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Monday, June 7, 2010

Budget - Override Collection - FY 2011

The following links provide access to information on the budget for Fiscal Year 2011

Additional items will be added here as they are found/prepared.

If you are looking for something in particular regarding the budget and don't find it, please let me know.

Letter from Scott Mason, Town Council Chairman

Saturday, June 29, 2013

"reduce the mountainous regulatory obligations"

It's about time! The Milford Daily News reports on a new proposal to address the unfunded mandates that school districts are forced to implement. The focus of the article is on Framingham and doesn't reference Franklin. However, this has long been a complaint of the School Committee and district officials here so I am sure that Franklin will be following this closely.

"We need relief," said Framingham School Committee Chairwoman Beverly Hugo, who wrote the original draft and testified at Thursday's public hearing. "Some of these (mandates) are redundant or duplicative."

While some of the requirements - which in recent years have been introduced to address bullying, teacher evaluations, and school nutrition, among other issues - may be necessary to some degree, she added, "there's no analysis that shows whether these reports (submitted by schools) improve student achievement or services to children in the classroom."

What is known, Hugo said, is the cost to districts to fill out thousands of pages of paperwork that are required by the mandates. Framingham, for instance, had to hire several vice principals in recent years to keep up with the greater workloads created by the state's new teacher evaluation system.

Read more: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x853679261/Bill-takes-aim-at-unfunded-mandates-for-school-districts#ixzz2XbFTz67L

Related posts:

Earlier this month "Area school officials are concerned the mandates, including a new teacher evaluation system, additional training to educate English Language Learners (ELL) and new fingerprinting requirements, are too much, too soon."
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2013/06/in-news-unfunded-mandates-structurally.html
Reporting on truancy was touted in 2012
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/08/another-unfunded-mandate.html

A listing of state unfunded mandates posted in 2010
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2010/05/state-education-mandates-collection.html

Reporting on bullying was added in 2009
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2009/11/another-unfunded-mandate-coming-down.html

Monday, March 30, 2009

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)

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Live reporting: School Committee - Feb 10, 2015

Present: O'Malley, Rohrbach, Clement, Mullen, Trahan,
Absent: Douglas, Jewell

1. Routine Business
Citizen’s Comments

Review of Agenda
conflict with calendar and FEA contract so it is being removed from the agenda

Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the January 13, 2015 School Committee Meeting.
motion to approve, seconded, pass 5-0

Payment of Bills Mr. Clement
motion to approve, seconded, pass 5-0

Payroll Mrs. Douglas
skipped

FHS Student Representatives
input from 860 students, choice of blue or white robes decided by majority
students making best of the parking situation
willing to work with administration and school to keep on going

murmuring about April vacation in jeopardy yet

School calendar being looked at, no decision yet
so much and in short a period of time, it may be discussed soon

Correspondence: Budget to Actual – Miriam Goodman

2. Guests/Presentations
a. Senator Karen Spilka, Senator Richard Ross and Representative Jeffrey Roy

Sen Spilka, thanks for inviting us here
has been a little quiet with all the snow
House in session Weds, Senate in session on Thursday

budget gap being discussed, action this week to let the agencies deal with the cuts and get on with the planning and implementation

Gov Patrick did 198M in Section 9C cuts
had asked for other items to be acted upon; waited for the new Governor to come in before acting

Gov Baker updated to add 1488M in Sec 9C cuts

have protected local and and Chapter 70; don't want to cut local aid now with so little time left in the year

Mass Health benefits being looked to cut, Sen Spilka says they are not going to do that
they want to get the actions approved this week and get on with the next fiscal year budget

The ore you get into the estimates, it is really a best guess estimate
forecasting a growth of 4.8%
income tax could go down again, possible trigger for next year as well

money from operations to fund the stabilization fund is needed
it is down significantly from where it peaked but it helped the State weather the recession

Senator Ross - congratulations to Sen Spilka on Chairing the Ways And Means committee
4.8% is not much to work with, not much new revenue coming down the pike
storms stressing the 'free cash' that could be used

Franklin has done a tremendous job, compared to where he has traveled, it is a pleasure to be moving through Franklin.

