from Vallee)
   
2. Resolution 09-51: Acceptance of G.L. Chapter 64L, Section 2 Authorizing Local Option Meals Excise Motion to approve : 7-1 (1 no from Vallee)
3. Resolution 09-52: Authorization for Intermunicipal Agreement for Library Services with Town of Medway Motion to approve : 8-0
   
4. Resolution 09-53 : Transfer funds for Worker Compensation Motion to approve : 8-0

Notes for #1
Vallee - this is doing the wrong thing.

Whalen - what is this money used for?
Nutting - It can be used for anything by the Town Council, it has by precedent been used for open space and capital requirements

Mason - I'd have to disagree with Vallee, we have been looking at additional revenue for a long time, the time is now.
Nutting - Cities will move quicker on this due to the town meeting process, I expect this will sweep the state.

Bartlett - have any of the hotels or restaurants complained about this?
Nutting - no

Notes for #2
Vallee - I again will speak against this, we are doing the worng thing at this time for the economy

Notes for #4
The amount of money required is correct, this is just adjusting the accounts to allow for the processing.

Live reporting - Action items

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION

1. Resolution 09-48: Authorization to Hold Bonfire Motion to Approve 8-0
   
2. Resolution 09-49: Appropriation: Renovation of Horace Mann Museum Motion to Approve 7-1

Notes -
Item #2
Vallee - this was approved by the Council in 2001 as part of the 20/20 plan?
Nutting - yes, that is corrected

Alan Earls, Del Arnold representing the Historical Commission. The full membership of the Historical Commission are in attendance tonight.

It is time to consider a new role for the museum. Permanent displays, rotating displays, providing a fresh experience throughout the year, no-longer a case of "been there done that".

The opportunities are almost unlimited. Partner with local groups to displays, small concerts, etc.

Centrally located, now can be a good fit with the local business community. This will require additional volunteers and training but is can and should be done.

The renovations themselves are important to the artifacts. Working with the architect worked to obtain what we need not what we would like to have to minimize costs. Improve the lighting for the displays. Additional power outlets being added to provide flexibility on the main floor.

Storage on the lower floor will remain there. Items already moved from the Washington St location. Work is underway to complete the catalog effort.

Working with Downtown Partnership to be included in the Third Thursday events currently underway.

Mason - multiple questions to clarify the condition of the artifacts
Arnold - yes, we have lost items of clothing over a hundred years old that were not properly protected, some photos have deteriorated, we would like to get into the new space to be able to provide better protection as well as get into a process of making copies and displaying the copies keeping the originals in a protected space.

Zollo - Where are we compared to other localities?
Arnold - We have a pretty good collection, maybe not the top but amongst the top.

Total project cost $710,000 including all contingencies
Bartlett - to do this completely, this is a fair request with minimal costing
It would be better to set aside the Four Corners money for the High School
I could support the $210,000 already provided

McGann - What is the cost components from the contracts?
Nutting - biggest cost is the HVAC, electrical (about $300,000) and replacing the windows

Zollo - this is small compared to the High School project, this has a learning component, not materially large enough to compare to the High School

Pfeffer - We are the home to the first public library, we are the birthplace of Horace Mann the father of education, we have said we were going to do this, not doing it to pass an override next year is not good thinking

Mason - I am in support of this project

Whalen - they are talking about apples and oranges, the scale is vastly different in dollars, the opportunity cost is vast

Feely - none of this money can be used

Bartlett - no, all others yes; motion approved 7-1

Live reporting - Planning & Community Development

Brian Taberner and Beth Dahlstrom

The presentation that was used for this portion of the meeting can be found here

Preliminary work for an update to the Master Plan

• will put a committee together to help implement with public imput

Zoning Bylaws

• Uses accessory to dwellings (Home occupation)
• Signs
• Commercial 1 Zoning District

Later in FY 2010

• minor changes to Subdivision regulations
• minor changes to Plan Review Bylaw
• Exploring need for Wind Turbine and Mural bylaws

Operational guidelines
Create a community where entrepreneurs will want to settle and raise their families

Town Owned Properties

Nu-Style property
what to do next needs to be determined

Four Corners (no longer Town owned)
building demolished and construction underway for Walgreens

Pond St Property
consultant working on studies, designated as Priority Development Site (PDS) and Economic Opportunity Area (EOA)

Business attraction and retainage
highlight Franklin's community assets

Working with Downtown Partnership on the downtown plan
Bartlett - Where are we with the downtown, this has been in planning for years?
Nutting - we are waiting upon the state approval for the contract, we are hopeful that this fall the design and public process would begin

4 interns have provided over 60 hours of good work for us for free since the beginning of the year

Zollo - best case when would the downtown project be completed?
Nutting - 3 years
Taberner - 3 years is very realistic at this point, we have been doing as much as we can

Live reporting - Water Q&A

Vallee - why do you use chlorine?
Brutus - good long explanation, use to avoid potential 2 point per million, smallest amount to use, so it is constantly being run

Vallee - would you be better off replacing the asbestos pipes?
Brutus - the pipes are actually lined with asbestos, we have done that where we can.

