 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Franklin Downtown Partnership: The Best Harvest Festival Yet!
“Supervised injection facilities are an important, evidence-based tool"
From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:
"Doctors, legislators and medical students spoke during a recent Statehouse hearing in support of implementing so-called “safe injection sites” - facilities where trained medical personnel oversee people using illicit substances.
The safe injection sites, also known as safe injection facilities or safe consumption facilities, are public health spaces that provide hygienic equipment and areas for people who use drugs to take pre-obtained illicit substances. Trained medical staff are on-site in case of overdose, according to the Massachusetts Medical Society.
But U.S. Attorney Andrew Lelling is on record as being strongly opposed to the practice, saying it “amount(s) to giving up” on the opioid crisis. Last week he reaffirmed his position after a federal judge ruled in favor of a Pennsylvania nonprofit seeking to open a safe injection site, ruling it would not violate federal drug laws.
Despite the controversy, speakers at the Statehouse hearing strongly favored implementing a “pilot” safe injection site in Massachusetts."
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20191008/safe-injection-sites-controversial-but-many-in-mass-support-pilot-program
The wikipedia entry for "supervised injection site"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supervised_injection_site
The Dept of Nursing at USC has a complete article with pros cons and an overview of the progression of supervised injection sites
https://nursing.usc.edu/blog/supervised-injection-sites/
 |
| https://nursing.usc.edu/blog/supervised-injection-sites/ |
"Statewide plastic bag ban now before House committee"
From the Mass Municipal Association we find:
"Legislation that would ban the distribution of single-use plastic bags at all retail and food establishments is now before the House Committee on Ways and Means.Continue reading the article online
In July, the bill (H. 3945) was reported out of the Joint Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture, which made changes to a bill that was filed early this year.
The MMA testified in support of a statewide ban at the first hearing on the original bill in April, citing the precedent of more than 100 cities and towns that have already passed local bylaws or ordinances intended to curb the use of plastic bags. The MMA testimony noted that plastic bags get caught in machinery at recycling processing facilities, leading to breakdowns, delays and increased costs that are passed along to municipalities."
https://www.mma.org/statewide-plastic-bag-ban-now-before-house-committee/
The H.3945 bill can be found on the MA.gov site
https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H3945
The FHS student proposal was before the Economic Development Subcommittee in August and as of that meeting was announced to be brought back for the Oct 23 EDC meeting. The Oct 23 meeting is not yet on the official Town of Franklin calendar.
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2019/08/fm-169-economic-development.html
 |
| A single-use plastic bag is caught on tall grasses in a field. |
Tuesday, October 8, 2019
Franklin Candidate Interview: Eamon McCarthy Earls
I sat with Eamon McCarthy Earls recently to discuss the following questions. Some of you will recognize the questions as these were collected from the survey we shared in August. Many questions were similar, I tried to select 5 for each Town Council and School Committee candidate that would help to present them to you all, my fellow voters.
As I have shared in prior years, the candidates do get to review the output before it is published but I retain final editing rights. Interviews with candidates are not an exercise I take lightly, it matters greatly to our community to get accurate information from our candidates to enable voters to make an informed decision to run our government.
FM - There are and have been many opportunities to volunteer with community groups in Franklin. Have you taken advantage of any of these? Which ones, and why did you choose that/those?
FM - Where do you get your news about Franklin?
FM – For all those running for Town Council: We are in a constant water shortage. We are adding to our population and increasing out need for water. Given that all those who live in Franklin draw their water from the same aquifer, do you support a ban on using water for what I will call cosmetic use (lawn watering) during water shortages, even for those with a private well? If not, why not, considering that those with private wells are still dangerously affecting our water level for uses other than vanity? Or put simply: Do you support the private use of wells for lawn irrigation at times when the town's aquifer is dangerously low for use by the community for essential use in homes and fire prevention?
FM - What degree of development do you feel is appropriate for Franklin, and how would you balance the need for affordable housing, with the need to avoid congestion?
FM - The Town Administrator has suggested that Franklin needs to consider an override measure. What actions will you take for this?
FM – The Franklin voters asks: Why should I vote for you?
To contact Eamon for any follow up questions:
As I have shared in prior years, the candidates do get to review the output before it is published but I retain final editing rights. Interviews with candidates are not an exercise I take lightly, it matters greatly to our community to get accurate information from our candidates to enable voters to make an informed decision to run our government.