Feel free to call us if you have any concerns

Rep Roy - congratulations to Sen Spilka on Chairing the Ways and Means Committee
it is good to be here, it is little odd sitting on this side

the good news I would like to share, MA continues to be #1 in the US for education
MA is not complacent with being #1
Associated Industries of MA (AIM)
number one issue is education, need it to keep pace with what is going on in the world

legislation coming up for Common Core and PARCC
discussion coming, it is important for us to know
53% of MA has chosen to go with PARCC
the DESE will not be making their decision until Nov/Dec
participate in the dialog, share your experiences

appointed a foundation budget review commission
Sen Spilka sits at the commission
can submit written testimony, committee slated to submit report in June

unfunded mandates will be addressed by the Legislation
button = "I don't teach anymore I am too busy complying with mandates"

legislation coming on regulations around student data privacy

manufacturing round table at Tri-County
attempting to reintroduce manufacturing there

coordinate the budget with Spilka and Ross

reference to snow globe gift

ready willing and able to answer any questions you may have

O'Malley - I am proud to have you represent us
I do have a problem with the legislature
mandates - let's go to one for example
the circuit breaker was going to help the budget
yet everyone has been looking at it to cut
it is so important for us to know where funding is coming from

Ross - one thing that tends to get ignored is the special education cost
parents will travel to those towns to get those services
those towns get crippled by the real costs

Spilka - I was the Senator to file the item to fully fund the circuit breaker
I actually re-filed a bill to increase the amount that the state reimburses
we will do the very best we can; even fully funded,it doesn't go as far as it should

I am hoping we can increase it, the recognition that school districts are supporting more of this cost, the Federal government can't get off the hook either; need to ask them to fulfill their obligations

Roy - there is universal support for the circuit breaker; but then there is a budget deficit and how do you find the money among the competing wishes, needs and demands?

We will need to fund the transportation infrastructure, you have seen how it failed us

O'Malley - our group has done well but the State has not done as well
There should have been a clearly chartered educational plan, why are the school committees asked to vote at a late date on PARCC vs. MCAS; 53% have chosen one way and that is not good. Where are we? Can we not come together and head in one directions?

Roy - I think you will see that a lot of folks sitting down to talk about going to common core in 2010, the plan has been a number of years in the making, times have changed, technology has changed, we are looking at improvement. it was the decision of the Education commissioner to let the school committee decide for themselves. The decision will be made in Nov/Dec

Ross - MA was the model upon which others have been basing their plan. It frustrating to see the plan dumbing down what we have done

Roy - in 1994, when standards and frameworks were being introduced, it was called common core. MA got away from the name but it has come back around. We are not competing with kids down the street for jobs we are competing with kids from other countries

O'Malley - when we marched out the gate with PARCC as our banner, we had 48 states and we have 11 now, this is not progress. We can't go forward with the numbers like this.

Spilka - we don't have the final say in that decision, we can share our experiences, we don't know what their thoughts are; we have some control via the budget and these are issues we fight for every day. If there are specific problems that Franklin is having, let us know so we can try to help.

Rohrbach - thank you, we appreciate it. we do appreciate the amount of state aid that we do receive. 2 questions on unfunded mandates. Those mandates take away from the financial resources that allow us to deliver to our students. On the foundation budget, you are trying to protect that; do you know how it will change?

Ross - it is pleasing to see that the commission has been set up to do the work we need this year.

Spilka - I don't think the results will be in for the FY 16 budget, there may be pieces that we can build upon. Just because it is not finished doesn;t mean we can't do anything with it, we'll see. I ran for this seat to change the education formula and make it more fair. It is simpler but adequacy is still something to be worked on. We realize we need to invest in our education. This is our natural resource. We do have competing interests, we have higher ed, mental health, seniors, veterans, etc. If you could give us a list of the issues you have with unfunded mandates

Roy - we had a discussion recently about the bill to sterilize mouth pieces of musical instruments. Any cost is borne by the parent currently, and that was the cost avoided. I am confident that the three of us are going to be leading the charge to manage unfunded mandates

Clement - we have hedged our bets with PARCC and computer based testing, I shouldn't have to use gambling terms to talk about this item. All of the speakers were talking about special education. Some of the costs of IEPs are fully education budget yet some of them are really health issues. The implication is that the real item is the person happens to be of school age.

