School Committee Sub-Committee Reports
Trahan - thanks to Maureen and Wayne for their help in preparing the Financial Planning Report.
Cafasso - thanks, it was a good report.
School Committee Liaison Reports
New business - need to discuss the state inspection report from the High School
Budget hearing is scheduled for the second meeting in May
Athletic fees to be taken up next meeting
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Live reproting - Superintendent
Superintendent’s Report
a. Using Data to Monitor Student Achievement
b. Best Buddies Prom -Saturday at Adirondeck 5:30 to 9:00 PM
c. Bicycle Racks - installed in next 2 weeks at schools that don't have them
d. FHS Modular Classroom - taking it down, rather than leaving it empty was going to be safer
e. Implementation of Point of Sale Technology / Food Service
DOE is now Dept of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)
Swine Flue - DPH guidelines already posted on school web site
hand washing is one of the best ways to prevent this, really pushing it in a more religious way
a. Using Data to Monitor Student Achievement
b. Best Buddies Prom -Saturday at Adirondeck 5:30 to 9:00 PM
c. Bicycle Racks - installed in next 2 weeks at schools that don't have them
d. FHS Modular Classroom - taking it down, rather than leaving it empty was going to be safer
e. Implementation of Point of Sale Technology / Food Service
DOE is now Dept of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)
Swine Flue - DPH guidelines already posted on school web site
hand washing is one of the best ways to prevent this, really pushing it in a more religious way
Live reporting - Action items
4. Action Items:
a. I recommend budget transfers as detailed. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
b. I recommend acceptance of a check for $2,500.00 from the Oak Street PCC for nurses and bus fees for upcoming field trips. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
c. I recommend approval of the ASMS 8th grade trip to Conn. River Valley and Eastern NY on May 1, 2009. Motion to Approve; Passed 6-0, 1 - Abstain
d. I recommend acceptance of the donation of 12 cases of copy paper for the Franklin Public Schools from Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Johnson. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
e. I recommend acceptance of the donation of $4,200.00 from the ASMS PCC to pay for two 8th grade field trip coach buses. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
f. I recommend declaring the graphic arts classroom modular at FHS as surplus. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
a. I recommend budget transfers as detailed. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
b. I recommend acceptance of a check for $2,500.00 from the Oak Street PCC for nurses and bus fees for upcoming field trips. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
c. I recommend approval of the ASMS 8th grade trip to Conn. River Valley and Eastern NY on May 1, 2009. Motion to Approve; Passed 6-0, 1 - Abstain
d. I recommend acceptance of the donation of 12 cases of copy paper for the Franklin Public Schools from Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Johnson. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
e. I recommend acceptance of the donation of $4,200.00 from the ASMS PCC to pay for two 8th grade field trip coach buses. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
f. I recommend declaring the graphic arts classroom modular at FHS as surplus. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
Live reporting - New lunch process
Presentations
c. Cafeteria – Point of Sale Implementation – Miriam Goodman
The school serve about 2400 lunches daily for an annual amount of about $1.6 million dollars.
Students would use their pin number. For the younger students, they would use an ID card.
In future to incorporate an online payment system to allow parents to update their students accounts.
The system is anticipated to move faster once the staff and students are comfortable with the new process.
The big win is the automated reporting that comes from this.
Armenio - This has been a long time coming. The anonymity of the low income students in the process will help.
Goodman - the parents can view the purchases of the student and review them with the student to ensure proper diet.
Cafasso - how are you communicating to parents about this?
Goodman - Central office update coming out. Word coming at each school, word through the cafes.
Cafasso - Consider getting the info out through to the PCC's
Kelly - How is the balance handled at the end of the year?
Goodman - The balance carries forward. The student maintains the same ID through their time at Franklin.
Trahan - Can the parent arrange something like EasyPass?
Goodman - It may have that capability, we can look at that down the road.
Slight - cash or check in the line, how is that handled?
Goodman - Just bring it in the line, it can be entered in by the cashier.
c. Cafeteria – Point of Sale Implementation – Miriam Goodman
The school serve about 2400 lunches daily for an annual amount of about $1.6 million dollars.