- For the following FM presents the question. EE represents Eamon's response.
FM - There are and have been many opportunities to volunteer with community groups in Franklin. Have you taken advantage of any of these? Which ones, and why did you choose that/those?
EE - Why yes. Franklin has a lot of really good community organizations. They definitely run the gamut from those affiliated with the schools, the arts, the Franklin Food Pantry, and so many others. The list is extensive. It was funny I recently was looking (for unrelated reasons) in the IRS list of exempt organizations grouped by city and town. It's vast. There's dozens and dozens of nonprofits just registered in Franklin alone.
But I digress. For me I think the one thing I've really gravitated to is Franklin TV. Last summer I decided to embrace once again an interest that has always been close to my heart which is sort of telling the story of our community history. I've always been fascinated by the history angle and documenting our collective experience as a community.
When I was a high schooler I wrote a history of Franklin which came out back in 2012. During that experience, I loved interviewing people who had been longtime Franklin residents. Sadly I never got a chance to interview Stella Jeon but she was she was always such a good documentarian of things herself. She was such an inspiration to me and others like her, with her work to bridge the gap and bring to video our history beginning around the 80s, 90s and early 2000s.
So I decided to return to that idea, that idea of creating a center for our community. I teamed up with Joe Landry who's also been very active on social media bringing together amazing stories as he researches old photos and videos. He is a true treasure trove of information on the town down to the block by block level. And I've got the big picture. He's got the granularity. It's a great time.
Beginning last summer we teamed up and then we pretty quickly decided that neither one of us was quite a savvy enough video editor to do it alone and plus we wouldn't be able to have the reach we'd hoped for. We teamed up with Franklin TV and launched the program together called “Once Upon a Town.” We've been running for almost a year now.
Once Upon a Town looks pretty broadly at the town's history. Joe and I--mostly Joe--brings together these fascinating stories that he has from his years living in Franklin, as well as photos and videos he's tracked down and I sort of tie in with the bigger picture on what's going on today.
We've also done episodes where we interviewed people, so I've had a chance to talk with some of the last people of the Greatest Generation. It's a generation that's largely in their 90s so we have to act now to make sure that they're able to record their stories, their thoughts, and ensure their hopes for the future are forever preserved. I've been really ecstatic about doing that and that's sort of been the main thing that I've done over the past couple of years.
FM - Where do you get your news about Franklin?
EE - Where I get my news about Franklin, Franklin Matters of course. Milford Daily News, Franklin Country Gazette. I have a Google Alert set up for Franklin. So whatever surfaces with the keyword “Franklin Massachusetts” in it tends to come across my desktop. So sometimes it'll be something in the MetroWest Daily News or sometimes business news stuff occasionally pops up. The Boston Business Journal will have some interesting insights.
FM – For all those running for Town Council: We are in a constant water shortage. We are adding to our population and increasing out need for water. Given that all those who live in Franklin draw their water from the same aquifer, do you support a ban on using water for what I will call cosmetic use (lawn watering) during water shortages, even for those with a private well? If not, why not, considering that those with private wells are still dangerously affecting our water level for uses other than vanity? Or put simply: Do you support the private use of wells for lawn irrigation at times when the town's aquifer is dangerously low for use by the community for essential use in homes and fire prevention?
EE - That's a really interesting question as well. I hesitate to express an incredibly in-depth opinion on this primarily because I don't know all the ins and outs of Mass. general law on this. I think there’s basically there's some term in water resource management which I'm forgetting. Essentially some states have it in place where as long as you keep drilling wells in the ground you can take as much as you want. I think during times when our wells are very low, during a water crisis, I would really prefer that people don't overuse from their private wells. I'm just not sure if we have legal recourse to stop them if it's on private property and they install it themselves. But that's certainly an interesting thing to look into.
Since I do sit on the Policy and Infrastructure Committee with the Mass Municipal Association with all kinds of water department heads and DPW directors and so forth I can actually try to ask that at my next meeting with them, to see if anyone knows if there's options to restrict that. But of course, tracking it would be challenging.
I think it was Washington Post or New York Times, one of those, where I had read that a study was done on water shortages across the nation. We're in an area where we're not on the risky end. There are communities where they're using more than they have. The entire water utilization process is going to be more of an issue at some point. The aquifer where we all sit is the same one.
