Live reporting - School Committee 9/8/09

Attending: Armenio, Cafasso, Kelley, Mullen, Roy, Rohrbach, Trahan
Missing:

1. Routine Business

Citizen’s Comments - none
Review of Agenda - none
Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the August 25, 2009 School Committee Meeting.  motion to approve, passed 7-0
Payment of Bills - Mr. Kelly  motion to approve, passed 7-0
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

1. Budget to Actual
2. Letter from Kristen Redpath (donation)
   

Interview with Obama on education

President Obama is interviewed by Damon Weaver, from the KEC TV News Team out of Kathryn E. Cunningham/Canal Point Elementary in Florida, in preparation for the Presidential address to students today.

The video interview (about 10 minutes) can be viewed here:

Schools - Brochure/Flyer Dissemination Process

Based on feedback received from parents and guardians about the overwhelming number of flyers and brochures that have been traditionally sent home in student backpacks, we will be piloting an innovative way to disseminate information this year. In lieu of sending home paper copies of information we will establish a website where all approved brochures, notices and flyers will be posted. A link to the site will be featured prominently on the district web site, school based web sites and in the monthly schools newsletters to parents. The link will be titled NEWS YOU CAN USE and the link is: http://www.franklin.ma.us/auto/schools/FPS/flyer/default.htm

With approval from the Office of the Superintentendent of Schools, we will continue to disseminate information from all Town of Franklin Departments and non profit community groups such as the Parent Communication Councils (PCC), Franklin Education Foundation (FEF) , the YMCA and non-profit community based service and athletic programs such as Boy/Girl Scouts, Metrowest basketball etc.

In the last two years we have been inundated with requests from a number of local and out of town businesses to sponsor programs, fundraisers and special events. We will forward some of these requests to the PCC officers for consideration as we are not in a position to sponsor these types of activities as per our district policies.

Non-profit groups that would like their information to be posted for web site publishing should contact the Office of the Superintendence at 508-553-4819.

National Suicide Prevention Week - Sep 6-12

Did you know that? 

• Suicide is the third leading cause of death among 15 to 24 year olds;
• One youth completes suicide every 2 hours and 5 minutes, which approximates 11.5 persons each day;
• For every completed suicide by youth, it is estimated that 100 to 200 attempts are made; and
• In 2006, more than 33,000 people died by suicide in the U.S.

National Suicide Prevention Week is September 6 – 12, 2009. This year’s theme is “A Global Agenda on the Science of Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery.  According to the American Association of Suicidology (AAS), suicide prevention is everyone’s business and anyone can participate in Suicide Prevention Week, including schools. BoardBuzz agrees: the statistics above communicate the need for schools to be more proactive about increasing awareness of suicide warnings and signs and helping prevent its incidence among youth. 

Only 5 Minutes to Influence - What Do You Say?

In reference to the recent School Committee discussion on the policy surrounding the use of electronic tools (i.e. texting) I found this article interesting.

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Only 5 Minutes to Influence - What Do You Say?

via Free Technology for Teachers by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne) on 9/4/09

Earlier today I posted on Twitter, the question "If you had only 5 minutes to convince a school administrator to ease Internet filtering, what would you say?" I got a bunch of good replies and as someone on Twitter requested, I've included those replies a little later in this post. But first, I'll explain my motivation for the question. Most teachers are back in school now or will be in school next week. Once school starts everyone involved in schools becomes busy and we have less time to discuss ideas and even less time to discuss ideas that involve systemic change. Therefore, if you're working in a school environment that doesn't offer a least restrictive Internet environment and you want to get that changed, chances are you'll have to make your case succinct and influential at the same time.

Last year when my school district was considering enacting a filtering policy that would ban all websites containing a social networking component, I did not have much time to make the case against the policy. To get my district's administrators to reconsider, I simply pointed out that this blog and many like it would be inaccessible to teachers because they include the Google Friend Connect widget. In my case I had some leverage because of the 2008 Edublog Award and, at that time, 6000+ subscribers. Additionally, I was given the opportunity to talk with my district's superintendent and my district's technology administrator who were both quite willing to listen although those conversations were only a few minutes in length.

If you're in a position where you're trying to change your district's filtering policy, but you only have a few minutes to influence people, consider some of the advice offered by these great folks on Twitter. You should also read Jeff Utecht's latest post which offers great evidence against using the "walled garden" approach to filtering.

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to Free Technology for Teachers using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

In the News - standoff, Milford rail trail, guest conductor

One arrested after armed standoff in Franklin

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Phil Sweeney/Daily News staff

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Obstacles delay Milford rail trail extension construction

from The Milford Daily News Homepage RSS by Danielle Ameden/Daily News staff

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Franklin music teacher gets a chance to shine

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Angel Roy/Daily News staff

Presidential address to students

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: