Franklin Matters

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

live reporting - action items

4. Action Items

I recommend acceptance of a check for $3,000.00 from the Jefferson PCC for field trips for the Jefferson 1st grade to Southwick and the 5th grade to Freedom Trail. approved 6-0
I recommend approval of the FHS Art Department’s request for a field trip to NY Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 16, 2009 as detailed. approved 6-0
I recommend appointment of Sally Winslow to the position of Assistant Superintendent of Student Services effective July 1, 2009. approved 6-0
I recommend approval of the FHS’s request for a recurring field trip for 20 students to the University of New Hampshire on March 14, 2009 for their annual Jazz Festival on March 14, 2009 as detailed. approved 6-0
I recommend acceptance of a check for $501.02 from the FHS Class of 1942 for a scholarship for the FHS Class of 2009. approved 6-0
I recommend approval of the FHS recurring field trip to Providence Place Mall for Remington Middle School students as detailed. tabled to be brought back next meeting with clarifications

Live reporting - Discussion only items

3. Discussion Only Items

FY 2010 Budget Matters

Ogden - Maureen and I are making the rounds
$200,000 increased circuit breaker
$125,000 central office, administration wage freeze
We are still waiting to receive Federal Stimulus money, possible to get just over a $1 M
Not sure how we can use it yet, the Federal level has not determined the usage yet

Meal tax, etc still being worked in Boston, those could add $1 M to the overall Franklin budget of which some of that would come to the Schools

Budget hearing schedule tentative dependent upon when the final numbers are ready from the State and Federal sources

Ten-Year Summary of Capitol Projects at FHS

The PDF File of Mike D'Angelo's memo to Wayne Ogden with the listing of capital projects can be found here.

in essence, there is documentation for approx. $4 million of improvements and repairs to the high school over the past 10 years

There is an additional $2.5 million associated with the new field and the repairs of the other fields

EPA grant to clean out chemical storage, etc. Because it is a grant, that is not on this listing

This listing is those items of $10,000 or more.
Replacement of eye wash stations would not meet that criteria so there are additional expenses not reflected here

Live reporting - Horace Mann Enrichment Model

c. Horace Mann Middle School Enrichment Model Presentation

Anne Bergen
Rob Vacca
Jacqui Berger
Trich Metrick
Bert Garr
Mark Brady
Dr Bergen

Wrote a grant to obtain funds to support the program
Gave up some of their Saturday's to take course on gifted and talented curriculum
Expose the kids to exciting things so they will want to read

Mr Garr - enrichment clusters
connecting kids to their passions, get them involved with experiential learning

One cluster on architectural design, formed a relationship with Harvard on design/CAD
One on WWI and the Holocaust
A parent came forward with interest on the JFK Assassination
Most kids don't mind writing, they just need an opportunity to write about things they like
A group worked on an on-line music review blog

The showcase will be on Horace Mann's final day of school (whatever it calculates out to be)

Jacqui Berger

Visited Raythenon, NitroPlastics
New England Laborers Training Academy (for building and construction)
With Northeastern and other local universities
Visited the MIT Museum, spoke with MIT students
BU Medical, City Lab, 8th graders working on experiments in a real lab environment

main initiative to get kids interested in science

Mr Vacca

NCTA - traveled with 19 other educators to Southeast Asia
made connections with those teachers and continue to share/learn
Professor and 4-5 graduate students scheduled to visit Horace Mann in May
will cost only the gas expense for the graduate students

Mr Brady

Direction of this is to break out of the classroom to make the learning very real
International robotics competition, has two teams at Horace Mann
Find out Sep 5th, the research project behind the project is a great deal of work not seen by others as the focus in on the robots and the competition
Introduce student on personal finance, entrepreneurship
Investing, focus on the assumptions behind how and why you do so, we don't think strategically anymore, 18 months is not strategic
More students in the 18-26 age group actually declare bankruptcy than graduate

Student lead yard sale - May 9th
Any items for sale, please contact the school office

Armenio - I find this fascinating, anything that can make the education ore real is good
Anything you can do to get the community into the classroom is great

Live reporting - Presentations

Rachel Porter – 100 points Girls Ice Hockey

HMMS – Math Counts Competition – Most Improved Team Certificates (Teacher/Coach: Andi Ridley)

Askshat Agrawal
Azmina Aysha
Rachel Balon
Sanjay Batchu
Abhilahsa Boruah
Ben Burke
Rachita Chaudhury
Brendan Lewis
Ajey Pandey
Nithya Sridhar