Students would use their pin number. For the younger students, they would use an ID card.
In future to incorporate an online payment system to allow parents to update their students accounts.
The system is anticipated to move faster once the staff and students are comfortable with the new process.
The big win is the automated reporting that comes from this.
Armenio - This has been a long time coming. The anonymity of the low income students in the process will help.
Goodman - the parents can view the purchases of the student and review them with the student to ensure proper diet.
Cafasso - how are you communicating to parents about this?
Goodman - Central office update coming out. Word coming at each school, word through the cafes.
Cafasso - Consider getting the info out through to the PCC's
Kelly - How is the balance handled at the end of the year?
Goodman - The balance carries forward. The student maintains the same ID through their time at Franklin.
Trahan - Can the parent arrange something like EasyPass?
Goodman - It may have that capability, we can look at that down the road.
Slight - cash or check in the line, how is that handled?
Goodman - Just bring it in the line, it can be entered in by the cashier.
Live reporting - School Committee resumes
The meeting resumes in public session
Payment of Bills Mr. Kelly - motion, passed 7-0
Payroll Ms. Armenio
FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence: none
Announcement of what was discussed in Executive Session
Non-union all agreed without conditions
FEA would not take any action until the School Committee publicly requested
FEA would not discuss budget reductions
FEA requested to get together ASAP to review the proposal (as announced previously).
Offered via phone call
not have to provide the reason, did want to keep all 32 meetings (including the 5), did want to keep the reimbursement, did want to convey these directly to the teachers
Response back was to schedule a meeting on Thursday 4/16/09 at 7:30 AM
Creedon, Schlefke, McGovern
Clear from that meeting there would be no middle ground without consultation with each party.
Proposed joint meeting with FEA and School Committee (rejected by FEA)
Invited FEA to School Committee meeting
Final proposal to convene at 3:30 PM 4/28/09
School Committee met separately from FEA in same building
Reporting today that the FEA rejected the counter proposal, nor would they change their original proposal, nor would they meet with the School Committee.
The School Committe is not inclined to address the FEA proposal.
Town Administrator agrees with the School Committee stance.
There was no opporutnity for public comment at this time!
Payment of Bills Mr. Kelly - motion, passed 7-0
Payroll Ms. Armenio
FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence: none
Announcement of what was discussed in Executive Session
Non-union all agreed without conditions
FEA would not take any action until the School Committee publicly requested
FEA would not discuss budget reductions
FEA requested to get together ASAP to review the proposal (as announced previously).
Offered via phone call
not have to provide the reason, did want to keep all 32 meetings (including the 5), did want to keep the reimbursement, did want to convey these directly to the teachers
Response back was to schedule a meeting on Thursday 4/16/09 at 7:30 AM
Creedon, Schlefke, McGovern
Clear from that meeting there would be no middle ground without consultation with each party.
Proposed joint meeting with FEA and School Committee (rejected by FEA)
Invited FEA to School Committee meeting
Final proposal to convene at 3:30 PM 4/28/09
School Committee met separately from FEA in same building
Reporting today that the FEA rejected the counter proposal, nor would they change their original proposal, nor would they meet with the School Committee.
The School Committe is not inclined to address the FEA proposal.
Town Administrator agrees with the School Committee stance.
There was no opporutnity for public comment at this time!
Live reporting - Executive session
The School Committee is still in Executive Session. It is passed their 15 minutes estimate. The longer it goes, the more interesting it becomes.
Stay tuned for a resume sometime
Stay tuned for a resume sometime
Live reporting - Teacher's proposal
The teacher's proposal previously reported was rejected by the School Committee.
As reported earlier, there were two meetings being simultaneously this afternoon. The teachers met and voted to reject the School Committee counter proposal and resubmitted their proposal unchanged.
So a stalemate is currently underway.
The School Committee received the teacher's update and are now in Executive Session likely preparing their public comment.
Stay tuned.
PS - I still have part of the School Committee meeting detailing some of the history behind the 5 meetings to write up when I get a chance.
As reported earlier, there were two meetings being simultaneously this afternoon. The teachers met and voted to reject the School Committee counter proposal and resubmitted their proposal unchanged.
