Walking late Friday, Dolores and I noticed that the house at 188 King St which I have posted progress shots on during its construction is actually under agreement.
This is a good sign!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Franklin: 188 King Under Agreement
"Local renewable energy businesses are optimistic"
"Depending on who you talk to, there's something like 19 provisions in total that could benefit solar energy," Chleboski said.
One provision would lift a cap on federal tax credits for solar-powered hot water heaters, Artner said. Heat-Flo of Hopedale manufactures these devices, and Jay Santello, a Franklin contractor who installs solar equipment, said he uses a sun-powered hot water heater at his own home year-round.
"My hot water is fantastic and my gas bills have gone down substantially," Santello said.
The stimulus plan also would make it possible to convert certain commercial tax credits for solar grants. These credits might have been attractive to companies in the past, but they became less so as companies saw tax bills drop anyway because of diminishing profits, Chleboski said.
Read the full article on renewable energy in the Milford Daily News here
"We are gearing our classes toward the bad economy"
Joan Borgatti, director of adult education in Franklin, said the town has started to gear its classes toward people interested in making some extra cash.
This semester, the center is offering a course on how to start a dog-walking or pet-sitting business, she said.
"Classes about interviewing well and networking did not do well," Borgatti said. "We really thought they would."
Read the full article on Adult Education in the Milford Daily News here
STATE EDUCATION MANDATES - Part 1
From time to time, particular around the budget period, reference is generally made to Franklin Public Schools having to support "unfunded mandates." I managed to find a listing of such compiled by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. Over a series of postings, I'll share that listing here.
STATE EDUCATION MANDATES – Partially or Unfunded Requirements
Many laws, initiatives and requirements that may have been well intended, from a multitude of governmental agencies create “un-funded mandates” at the local level. These mandates must be coupled with adequate and sustainable funding sources. Often local mandates required by the state are attributed to federal requirements. The cause and effect of these growing local burdens and links to their funding support are a frustrating source of conflict to state / local harmony and cooperative efforts.
Several years ago the Massachusetts Association of School Business Officers (MASBO) reported on this issue and the points made are incorporated in this document. The MA Association of School Superintendents and MASC have also included items listed below.
General Overview of the General Regulatory Requirements with Cost Implications
The largest legislated program to fund public education, known commonly as the Chapter 70 funding system, does not cover in full the cost of mandates inherent in the law and regulations. The system remains essentially as it was at the start of the Education Reform program in 1993. The reimbursement formula has been modified somewhat and annual funding has increased significantly, but school districts have for many years had to budget for expenses that outstrip both the rate of inflation and the state’s ability to grow state aid to education faster than the cost-of-living for schools.
In addition to funding shortages, some of the mandates that districts must address are:
· Time and Learning standards that required some districts to expand time spent on classroom instruction.
· Curriculum frameworks that have been established in seven areas, requiring new and expanded areas of educational activity.
· Implementing, adhering to, or complying with any one of the 15 assessment, accountability and accreditation systems that were created by Education Reform or imposed by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education or the US Department of Education, including No Child Left Behind[1]. Superintendents have estimated that the growth of compliance mandates has expanded ten-fold and one estimate is that every educator in a public school spends as much as 160 hours per year on pure compliance requirements that are not classroom instruction or preparation for teaching.
· The Department of Education has produced a list of 106 reporting requirements (the “checklist”) that are required of superintendents each year.
· Federal regulatory compliance is an added burden as districts fulfill obligations to No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
The full listing is available here (DOC)
Saturday, March 21, 2009
"The state needs another 30 to 45 days"
GHS
FRANKLIN —
U.S. Rep. James McGovern assured a room of about 100 local officials that the state's anticipated $8.7 billion in stimulus funds will be fairly distributed, not sent to Boston.
"There are days when I think my job is tough, and then I think of you - you have it tougher, you're on the ground, you're on the front lines," McGovern told town, school and state officials at yesterday's special briefing on the federal stimulus package at Franklin's Municipal Building.
"There is $8.7 billion coming to Massachusetts, and the whole point is to have it work. My hope is, there's something for everyone, but it's the state's discretion," said McGovern, D-3rd.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.
View the video recording of the presentation at the Franklin web site here
extra Special Ed funding announced
MetroWest Daily News
Massachusetts school districts will receive $280 million from the federal stimulus package during the next two years to help them pay the cost of special education, with figures in the region as high as $636,500 for Marlborough and $1.1 million for Framingham.
Gov. Deval Patrick announced yesterday at Brockton High School that half of the money will be distributed by the end of the month and the rest of it will be allocated this fall.
Education Commissioner Mitchell Chester said the funding will allow districts to provide necessary special education services without cutting into the regular education budget.
