"There was no mention"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News

Posted May 26, 2009 @ 11:12 PM

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FRANKLIN —

The School Committee last night voted to continue until June 9 its public hearing on the fiscal 2010 budget, wanting to give the public another opportunity to be heard.

School administrators are still waiting to hear from the state about how much local aid and other funding Franklin will receive, said Superintendent Wayne Ogden and Assistant Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski.

To provide the same level of services and teachers as last year, the district needs a budget of $53.8 million, but through reductions in expenses (such as health care premiums, wage freezes for administrators and non-union staff), the district needs $53.29 million, Ogden said.

Administrators expect the district will receive $1.5 million via circuit breaker aid (reimbursement for special education costs), state and federal stimulus funds, what is called "extraordinary relief" for special education costs, and funds for School Choice.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

Live reporting - New business/Closing

Kelly - The fund raiser for the ECDC, notifications can be found here on Franklin Matters

A big thank you to all the bands for their performance for the Memorial Day parade.

Trahan - to thank the town, it was a wonderful day and a great community effort.

Slight - The cuts in PE/Health, 69% of the kids drink and the first line of defense is activity. Health education is a huge problem..

Ogden - the point is still a string one, it will still be a requirement it but just not as frequently.

Roy - Bob Fahey indicated that the school had participated to a great extent in the fund raising for the monument. We are looking to get them here to recognize their efforts. It might not be until September but Mr Fahey will be here to recognize them.

Motion to go into Executive Session, not to return to public meeting, passed 7-0

Live reporting - Superintendents report

Preliminary report, shows a possible 10 retirements, four officially have filed the paperwork, the other six have the paperwork but not turned it in yet.

This may give us some flexibility with keeping some staff by using the retirement to avoid a layoff.

Live reporting - Action items

4. Action Items

• I recommend to amend the preamble of the existing agreement of the Bi-County Collaborative to include the School Committee of the Town of Walpole, MA. approved 7-0
  
• I recommend approval of the Parmenter Primary Learning Center field trip to Roger Williams Park, in Providence, RI on June 2, 2009. approved 7-0
• I recommend approval of the 2009-2010 School Committee Meeting Schedule. Amend calendar to July 21st from July 13th approved 7-0
• I recommend approval of the budget transfers as detailed. approved 7-0
• I recommend acceptance of the donation of $5,000.00 to the FHS Science department in memory of Mr. Donald Redpath from the Sanofi Pasteur Company. approved 7-0
• I recommend approval of the request of Peter Light to declare the attached list of additional FHS Library books as surplus. approved 7-0
• I recommend acceptance the following checks for the Franklin High School Scholarships as listed: approved 7-0

1. $500.00 from Alan Guidrey for the Susan E. Guidrey Memorial.
2. $500.00 from Carla & Richard Guidrey for the Susan E. Guidrey Memorial.
3. $500.00 from Philip & Jennifer Guidrey for the Susan E. Guidrey Memorial.
4. $500.00 from Nancy Lovely for the Susan E. Guidrey Memorial.
5. $500.00 from Janet Guidrey for the Susan E. Guidrey Memorial.
6. $5,000.00 from Jessie Lo & Michael Johnson for the Michael N. Johnson Alumni.

• I recommend approval of the RMS Gr. 8 Science field trip to Roger Williams Park Zoo on June 8, 2009 as detailed. approved 7-0

Live reporting - Acceptable Use Policy

The subcommittee will take another crack at this and bring it back

Live reporting - Detailed Questions FY 2010

Armenio - I know this is position related, what impact will this have on the district?
Sabolinski - other districts are adding this position, we are cutting this. That is one impact. We will try and spread some of the reporting around.

Armenio - these are not options, these are requirements
Sabolinski - yes, this will be difficult

Armenio - we're zeroing this out, this will be more of a capital item. When you look at social studies they only went up to the Vietnam War.
Sabolinski - we are replacing books this year that are over a dozen years old.