So a stalemate is currently underway.
The School Committee received the teacher's update and are now in Executive Session likely preparing their public comment.
Stay tuned.
PS - I still have part of the School Committee meeting detailing some of the history behind the 5 meetings to write up when I get a chance.
Live reporting - School Committee 2nd Mtg
Attending: Armenio, Kelly, Roy, Rohrbach, Trahan, Mullen, Cafasso
1. Routine Business
Citizen’s Comments - none
Review of Agenda - move guests and presentations up, going into executive session shortly
a. Dan Telhada – All Scholastic Award
b. Coach Carmen Colace – Coach of the Year
Motion to enter executive session with potential to return to open session
Motion approved
1. Routine Business
Citizen’s Comments - none
Review of Agenda - move guests and presentations up, going into executive session shortly
a. Dan Telhada – All Scholastic Award
b. Coach Carmen Colace – Coach of the Year
Motion to enter executive session with potential to return to open session
Motion approved
Live reporting - School Committee Mtg 1st
Attending: Armenio, Cafasso, Kelly, Mullen, Roy, Rohrbach, Trahan
Also participating: Jeff Nutting, all the school principals, Ogden, Sabolinski, Goodman, and others from the School Administration office
The meeting opened with a recap by Jeff Roy of the events leading to this particular meeting. Briefly, after the Executive Session at the 4/14/09 meeting, Jeff notified the FEA of the School Committee's reluctance to accept the full proposal. They would accept the deferral of the 2.5% cost of living increase. They would waive the requirement on requiring a reason required for personal days for the remainder of the year. They wanted to keep the 32 meetings. They wanted to continue to provide the teacher reimbursements.
A subsequent conversation between Roy and Creedon set up a meeting for 4/16/09 7:30 AM to further review. At that meeting it was discussed setting up the 4/28/09 meetings. FEA separate from School Committee with an agreement that when something was ready for the School Committee designated intermediaries would "knock on the door".
Those two meetings are still in session.
At their request, the principals have remained in the session with them.
The School Committee meeting will return to open session at some time.
Also participating: Jeff Nutting, all the school principals, Ogden, Sabolinski, Goodman, and others from the School Administration office
The meeting opened with a recap by Jeff Roy of the events leading to this particular meeting. Briefly, after the Executive Session at the 4/14/09 meeting, Jeff notified the FEA of the School Committee's reluctance to accept the full proposal. They would accept the deferral of the 2.5% cost of living increase. They would waive the requirement on requiring a reason required for personal days for the remainder of the year. They wanted to keep the 32 meetings. They wanted to continue to provide the teacher reimbursements.
A subsequent conversation between Roy and Creedon set up a meeting for 4/16/09 7:30 AM to further review. At that meeting it was discussed setting up the 4/28/09 meetings. FEA separate from School Committee with an agreement that when something was ready for the School Committee designated intermediaries would "knock on the door".
Those two meetings are still in session.
- The FEA meeting is closed to all but union members.
- The School Committee meeting after conducting some fact finding with the principals on the history of the 5 extra meetings has now gone into Executive Session.
At their request, the principals have remained in the session with them.
The School Committee meeting will return to open session at some time.
Help avoid a train wreck?
There is an interesting confluence of meetings scheduled for Tuesday at 3:30 PM at Horace Mann.
Bottom line: These two groups have not been communicating with each other.
There are quite a few points of disagreement but the major one for me is:
The teachers feel that since the School Committee did send a letter to them asking for the salary concession, they have, in effect, opened the contract for negotiation. The three items tied by the teachers to their salary deferment were supposed to have been addressed in a side-letter after passing the current contract two years ago. For a few reasons, the most current of which is beyond the control of the individual assigned to lead the side-letter effort, resolution on these three issues has gone nowhere. As a result, these three issues were brought to the table with the salary concession and linked together.
So there seems to be a stalemate brewing.
For some reason the School Committee is hung on keeping the three items.
To the extent that they keep the three items, they will lose the million dollar concession.
Who wins?
No one, not the School Committee, not the teachers, not the children of Franklin.