Roy - that is recognized.

Ross - some of the diagnosis is perhaps a transfer or educational issue; for example language based issues, example of two children identified, one was off the program by 6th grade, one caught earlier was off by 3rd grade. That is what special education needs to do. 351 communities is not the way to design a delivery system of equitable delivery. Not everyone will be happy.

Clement - tweeking it is fine in theory, a child is in 4th grade once, if they don't pick it up then, we have lost the opportunity. You have said 4.8% growth is not easy to work with, you shoudl try working with 2.5%.

Winslow - thanks for working with us, strong advocates for Best Buddies,

Spilka- it would make Franklin the first district in the state that would have a program across the educational spans. We are also working with Dean and that would be wonderful to see.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

State Education Mandates - Part 7

Residency

Residency waivers and concerns arising from private entities such as sports boarding facilities within district boundaries and the implications of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act impact district budgets (also see above). Sports boarding camps attract players from various towns, states and countries. Local districts are required to educate said students without regard to tuition payments because residency statutes state that if a student is not at such a facility “solely for the purpose of education,” they are allowed to attend at no cost to the student.

• Residency also becomes an issue when a residential special education institution is located in a Massachusetts community. Students admitted to that institution sometimes attract the family, or a guardian member of the family, to relocate to the community for purposes of being closer to the resident student. This includes formerly out of state as well as in-state residency shifts and families with multiple residents. Such shifts determine assignment of costs to the host resident community.

• While there is local control on the admission to kindergarten there is a great deal of differentiation of starting age. Under choice students may be entered into a district at an earlier age and then require placement at the resident school district.

Vocational Education

School districts allow students to attend out-of-district vocational schools when programs are not offered in the regional district to which the local district belongs. Unlike the Charter School Reimbursement, there is no apparent reimbursement for vocational placement, though the vocational student, like the charter student, is counted in the Foundation Budget of the sending district. In addition, school districts are required to transport these secondary students to the schools of their choice. There is only partial (up to 50%) reimbursement for vocational education transportation.

The full listing is available here (DOC)

Sunday, March 24, 2019

“We only have so much money regardless of where we land”

In the School Committee Legislative Forum, much discussion was on the reforms to the state's education funding process. Given the major hearing on Friday, the legislature is showing that the issue will be addressed. What the resolution will be remains to be seen.

The Boston Globe report on the school funding hearing held Friday, March 22

"In this year’s first major hearing in the debate over education funding on Beacon Hill, dozens of mayors, teachers, school officials, and even a quartet of New England Patriots players urged lawmakers to boost aid to urban districts struggling with growing populations of high-need students and steep budget cuts.

Brockton School Superintendent Kathleen A. Smith captured the argument of those demanding an overhaul of the state’s school funding formula, telling lawmakers that her city in 2017 spent just $1 on supplies per student, while wealthy Weston spent $275 per pupil.

“I am saddened and dismayed that after five years of coming before you more than a dozen times to advocate for our neediest students, I am once again asking you to act and update a 25-year-old funding formula that is broken and no longer serves the needs of the increasingly diverse student population in our Commonwealth,” Smith, whose district has been contemplating a lawsuit over school funding, told members of the Legislature’s joint committee on education during a packed hearing Friday."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/03/22/how-much-enough-lawmakers-governor-clash-over-proposed-changes-school-funding-formula/QUqeEcRoFCa73dd4hg7H7N/story.html

Milford Daily News also has an article on the hearing
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190324/hundreds-attend-state-ed-funding-forum

My notes from the Legislative Forum held on Feb 5, 2019 can be found
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2019/02/notes-from-legislative-forum-feb-5-2019.html

Angelica DaSilva of Dorchester (right) attended a packed education hearing at the State House’s Gardner Auditorium. (DAVID L. RYAN/GLOBE STAFF)

Unfunded Mandates are also a cause of concern for school and local budgets. A bill currently filed would increase steps to test for lead in school drinking water.