Vallee - can you put in sidewalk when you do the road
Brutus - we don't have the funds for that, the driveway aprons kill us because of the hand work involved.

Bartlett - help me understand how this town or any town come to a reservoir or a tank?
Brutus - You need a place for a reservoir, we have a great water aquifer to pump from so the tanks make the most sense.

Bartlett - we have had some much rain this year, it is hard to explain why we still have a water restriction
Nutting - every year in perpetuity, we will have a restriction due to our permit not due to the water coming down as rain

Vallee - does the State limit us to how much we can pump?
Brutus - Yes, we are permitted to draw water, our water bans are later than most others.

Live reporting - License hearings

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS:

New License – The Alumni Club : motion to accept, approved 7-0, 1 absent, 1 recused (Feely)

Pledge of License - Three : motion to accept, approved 8-0

Live reporting - Water update

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS
Water & Sewer Update – Brutus Cantoreggi

Water funds generated are used only for water expenses not for other operational departments in the Town. $4.9 million enterprise budget for FY 2010

Almost 1 billion gallons of water pumped last year, the year before was actually over 1 billion.

Fluoride added and a small amount of chlorine added to improve the quality of water.

In 2002 there were 126 tests were conducted. In 2008, there were 626 tests conducted, and testing expense increased from $10,000 (2002) to $55,000 in 2008.

The old permit was for 4.1 MGD, the new permit is for 3.64 MGD. (MGD = million gallons per day)

Reduced consumption (about 400,000 MGD) equates to reduced water revenue.

In the 20/20 capital plan for the water improvements there were

• new water treatment plant
• replaced over 15 miles of water main
• 90% replacement of residential water meters, 100% replacement of commercial
• renovation of existing wells
  

Goals/Plans for future

Continue water main replacement

• Emmons and Main Sts (next year)
• Sahlin Circle (next year)
• Lincoln St (multiple phases)

Life-cycle repair and renovations for Wells 3, 7, 8
Permitting approval for Pump #12
Replacement of FIP Water Tank

Live reporting - Town Council 7/15/09

Attending: Whalen, Mason, Vallee, Bartlett, Feely, Pfeffer, McGann, Zollo
Missing: Doak

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - none

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS - none

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS - none

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS - none

E. APPOINTMENTS - none

"biotechnology companies in general tend to offer well-paying jobs"

"It means we accept biotechnology in the community. We're trying to attract biotech in the community, because any such company will increase the assessed value of property, which means more tax revenue and jobs for the town," said Taberner.

Read the full article about Franklin's economic development efforts to attract business in the Milford Daily News here

Harvest Festival - Sunday, Sept. 20

"This is much, much bigger than the Strawberry Festival - double the size, at least." said Lisa Piana, partnership executive director. "It's an event that people now put on their calendar, and vendors start calling in March and April," to reserve booths, as the partnership tries to avoid having competing vendors, said Piana.

Read the full article about the preparations for the Harvest Festival in the Milford Daily News here

Franklin Road Projects

Be sure to check out the notice from the DPW about road work being done around town this summer. You can check the street listing here

BUSINESS AFTER HOURS AT GOLDMARK FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

BUSINESS AFTER HOURS AT GOLDMARK FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

The United Regional Chamber of Commerce has organized a Business After Hours on Tues., Aug. 11 at Goldmark Federal Credit Union, 155 Pleasant St. in Attleboro. The business networking event will run from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The cost is $5 for members and $10 for non-members. Register by calling 508-222-0801.

The United Regional Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit, business support organization serving the communities of Attleboro, Bellingham, Blackstone, Foxborough, Franklin, Mansfield, Medfield, Medway, Millis, Norfolk, North Attleborough, Norton, Plainville, Rehoboth, Seekonk, and Wrentham.

teacher layoff number resolved

There will be no teachers laid off except four gym teachers, all the librarians, and a data analyst, Roy said.

Read the full article about the school budget in the Milford Daily News here.

"first step in regionalizing"

Deciding which capital projects should get funded every year is "a difficult balancing act," but the museum renovation is a priority, said Councilor Stephen Whalen.

Read the full article about the agenda for the Town Council meeting in the Milford Daily News

Town Council - Agenda - 7/15/09

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS

E. APPOINTMENTS

F, HEARINGS

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS:

New License – The Alumni Club
Pledge of License - Three

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS

Water & Sewer Update – Brutus Cantoreggi
Planning – Bryan Taberner

I. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION

1. Resolution 09-48: Authorization to Hold Bonfire
2. Resolution 09-49: Appropriation: Renovation of Horace Mann Museum
3. Resolution 09-50: Increase of Local Excise Tax on Hotels and Other Public Lodgings
4. Resolution 09-51: Acceptance of G.L. Chapter 64L, Section 2 Authorizing Local Option Meals Excise
5. Resolution 09-52: Authorization for Intermunicipal Agreement for Library Services with
6. Resolution 09-53 : Transfer funds for Worker CompensationTown of Medway

K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

L. OLD BUSINESS

M. NEW BUSINESS

N. COUNCIL COMMENTS

O. EXECUTIVE SESSION – Negotiations, Litigation, Real Property, as May Be Required

P. ADJOURN

"people shouldn't be critical of spending capital funds on the building"

If approved by Town Council, most of the funding - $400,000 - would come from the sale of the former Four Corners School, another $50,000 would come from the Senior Center building account, and the remainder from new hotel tax revenue.