In my unique position, I can not stand by and watch this train wreck occur.
Note: I am deliberately using the terms 2.5% cost of living increase deferment because that is really what it is. There are still salary increases possible for some on both the Town and School side due to "steps and lane" changes per the union contracts. In this case, the talked of "salary freeze" is a misuse of the term.
- The Teachers have scheduled to hold a union meeting. This is a closed session, open only to union members. The union will be updated on the response by the School Committee to the teachers offer of the million dollar contract concession.
- The School Committee have scheduled to hold an open meeting intending to participate in a discussion with the teachers.
Bottom line: These two groups have not been communicating with each other.
There are quite a few points of disagreement but the major one for me is:
- Contrary to what the School Committee has stated and published, the teachers union meeting of 4/13/09 did have a vote of all teachers present on a deferment of the 2.5% cost of living increase for FY 2010 without any conditions. It failed miserably.
- The vote that passed (80% for, 20% against) for was for the 2.5% cost of living deferment attached to three conditions. The three conditions have been reported in the Milford Daily News and here.
The teachers feel that since the School Committee did send a letter to them asking for the salary concession, they have, in effect, opened the contract for negotiation. The three items tied by the teachers to their salary deferment were supposed to have been addressed in a side-letter after passing the current contract two years ago. For a few reasons, the most current of which is beyond the control of the individual assigned to lead the side-letter effort, resolution on these three issues has gone nowhere. As a result, these three issues were brought to the table with the salary concession and linked together.
So there seems to be a stalemate brewing.
For some reason the School Committee is hung on keeping the three items.
To the extent that they keep the three items, they will lose the million dollar concession.
Who wins?
No one, not the School Committee, not the teachers, not the children of Franklin.
In my unique position, I can not stand by and watch this train wreck occur.
Note: I am deliberately using the terms 2.5% cost of living increase deferment because that is really what it is. There are still salary increases possible for some on both the Town and School side due to "steps and lane" changes per the union contracts. In this case, the talked of "salary freeze" is a misuse of the term.
FPC - Information Session 04/27/09
The live reporting posts for the Informational Forum held to review the Financial Planning Committee report can be found here:
Rain Barrel discount for Franklin through 5/6/09
Consider purchasing a rain barrel and help reduce storm water runoff while gaining water to use to water your plants. The rain barrels are on sale for Franklin residents through May 6th and can be picked up May 13th.
Additional info on rain barrels:
Residential irrigation can account for 40% of domestic water consumption in a given municipality. Rain barrels not only store water, they help decrease demand during the sweltering summer months.
Only ¼ inch of rainfall runoff from the average roof will completely fill the typical barrel. A good formula to remember: 1 inch of rain on a 1000 sq ft roof yields 623 gallons of water. Calculate the yield of your roof by multiplying the square footage of your roof by 623 and divide by 1000.
Collection of water from rooftop runoff can provide an ample supply of this free “soft water” containing no chlorine, lime or calcium. Because it tends to have fewer sediments and dissolved salts than municipal water, rain water is ideal for planter beds for a multitude of applications, including biodynamic and organic vegetable gardens, planter beds for botanicals, indoor tropicals like ferns and orchids, automobile washing and cleaning household windows. Saving water in this manner will reduce your demand of treated tap water and save money by lowering your monthly bill.
Rain water diversion also helps decrease the burden on water treatment
Info found on the NE Rain Barrel web site.
Franklin residents can order their rain barrels here. All others can select their community to order here.
"The committee made several recommendations"
GHS
FRANKLIN —
Using the parable of the boiled frog to describe the possible trajectory of Franklin services and finances, Doug Hardesty told an audience of about 100 residents the town needs to immediately tackle its recurring fiscal deficit before the damage is irreparable.
When a frog is thrown into a pot of boiling water, it'll immediately jump out, Hardesty said. When it's put in a pot of room temperature water, and the heat is slowly turned up, the change is so slow the frog doesn't notice. The frog dies before it reacts.
"That's very much the kind of thing we're worried about in Franklin," said Hardesty as he began his presentation on the long-term financial committee's plan last night at Horace Mann Middle School.