"Lawmakers on Beacon Hill are pushing legislation aimed at improving the safety of drinking water in schools in part by requiring schools and child care centers to test every drinking water outlet each year for elevated lead levels.

Legislation on tap in the Massachusetts House and Senate would force schools to immediately shut off drinking water outlets that show elevated lead levels. The water outlet could be turned on only after it has produced at least two sets of certified test results showing no elevated lead levels."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/03/23/bills-tap-state-house-target-lead-school-water/WHQhsXF9KjDoFTbar2cRMM/story.html

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Rep Roy: July newsletter: What's happening in the district

This is our regularly monthly newsletter. If you know anyone who may be interested in receiving this newsletter, please forward a copy of it to them. If you are not yet a subscriber, you can get on our email list by clicking here. You can also follow us on Twitter and Facebook by clicking the buttons below.

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Unfunded mandate topic reaches Hill

There was a full house on hand at a recent Education Committee hearing on accountability and unfunded mandates. Over 80 Superintendents from across the state appeared to give testimony and provide support for the bills.

Among the bills was one to establish a commission to study regulations and unfunded mandates on schools, which Rep. Roy has co-sponsored. This was always a hot topic for Rep. Roy while a member of Franklin's School Committee and now he has an opportunity to address it on Beacon Hill. To view the complete text of the bill and view its progress, click here.

Briefly the bill charges the task force to (i) identify and review all existing mandates imposed on school districts by state law or regulation, including school and district reporting requirements; (ii) determine the costs of such mandates and reporting requirements to school districts; and (iii) identify opportunities to streamline, consolidate, or eliminate such mandates or reporting requirements that are duplicative or inconsistent with current laws, regulations or practices.

At the hearing, a great deal of information and testimony provided. To view some of the materials, click here.

Treasurer tours new FHS

At the invitation of Rep. Roy, State Treasurer Steve Grossman joined us on a tour of the new Franklin High School in June. As the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts School Building Authority, he was seeking an in-person view of the state's largest model school.

During the tour, we were joined by members of the Town Council, School Committee, School Building Committee, and school administrators. Treasurer Grossman was very impressed with the quality of the facility and programming that will be offered at the new FHS, and he is looking forward to returning soon.

For pictures from the tour, please click here. To view the Milford Daily News report on the visit, click here. Follow the construction of the new FHS on Facebook by clicking here.

New memorial honors Franklin soldier

There is a wonderful new memorial in Franklin thanks to the artwork of Jesse Greene and the generosity of Jody Cipriano Cabino. Last month, the memorial was unveiled at the YMCA in Franklin and Rep. Roy was honored to participate and present House citations to Jody and Jesse.

The memorial is a place of remembrance and reflection for Shayne Cabino, a Franklin soldier who answered the call of duty and served in harm's way for the sake of this country. It will also serve as a place where Y kids will start their day with the Pledge of Allegiance, to promote both civic awareness and patriotism.

Pan Mass Challenge

On August 3-4, Rep. Roy will join thousands of cyclists in the Pan Mass Challenge in the fight against cancer. This will be Jeff's 11th ride. The PMC, which began in 1980, is the nation's oldest and most successful bicycling fundraising event and shows what the determination of each individual can do.

The event has been instrumental in helping Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's clinicians and researchers learn more about cancer and its causes, and to develop new, increasingly effective treatments for this deadly disease. Over the past 33 years, PMC cyclists have ridden to raise and contribute $375 million to cancer research.

To learn more about the ride and donate to the cause, click here.

Horace Mann leaders bring ideas to Boston

Last month, we had a great visit with leaders from Horace Mann Middle School in Franklin. They were recognized public service announcement projects they produced, focused on helping others.

They were an impressive group of 8th graders and did some inspiring work which no doubt will continue when they get to high school.