It's an excellent question. Actually a really interesting couple of follow on notes to that. I just think our readers should know, according to Brutus Cantoreggi, DPW Director, we are the largest municipal groundwater customer in the state. Pretty much everyone else has some kind of surface water resource. I always think back to a conversation I had one time with Steven Mabee . He's the state geologist. One of the big areas of focus for him and his small team of people is actually the I-495 beltway including Franklin. Most of the communities along here are reliant on groundwater in a way that others aren't. And so we actually have potential for some of the worst water issues.
In New England basically because we have large populations, and industry growth, all drawing from groundwater and furthermore it's groundwater that's in soil that's all this mixed together junk from the ice ages. Even though we get a lot of rain we don't actually cling onto a lot of it. A lot of it actually runs off into streams. But as densely populated as we are, we've also got a source of contaminants.
FM - What degree of development do you feel is appropriate for Franklin, and how would you balance the need for affordable housing, with the need to avoid congestion?
EE - Well I think this one is a question of both zoning and then how projects are administered by the Planning Board. It is a perennial question for the town. We must always as a community continue to think about what kind of town we want to be. You know it is “The city known as the Town of Franklin.” We've seen extraordinary population growth since the 70s, particularly since the 90s. And with each passing year we see Franklin become in a sense more and more like an actual city.
As far as how administration of development is handled, I do think we've already begun seeing issues with traffic really maybe the past five or 10 years downtown but really on RT 140. Over time we need to really consider traffic studies and really incorporate those whenever a new project is going in as much as we can. Try to really think of the future, always. You know we almost always have a conservative estimate of the impact. One of the claims put forth with development is there will be no families there. That's nonsense. There will always be families there because if people are driven out of Boston by high prices and they need to live somewhere affordable, they will live in a one bedroom or a two bedroom apartment. So there will always be families moving in.
I think it really just comes down to doing our due diligence and really just trying to think it through, as logically as we can what might happen if a project goes in. It may not make sense to put a project within five feet of an intersection. Perhaps it does perhaps it doesn't. But we have to rely on our own gut feeling a little bit on that and then turn to the professionals whenever we can to get a second opinion.
FM - The Town Administrator has suggested that Franklin needs to consider an override measure. What actions will you take for this?
EE - I think it's a great question. Certainly we've been faced with some very trying times. A lot of it ties back to escalating costs for health care and our overall pension and other post-employment benefit (OPEB) liabilities which continue to mount and which probably nobody back in 1980 was concerned with or fully cognizant of how much it would cost.
I think it's ultimately a decision that rests with the voters. I would support offering that as an option to the voters to decide. I think it's really important to have that participation in something so critical in our town. I'm sure it will be a hard fought issue. Franklin residents have had debates in the past about budgets and cuts. Questions of overrides came up particularly the late 2000s. So I think really letting each side make their case will be really important.
FM – The Franklin voters asks: Why should I vote for you?
EE - That's a great question. My commitment has always been to bring transparency to the Council and to government overall. Hopefully that will help to increase participation in our local government. That's been my mission from the start and it's something I'm continuing to do. I am looking to serve the town for another two years. I think I bring a lot of drive to really see the town succeed by bringing together potentially disparate voices in the town. You have perhaps the perspective of a homeowner that is different than a business owner. Trying to bring all of these folks, all of the stakeholders, to the table is really my goal.
I think what I bring the second time around coming at this is quite a bit more experience. I've scaled the learning curve. I've also helped to bridge Franklin to other communities. Apparently, I may be the first person from the Franklin Town Council, other than the administrators in the past 10 years, to participate in the Mass Municipal Association (MMA).
I've really been working to bring in lessons and connections however they can serve the town, from other communities. I sit down with mayors, with DPW directors, with policy experts, learning continuously try to bring those lessons back to Franklin and then share them with the community.
I think the final thing I would add is that my door is always open. I do pick up my phone I do respond to your email. I really try to get back to people. For some reason, if I can't get back at the moment you call, I always get back to you later. It's really affirming that commitment.