"Because we're facing this slow structural problem, it creeps up on us. The question is, what and when do we jump," said Hardesty, an auditor and one of two residents-at-large on the committee.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
Book Signing - LeeRoy U Bailey, Jr - 5/2/09
LeeRoy U Bailey, Jr will be at Treesavers Book Outlet on Saturday May 2, to sign his book; A Different Perspective on How to Reach Heaven: You Must Be Born Again.
LeeRoy will be on site at Treesavers from noon to 4:00 PM. For more information you can email LeeRoy at brnagain@gmail.com or visit his website here.
LeeRoy will be on site at Treesavers from noon to 4:00 PM. For more information you can email LeeRoy at brnagain@gmail.com or visit his website here.
"teachers don't have time to get it all done"
GHS
FRANKLIN —
The School Committee intends to hammer out an agreement on wage concessions with the teachers union to save teachers' jobs today, said Chairman Jeffrey Roy.
The Franklin Education Association had proposed deferring its negotiated 2.5 percent salary increase and course reimbursements until June 30, 2010 - which would save the district $1 million - but with three conditions.
In exchange for the concessions, the union asked for the removal of five floating after-school meetings, permanent removal of the need to give a reason for personal days, and the permanent requirement that no meetings be scheduled two weeks prior to the issuing of report cards, according to a copy of the proposal.
The Franklin Education Association and School Committee are considering counter proposals for wage concessions, and will deliberate in concurrent meetings at 3:30 this afternoon at Horace Mann Middle School, said Roy.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
Monday, April 27, 2009
live reporting - Q&A #2
Q - the fear that I have is that my taxes are increasing 20% but the services my kids are getting in school is going down. I am okay with paying more taxes but I need to know what that number is. Relive peoples fear. I don't know if you can do what I just asked. I know it is hard but that is what I need. These numbers are scary but with the taxes increase and the schools services being cut that doesn't help.
A - Zollo - in terms of wage earners, most people are not spending the same each year, due to a variety of reasons. Cost of gov't does not go down. Inflation doesn't go down. Costs will go up. There is a built in subsidy. Three children. Avg citizen pays 4500 taxes, per student cost is 9200. The Zollo subsidy covers police, fire, etc. I will have received in the aggregate 250,000. I could stay here forever but I'll never pay it back. What is the reason for bringing it up? If I would educate my children on my own, it would still cost me more. The demand for the twon and housing in the town. The housing thirty years ago will be sold for more now.
If we were closer to the median, we would be in a better position with the adiditonal funds.
A - Whalen - you did a great job describing the difficulty and the challenges we have here. We are a pretty efficient shop. I am a research analsyst and that is what the numbers tell me. It really all comes down to, what kind of town do we want live in?
A - Bartlett - if you look at Page 14, there is the range of the 8.5M and 12.1M.
Q - Have you factored in the assessed values going down?
A - The 2.5% doesn't apply to each individual taxe rate. It applies to the overall town rate.
A - Bartlett the 8.5M would equate to a 22% increase
Q - financial forecasts are not actional, translate to something we can relate to; i.e police or fire, etc. Don't go back and re-do it. Clarification on the health care cost savings of 1M?
A - Roche - the 1M came from the difference in the original projected cost and the recent bid. That is one time savings.
Q - Has the town investigated farming out the tax collection? Hotels, meals tax, how much will it generate? In Florida, they have an impact fee.
A - We get 100% of our taxes, even if they are late we get 14% interest on the amount late. Against the law for an impact fee, it was through out by the courts. We have proposals for the hotel/meals tax but they have not been enacted yet. It would help but not solve our problem. It will diversify our tax receipts.
Q - On the health care side, how does the Town do it?
A - We pay about 7M for all our health care. We have been very successful working with the unions. With an increase of co-pay and a decrease in premium, it makes sense. They have worked well with us.
Q - The state has more people, they must have more bargaining power.
A - Nutting, actually our plan is better than the State plan. We look at it every year.
