President Obama speaks to students Tuesday on the first day of school for many across America. Of course, Franklin opened their doors last week and Boston opens their doors on the 10th so there is some variation in opening days.
President Reagan spoke to students in 1988. You can view the video of his 36 minute talk and then Q&A period with some students at the White House here
President George H Bush spoke to students at Alice Deal Junior High School in 1991. You can read the text of his address here
The text of President Obama's remarks is available on the White House website here. It will be broadcast via the web or C-Span at noon on Tuesday (Eastern time).
The video promo by NASCAR drivers is included:
Monday, September 7, 2009
School Committee - Agenda - 9/08/09
1. Routine Business
Citizen’s Comments
Review of Agenda
Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the August 25, 2009 School Committee Meeting.
Payment of Bills Mr. Kelly
Payroll Ms. Armenio
FHS Student Representatives – Welcome to the new student representatives: Zach Price (President of Senior Class) and Christie Gianetti (Student Government President)
Correspondence
2. Guests/Presentations
a. School Improvement Plans
3. Discussion Only Items
4. Action Items
5. Information Matters
Superintendent’s Report
School Committee Sub-Committee Reports
School Committee Liaison Reports
6. New Business
To discuss future business that may be brought before the School Committee.
7. Executive Session
Contractual Negotiations
8. Adjourn
Citizen’s Comments
Review of Agenda
Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the August 25, 2009 School Committee Meeting.
Payment of Bills Mr. Kelly
Payroll Ms. Armenio
FHS Student Representatives – Welcome to the new student representatives: Zach Price (President of Senior Class) and Christie Gianetti (Student Government President)
Correspondence
- Budget to Actual
- Letter from Kristen Redpath (donation)
2. Guests/Presentations
a. School Improvement Plans
- Horace Mann Middle School – Dr. Anne Bergen
- Remington Middle School – Paul Peri
- Annie Sullivan Middle School – Beth Wittcoff
- Franklin High School – Peter Light
3. Discussion Only Items
- Facilities Update
- Transportation Update
- H1N1 Update
- Superintendent’s Goals
4. Action Items
- I recommend adoption of Horace Mann Middle School’s School Improvement Plan
- I recommend adoption of Remington Middle School’s School Improvement Plan
- I recommend adoption of Annie Sullivan Middle School’s School Improvement Plan
- I recommend adoption of Franklin High School’s School Improvement Plan
- I recommend acceptance of a check for $554.22 from the Tri County Partnership as credit for Life Fair for the FHS gift account
- I recommend acceptance of a check for $100.00 from Kristen Redpath in memory of her late husband, Donald Redpath, for the FHS Science Department.
5. Information Matters
Superintendent’s Report
- News You Can Use
- Back to School Update
- Enrollment Comparison
- Preliminary AYP Update
School Committee Sub-Committee Reports
School Committee Liaison Reports
6. New Business
To discuss future business that may be brought before the School Committee.
7. Executive Session
Contractual Negotiations
8. Adjourn
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Chamber Job Fair 9/13-14
The United Regional Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce:
Job Search Sunday, September 13th 12:30pm – 5:00pm
Career Fair Monday, September 14th 10am - 4pm
Where:
At Living Waters Church, 15 John L. Dietsche Blvd, North Attleboro MA.
Do you or someone you know need help finding a job? Then you are welcome to these FREE EVENTS.
Job Search Sunday will offer career development courses like:
Career Fair Monday will include companies who are actively hiring and seminars on "Staying Motivated While Unemployed."
Keynote speakers Include:
To register for this click here
For additional information contact
Jen Osojnicki at the United Chamber, 508.695.6011, jen@unitedregionalchamber.com
Job Search Sunday, September 13th 12:30pm – 5:00pm
Career Fair Monday, September 14th 10am - 4pm
Where:
At Living Waters Church, 15 John L. Dietsche Blvd, North Attleboro MA.
Do you or someone you know need help finding a job? Then you are welcome to these FREE EVENTS.
Job Search Sunday will offer career development courses like:
- Resume Writing
- Interviewing Skills
- Using Social Media to Network (by Tricia White of the Mass Small Business Development Center at 1:30pm)
Career Fair Monday will include companies who are actively hiring and seminars on "Staying Motivated While Unemployed."
Keynote speakers Include:
- Ann Crawford , Life Coach 11:30am
- Bill Napolitano, Institute for Business Excellence 1:00pm
For additional information contact
Jen Osojnicki at the United Chamber, 508.695.6011, jen@unitedregionalchamber.com
Where do you put open space on the budget priority listing?