To contact Eamon for any follow up questions:
Eamon McCarthy Earls
127 King St--Unit 303
127 King St--Unit 303
(508) 902-8052
 |
| Eamon McCarthy Earls (Town of Franklin photo) |
HockomockSports.com - Player of the Week: Cailyn Mackintosh, Franklin Volleyball
"Franklin sophomore Cailyn Mackintosh has been selected as the HockomockSports.com Player of the Week, presented by Morse Insurance, for Sept. 29 through Oct. 5. Mackintosh is the fifth player chosen as Player of the Week for the 2019-20 school year.Continue reading about Cailyn
Mackintosh had a busy week setting up the Franklin hitters, helping the Panthers win both games, including a five-set thriller against Bishop Feehan. The sophomore, who has stepped into the setting role that was held last year by HockomockSports.com Player of the Year Lauren McGrath, totaled 67 assists over the two games last week and was strong at the service line for the Panthers.
“For being so young, her volleyball IQ is right up there with everyone else,” said Franklin head coach Kelsey Weymouth. “Getting her feet to every ball and her decision making has been key when we’re in a rut!”
https://hockomocksports.com/player-of-the-week-cailyn-mackintosh-franklin-volleyball/
 |
| Player of the Week: Cailyn Mackintosh, Franklin Volleyball |
FHS girls and boys soccer, volleyball, field hockey, and boys cross country teams post wins
Via HockomockSports.com, we share the results of the FHS fall sports action on Monday, Oct 8, 2019
** Boys Soccer = Attleboro, 0 @ Franklin, 4 – Final
– After leading by one at halftime, Franklin found of the back of the net three times in the second half to pull away from the Bombardiers. Jacob Cummings scored for the third straight game for Franklin, scoring a pair of goals in the win. Lucas Moura opened the scoring in the first half, going in alone on the keeper on a feed from Matt Szczepanowski to put the Panthers ahead 1-0. Cummings nodded in a header from Ethan Cain’s corner to make it 2-0, senior Sam Stowell converted a penalty kick, and Cummings powered his way to another goal to make it 4-0. Senior Jack Rudolph played well in net for the Panthers.
** Girls Soccer = Franklin, 1 @ Attleboro, 0 – Final
– In a game that was affected by heavy winds, Franklin got the game’s only goal 11 minutes into the second half. Sabrina Addi’s free kick bounced around in the box and Chloe Barca prodded it home. The Bombardiers played well defensively, according to head coach Steve Santos, but struggled to create scoring opportunities. He praised Sophia Salviati and Emily Antonik for holding down the Attleboro defensive unit.
** Field Hockey = Attleboro, 1 @ Franklin, 2 – Final
– Franklin scored a pair of early goals and flexed its defensive muscles to earn a win over visiting Attleboro. Lelia Frankina put the Panthers ahead just over two minutes into the game, and Kaitlyn Carney doubled the advantage 39 seconds later. Attleboro’s Anna Beck cut the deficit in half on an assist from Emelia Westwater. Franklin goalie Neilee Hess made seven saves in the win.
** Volleyball= Attleboro, 0 @ Franklin, 3 – Final
– Franklin defended home court with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-11, 25-13) sweep over visiting Attleboro. Sophomore Cailyn Mackintosh paced the offense with 16 assists while freshman Meghan Linkilla played well, adding nine assists. Allyson Bonnet-Eymard put down 13 kills and Bridget Jackson finished with six aces for the Panthers.
** Boys Cross Country = Oliver Ames, 32 @ Franklin, 23 – Final
– Franklin had three of the top four runners and four of the top seven to earn a win over Oliver Ames. Tyler Brogan (16:34) and Nicholas Calitri (16:39) finished five seconds apart to take first and second.
Results: 1. Tyler Brogan, Fra (16:34) 2. Nicholas Calitri, Fra (16:39) 4. Camden Harrington, Fra (17:08) 7. Declan Walmsley, Fra (17:39) 9. Clancy Golden, Fra (17:56)
** Girls Cross Country = Oliver Ames, 27 @ Franklin, 28 – Final
** Golf = Franklin, 161 @ Canton, 155 – Final
– In a battle of two of the top teams in the Hockomock League, Canton prevailed with the win and stayed unbeaten on the season. Conor Hunter earned match medalist honors, firing a low round of 37. Chris Lavoie and Mike Leonetti each shot 39 in the win. Franklin’s Jack Paterson led the way for the Panthers with a 38 while Brian Sandham added a 40 and Pat Dolan finished with a 41.