Budget sent to Governor

Rep. Roy joined his colleagues in the Legislature to enact a $34.06 billion state budget for fiscal year 2014 (FY14). The spending plan makes important investments to rebuild the Commonwealth's essential services and programs, including local aid, education, housing, public safety, and health and human services, and supports the ongoing recovery of the local economy. It is now on the Governor'[s desk for his signature.

The budget reflects the priorities of the Commonwealth and the needs of cities, towns and residents, while also maintaining the highest level of fiscal responsibility and accountability, leaving the state's rainy day fund at $1.46 billion. It makes important and thoughtful investments in many of our core services and programs in the Commonwealth, including education, care for the elderly, housing, distressed hospitals and mental health

The budget also includes a renewed focus on governmental oversight and accountability to eliminate fraud and delays and to ensure that those who need the Commonwealth's assistance receive it.

Locally, the FY14 budget also includes a $20,000 grant for Franklin's sculpture park and $15,000 to help fund the Vietnam Moving Wall in Medway.

You can see more details about the budget by clicking here.

Medway Cheerleading Champs Honored

Medway's two time National Varsity Championship Cheerleaders were honored at the State House. They also took a tour of the building, including a trip to the Governor's office, the House Chamber, and the Senate Chamber.

"It was great to see such an engaged group of students from Medway High School," noted Rep. Roy. "We had some great discussions about what we do in the State House and had a lively conversation on pending legislation. The girls shared their thoughts about a number of bills, including ones on cheerleader safety and the recognition of cheerleading as a sport."

Congratulations to the Medway girls and we wish you luck next year.

New website features and improvements announced

Senate President Therese Murray (D-Plymouth) and House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo (D-Winthrop) announced updates to the public website that will allow users to personalize their experience when navigating bills, committees, hearing information and connecting with legislators.

Through "MyLegislature," users can create a user-id and password to access their secure MyLegislature account. Users can identify specific bills, hearings, committees and legislators that they are interested in following and their personalized homepage will display each selection. Any hearings scheduled for their selected committees will automatically be included in their MyLegislature hearing list. In addition, users can further personalize MyLegislature by identifying any accessibility needs.

The updated website also includes an easy-to-use format to connect with legislators. The public website can be found at www.malegislature.gov.

July office hours

Rep. Roy announced that constituent office hours for the month of July will be held on the following days:

Franklin – Saturday, July 20th, 10:00-11:00AM,
Franklin Public Library – 18 Main Street Franklin, MA

Medway – Saturday, July 27th, 10:00-11:00AM,
Gaetano's Bakery – 74 Main Street Medway, MA

All office hours are open to anyone with questions or concerns that they wish to bring to his attention. Walk-ins are welcome and no appointments are necessary.

He also invites all constituents to call him at his State House office at (617) 722-2400, stop by Room 134 in the State House, or email him by clicking here.

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Tuesday, March 24, 2009

State Education Mandates - Part 3

Transportation to School for the General Student Population

Districts are required to provide transportation to all students in grades K through 6 who live two miles or more from the school. Regional districts receive transportation reimbursement for about 85% of these costs, but municipal school district aid was eliminated during lean budget years and has not been restored.

Administrative Mandates with Cost Implications

In addition to the 15 systems identified above, other mandates with cost implications include:

• Criminal records checks for all staff having unsupervised contact with students and other school employees.

• Emergency evacuation plans add training time, signs, posters and other means of alerting.

• Title I Requirements for costs associated with delivery of services and the reporting and documentation requirements often exceed funding.

• Crisis Prevention Intervention (CPI) training – requires that the district provide training for instructors who then instruct a majority of staff members in techniques to de-escalate student crises. Associated costs are incurred to hire substitutes for classes whose teachers are required to participate in training.

• Pre-school requirements – Districts must ensure that they provide integrated (ratio of regular and special education) settings for all students in accordance with the regulations of Early Education and Care. The requirements for assessment, evaluation, and provision of services are costly.