Currently, the Department of Public Works is responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of all town parks, recreation areas and School grounds. The Recreation Department is responsible for scheduling the use of the Town of Franklin athletic fields and facilities. Recreation Department Director, Ryan Jette indicated that it is a difficult challenge to maintain all the open space and recreation areas in Town and there is not adequate staffing for the upkeep.
The Conservation Department maintains a list of open space and conservation sites in Franklin. The current level of staffing for the management and maintenance of open space is not satisfactory, there is insufficient staff and resources to complete routine property inspections and maintenance. Issues such as hiring a forester to oversee the cutting of the Town Forest have proven challenging for the Conservation Commission due to a lack of funding.
If the Town continues to obtain additional open space and recreation areas, there will likely be issues providing sufficient upkeep due to a lack of funds and staffing available to provide upkeep of the sites.
As the Town Council candidates declare themselves for election this November, this would be a good topic on which to find out where they stand.
While the Town has a number of budget needs (the school department is the single biggest item of our Town budget), where open space management sits amongst the priority list would be important to understand.
For additional information on the Open Space and Recreation Plan, read the full report on the Town web site here (PDF)
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Election "line up" card - updated
A phone call to the Town Clerk's office resulted in a number of updates as we head into this Labor Day weekend.
Prior updates can be found here and here
------
Table below shows the positions available for election this November.
The Candidates column initially showed just the incumbents.
Those who have confirmed taking out papers are marked with a * and bold.
New candidates have their name in bold with -new.
The incumbents who have confirmed not to be running again have been marked in red text.
The existing position holders who have not yet taken out papers are listed for reference to keep track of the "line up card"
So what does this tell us?
We need more candidates! The only election competition is for the Board of Health position.
Prior updates can be found here and here
------
Table below shows the positions available for election this November.
The Candidates column initially showed just the incumbents.
Those who have confirmed taking out papers are marked with a * and bold.
New candidates have their name in bold with -new.
The incumbents who have confirmed not to be running again have been marked in red text.
The existing position holders who have not yet taken out papers are listed for reference to keep track of the "line up card"
So what does this tell us?
We need more candidates! The only election competition is for the Board of Health position.
| Name | # of Openings | Candidates | Term of Office |
| Board of Assessors | 1 Position (For 4 years) | Robert Avakian* | 2009 to 2013 |
| Board of Health | 1 Position (For 4 years) | Bruce Hunchard* Koren Kanadanian-new | 2009 to 2013 |
| Planning Board | 2 Position (For 4 years) | Anthony Padula* | 2009 to 2013 |
| * 1Vacant | Joseph Halligan-new | 2009 to 2013 | |
| Planning Board (Associate) | * 1 vacant position (For 4 Years) | 2009 to 2013 | |
| Town Council | 9 Positions (For 2 Years) | Joseph McGann | 2009 to 2011 |
| Deborah Bartlett - not running again | |||
| R. Scott Mason* | |||
| Christopher Feeley | |||
| Judith Pond Pfeffer* | |||
| Thomas Doak - not running again | |||
| Shannon Zollo* | |||
| Robert Vallee* | |||
| Stephen Whalen | |||
| Glenn Jones- new Daniel Ballinger-new Bryce Kuchs - new Robert Avakian - new Matthew Kelly (switch from School Committee) | |||
| School Committee | 7 Positions (For 2 Years) | Cora Armenio | 2009 to 2011 |
| Susan Rohrbach* | |||
| Paula Mullen* | |||
| Edward Cafasso* | |||
| Roberta Trahan* | |||
| Matthew Kelly - switch to Town Council | |||
| Jeffrey Roy* William Glynn - new |
Bang for your buck
The Boston Globe "G" section has an interesting table depicting the performance of school districts (according to MCAS scores of the 4th and 10th grades) compared to the assessed home value. Franklin is amongst the top.
No real surprises there. Steve Whalen had put together a similar table and now that table is part of the Financial Planning Committee's report.
If the tax rate was use instead of assessed home values, Franklin would rise higher on the chart.
View the full chart here in the Globe
View the Financial Planning Committee report here
No real surprises there. Steve Whalen had put together a similar table and now that table is part of the Financial Planning Committee's report.
If the tax rate was use instead of assessed home values, Franklin would rise higher on the chart.
View the full chart here in the Globe
View the Financial Planning Committee report here
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