Live reporting - School Committee 3/10/09

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

1. Routine Business

Citizen’s Comments - none
Review of Agenda - none
Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the February 24, 2009 School Committee Meeting. motion to approve - passed 6-0
Payment of Bills - Mr. Kelly motion to approve - passed 6-0
Payroll - Ms. Armenio
FHS Student Representatives

Music Dept Concert at Horace Mann 7:00 PM Wednesday 3/11/09
Senior Awards night - June 1
The Wrestling team won the State Championship
Raised $5,000 for the Tomorrow Fund

Correspondence:

1. Budget to Actual
2. Transfers

"I think it'll help everybody"

The two communities will begin by sharing the first flag football game of the year, in Medway in late April or early May, said Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting.

Franklin has recreational staff and extensive programs and activities, and Medway has residents willing to pay the fees to participate, since the town only offers minimal recreational activities.

"It's a win-win for everyone," Nutting said.

"It gives us revenue to keep our fees down" by contributing to overhead costs, he said.

Franklin Recreation Department Director Ryan Jette said about 5,800 kids in Franklin participate and Nutting said the department has revenue of about $400,000 per year.

"We're not going to get rich off this, but if we can make $10,000 for a little bit of work, it's worth a try," Nutting said.

Under the agreement, Medway residents can participate in a Franklin Recreation Department program or activity after Franklin residents have been given a chance to register.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

Read all the live reporting from the Town Council meeting March 4th here

"optimistic the economy will rebound in three years"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Mar 09, 2009 @ 11:54 PM

FRANKLIN —

Developer John Marini will not be completing the final leg of his downtown project for at least three years because banks are refusing to finance the work, he told the Planning Board last night.

Instead of his original plan to demolish, rebuild, and sell 12-28 West Central St. this year, Marini said he will put $100,000 worth of repairs into the building and lease the spaces for a three-year period.

Marini blames his difficulties on the recession.

"I've been in this business 40 years, and I've never had things happen this way. It's impossible to get financing, it's impossible to get tenants, it's impossible to sell. It's just a crazy situation," Marini said.

Read the full article on the trouble delaying the downtown development in the Milford Daily News here.

Harlem Wizards vs. Sullivan Rockets

Anxious to get out of the house? Looking for a fun, affordable, local family activity? Want to get in the mood for March Madness?

The Harlem Wizards are coming to Franklin!

The Harlem Wizards, one of the greatest basketball show-team organizations to ever “lace it up and let’em fly”, will play our own Sullivan Rockets. This will be an entertaining night for kids of all ages (and adults too)!

Date:

Friday, March 13th, 2009, 7:00 PM
Doors Open 6:30, Game Time 7:00

Location:

Tri-County Regional High School
147 Pond St, Franklin MA

Tickets:

Click through to order form here on the Annie Sullivan PCC website

Contacts:

ayotte_k at verizon.net or erinclong at comcast.net

Monday, March 9, 2009

School Committee - Agenda - 3/10/09

1. Routine Business

Citizen’s Comments
Review of Agenda
Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the February 24, 2009 School Committee Meeting.
Payment of Bills - Mr. Kelly
Payroll - Ms. Armenio
FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence:

1. Budget to Actual
2. Transfers

2. Guests/Presentations:

Rachel Porter – 100 points Girls Ice Hockey (with Peter Light)

HMMS – Math Counts Competition – Most Improved Team Certificates (Teacher/Coach: Andi Ridley)

Askshat Agrawal
Azmina Aysha
Rachel Balon
Sanjay Batchu
Abhilahsa Boruah
Ben Burke
Rachita Chaudhury
Brendan Lewis
Ajey Pandey
Nithya Sridhar

c. HMMS Enrichment Model Presentation

Anne Bergen
Rob Vacca
Jacqui Berger
Trich Metrick
Bert Garr

3. Discussion Only Items

FY 2010 Budget Matters
Ten-Year Summary of Capitol Projects at FHS

4. Action Items

I recommend acceptance of a check for $3,000.00 from the Jefferson PCC for field trips for the Jefferson 1st grade to Southwick and the 5th grade to Freedom Trail.
I recommend approval of the FHS Art Department’s request for a field trip to NY Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 16, 2009 as detailed.
I recommend appointment of Sally Winslow to the position of Assistant Superintendent of Student Services effective July 1, 2009.
I recommend approval of the FHS’s request for a recurring field trip for 20 students to the University of New Hampshire on March 14, 2009 for their annual Jazz Festival on March 14, 2009 as detailed.
I recommend acceptance of a check for $501.02 from the FHS Class of 1942 for a scholarship for the FHS Class of 2009.
I recommend approval of the FHS recurring field trip to Providence Place Mall for Remington Middle School students as detailed.