The full listing is available here (DOC)

Saturday, August 21, 2021

In another shift, Baker Administration will mandate masks for K-12 school opening

Massachusetts K-12 (@MASchoolsK12) tweeted Fri, Aug 20, 2021:

PRESS RELEASE Education Commissioner to Ask Board for Authority to Mandate Masks in Public Schools to Provide Time to Increase Vaccinations - https://t.co/CLO6N5sTXC #MaEdu #COVID19MA @MassEducation

"Education Commissioner Jeffrey C. Riley will ask the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to grant him authority to mandate masks for all public K-12 students, educators, and staff through October 1 to ensure schools fully reopen safely and to provide time for more students and educators to get vaccinated. After October 1, the commissioner’s policy would allow middle and high schools to lift the mask mandate for vaccinated students and staff only if the school meets a certain vaccination rate – at least 80 percent of students and staff in a school building are vaccinated. Unvaccinated students and staff would still be required to wear masks.

The mandate would include exceptions for students who cannot wear a mask due to medical conditions or behavioral needs.

The Commissioner will revisit the mandate in the near future to revise it as warranted by public health data. The purpose of the policy is to encourage higher vaccination rates among students and staff and to implement a uniform policy for all schools to begin the year."

Continue reading the full press release: https://t.co/CLO6N5sTXC

Assuming the proposal does come to reality, the Franklin School Committee will remove from its agenda its own policy update as 'not needed'

https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/uploads/discussion_action_b_-_policy_adoption.pdf

Press release hared from Twitter: https://twitter.com/MASchoolsK12/status/1428737492627468290?s=03

CommonWealth Magazine coverage -> https://commonwealthmagazine.org/health/in-another-shift-baker-mandates-masks-in-schools/

State education commissioner Jeff Riley. (Photo by Llyr Johansen)

Monday, August 20, 2012

Questions for the 10th Norfolk Democratic Debate

Questions for the second round debate between the Democratic Candidates for the 10th Norfolk District. Jeff Roy and Peter Padula will face off in Medway on Tuesday at Medway High School at 7:30PM

Preparation/Campaign

What have you done or are planning to do to prepare for serving Medway in in the Legislature?

Based upon the flyer on the door, it seems like you are both walking the neighborhoods. What is one thing that going door to door does for your campaign?

How much will websites and other social media tools help your campaign?

Priorities/Issues

Two part Q: What do you see as Medway’s key issue at the State level and how do you plan to address it?

Do you have any relationships with folks in or around the State House or in the Legislature that you can leverage when you are in office to help serve Medway? Please elaborate.

Medway and Franklin like most other MA communities are faced with Other Post-Employment Benefits (OPEB) requirements that are underfunded. What is your position on what the Legislature can do to help?

What do you think about casinos as a source of state revenue?

There has been talk of the Legislature revising the Chap 70 funding formula. Franklin is a significant beneficiary of these funds. What would be your position on a revision of the formula?

What is your position on the State budget priorities? Should MA government focus on infrastructure (roads, bridges, etc.) or education, or??

What is your position on taxes overall? How should the business of providing government services be funded?

What is your position on usage fees? Are there cases where it makes sense to use them in lieu of a more broadly based tax?

What is your position on the governance of utilities, their service rates and performance?

The Medway library, like the Franklin Library, faces an annual budget issue. The MA Library Board of Governors is the body that provides oversight to the library systems. What is your position on what the Legislature should or should not do to help?

Franklin resident submitted questions

If elected what changes would you propose to help commuters from Medway/Franklin afford to get into Boston for work?

What are your thoughts about the MA higher education costs. Is there anything you would propose to help more students afford MA State higher education?

Local officials often complain to voters that costly state mandates tie their hands and prevent them from making common-sense fiscal policies for the town. What will you do as state rep to remove burdensome state mandates and un-tie local officials' hands?

What will be your priorities if you are selected to serve in the state legislature?

How can we make health care in Massachusetts more affordable for the commonwealth, cities, towns, businesses and individuals?

How do you feel about what Gov Patrick has done so far about containing health care costs?

