"It's not an automatic, quick decline"

At the middle school, Peri said course offerings have drastically changed in recent years.

"People may not understand when I started in this district, kids were taking (over 500) sessions of a foreign language over three years," Peri said. "Now, it's (just over 100). Things like that are happening all over the place."

Committee member Sue Rohrbach said a frequently asked question is why the shared elementary and middle school buildings don't have a shared principal. 

"The differences between kindergarten and fifth grade and sixth through eighth grades are drastic," Peri said, explaining that students are facing different challenges at different ages.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x88775036/Franklin-principals-say-cuts-have-been-harmful

The full set of reporting from the School Committee meeting Tuesday May 25 can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/school-committee-052510.html


Franklin, MA

Franklin's choice

In response to a comment on a recent Milford Daily News article, I said:

Prop 2 1/2 provides for the voters of Franklin to make a choice. We either are satisfied with the services we receive and vote to maintain these services (police, fire, DPW, Library, etc.), or we are not and as a result we decide to do with less services.

No matter which you choose, make sure you do vote on June 8th. 

Comments don't count on June 8th, only votes do.

In response to a comment on a recent Milford Daily News article, I said:

The money on the museum comes from the 'capital' fund which cant be used for 'operations'. The capital money for the museum was small change made mighty big by contributions from volunteers and other organizations. Tri-County students built the shelves and displays. The move from Washington St to downtown was done by volunteers on a Saturday. The hours the museum is being kept open is staffed by volunteers, no expense to the Town.

The museum is actually a very good case for the creative 'thinking out of the box' approach that the Town has being doing to save us money and provide something to be proud of.

Franklin, MA

MA State Budget Browser

What does the budget look like at the State level? This email from MassBudget helps to dig into the details:

The Senate Ways & Means (SWM) budget proposal addresses a budget gap of close to $3 billion by recommending significant budget cuts and relying heavily on assistance from the federal government.  It does not include the Governor's tax reform proposals, or other new taxes.  Also unlike the Governor's proposal, it does not draw on the state "Rainy Day" fund.  It does, however, rely on some other temporary state revenue sources and some one-time savings. As the state enters the third year of a severe fiscal crisis brought on by the national recession, the SWM budget proposes a third year of serious cuts across state government, including in human services and health care, the second year of deep cuts in local aid, and new cuts in both K-12 and higher education (which had been spared deep cuts in prior years largely because of funding from the federal stimulus law, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA). A new report, Budget Monitor: The Senate Ways & Means Fiscal Year 2011 Budget, examines the SWM budget by program area and describes how the spending levels compare to those proposed by the House and the Governor and to historic and current spending levels.

The full report is available here. See MassBudget's Budget Browser to explore Massachusetts state budgets from Fiscal Year 2001 to the present, as well as current budget proposals offered by the Governor and the Legislature.

Franklin, MA

Chamber to recognize Teacher of Year, Top Local Students

TEACHER OF THE YEAR &
LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO BE HONORED

The United Regional Chamber of Commerce is hosting a Spotlight on Education breakfast on Thurs., May 27 at Lake Pearl Luciano's, 299 Creek St., Wrentham at 7:30 a.m. At the breakfast, the Chamber will honor Seekonk High School teacher Linda K. Limperis with its 2010 Teacher of the Year Award.

Many students from the region also will be honored during the event. Eight students will be presented with scholarships distributed through The United Regional Chamber of Commerce. Students receiving the Jacqueline C. Stack Scholarship award will be William Brown of Attleboro High School, Liam Doherty of Bishop Feehan High School and Gabrielle Griot of Barrington High School. Students being presented with Metalor Technologies Scholarships are Jillian Miller of Medway High School and Taylor Briggs of Bishop Feehan High School. Recipients of the Attleboro Area Foremen’s Club Scholarship will be Brianna Medeiros of Coyle Cassidy High School and Tyler Cannon of North Attleboro High School. Accepting the NCAS Learning Center Scholarship will be April Pascucci of Foxborough High School.

Additionally, the top 10 seniors from the schools in The United Regional Chamber of Commerce service area are being honored for their years of hard work and achievement during their high school careers. Those students are:

Attleboro High School - Melanie Thibeault, Tiffany Berard, David Stevens, Marie Larouche, William Brown, Samantha Wood, Alexandra Vitiello, Thomas Cao, Meagan Fuller, Hannah Entwistle

Bishop Feehan High School - William Clerx, Kaila Dion, James McAllister, Anthony Lombardi, Samuel Dodge, Kendra Cheng, Bianca Peixoto, Christina Roberti, Elaine Martin, Anisa Arsenault

Blackstone Millville Regional High School - Ethan Hardy, Melissa Copeland, Julie Signa, Paige Yager, Devyn Oliver, Aline Fleuette, Brigid Thompson, Tiffany Armas, Cailin Boelke, Patrick Murphy

Foxborough High School - Taryn Laubenstein, Laura Herlihy, Jennifer Chalmers, Gina Kackloudis, John Slaby, Katelyn Olsson, Dominique Cammarata, Meghan Lowey, Christopher Kelm, Nidhi Vora