For other results around the Hockomock League
https://hockomocksports.com/mondays-schedule-scoreboard-10-07-19/
** Boys Soccer = Attleboro, 0 @ Franklin, 4 – Final
– After leading by one at halftime, Franklin found of the back of the net three times in the second half to pull away from the Bombardiers. Jacob Cummings scored for the third straight game for Franklin, scoring a pair of goals in the win. Lucas Moura opened the scoring in the first half, going in alone on the keeper on a feed from Matt Szczepanowski to put the Panthers ahead 1-0. Cummings nodded in a header from Ethan Cain’s corner to make it 2-0, senior Sam Stowell converted a penalty kick, and Cummings powered his way to another goal to make it 4-0. Senior Jack Rudolph played well in net for the Panthers.
** Girls Soccer = Franklin, 1 @ Attleboro, 0 – Final
– In a game that was affected by heavy winds, Franklin got the game’s only goal 11 minutes into the second half. Sabrina Addi’s free kick bounced around in the box and Chloe Barca prodded it home. The Bombardiers played well defensively, according to head coach Steve Santos, but struggled to create scoring opportunities. He praised Sophia Salviati and Emily Antonik for holding down the Attleboro defensive unit.
** Field Hockey = Attleboro, 1 @ Franklin, 2 – Final
– Franklin scored a pair of early goals and flexed its defensive muscles to earn a win over visiting Attleboro. Lelia Frankina put the Panthers ahead just over two minutes into the game, and Kaitlyn Carney doubled the advantage 39 seconds later. Attleboro’s Anna Beck cut the deficit in half on an assist from Emelia Westwater. Franklin goalie Neilee Hess made seven saves in the win.
** Volleyball= Attleboro, 0 @ Franklin, 3 – Final
– Franklin defended home court with a 3-0 (25-15, 25-11, 25-13) sweep over visiting Attleboro. Sophomore Cailyn Mackintosh paced the offense with 16 assists while freshman Meghan Linkilla played well, adding nine assists. Allyson Bonnet-Eymard put down 13 kills and Bridget Jackson finished with six aces for the Panthers.
** Boys Cross Country = Oliver Ames, 32 @ Franklin, 23 – Final
– Franklin had three of the top four runners and four of the top seven to earn a win over Oliver Ames. Tyler Brogan (16:34) and Nicholas Calitri (16:39) finished five seconds apart to take first and second.
Results: 1. Tyler Brogan, Fra (16:34) 2. Nicholas Calitri, Fra (16:39) 4. Camden Harrington, Fra (17:08) 7. Declan Walmsley, Fra (17:39) 9. Clancy Golden, Fra (17:56)
** Girls Cross Country = Oliver Ames, 27 @ Franklin, 28 – Final
** Golf = Franklin, 161 @ Canton, 155 – Final
– In a battle of two of the top teams in the Hockomock League, Canton prevailed with the win and stayed unbeaten on the season. Conor Hunter earned match medalist honors, firing a low round of 37. Chris Lavoie and Mike Leonetti each shot 39 in the win. Franklin’s Jack Paterson led the way for the Panthers with a 38 while Brian Sandham added a 40 and Pat Dolan finished with a 41.
For other results around the Hockomock League
https://hockomocksports.com/mondays-schedule-scoreboard-10-07-19/
 |
| FHS girls and boys soccer, volleyball, field hockey, and boys cross country teams post wins |
50+ JOB SEEKERS Networking Group - Oct 11
Franklin Senior Center, 10 Daniel McCahill St.
Phone: 508-520-4945Friday, October 11 9:00 – 11:00 AM
Doors open at 8:30 AM for networking!
Facilitator: Edward Lawrence; Career Coach
Co-facilitator: Erin Rogers; Social Services Coordinator
We start by addressing the issue of values. What are they and why do they matter during the job-search? You’ll learn how values shape your areas of long-term interest and satisfaction. They define what’s really important to you in your next role. Only after you know your values is it worth identifying your marketable and transferable core competencies.
Next we will guide you through a self-assessment process to help you define your behavioral preferences and personality type.
Knowing yourself--your values and preferences--will help you determine realistic career goals in terms of job options, industries, compensation and other key job search parameters.
This is your first step in mastering the 21st century job-search in the world of Millennials.