My question to all is This... I think all of you are educated well, are lawyers and have held local seats on a board but what Political experience so you have that I may not know about that you feel makes you qualified to be successful at this job?

What distinguishes you from the other candidates?

Specifically, how have you served the towns of Franklin and/or Medway? (Public service, elected office?)

What makes you the best person to go to Beacon Hill to fight for funding for our district?

What would you do to get Massachusetts off dependence on oil?

If you would like to add a question you can send me an email or use the question form here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/08/do-you-have-question-to-ask-candidates.html

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Franklin Candidate for School Committee - Vanessa Bilello

Vanessa Bilello, one of the candidates for School Committee, met with me recently at Panera Bread. This is the summary of our conversation.

FM - Tell me the story about how you ended up here in Franklin?

Vanessa Bilello – I was raised on Mercer Island, in the state of Washington. I came to MA to attend Wellesley College, where I graduated as Poly Sci major in 1997. I intended on being a lawyer with a focus on education. Before my senior year, I spent a summer in an internship at the Dept. of Ed in Washington, DC.

There I realized how critical it was that people making educational policy decisions have real experience in schools - as teachers. Even at that time, there was a big disconnect with reality for some of the policy makers, so I returned to Wellesley where I did student teaching to get my elementary teaching license. I spent the next two years completing a Masters in Special Education at Boston College while teaching 3rd-6th graders in the Brookline Public Schools.

My husband took a job transfer from Boston to San Francisco, so I spent four years as the only Special Educator in a K-5 building in the Palo Alto School District. When my husband got an opportunity to transfer back to New England, we initially settled in North Attleboro. I began substitute teaching and was impressed with the caliber of the schools and the strong community here in Franklin.

I spent several years as a stay-at-home mom for our young family. I was active in the community, serving as the President of the North Attleboro MOMS Club for several years. However, when a friend from Boston College asked me to apply for her maternity leave, I was thrilled at the prospect of returning to the classroom. That led me to Oak St, where I spent much of the 2008-2009 school year as a 4th and 5th grade Special Education Teacher.

The positive experience at Oak St. and our desire to be part of this community led my family to relocate to Franklin that summer. I got hired on for a Special Education position and spent five years teaching 7th and 8th grade at the Annie Sullivan Middle School. During my last year there I also completed an administrative internship. After being in the elementary setting in Brookline and Palo Alto, teaching and serving as a principal intern at the middle level opened my eyes quite a bit.

I went on to get my second Masters of Education in 2014, this one in Organizational Management. The degree is from Endicott College, but the program is a collaboration of Endicott, MSSAA and Teachers 21 (an educational consulting group). That led to my current job in educational administration.

FM – So from teaching special education to administration and now running for the School Committee?

Vanessa Bilello - It was not an easy decision, but I left ASMS to become Assistant Principal at the Hopkins School in Hopkinton. The Hopkins School is the combined 4th-5th grade school for Hopkinton Public Schools with just over 500 students. This will be my second year there and it has been a great transition. I love working at Hopkins, but miss my involvement in Franklin Public Schools. While no longer teaching here, I try to stay knowledgeable about district policy by reading School Committee minutes and attending informational nights at the schools my children attend.

Franklin is a great place to raise a family! When my husband and I chose to settle and raise our children here, it was because we believed in Franklin and its schools. I have two daughters- one is currently a 4th grader at Keller and one is a 6th grader at Annie Sullivan.

While working here in Franklin, it wasn’t possible for me to get involved in district policy-making as a parent, though I did participate in a number of leadership roles as teacher - such as School Council and as a mentor teacher. Having had the professional separation for a year now, I think the timing is right for me to do something more for our community. This is another way that I can share my knowledge about teaching and education policy, because as a parent and community member I want to get involved and give back to Franklin.

FM – What will you bring to the School Committee?

Vanessa Bilello - We are at such a crossroads in public education. If you look at the history and development of public education over the years, it is always additive. There has been tremendous change and pressures placed on educators… and also our students.