By law, all funds received by a town from the sale of capital assets, such as Four Corners, can only be used for other capital expenses, not operating expenses, officials said.

Read the full article about Franklin's efforts to renovate the museum in the Milford Daily News here

"Forge Park as a priority development site"

"The stronger the message we send out to the business community that you can get both streamlined permitting and possibly tax incremental financing (a prerequisite for larger tax breaks from the state), the better for attracting folks," Nutting said.

Read the full article about the priority development effort in the Milford Daily News here.

3rd Thursday - July 16th

On Thursday, July 16th, the Franklin Downtown Partnership presents its monthly Third Thursday event. Hosted in July by Rick’s Restaurant and Salon Sorella, and sponsored by Middlesex Savings Bank, the event will feature Obi’s Boys performing timeless and traditional bluegrass favorites, along with ice cream, giveaways, and open houses by Franklin Downtown members.

Salon Sorella will give away free beach balls and sun awareness sample packs, and will hold a free drawing for sun-safe airbrush tanning. Artbeat, the Creativity Store, will offer free face painting and balloons from 4:30 to 6 pm, along with lemonade and cookies. Sarapaan is holding an open house at their new location next to Café Dolce, and Emma’s Quilt Cupboard & Sewing Machines will preview their broad selection of Christmas fabric, samples, and decorations.

In addition, Pretty is Pink will offer 20% off all Vera Bradley purchases along with bubbly and treats, and Jane’s Frames will host an artists’ reception featuring local artists James McCue and Robert Collins. Bob Collins will discuss the compositional elements of landscape, as well as how and why artists design landscapes while he works with acrylics on canvas. Refreshments will be served.

Franklin Downtown Partnership, Inc. is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering greater vitality in the downtown commercial district and to serve as a vehicle for public policy discourse. The Partnership sees Franklin’s downtown as the heart of the community. The Partnership’s mission is to lessen the burden of local government through public improvement activities, which combat community deterioration, preserve the historic downtown character and educate the public about the architecture and history of the area. The Partnership office is located at 9 east Central Street. For more information you can contact Executive Director, Lisa Piana at (774)571-3109 or at downtown.franklin@yahoo.com

Middlesex Savings Bank, a $4.0 billion financial institution, is one of the largest independent community banks in Massachusetts. Headquartered in Natick, the bank has over 600 employees in 25 towns and offers a full range of personal and business financial services.

Live music at Cafe Dolce

From BJ, Dave, and Lisa at Cafe Dolce comes the following info:

Join us this Friday, July 10th from 6pm-9pm as Cafe Dolce once again proudly presents Patrick "the Piano Man" Durkin (http://www.patrickdurkin.com) playing live music in our Cafe! All who were in attendance at last week's performance seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed this lively evening of music and dance, and we hope you will stop by tomorrow night!

In addition, this Saturday, July 11th fom 6:30pm-8:30pm, Cafe Dolce presents The Underground Cats (www.theundergroundcats.com), a high energy and very unique Rock n' Roll Band!

Long term planning report

Did you ever review the Financial Planning Committee's report?

Did you miss the Information Forum held on April 27, 2009 in the Mercer Auditorium at Horace Mann?

There is no time like the present then to catch up to this important report. You can find the report in the details of my live reporting from the presentation and discussion on April 27th.

You can also view the 2 hour and 12 minute session on the Town website.

This topic is important to understand. The financial issues that Franklin faces will not go away anytime soon. The Town Council will finalize the FY 2010 budget either on July 15th or an August meeting. The Finance Committee has already approved the hotel and meals tax which will help Franklin obtain a new source of revenue. The revenue gained will not solve our problems. The revenue is estimated to be less than $500,000 per year but every bit helps.

The School Committee meeting on July 21st will finalize their budget for this year. What will be the final number of teachers cut this year?

"We have a great revenue opportunity"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News

Posted Jul 08, 2009 @ 12:38 AM

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FRANKLIN —

At Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting's urging, the Finance Committee last night unanimously voted to recommend Town Council spend $500,000 to renovate the new historic museum.

Nutting suggested the council transfer $50,000 from the Senior Center Building account, use $50,000 from hotel tax revenue, and $400,000 from the sale of the former Four Corners School.

Read the full article about Tuesday's Finance Committee meeting in the Milford Daily News here