Pre-Registration is Required: www.mcoaonline.com/50plusregistration
For additional information about this program, please contact Erin Rogers; Social Services Coordinator, Franklin Senior Center; https://www.franklinma.gov/user/52/contact
 |
| 50+ JOB SEEKERS Networking Group - Oct 11 |
Flyer for this session:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0wjbnXDBhczU1ZlbkVNanJQSGppaEYxLTB6cThYQmMwQXhn/view?usp=sharing
Master schedule including future topics:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0wjbnXDBhczSmo5Mk9qRndQMkFSWGNEbEZFT3c0SmxPaHJv/view?usp=sharing
“If you’re on a beer trip, you’re coming here”
From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:
"Three years ago, Jay Mello and two of his hiking buddies decided they were “sick of waiting in long lines for a beer.”
So they started brewing their own in the winter of 2016, and haven’t stopped. Though Mello admits, making your own beer wasn’t the easiest shortcut to take.
By the summer of 2020, the trio plans to open their new craft beer brewery and tasting room – As Built Brewery – in Franklin at 40 Alpine Row. The brewery will be the town’s first.
As Built will be located in a 6,000-square-foot space within the town’s downtown zoning district and will include a production area and a canning machine – the only brewery to have one in the area, said Mello. He calls the canning line “key to brewing,” and getting their beer in more people’s hands. Eventually, the brewery hopes to distribute their beer to local liquor stores."
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20191005/as-built-brewery-plans-to-open-in-franklin-next-summer
 |
| As Built Brewery |
You can find out more about As Built on their webpage http://asbuiltbrewing.com/
on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pg/asbuiltbrewing
or at UnTappd https://untappd.com/AsBuiltBrewingCo?
In the News: no charter school for MIlford
From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20191007/proposed-milford-charter-school-put-on-hold
Via Senate President Spilka's office:
"Today (October 3), the Massachusetts Senate unanimously passed the Student Opportunity Act, an unprecedented $1.5 billion new investment in Massachusetts K-12 public education. This legislation ensures public schools have adequate resources to provide high-quality education to students across the state, regardless of zip code or income level. Assuming inflation, over time the bill could provide an estimated $2.2 billion.
The Student Opportunity Act significantly helps school districts that serve high concentrations of low-income students. At the same time, school districts across the Commonwealth will benefit from updates to the existing funding formula, along with increased state investment in other vital education aid programs such as transportation, school construction and renovation and special education. The bill passed 39-0.
“With the passage of the Student Opportunity Act, the Senate is reaffirming its commitment to the idea that providing a quality public education is not a luxury—it is both our greatest
responsibility and our greatest opportunity as a state,” said Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). “I am proud of the diligent and thoughtful work done by Senator Jason Lewis, the education committee and the Senate, as well as the tireless work and advocacy done by students, parents, teachers, administrators, advocates and others to bring this bill to fruition.
Massachusetts made a commitment to public education in the 18th century, and today we are much closer to bringing that commitment into the 21st century to meet the needs of students today. I look forward to this bill passing the House and becoming law.”
“Access to a high-quality public education is a fundamental right for every child, and that's why the Student Opportunity Act will make an unprecedented $1.5 billion investment in our public schools, ensuring that school districts across the Commonwealth have adequate and equitable resources to provide all students, especially those facing adversity, with a high-quality public education,” said Senator Jason Lewis, Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Education (D- Winchester). “The passage of the Student Opportunity Act today marks a bold step into the 21st century for our public schools of Massachusetts and for all future generations of students."
Taking into account these new investments, policy updates and the needs of all types of districts, the Student Opportunity Act creates new ways to monitor and measure progress, support effective approaches to closing opportunity gaps, and deliver results for all students.
“Ensuring equal and adequate funding for the education of future generations is one of the most important issues we face as lawmakers. The Student Opportunity Act takes bold steps to close the achievement gap by implementing the recommendations of the Foundation Budget Review Commission and increasing funding for all school districts,” said Senator Joan B. Lovely (D-Salem), Senate Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Education (D-Salem). “I appreciate the hard work that Chair Lewis, President Spilka, Chair Rodrigues, and my Committee colleagues put into crafting this historic, once-in-a-generation bill."
The Student Opportunity Act fully implements the recommendations of the 2015 Foundation Budget Review Commission (FBRC) ensuring that the school funding formula provides adequate and equitable funding to all districts across the state. The bill provides an estimated $1.4 billion in new Chapter 70 aid over and above inflation when fully implemented over the next seven years. The bill modernizes the K-12 education funding and policy landscape in four areas:
In addition to implementing the FBRC’s recommended formula changes, the Student Opportunity Act provides additional state financial support in several categories to help public schools and communities deliver a high-quality education to every student. Those fiscal supports include:
In addition to new funding and other support, the Student Opportunity Act establishes the 21st Century Education Trust Fund to provide districts and school’s access to flexible funding to pursuing creative approaches to student learning and district improvement.
