Did you see the Globe Magazine on Sunday? They had this special feature on housing, real estate, etc. One article in particular summarized their choices for the top 25 zip codes to live in Massachusetts.
Best part of the article?
Franklin's zip code was NOT in the top 25!
Do you think some folks will stay away?
We only want businesses to come here. Not families with kids!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Boston Globe gets to the high school renovation
The Boston Globe Sunday edition of Globe West caught up to the FHS renovation or build a new school question, both of which are rather pricing. Yet, with a warning already we could loose the accreditation and jeopardize the plans for our students unless we do something.
The question is what? and for how much?
Read the Globe article here
The question is what? and for how much?
Read the Globe article here
Where in Franklin? #37
Can you identify "Where in Frankin?" this picture was taken?
The guidelines for playing "Where in Franklin?" can be found here.
Where in Franklin? Answer #36
The correct answer to #36 was the Ben Franklin Bank branch office located on East Central Street next to Honey Dew Donuts.
Thanks to ljsts for providing their third correct answer (I had miscounted last time).
Thanks to all for playing!
Stay tuned for the next chance to find "Where in Franklin?"
A process to reach agreement on joint maintenance
Following up on the issue and need to reach an agreement raised earlier, I have the following as a process to achieve this. There are other ways but we just need to execute on one that will allow the key stake holders a say in the process.
Using the talking stick concept, the stake holders should come together in a circle.
Stakeholders:
Several white boards or flip charts to record the key points
Volunteers solicited to assist in the recording of the key points
First round records all the objectives, or goals, or constraints of each group that they feel need to be part of the ultimate agreement. Let's get all the issues on the table.
For example:
Third Round entertains proposals from each stake holder group on how they would meet the overall goals as outlined in Round One and prioritized in Round Two
Fourth Round works to build consensus on the proposals from Round Three
There should be a break between the second and third rounds to provide time for the individual stake holder groups to prepare their proposals
There may need to be more than four rounds but that will depend upon the openness of the discussion and how well the group is able to come to a consensus
It may be required to review the current maintenance agreement which the town believes is working and at least from the point of view as expressed by one custodian, clearly isn't. We will need to address any and all issues with this process. We need a working process, not a broken process. If the current process has some flaws, let's address them, agree to fix them and then agree to move on. If we don't fix them, we will not be able to make significant progress on a new process for the custodians.
Using the talking stick concept, the stake holders should come together in a circle.
Stakeholders:
- Town Council
- School Committee
- School Administration
- Dept of Public Works
- Town Administration
- parents
- principals
- custodians
- tax payers
- are any left out?
Several white boards or flip charts to record the key points
Volunteers solicited to assist in the recording of the key points
First round records all the objectives, or goals, or constraints of each group that they feel need to be part of the ultimate agreement. Let's get all the issues on the table.
For example:
- cost savings
- principals control people working within their school
- education reform act requirements
- labor contracts
- etc.
Third Round entertains proposals from each stake holder group on how they would meet the overall goals as outlined in Round One and prioritized in Round Two
Fourth Round works to build consensus on the proposals from Round Three
There should be a break between the second and third rounds to provide time for the individual stake holder groups to prepare their proposals
There may need to be more than four rounds but that will depend upon the openness of the discussion and how well the group is able to come to a consensus
It may be required to review the current maintenance agreement which the town believes is working and at least from the point of view as expressed by one custodian, clearly isn't. We will need to address any and all issues with this process. We need a working process, not a broken process. If the current process has some flaws, let's address them, agree to fix them and then agree to move on. If we don't fix them, we will not be able to make significant progress on a new process for the custodians.
Cost savings or power struggle?
By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff
FRANKLIN —
School and town officials battling for control of the School Department's $5 million maintenance account will continue to duke it out this month, according to Town Councilor Robert Vallee.
The account has traditionally been managed by schools, but Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting has proposed the town's Department of Public Works take it over for to eliminate duplication of jobs and maximize cost-efficiency, Vallee said.
Nutting, Vallee, Town Councilor Shannon Zollo, Councilor Deborah Bartlett,
Chairman Chris Feeley, School Superintendent Wayne Ogden, and several other town officials debated the issue at a joint budget subcommittee meeting last week, Vallee said.