Q - With teachers at about 60K, can you bring in somebody for less
A - working and wages are subject to bargaining conditions
Q - with the health care, is there an opportunity to work with surrounding towns if we are the lowest, that would be something to gain
A - teacher pensions are not paid for by the town. There are 106 pension systems in the Commonwealth when there should be one. No one would design a system where there are 351 communities in the state. It will be hard to change. We do things like this every year. It is not just a public thing. It takes a lot of momentum to get things done.
Q - For me, a good school is not the thing. The curriculum is the key
A - Nutting - the school committee would agree with you.
Reminder - our meetings are open meetings
Q - split tax?
A - Roche - If we do decide a split tax rate, it doesn't allow us to raise any more money.
A - Whalen - there is a decided majority on the Finance Committee and Town Council not to do so in order to encourage business to relocate here.
A - Zollo - it is worth noting that the residential versus business is 80% to 20%. We would need a more diversified tax base. The time to make your feelings known is in November at the Town Council tax hearings.
Q - page 12 - net school spending, we are descending, based upon what we know today, what are we doing to prepare?
A - This is one of the reasons we have prepared this report.
Q - We need to be more frequent. These are general statements, we need to be more specific.
Q - Why did you get to the 31? You used some in some reports but others in some reports.
A - We picked the towns were the most comparable. We also wanted to use data that anyone could check on. We chose the DOE numbers because they are available. Norfolk was excluded only because they had not submitted their numbers to the state.
Q - My point earlier was the numbers are all good,
A - You're crossing over into a very subjective area. If you're across the board lower, there must be something there.
Q - You're only getting efficiency when there is a comparison on the same services?
A - I can't tell you how we could measure our schools with Walpoles. I see them as facing eminent decline.
A - Zollo - I don't disagree at a statisical level but at a general level it is fair to say, you know reputationally how they are doing. They are not out on the curve one way or the other.
Q - Should you include the grow projections for the school for the next five years? I know it would be beneficial.
A - The numbers are available. The total at the high school is projected to be about 1700
Q - Important to have our local reps (Spilka, Brown, Vallee) look at the legislation in process.
A - thank you!
A - Zollo - in terms of wage earners, most people are not spending the same each year, due to a variety of reasons. Cost of gov't does not go down. Inflation doesn't go down. Costs will go up. There is a built in subsidy. Three children. Avg citizen pays 4500 taxes, per student cost is 9200. The Zollo subsidy covers police, fire, etc. I will have received in the aggregate 250,000. I could stay here forever but I'll never pay it back. What is the reason for bringing it up? If I would educate my children on my own, it would still cost me more. The demand for the twon and housing in the town. The housing thirty years ago will be sold for more now.
If we were closer to the median, we would be in a better position with the adiditonal funds.
A - Whalen - you did a great job describing the difficulty and the challenges we have here. We are a pretty efficient shop. I am a research analsyst and that is what the numbers tell me. It really all comes down to, what kind of town do we want live in?
A - Bartlett - if you look at Page 14, there is the range of the 8.5M and 12.1M.
Q - Have you factored in the assessed values going down?
A - The 2.5% doesn't apply to each individual taxe rate. It applies to the overall town rate.
A - Bartlett the 8.5M would equate to a 22% increase
Q - financial forecasts are not actional, translate to something we can relate to; i.e police or fire, etc. Don't go back and re-do it. Clarification on the health care cost savings of 1M?
A - Roche - the 1M came from the difference in the original projected cost and the recent bid. That is one time savings.
Q - Has the town investigated farming out the tax collection? Hotels, meals tax, how much will it generate? In Florida, they have an impact fee.
A - We get 100% of our taxes, even if they are late we get 14% interest on the amount late. Against the law for an impact fee, it was through out by the courts. We have proposals for the hotel/meals tax but they have not been enacted yet. It would help but not solve our problem. It will diversify our tax receipts.
Q - On the health care side, how does the Town do it?
A - We pay about 7M for all our health care. We have been very successful working with the unions. With an increase of co-pay and a decrease in premium, it makes sense. They have worked well with us.
Q - The state has more people, they must have more bargaining power.
A - Nutting, actually our plan is better than the State plan. We look at it every year.