In order to track and reproduce successful school and district-level innovations and policies, the legislation calls on school districts to develop and make publicly available plans for closing opportunity gaps. These plans will include specific goals and metrics to track success.
In addition, the Secretary of Education will collect and publish data on student preparedness in each district for post-graduate success in college and the workforce.
Moreover, the Student Opportunity Act establishes a Data Advisory Commission to help improve the use of data at the state, district, and school levels to inform strategies that strengthen teaching, learning and resource allocation.
Following robust debate on the floor, the Senate also adopted several amendments to the Student Opportunity Act related to recovery high schools, Massachusetts School Building Authority and municipal fiscal challenges related to Ch70.
To ensure that education-funding levels remain adequate, effective and equitable, the legislation also includes forward looking provisions to address additional funding challenges and policy areas. The Student Opportunity Act:
The legislation now moves to the Massachusetts House of Representatives for their consideration.
"The town will not get a charter school anytime soon.
The state recently announced that all four proposals to start new charter schools will not be invited to submit a final application this fall. Among the hopefuls was the proposed Leading Edge Charter School, which would have been based in Milford and served up to 270 students in kindergarten through eighth grade from Milford, Bellingham, Blackstone-Millville, Hopedale, Medway, Mendon-Upton and Uxbridge.
Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley made his decision “based upon a review of each prospectus against the application criteria,” according to the announcement from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Nadine Clifford, an assistant principal at Stacy Middle School, was listed as the developer and founder in documents submitted for the proposed school."
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20191007/proposed-milford-charter-school-put-on-hold
Via Senate President Spilka's office:
"Today (October 3), the Massachusetts Senate unanimously passed the Student Opportunity Act, an unprecedented $1.5 billion new investment in Massachusetts K-12 public education. This legislation ensures public schools have adequate resources to provide high-quality education to students across the state, regardless of zip code or income level. Assuming inflation, over time the bill could provide an estimated $2.2 billion.
The Student Opportunity Act significantly helps school districts that serve high concentrations of low-income students. At the same time, school districts across the Commonwealth will benefit from updates to the existing funding formula, along with increased state investment in other vital education aid programs such as transportation, school construction and renovation and special education. The bill passed 39-0.
“With the passage of the Student Opportunity Act, the Senate is reaffirming its commitment to the idea that providing a quality public education is not a luxury—it is both our greatest
responsibility and our greatest opportunity as a state,” said Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). “I am proud of the diligent and thoughtful work done by Senator Jason Lewis, the education committee and the Senate, as well as the tireless work and advocacy done by students, parents, teachers, administrators, advocates and others to bring this bill to fruition.
Massachusetts made a commitment to public education in the 18th century, and today we are much closer to bringing that commitment into the 21st century to meet the needs of students today. I look forward to this bill passing the House and becoming law.”
“Access to a high-quality public education is a fundamental right for every child, and that's why the Student Opportunity Act will make an unprecedented $1.5 billion investment in our public schools, ensuring that school districts across the Commonwealth have adequate and equitable resources to provide all students, especially those facing adversity, with a high-quality public education,” said Senator Jason Lewis, Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Education (D- Winchester). “The passage of the Student Opportunity Act today marks a bold step into the 21st century for our public schools of Massachusetts and for all future generations of students."
Taking into account these new investments, policy updates and the needs of all types of districts, the Student Opportunity Act creates new ways to monitor and measure progress, support effective approaches to closing opportunity gaps, and deliver results for all students.
“Ensuring equal and adequate funding for the education of future generations is one of the most important issues we face as lawmakers. The Student Opportunity Act takes bold steps to close the achievement gap by implementing the recommendations of the Foundation Budget Review Commission and increasing funding for all school districts,” said Senator Joan B. Lovely (D-Salem), Senate Vice Chair of the Joint Committee on Education (D-Salem). “I appreciate the hard work that Chair Lewis, President Spilka, Chair Rodrigues, and my Committee colleagues put into crafting this historic, once-in-a-generation bill."