The mandates on public schools are so immense, particularly in the past ten to twenty years. This is why we need to have a clear, coherent vision with strategic planning for our district. We need to bring all community members together- stakeholders and educators- to talk about what that education looks like, with the understanding that continual improvement is critical.

What is our vision to move these discussions forward? Open and honest communication through respectful dialogue is crucial. As a new administrator, I believe that there are tools available to gather information from community members and to foster the needed conversation.

The recent school calendar and school start-times survey is a good example of that. I am willing to sift through data; technology gives us an avenue that we have not had in the past. We need to do that to keep the conversation going. These conversations need to happen in ways that everyone feels they have a voice and can share opinions- not just at the soccer fields or in the local Starbucks.

The more non-discussables there are in an organization, the harder it is to have positive and real change. It may be much easier to have a discussion on Facebook about something you don’t like, but it is not necessarily moving the issue into the open for problem solving. In my recent Master’s program, we talked a lot about the importance of building a culture of trust.

Public school districts must do this while involving the many different stakeholders- teachers, administrators, taxpayers, parents and course, the students. We may be coming to the table with different opinions, but we all must come together in the interest of improving our students’ learning. Sometimes those difficult conversations, those different viewpoints, can get in the way of remembering that. I think that’s where listening and understanding play a critical role.

As an assistant principal, I also recognize how big a role budget plays in public education- we must constantly find creative ways to make the best given budgetary constraints. Franklin faces challenges, especially since we do not have a budget available that is as large as other districts in the state. Since our per-pupil expenditure is lower than many and especially since we are still a Level 2 district, we need to be constantly evaluating our progress- at the student, classroom, building and district level- to find ways to improve our student outcomes.

As an educator, I recognize the demands placed on teachers and schools through unfunded political mandates, community expectations and complex student needs. As a parent of elementary and middle school-aged children, I am committed to providing my children and the rest of the students here in Franklin the best education possible. This brings me full circle to the role I believe I can play on School Committee –as a dedicated educator and devoted parent.

FM – What is your view on standardized testing?

Vanessa Bilello – I have spent a lot of time learning about and implementing the 2011 MA Curriculum Frameworks for Math and ELA. Standards are a critical part of education and provide a necessary coherence and consistency across classrooms and districts. They allow parents and educators to have conversations about the essential skills students need to develop as they progress through the grades. I fear that sometimes the line gets blurred between standards and standardized testing.

Obviously, the testing of these standards is a hot topic right now and conversations are ongoing at the state and national level- we are still waiting for MA DESE to decide between PARCC and MCAS. While Franklin moved to PARCC this past year, the Hopkinton District School Committee voted to stay with MCAS. More of my experience has been with MCAS, though I’ve been learning as much as I can about PARCC to prepare my staff in the case the state goes that route.

Formative and summative assessment data is important- you can do analysis and act on it. Regardless, assessment should take a variety of forms and there should be transparency with parents about how this data is used by schools.

As a Special Educator who spent many years administering these assessments and now as a parent, I also recognize that there is not an easy answer when it comes to standardized testing - assessment times are long and stressful for students, teachers and parents, regardless of which test we implement. While the data is important, we must always remember the learner is more than a number - these are children and performance on one assessment cannot possibly paint a full picture of them.

This summer my daughter and I were talking about testing and she said to me “Mommy, it seems like sometimes schools are trying to suck the love of learning out of you.” As a life-long educator, that stabbed me in the heart.

We need to explore ways to bring a love of learning to all our children and foster a growth mindset in our students by modeling it as adults. Schools should be a place where students are excited about learning since being a life-long learner is what it is all about. I firmly believe that “passionate learning is based upon a foundation of compassion.” This is the vision I will lead with as a Franklin School Committee member.

If you have questions for Vanessa, you can contact her via email at vbilello97@gmail.com

You can find additional information on her campaign on her Facebook page
www.facebook.com/VanessaBilelloforSchoolCommittee

Noteworthy: This information is intended to help the Franklin voters when we all head to the ballot box on November 3rd. The interview candidates have had an opportunity to review the text before publishing to ensure the accuracy of our discussion.

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