Franklin High School - Kimberly Takahata, Nicholas Melfi, Christopher Anderson, Rebecca Galasso, Kayleigh McGlynn, Sara LaFlamme, Kelly Vail, Susan Jacob, William Ceskavich, Alexandra Lonati

King Phillip Regional High School - Sarah Shipley, Michael Zagieboylo, Joanna Czyzewski, Elizabeth Williams, Elizabeth Allen, Marie Willman, Christopher Woodward, Nathan Kim, Kelsey Rieger, Dahnyoung McGarry

Mansfield High School - Rachel Johnston, Jennifer Giffels, Robert Snyder, Gianina Monestime, Christopher Frederickson, Andrew Calvario, Sangeetha Kavety, Brendan Boyle, Jeffrey Boyle, Kristen Spillane

Norton High School - Julia Marie Ariola, Kaitlyn Baird, Cassidy Gilmore, Alyssa Graham, Carolyn Le, Chad McAuliffe, Bradford McKeen, Priya Patel, Samuel Phillips, Erica Pundt

North Attleboro High School - Robin Armstrong, Ginny Tang, Neha Patel, Barrett Holden, Shweta Kitchloo, Nicole Hurd, MaryLucia Hedberg, Katherine Murphy, Kevin Fernandes, Kelli Brodbeck

Tri-County Regional Vocational Technical High School - Jeremy Harmon, Nicholas Cokonis, Chou Yang, Kyle Kebler, Elizabeth Braeley, Gregory Mitrano, Ashley Goode, Kristen Scoville, Amanda Furrh, Kimberly Sullivan

The Spotlight on Education breakfast is sponsored by Bristol County Savings Bank, Dean Bank, National College Assistance Services, Middlesex Savings Bank, Fisher College and HarborOne Credit Union.



Franklin, MA

In the News - Memorial Day, golf, museum, Tri-County

Franklin plans Memorial Day Parade

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Staff reports

Franklin Chargers to host golf tournament June 14

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Staff reports

Franklin Historical Museum now open

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Staff reports

School briefs

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Staff reports

Franklin, MA

Live reporting - Closing

5. Information Matters

Superintendent’s Report
a. Backpack Bulletin
b. Principal’s Searches

Tom Morris - Newton Public Schools will take over at Parmenter, will visit School Committee sometime in June

Horace Mann - no decision at this point, started to late in the search process, will get an interim and start again in early October

c. National Honor Society
25% of the junior class qualified for inclusion into this

Mailing Pay-to-ride paperwork, July 9th will be the deadline

Interesting DESE meeting, a preview of a new data tool that they are rolling out

their tool has identified comparable districts, data we did manually will be made easier with this

comparison to ten other districts

School Committee Sub-Committee Reports

Advertising meeting with more information forthcoming

School Committee Liaison Reports
none

New business
thanks to all the vets for this memorial day

FHS Award night ceremony
Senior Class celebration June 3rd
Senior Class graduation June 4th

Annie Sullivan step up ceremony, June 17th
Proud to be An American at JF Kennedy, June 10th, 9:00 AM

No executive session
motion to adjourn, passed 6-0


Franklin, MA

Live reporting - Action items

4. Action Items
a. I recommend adoption of Policy JJFG Disposition of Student Activity Account.  motion to approve, passed 6-0

b. I recommend budget transfers as detailed.  motion to approve, passed 6-0

c. I recommend acceptance of a check for $125.00 from the Kennedy PCC for a nurse for the field trip to Southwick Zoo on May 27, 2010.  motion to approve, passed 6-0

d. I recommend acceptance of a check for $500.00 from the Kennedy PCC for buses for the field trip to Southwick Zoo on May 27, 2010.  motion to approve, passed 6-0

e. I recommend acceptance of the donation of a set of basketball hoops from the Recreation Department.  motion to approve, passed 6-0

f. I recommend acceptance of a check for $100.00 from Patricia M. Bishop (Class of 1960) for a FHS Scholarship.  motion to approve, passed 6-0

g. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1000.00 from James M. Betts for a FHS Scholarship.  motion to approve, passed 6-0

h. I recommend acceptance of four checks ($2500.00) from the Guidrey Family for FHS Scholarships

1. Philip & Jennifer Guidrey $500.00

2. Alan Guidrey $500.00

3. Janet Guidrey $500.00

4. Nancy Lovely $1000.00

motion to approve, passed 6-0

i. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1250.00 from the FHS PCC for large screen projectors for Class Day and Graduation.  motion to approve, passed 6-0

j. I recommend approval of the FHS trip for four students to compete in the National Jr. Classical League State Convention at the University of North Dakota from July 26, 2010 to August 1, 2010 as detailed.
motion to approve, passed 6-0

k. I recommend acceptance of a check for $250.00 from Let Us Never Forget for a FHS Scholarship in memory of Shane Cabino.  motion to approve, passed 6-0

l. I recommend acceptance of a check for $543.98 from Lifetouch Pictures for ECDC in-house enrichment.

motion to approve, passed 6-0


Franklin, MA