Cafasso - can you tell me how this is up after years of being down?
Goodman - each school got their allocations and depending upon how they used it at their level, the schools across the board the got the same amount as they got last year, it is their discretion on how they are using it.

Armenio - question on field trips, this was taken out years ago
Goodman - this is a coding issue, all transportation should be in the 3300 series, any non-school to home transportation should be here, so visits between schools, to TriCounty these fall here

Cafasso - Where is this coming from?
Goodman - this is a growth from year to year, there is a contract in place, we have added a bus, some of this is offset with the pay-to-ride fees but this is still underfunded.

Cafasso - This is a philosophical decision that we are not fully funding the cost of the transportation.
Sabolinski - that becomes a bigger philosophical decision when you come to high school sports, those are not fully funded either. the entire population effectively subsidizes the few who use it

Cafasso - my question was designed to see if we were seeing cost increases in the contract?

Rohrbach - Can someone explain what it means?
Waters - We have approx 70 students, a small percent of the total population. There needs are such that we can not provide within the district. Those tuitions can range from 25,000 to 200,000 per student. The total is 3.8 million. We are actually doing better than elsewhere. For a district our size, to have only 70 out of district is good. We have increased programs to keep students within the district here where possible.

Armenio - we are notified of tuition rate increases around Dec 15th?
Waters - The out of district schools can apply for an increase to the State at any time, we have no control over that.

Greydon Smith, citizen - what is our responsibility for special education?
Waters- special education is federally mandated as well as at the State. The students have a right to education, the decisions are made by the team. The number you see is legally mandated.

Citizen - and what is the funding for this?
Ogden - explains that we don't get direct funding for it, the State does participate with "circuit breaker" funds
Goodman - we get reimbursed about 20%

Roy - we have options with what we can do for the public hearing. we can close it for tonight, or continue it to a future date?
Cafasso - I would move to continue the hearing to a future date.

Motion to continue the hearing until June 9th
Passed 6-1

Live reporting - FY 2010 Budget Q and A

Armenio - will the schedule rotate?
Light - we are still working out the details but yes it will rotate

Armenio - fees won't go away, participation may go down, I'm not happy with the fees. What about enrollment?
Light - we are estimating an increase of about 50-75 but things are still in flux

Kelly - The elementary numbers changed from the 3/24/09 presentation, can you explain the difference?
Minkle - The numbers are closer to actual but have been changing; April 30th enrollment, May 15th kindergarten enrollment, with a teacher reduction of 20 (versus 30 prior)

Cafasso - What will happen now with the library space? What will they be used for, how will the students use them?
Sabolinski - Assistance to checkin/checkout books will still exist, teachers can still bring their classes, there just won't be instruction in the library

Cafasso - Hard to predict what extracurriculars will be offered depending upon the teachers remaining and the student interest
Wittcoff - The middle school programs change each year depending upon the teachers and the student interest

Cafasso - Are any left in the district?
Ogden - Yes, elementary level

Cafasso - What is the role of CET in our district?
Wittcoff - They provide support to teachers in instructional practices
Ogden - There is a hope that some of the stimulus funds can be used to restore some of these positions outside of the budget.

Cafasso - Would you like to add anything to this discussion?
Wittcoff - The corner stone of the middle school model is teaming, by teaming, the teachers are sharing the same students. This allows the teachers to share and identify the students for help as required. This level is second only to the elementary level in rate of brain growth. This is a critical period, this model has been in use for 50 years, anything less than this would be a step back in time.

Cafasso - I don't see a fee cap for a family?
Ogden - We did not reach agreement in the subcommittee

Cafasso - I am disappointed with where we are, at a time when the President has announced the first Latino women in an appointment to the Supreme Court, schools are supposed to be the safety net for kids.

Rohrbach - What will PE/Health look like next year?
Ogden - Peter Light (High school principal) has not completed collecting data from the students. I can say it will look different, there will be less. The high school will look more like the elementary model where they get it once a week.