5. Information Matters
• Superintendent’s Report

Enrollment Comparison
FY08 Per Pupil Expenditure Comparison to State Average
FHS Building Projects

• 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

8. Adjourn

"Merging two positions seems efficient"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Mar 08, 2009 @ 09:06 PM

FRANKLIN —

She hasn't yet officially taken the reins from Superintendent Wayne Ogden, but Maureen Sabolinski is already making moves to save a top position without expanding the budget.

"Looking at the workload and budgetary needs, I opted to reorganize" a few roles, said Sabolinski, now assistant superintendent.

Sabolinski said she will continue her current duties, plus heap on the job of superintendent. She is also one of 51 school staff who volunteered to forgo a pay increase next year.

And in place of an assistant superintendent and a director of pupil personnel services, she created a new position, assistant superintendent for student services.

Read the full article about this change in the Milford Daily News here

Read the live reporting from the School Committee meeting held on Feb 24th here

helping people get together

A slide show following the social networking phenomenon ends up concluding that the networking tools available today are helping people get together. From my own use of the social media tools, I have learned enough about someone so that when I do meet them in person, the conversation doesn't have that expectant pause. After we have greeted each other, the question "where do we go from here?" doesn't come up. We are already deep into a conversation.

The Micro-Sociology of Networks

View more presentations from David Armano. (tags: behavior human)

Enjoy!

Thanks for the link to Education Innovation and in particular to Angela Maiers for the tweet tip.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

consolidation was 'generally negative'

In these days of tight budgets and looking in all corners for opportunities, one area I think has some possibilities to explore is in the area of combining services. Mendon, Millville and Hopedale are exploring the combination of their dispatch services. According to this story in the Boston Globe today, one area that won't work is combining school districts.

But a wave of research from around the country shows that consolidation does not improve schools or lead to better academic results. Spending on education does not go down; indeed, budgets often balloon with increased transportation costs and more administrators to run enlarged districts. Consolidation leads to schools closing and to bigger schools, with less parental involvement and community participation. And, in many parts of the United States, it has led to children on unconscionable bus rides lasting several hours a day.
"There is either no advantage or actually a disadvantage to making these enormous uber-districts," says Andrew J. Coulson, director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., who has conducted two major studies on consolidation. "They just don't help kids."

Read the full story on the learning obtained from other states who tried combining school district in the Boston Globe article here

So my eyes will be turned to other areas.

"how far can you sacrifice before it doesn't make sense"

By Rachel Lebeaux Globe Correspondent / March 8, 2009

Officials in Franklin, Milford, and Holliston have offered to forgo raises to help close ballooning deficits as tax revenue and state aid to communities plummet. In some cases, administrators are hoping that unionized employees will follow suit.
But unions - particularly those representing school teachers, the largest group of municipal workers in most communities - might not be so quick to follow.

Read the full article on efforts to control budgets with salary freezes in the Boston Globe West section here

Spring forward?

I trust you turned your clocks ahead one hour to stay current on Daylight Savings Time

"the bigger cost is that we’re navigating blindly"

Dr Scott McLeod completes his week of posting on the state of education in Iowa. He raises some great questions about the data that is currently not collected by the state. A sample (only the first four questions) are as follows:

Here are some questions that we should be asking in Iowa:

What percentage of Iowa schools and districts have a technology plan? For those that do, what do those plans cover?
What percentage of Iowa schools and districts have technology teams that advise the organization on technology-related concerns? Who’s on those teams?
What are schools purchasing with their hardware and software money? What proportion of expenditures goes to teacher-centric technologies versus student-centric technologies? What proportion goes to software that provides powerful learning opportunities for students versus software that simply focuses on drill-and-kill remediation?
How new are the computers in Iowa schools? What percentage of Iowa hardware and software is more than 2 years old?

I would recommend substituting "Franklin, MA" for Iowa as you read through these questions and the full listing on his page here

Do we already collect this data for MA? I do not know as I sit here but will spend some time in the coming weeks to go looking. If you know in the meantime, please let me know.

I want to play with these blocks!

From TED, we get a glimpse of what computers and human interaction can really do. No, not the kind where some one sits in front of a screen and uses a keyboard or mouse.

Watch, this is delightfully exciting!

Now that is a good use of computer technology for educational purposes!

How would you use these Shiftables?

Thanks to the folks at Free Technology for Teachers for the pointer to this!