Wednesday, February 25, 2009

School Committee Mtg 02/24/09

The summary of live reports from the School Committee meeting 2/24/09 are collected here

"Alina should be viewed as a representative among winners"

GHS
Posted Feb 24, 2009 @ 11:21 PM

FRANKLIN —

The competition for the Massachusetts Junior Miss 2009 title at Horace Mann Middle School was fierce, said Franklin High senior Alina Ostrow.

Fourteen teenage girls, each in the top 10 percent of their class, gathered in the Thomas Mercer Auditorium for the two-day competition last weekend.

Each displayed a talent honed since childhood.

And all spoke their minds and strutted their athletic prowess on stage, doing push-ups and more challenging variations of push-ups in a choreographed aerobic routine designed to test their strength, balance and agility.

Read the full article about Alina Ostrow in the Milford Daily News here


"an interesting relationship to JFK's assassination"

GHS
Posted Feb 25, 2009 @ 12:38 AM

FRANKLIN —

The date was April 28, 1961. The place, Chicago. President John F. Kennedy arrived at McCormick Place exhibition center to thank Mayor Richard J. Daley for helping him win the election.

Abraham Bolden remembers it like it was yesterday - cameras flashing, people knocking each other over to get a peek at the young president.

Bolden, a newly minted Secret Service agent, was stationed in front of the restroom in the lower level of the building, for which his colleagues teased him mercilessly. "Normally, a Chicago policeman would hold down such a detail, so my chances of seeing the president were slim to zero at that post."

"Lo and behold, I look up at the top of the steps, and there is President John F. Kennedy. The first thing he wants to do is use the washroom," recalled 73-year-old Bolden.

That chance encounter set into motion a chain of events that changed Bolden's life in ways he never imagined.

Read the full article about the Secret Service experience of Mr Bolden in the Milford Daily News here.

Attend the presentation at the Horace Mann/Thomas Mercer Auditorium 2/25/09 at 7:00 PM


"This group is remarkable, their talent is remarkable"

GHS
Posted Feb 25, 2009 @ 12:39 AM

FRANKLIN —

On their own volition, 51 school administrators and non-union secretaries volunteered to freeze their salaries and forgo any kind of pay increases, School Committee Chairman Jeffrey Roy announced last night.

The group, which made the decision unanimously, includes superintendent-in-waiting Maureen Sabolinksi, all central office staff, every principal, every assistant principal, and every non-union secretary in the district, Roy said.

"It's rather good news," Roy said, noting that the group had organized to find a way to help, in response to the committee's call to "dig deep" to keep the school system intact.

"They took that initiative, they all stepped up to the plate and took on personal sacrifice. That's leadership by example," Roy said.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

Jeff Roy has a similar post on the Franklin School Committee blog here

My live reporting notes from the School Committee meeting when this was announced can be found here


Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Live reporting - Information matters

Superintendent - While the program of studies is available online and will be printed for the 8th grade students it is not a guarantee that each course will run in September. Some classes due to under-enrollment do not run, others may due to the budget be adjusted. That would become known as we go forward.

SubCommittee Reports
Trahan - Financial Planning committee working on the final report. The Town wide forum date is still being determined.

Adjorn

Live reporting - action items

4. Action Items
  1. I recommend budget transfers as detailed. Approved 7-0
  2. I recommend acceptance of the anonymous donation of $10,000 for the Ruth Reitzas Scholarship Fund at the FHS. Approved 7-0 (actually have about $85,000 in the scholarship fund)
  3. I recommend the acceptance of a check for $5,000 from the Oak Street PCC for the following field trips: K: Davis Farmland; Gr 2: Stony Brook; and Gr. 4: Fine Arts. Approved 7-0
  4. I recommend adoption of Sub Committee Minutes Policy & Exhibit BEDGG/BEDGG-E. Approved 7-0
  5. I recommend action be taken regarding the make-up day for the HM/Oak/ECDC Complex. Approved 5-2 to add to the last day of the year
  6. I recommend approval of the Horace Mann MS Trip to Trinity Repertory Theatre in Providence, RI to see the play “A Raisin in the Sun”. Approved 7-0
  7. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1,000 from the Singleton Family Foundation for Special Education programs/equipment at FHS. Approved 7-0
  8. I recommend approval of the recurring Washington, D.C. field trip for Remington Middle School students in April, 2009. Approved 7-0
Extended discussion on the make up day:

$3500 on Good Friday, $2600 to make up at end of the year - recommend making up the day on Good Friday

The HM/Oak/ECDC complex make up day is not due to snow but due to the water/mechanical problem at the beginning of the school year. Do need to make up the day, did apply for the waiver but do need to meet the 180 day requirement by certification in July.

While we are over the hours (990 vs 900 req'd) we are pushing it due to field days and other in school activities that we can't count toward educational hours.

If the parents don't want to send their students due to religious reasons, then this would count as an excused absence.

Not a good choice, Good Friday the best educational choice.

Motion - add the make up day after the last day of school passed 5-2

live reporting - Discussion only items

3. Discussion Only Items
  • Budget to Actual
These transfers were fully vetted with the budget subcommittee prior to this meeting

  • Second Reading – Sub Committee Minutes Policy & Exhibit BEDGG/BEDGG-E
Add "follow up items" to the template form itself