,,,,
Franklin: $729,767
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
Friday, March 20, 2009
School Activities - Friday Night
Driving around I see notices for the following:
Parmenter School - Auction Friday night 3/20/09 at 7:00 PM
Davis Thayer - Talent Show at Horace Mann Auditorium, 3/20/09 at 7:00 PM
Are there other school activities I may have missed?
Add a comment or send me an email and I can update this listing!
Parmenter School - Auction Friday night 3/20/09 at 7:00 PM
Davis Thayer - Talent Show at Horace Mann Auditorium, 3/20/09 at 7:00 PM
Are there other school activities I may have missed?
Add a comment or send me an email and I can update this listing!
Franklin: FHS Bottle & Can Drive 3/21/09
According to this sandwich board sign on the corner of King and Forest Streets, there will be a bottle and can drive at Franklin High School this Saturday the 21st.
Worthy of note, signs like these are not permitted currently nor would they be under the revisions of the sign bylaw underway. There was a presentation at the Downtown Partnership meeting on 3/19/09. There will be additional publi hearings as the revision comes before the Town Council and the Planning Board.
If you are interested in using signs like this or any other signs to help advertise a special event, I recommend you watch carefully to find out when the public hearings will be held. I will post the information to Franklin Matters as I find out.
“Second graders only get one chance at second grade"
As part of his Massachusetts Recovery Plan to secure the state’s economic future, Governor Deval Patrick today announced he will commit $168 million in federal education recovery funds to ensure every district in the Commonwealth reaches so-called foundation spending levels next school year. For Franklin, that means that an additional $448,381 in the school budget. This will reduce our anticipated deficit for FY10 to approximately $2.5 million.Read the full article on the Franklin School Committee blog here
"We were a total team effort"
GHS
FRANKLIN —
Read the full article about the Trivia Bee in the Milford Daily News herePlacing Martha Stewart's quote, "It's a good thing," was easy enough for Town Treasurer/Collector James Dacey in last night's annual Trivia Bee.
But Dacey's team, the "Franklin Munibees," comprised of Dacey, Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting and Fire Chief Gary McCarraher, were lost when it came to identifying the HBO series, "Big Love."
Thus, they could not hold onto their "world championship title," as Nutting called it, from last year's Bee, which is put together by the Franklin Education Foundation to fund classroom grants.
Everyone knew the television character who once said, "We lost a daughter, Edith, but we gained a meathead," Archie Bunker and the puppeteer who told TV Guide she loved to shock waiters by ordering lamb Shari Lewis. (She rode to fame on a puppet named Lamb Chop.)
Letter to the Editor
The following was submitted as a Letter to the Editor for the Wicked Local/Franklin Gazette. For the loyal readers here, you will get this preview assuming it does get printed some day.
------------
You look at yourself in the mirror and say “I need a haircut”. Or your wife/significant other drops a similar hint. So you make a mental note to stop by the barber shop or call for an appointment.
The designated day arrives, you get your hair cut and have a wide ranging conversation with the barber or stylist. While you are sitting there, he or she is clipping and or cutting away, and you solve half the world's problems
Amongst the topics is usually sometime spent discussing the economy and how dismal prospects seem to be at the moment. So and so was let go from Fidelity. So and so was let go from another place. If you listen to the headlines, the economy is in the tank for sure. No one seems to be doing good. Even the banks and automotive companies getting bailouts are coming back for more.
So you change the topic to something brighter. You talk about your days in school, long ago now. How the teachers were good, or tough, or easy. How so and so messed with the chalkboard and got in trouble for it. What is he doing these days? Oh, he is teaching English the next town over. Wow, that is good.
Even if the conversation switched to whatever sport was in season and how the local team was doing, the fact of the matter is the conversation could not have happened without education.
Yes, let's list out how education touched each aspect of this simple event; getting your hair cut.
The barber or hairstylist received their training at an accredited institution
The teachers at that institution were similarly trained at an accredited institution
The licensing board personnel were hired because they had a minimum of a high school education, more likely the requirement was a college degree.
The salesperson who stops by the barbershop or beauty salon to sell the shampoo, gel, and other items necessary to operate likely required training from the company on their products
The conversation itself could take place because both of you were able to speak. You listened, understood what the other was saying and continued that train of thought, or changed it along the way.
I think you get the point.
Everyone around the activity of getting your hair cut or styled was touched by education. The more successful their educational background, it is likely that the more successful they would be in operating the business. Yes, reading, writing and arithmetic are required outside of school.
You can also consider what would happen if educational priorities were changed. If students were not challenged by their teachers, would they be successful barbers and stylists? Would they gain their certification or license to operate in the State? Would the State have sufficient qualified personnel to manage the licensing and auditing process? Would the hair product companies have new products being developed by researchers to meet the needs of the market place? Would they have capable sales personnel?
