"teachers are dedicated professionals"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Mar 31, 2009 @ 12:47 AM

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Despite comments to the contrary from the Franklin Education Association president, school and town officials say they remain optimistic the teachers union will forgo their negotiated raises to save jobs.

Chandler Creedon, president of the association, which represents about 600 teachers, educational aides, nurses and van drivers, has said the union is unlikely to go along with the School Committee's call for a salary freeze.

Moreover, he said, not all alternatives to the unprecedented cost-saving measure have been explored - such as the $1.2 million in savings he and the union have identified, for instance.

School Committee Chairman Jeffrey Roy, members Susan Rohrbach, Ed Cafasso, and Town Councilor Stephen Whalen questioned whether Creedon's remarks represent the union majority, and hope members will meet soon and express their feelings on the freeze.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

State Education Mandates - Part 10

From time to time, particular around the budget period, reference is generally made to Franklin Public Schools having to support "unfunded mandates." I managed to find a listing of such compiled by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. This is part 10 of the series:

According to the MA DOE website an explanation of SIMS and EPIMS can be found here:

• Student Information Management Systems (SIMS)
• Education Personnel Information Management System (EPIMS)

SIMS & EPIMS

The state requires that each district have software in place that will allow districts to report data on all students and staff in a format that is compatible with the state databases. This process has been very time-consuming and costly to districts for training and updates.

With EPIMS, the labor and technology costs of providing the information to DESE are significant. Many hours are required to collect and verify information, upload it to DESE, and continually review to ensure accuracy. Administrative costs are incurred to complete the Teacher Quality Improvement Plan (TQIP) and update information. In addition, significant time is consumed by communicating with teachers and administrators to ensure validity of reporting.

With respect to SIMS, it must be recognized the reporting requirements consume significant secretarial hours and require extensive technology fund investment in terms of hardware (administrative computers) and reporting systems (student software programs). There are multiple reports required during the course of the school year.

Reporting & Auditing

The school district must provide timely reports to the state throughout the year. There is a financial end-of-year report that takes a great deal of time to prepare. An outside auditing firm must audit this report each year.

Student Activity Accounts

In a town it is required that these funds be kept in accounts under control of the Town Treasurer. The funds are deposited in an agency fund. Each school has a checkbook that allows the school to keep a small amount of cash to pay bills as needed. The checking accounts are reimbursed through a system that requires them to complete a form for reimbursement and attach the documentation. This is sent to the Business Office for verification and then sent to the Treasurer’s Office. These accounts must have a minimum of an internal audit yearly and an audit from an outside firm every three years. The town auditors perform a yearly audit on these accounts. Although this allows for more accountability, it adds a great deal of time to the workload of existing staff to monitor and process the transactions.

The full listing is available here (DOC)

What the heck is Goomoodleikiog?

Goomoodleikiog?
What the heck is Goomoodleikiog?

Click to watch this brief (less than 4 minutes) video about transforming teaching in plain english. The creators pay homage to Common Craft with their presentation on how to transform the old paper based teaching with Google, Moodle, Wikis and Blogs.




Enjoy!

My thanks to WNY Education Associates for sharing this posting!

"there are not enough homes for sale for buyers"

From Kathy Stankard, a Franklin based ReMax realtor:

It means that homes are selling faster than previously expected, usually around 4 months, if they are priced right. The data also tells us some other interesting things:

• homes priced under $450,000 are the most sought after price range
• there are not enough homes for sale for buyers
• homes are selling relatively close to their asking price

See the table of info that drove these conclusions here.

State Education Mandates - Part 9

From time to time, particular around the budget period, reference is generally made to Franklin Public Schools having to support "unfunded mandates." I managed to find a listing of such compiled by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. This is Part 9 of the series:

Staffing

Professional Development - with the enactment of Education Reform, all teachers and other professional staff must be re-certified every five years. The district must provide professional development required for re-certification, with no cost to the individual employee.

Highly Qualified Staff – this requirement is a mandate that ensures employment of and reporting on highly qualified staff members and requires a substantial investment of time and money at all school levels. In many cases, there is insufficient guidance for districts that enables administrators to assist teachers and professional staff to meet the requirements established by DESE. (For example, appropriate licensure and completion of a designated number of courses is required for teaching assignments for which licensure may not exist at this time.)