Q - With teachers at about 60K, can you bring in somebody for less
A - working and wages are subject to bargaining conditions
Q - with the health care, is there an opportunity to work with surrounding towns if we are the lowest, that would be something to gain
A - teacher pensions are not paid for by the town. There are 106 pension systems in the Commonwealth when there should be one. No one would design a system where there are 351 communities in the state. It will be hard to change. We do things like this every year. It is not just a public thing. It takes a lot of momentum to get things done.
Q - For me, a good school is not the thing. The curriculum is the key
A - Nutting - the school committee would agree with you.
Reminder - our meetings are open meetings
Q - split tax?
A - Roche - If we do decide a split tax rate, it doesn't allow us to raise any more money.
A - Whalen - there is a decided majority on the Finance Committee and Town Council not to do so in order to encourage business to relocate here.
A - Zollo - it is worth noting that the residential versus business is 80% to 20%. We would need a more diversified tax base. The time to make your feelings known is in November at the Town Council tax hearings.
Q - page 12 - net school spending, we are descending, based upon what we know today, what are we doing to prepare?
A - This is one of the reasons we have prepared this report.
Q - We need to be more frequent. These are general statements, we need to be more specific.
Q - Why did you get to the 31? You used some in some reports but others in some reports.
A - We picked the towns were the most comparable. We also wanted to use data that anyone could check on. We chose the DOE numbers because they are available. Norfolk was excluded only because they had not submitted their numbers to the state.
Q - My point earlier was the numbers are all good,
A - You're crossing over into a very subjective area. If you're across the board lower, there must be something there.
Q - You're only getting efficiency when there is a comparison on the same services?
A - I can't tell you how we could measure our schools with Walpoles. I see them as facing eminent decline.
A - Zollo - I don't disagree at a statisical level but at a general level it is fair to say, you know reputationally how they are doing. They are not out on the curve one way or the other.
Q - Should you include the grow projections for the school for the next five years? I know it would be beneficial.
A - The numbers are available. The total at the high school is projected to be about 1700
Q - Important to have our local reps (Spilka, Brown, Vallee) look at the legislation in process.
A - thank you!
Live reporting - Q&A
Q - commendation on report, job well done. concerning peer data, if we raise our taxes, is there a guarantee that the state won't reduce and we are back where we started
A - Whalen, put the numbers together, don't think the state looks at that statistic. we should be a below average tax burden with an above average benefit
A - Zollo - if the state minimum is hit, the state will help us determine how the money will be spent. Federal stats say we should have more police/fire but that doesn't matter to the state. It does to the school side of the budget.
Q - should include the school building issues into the 5 year plan otherwise, it wouldn't be a complete report. should update this quarterly
A -those items aren't quantified but they are addressed
Q - those items need to be there.
A - from the committee standpoint, those items are being looked at, there are no firm estimates for those factors to incorporate
A - Cameron - also look at the full report, there are additional details there. We focused on how the funding works for this executive report. We recognize how important this is.
A - Hardesty - information needs to get out, the details should be available when those decisions need to be made.
A - Zollo - the committee debated internally, we will come up with some alternatives, the relaity is what it is. The Town needs to be aware of other capital expenses. The funds for those could come from two sources, (1) Debt exclusion (expires when debt is paid off) (2) override (raises tax permanently). Differences between town fical funding options. But not out of the operational budget.
A - Whalen - in comparison with our peers, we are below the peers in debt service
A - Roche - transparency, dashboard on the website, but once the budget is set, the budget numbers don't really change. In most cases, the state number once given is set, unless there is unique circumstances, the state doesn't take away the money.
- side note - provided advice to the committee that some of the comments are coming across as defensive of the report when they should be soliciting feedback from the community
Q - when is the decision coming on the high school
A - Nutting - the building is not in that bad shape compared to other schools they have been into. We don't know when they will committee. They will not commit at this point. In six-nine months, maybe they'll give us an answer. We don't have it and we are continuing to pursue it.
A - Whalen, put the numbers together, don't think the state looks at that statistic. we should be a below average tax burden with an above average benefit
A - Zollo - if the state minimum is hit, the state will help us determine how the money will be spent. Federal stats say we should have more police/fire but that doesn't matter to the state. It does to the school side of the budget.