Would you get a good hair cut or hair style?
Considering the impact of education on such a simple transaction, shouldn't it be a priority to provide the best education possible for our children?
Steve Sherlock
Franklin
------------
You look at yourself in the mirror and say “I need a haircut”. Or your wife/significant other drops a similar hint. So you make a mental note to stop by the barber shop or call for an appointment.
The designated day arrives, you get your hair cut and have a wide ranging conversation with the barber or stylist. While you are sitting there, he or she is clipping and or cutting away, and you solve half the world's problems
Amongst the topics is usually sometime spent discussing the economy and how dismal prospects seem to be at the moment. So and so was let go from Fidelity. So and so was let go from another place. If you listen to the headlines, the economy is in the tank for sure. No one seems to be doing good. Even the banks and automotive companies getting bailouts are coming back for more.
So you change the topic to something brighter. You talk about your days in school, long ago now. How the teachers were good, or tough, or easy. How so and so messed with the chalkboard and got in trouble for it. What is he doing these days? Oh, he is teaching English the next town over. Wow, that is good.
Even if the conversation switched to whatever sport was in season and how the local team was doing, the fact of the matter is the conversation could not have happened without education.
Yes, let's list out how education touched each aspect of this simple event; getting your hair cut.
The barber or hairstylist received their training at an accredited institution
The teachers at that institution were similarly trained at an accredited institution
The licensing board personnel were hired because they had a minimum of a high school education, more likely the requirement was a college degree.
The salesperson who stops by the barbershop or beauty salon to sell the shampoo, gel, and other items necessary to operate likely required training from the company on their products
The conversation itself could take place because both of you were able to speak. You listened, understood what the other was saying and continued that train of thought, or changed it along the way.
I think you get the point.
Everyone around the activity of getting your hair cut or styled was touched by education. The more successful their educational background, it is likely that the more successful they would be in operating the business. Yes, reading, writing and arithmetic are required outside of school.
You can also consider what would happen if educational priorities were changed. If students were not challenged by their teachers, would they be successful barbers and stylists? Would they gain their certification or license to operate in the State? Would the State have sufficient qualified personnel to manage the licensing and auditing process? Would the hair product companies have new products being developed by researchers to meet the needs of the market place? Would they have capable sales personnel?
Would you get a good hair cut or hair style?
Considering the impact of education on such a simple transaction, shouldn't it be a priority to provide the best education possible for our children?
Steve Sherlock
Franklin
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Slide show: Bandstand in the rain
With the discussion around repairing the "bandstand" (what it should be called) or "gazebo" (what it has commonly been referred to), I stopped on a gray Monday (March 9th) to take some pictures.
It was typical New England mixed precipitation day, a mix of snow and rain, which worked nicely to highlight the problems with the roof being shorter than the base. In the slide show here, you'll see that the rain drops from the edge of the roof form good sized puddles around the inside of the railings.
The railings along one side are badly peeled. Sections of the interior roof are rotten and need replacement. Sections of the exterior tile are broken and missing.
Fortunately, the Town Council approved the capital expense of about $50,000 which would cover the lowest of multiple bids for the repair work. The initial estimate of $100,000 was likely a good guess. We are fortunate that the actual bids came in significantly less. The high bid was around $88,000 and the low bid at $48,000.
The bandstand is a center piece of the town and should be fixed.
Note that this repair will use capital dollars which can not be used for operational expenses, i.e. supplies or personnel salaries. I know there is still a great deal of misunderstanding about the difference between capital dollars and operational dollars. I will be working on a slide show to try and explain the difference. If you have some suggestions, please let me know. Usually for a problem of this type, putting more heads to it will bring better results.
It was typical New England mixed precipitation day, a mix of snow and rain, which worked nicely to highlight the problems with the roof being shorter than the base. In the slide show here, you'll see that the rain drops from the edge of the roof form good sized puddles around the inside of the railings.
The railings along one side are badly peeled. Sections of the interior roof are rotten and need replacement. Sections of the exterior tile are broken and missing.
Fortunately, the Town Council approved the capital expense of about $50,000 which would cover the lowest of multiple bids for the repair work. The initial estimate of $100,000 was likely a good guess. We are fortunate that the actual bids came in significantly less. The high bid was around $88,000 and the low bid at $48,000.
The bandstand is a center piece of the town and should be fixed.
Note that this repair will use capital dollars which can not be used for operational expenses, i.e. supplies or personnel salaries. I know there is still a great deal of misunderstanding about the difference between capital dollars and operational dollars. I will be working on a slide show to try and explain the difference. If you have some suggestions, please let me know. Usually for a problem of this type, putting more heads to it will bring better results.
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