Foster Care & State Wards

Districts are required to educate students who have been placed by the state in foster care and state ward settings. If a student has special needs, the town is responsible for that student’s education, even if the student is enrolled in a day or residential school that is not in town.

• Districts are also responsible for the transportation for the student. However, the local district is only responsible for regular day/vocational education of these pupils. When that student requires special education, which cost can be billed back to the district from which the student came.

Grant Percentages of Federal Grant Funds to Private Schools

School districts are required to give a percentage of grants funded under the No Child Left Behind Act to all private schools whether or not our students attend the schools. The percentage is based on total school and district populations. The district must provide reading services from its Title I grant to all schools within the state that our students attend if the schools meet certain criteria.

The full listing is available here (DOC)

Cafe Dolce - BJ and Dave are all smiles!

I stopped by to talk with BJ Carlucci and David Purpura, the owners and operators of the soon to open Cafe Dolce.

The new sign is up and shining. The interior space is ready for the furniture delivery. The inspections are due soon. Once that occurs, then the food can start being delivered. The staff, already hired, can begin training in preparation for the ribbon cutting currently targeted for Monday April 6th about 9:00 AM.

Their normal hours will start at 5:30 AM to 9:00 PM. They want to catch the early train traffic. Given the recent parking fare increase (now $4.00/day), I have noticed more folks walking or being dropped off to take the train. That walking traffic will now have the option of stopping at Cafe Dolce for something to eat/drank on the ride into Boston.




There are plenty of electrical outlets along the walls. BJ and Dave confirmed that they wanted at least one at each table to allow someone with a laptop to come and plug in. As I would be one of those visitors, I noticed that feature and will be making use of it.

They are the first business to have installed some special energy saving 17W lights from D'Daddario. The lighting is good and can be adjusted. The background music is a jazzy-Frank Sinatra mix that should be conducive to good conversations.

I can hardly wait until they open. I think they will do well. Franklin needs a good coffeehouse downtown. BJ and Dave are doing a lot of smiling as the opening approaches. They have the desire to make this work.

Attn: Franklin MBTA Commuters

There are two group efforts you should be aware of and might want to consider joining.

1 - Put the MBTA on Google Maps

People who live in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Moscow, Montreal, and some 250 other cities can log on to Google Maps not only for walking and driving directions but also for instructions on how to get to where they need to go via public transportation.

Bostonians do not have that option, but a 20-year-old college student from Cambridge is trying to do something about it.

Last month, Luke Bornheimer created a Facebook group - which he named "Put the MBTA on Google Transit!!!" - to petition the MBTA to list the city's buses and trains with Google Maps. The group's membership grew to 135 people in less than a month.

"It seems so simple, and frankly the Boston area as a whole looks a little silly for not having their transit authority's buses and trains listed on the website," Bornheimer wrote on the group's site. "So . . . invite all your friends, anyone who rides the T, or simply someone who feels that this is a logical and simple step to more accessibility for the MBTA and Boston."

Read the full article in the Boston Globe here

Join the Facebook group here

2 - Join Clever Commute

Clever Commute is a service that enables you to share with the other riders on your T route (i.e. the Franklin Line) what you see happening with service. Many a morning at the Franklin station, I could see the trains sitting in the yard not moving, the T Alert status board continuing to scroll "All trains are on or near schedule" and we could tell that was a lie.

You probably carry a cell phone that can send a text message. All you would need to do is enroll your phone for the Franklin Line and you can send status updates. By enrolling, you also will receive status updates by others in the group. This is a great tool to share information in a timely manner. Something you are well aware that the T can not do consistently.

Visit the Clever Commute website here.

Other articles published about Clever Commute can be found here

Join the Franklin Line with these steps

1. On the Clever Commute home page, select "Find your line"
2. From the drop down box, Select "Commurer Rail", then Select "Boston"
3. The screen should refresh to provide the MBTA commuter rail lines, check off Franklin
4. Complete the remaining information
5. Watch for the confirmation email, reply to confirm enrollment
   
6. Review the reporting tips and guidelines
7. Provide and receive updates on the Franklin line status

(Note: when I used Internet Explore to test the setup process, the screen refreshed to provide the proper choice of lines to choose from within Boston. When using Firefox, the screen did not refresh. Hence, use Internet Explorer to enroll.)