The Student Opportunity Act fully implements the recommendations of the 2015 Foundation Budget Review Commission (FBRC) ensuring that the school funding formula provides adequate and equitable funding to all districts across the state. The bill provides an estimated $1.4 billion in new Chapter 70 aid over and above inflation when fully implemented over the next seven years. The bill modernizes the K-12 education funding and policy landscape in four areas:
- Estimates school districts’ employee and retiree health care costs using up to date health insurance trend data collected by the state’s Group Insurance Commission (GIC).
- Increases special education enrollment and cost assumptions to more accurately reflect district enrollment.
- Increases funding for English learners (EL) that is differentiated by grade level to reflect the greater resources required to educate our older EL students.
- Addresses the needs of districts educating high concentrations of students from low- income households by:
- Providing additional funding based on the share of low-income students in each district; districts educating the largest percentage of low-income students will receive an additional increment equal to 100% of the base foundation;
- Returning the definition of low-income to 185% of the Federal Poverty Level, as opposed to the 133% level that has been used in recent years.
In addition to implementing the FBRC’s recommended formula changes, the Student Opportunity Act provides additional state financial support in several categories to help public schools and communities deliver a high-quality education to every student. Those fiscal supports include:
- Increasing foundation rates for guidance and psychological services in recognition of the growing need for expanded social-emotional support and mental health services.
- A commitment to fully funding charter school tuition reimbursement, which provide transitional aid to help districts when students leave to attend charter schools, within a three-year timetable.
- Expanding over four years the special education circuit breaker, which reimburses districts for extraordinary special education costs, to include transportation costs in addition to instructional cost.
- Raising, as the result of a further amendment, the annual cap on Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA)spending, for construction and renovation by $200 million (from $600 million to 800 million) , enabling more projects across the state to be accepted into the MSBA funding pipeline, which reimburses towns and cities for a portion of school building costs.
In addition to new funding and other support, the Student Opportunity Act establishes the 21st Century Education Trust Fund to provide districts and school’s access to flexible funding to pursuing creative approaches to student learning and district improvement.
In order to track and reproduce successful school and district-level innovations and policies, the legislation calls on school districts to develop and make publicly available plans for closing opportunity gaps. These plans will include specific goals and metrics to track success.
In addition, the Secretary of Education will collect and publish data on student preparedness in each district for post-graduate success in college and the workforce.
Moreover, the Student Opportunity Act establishes a Data Advisory Commission to help improve the use of data at the state, district, and school levels to inform strategies that strengthen teaching, learning and resource allocation.
Following robust debate on the floor, the Senate also adopted several amendments to the Student Opportunity Act related to recovery high schools, Massachusetts School Building Authority and municipal fiscal challenges related to Ch70.
To ensure that education-funding levels remain adequate, effective and equitable, the legislation also includes forward looking provisions to address additional funding challenges and policy areas. The Student Opportunity Act:
- Directs the Department of Revenue (DOR) and DESE to analyze the method of determining required local contributions in the Chapter 70 school funding formula for the purpose of improving equity, predictability and accuracy; and
- Establishes a Rural Schools Commission to investigate the unique challenges facing rural and regional school districts with low and declining enrollment. The Commission will make recommendations for further updates to help impacted districts and communities.
The legislation now moves to the Massachusetts House of Representatives for their consideration.
“This bill is not just about our past, it’s about our future”
From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20191007/franklins-roy-behind-genocide-education-bill
For additional details on this proposed legislation
https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H566
"Days after the 2016 election, a swastika was discovered painted on the side of Mount Tom in Easthampton, alongside anti-Semitic and pro-Donald Trump messages.
Henia Lewin, a survivor of the Holocaust who lives in Amherst, described it as a “wakeup call” and the motivation she needed to share her story.
Lewin was one-and-a-half years old in 1941 when she was smuggled by her parents in a suitcase out of a Lithuanian ghetto set up that summer by invading Nazi forces. She now tells her survival story to students and teachers around the state, hoping that by educating young people about what happened in Europe she can discourage hatred and prejudice in the future.
“I have found that people don’t know about the Holocaust, not just kids in school and college students, but even adults,” Lewis told the Joint Committee on Education on Monday."
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20191007/franklins-roy-behind-genocide-education-bill
For additional details on this proposed legislation
https://malegislature.gov/Bills/191/H566
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)