Q - should include the school building issues into the 5 year plan otherwise, it wouldn't be a complete report. should update this quarterly
A -those items aren't quantified but they are addressed
Q - those items need to be there.
A - from the committee standpoint, those items are being looked at, there are no firm estimates for those factors to incorporate
A - Cameron - also look at the full report, there are additional details there. We focused on how the funding works for this executive report. We recognize how important this is.
A - Hardesty - information needs to get out, the details should be available when those decisions need to be made.
A - Zollo - the committee debated internally, we will come up with some alternatives, the relaity is what it is. The Town needs to be aware of other capital expenses. The funds for those could come from two sources, (1) Debt exclusion (expires when debt is paid off) (2) override (raises tax permanently). Differences between town fical funding options. But not out of the operational budget.
A - Whalen - in comparison with our peers, we are below the peers in debt service
A - Roche - transparency, dashboard on the website, but once the budget is set, the budget numbers don't really change. In most cases, the state number once given is set, unless there is unique circumstances, the state doesn't take away the money.
- side note - provided advice to the committee that some of the comments are coming across as defensive of the report when they should be soliciting feedback from the community
Q - when is the decision coming on the high school
A - Nutting - the building is not in that bad shape compared to other schools they have been into. We don't know when they will committee. They will not commit at this point. In six-nine months, maybe they'll give us an answer. We don't have it and we are continuing to pursue it.
live reporting - Doug continues
example of state unfunded mandate - wind instruments are now required to be professionally cleaned before reuse.
How has Franklin responded?
Impact of current problem
forecasted deficits are structural, not directly due to the recession
FY 2010 forecast was for a deficit of 4.5 million
With other one time items, the deficit currently is $750,000
Where does this leave us?
Town expenses
slide of comparison to the other 31 towns
School spending
slide of numbers directly from the State Dept of Education web site
Net school spending slide
the long curve is going the wrong way
Impact of capital projects on Town Budget
state aid grow of 3% - 8.5 million deficit
state aid flat - 12.1 million deficit
state aid declines 3% - 15.3 million deficit
What can we do about this?
explanation of steps and lanes on teacher side of the compensation
Increase tax revenue
recap of previous topics
stay tuned for Q&A
How has Franklin responded?
- reduce head count and cut employee benefits
- streamlined operations
- enhanced revenues
- spent cash reserves ($7.5 million)
Impact of current problem
forecasted deficits are structural, not directly due to the recession
FY 2010 forecast was for a deficit of 4.5 million
With other one time items, the deficit currently is $750,000
Where does this leave us?
- We depend more upon state aid than other towns
- Our property tax burden is less than other towns
- Our cash reserves are stable and at the right level
Town expenses
- Franklin ranks 27th out of 31 comparable peer towns in per capita municipal spending
- Recent capital projects have minimal effect on operating budget
- spending per pupil 22% less than state average
- net school spending rapidly approaching state minimum
- teacher compensation remains "middle of the pack"
- Schools have cut non-teacher costs sharply
slide of comparison to the other 31 towns
School spending
slide of numbers directly from the State Dept of Education web site
Net school spending slide
the long curve is going the wrong way
Impact of capital projects on Town Budget
- Capital dollars can not be used for operational expenses
- Capital debt burden is about 2% of the total Town budget
state aid grow of 3% - 8.5 million deficit
state aid flat - 12.1 million deficit
state aid declines 3% - 15.3 million deficit
What can we do about this?
- Agree on the problem
- Develop a comprehensive multi-year plan
- Improve transparency and accessibility if information
- explore regionalization in addition to Library, recreation
- preserve state aid
- address unfunded mandates
- pension reform
explanation of steps and lanes on teacher side of the compensation
Increase tax revenue
- find revenue from non-Franklin resources
- assess need for override and debt exclusion - 5 year horizon
- look to soften impact for low or fixed income households
- assign ownership for improving the flow of info
- communicate more effectively with citizens
- preserve credibility
recap of previous topics
stay tuned for Q&A
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