``Nothing was accomplished, but we exchanged thoughts,'' said Vallee.
School officials still need to ``clearly understand'' why Nutting is seeking the change, said Ogden. Nutting could not be reached for comment on Friday.
Read the remainder of the article at the Milford Daily News here
If Franklin is going to make any significant progress on the growth of costs, tight cooperation needs to take place amongst the Town functional organizations.
This may be "low hanging fruit" but it needs to be handled properly. The Town does not need to split over issues that could save money. It is incumbent upon the Town to clearly explain what it would look like to have the two departments combined. This future vision would help to focus the discussion properly on who would do what, how school building issues would be handled, how the school and their important daily functions would operate so that the most important function of delivering a safe, efficient and highly qualified education to our children.
The current education reform act requirement that the school principals are responsible for everyone who works in their building is a potential road block. If properly addressed, it should be a key reason for crafting an agreement that will satisfy all parties.
Communication and open discussion are critical. Let's get all the parties to the table, not just a few. Include the custodians in this discussion. Include some parents. Bring in a moderator to facilitate the discussion and agreement if necessary.
Above all avoid the negatives. Avoid name calling. This is not an 'us' vs. 'them' situation. This affects all of us.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
I need your help on this one
I received this email from a reader:
You can leave a comment here or send an email to me => shersteve at gmail dot com
Your web site came up in a Google search and I was wondering if youDoes anyone have some information that you can share?
might be able to provide some information about Franklin. I just came
across an old family photo and was wondering if you had fairly recent
historical information about a farm in Franklin. Was there ever a Dacey
Brothers Dairy in Franklin that made home milk deliveries? We lived in
Wrentham.
You can leave a comment here or send an email to me => shersteve at gmail dot com
Project Mayhem foiled at FHS
GHS
FRANKLIN —
Police foiled students' apparent plan to wreak "chaos and mayhem" in the style of Project Mayhem from the movie "Fight Club" at Franklin High School yesterday, officials said.
Seven students were suspended indefinitely, pending further investigation, Superintendent Wayne Ogden said.
"In Fight Club, there's Project Mayhem, a group of guys who want to do things to cause chaos and mayhem to the establishment. From the best police can figure, that was kind of the express purpose of this group of kids - to create chaos and confusion," said Ogden.
Read the remainder of the article in the Milford Daily News here.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Town Hall wins Trivia Bee
Town Hall triumphant at Trivia Bee
Read the full article in the Franklin Gazette here.Thirty-six teams were tested on their movie mettle at last night's Trivia Bee at the Horace Mann Middle School, and in the end, knowing the name of Humphrey Bogart's club in "Casablanca" determined the victors.
Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting and the "Franklin Munibees," (aka Town Hall), Town Attorney Mark Cerel and Treasurer Jim Dacey, won a spot on the Bee trophy when they correctly answered "Rick's American Cafe."
Common Craft on Photo Sharing
Continuing the Web 2.0 series on new technologies and how to use them, the wonderful folks at Common Craft have this explanation on photo sharing:
Enjoy!
PS - You may have noticed that most of the photos I post here are from my Flickr account. You can also click through to see the full slide show of all my Franklin photos by clicking on any one of the photos. I also use a little widget in the right column to scroll through the photo collection.
Enjoy!
PS - You may have noticed that most of the photos I post here are from my Flickr account. You can also click through to see the full slide show of all my Franklin photos by clicking on any one of the photos. I also use a little widget in the right column to scroll through the photo collection.
Trivia Bee Mosaic
Scenes from the Franklin Education Foundation Annual Trivia Bee held Thursday night at Horace Mann Middle School.
Top left - a full panel of teams for one round
Top right - the judges and official timer
Middle left - one set of questions required the answers written on the white boards
Middle right - the appreciative and faithful audience
Bottom left - music during the change over from one set of teams to another was provided by Franklin High School musicians
Bottom right - The Town Hall team ended up winning their initial round (and the overall event)
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Franklin Industry - Echo Therapeutics Inc
Help for diabetics on the way from Franklin:
A small Franklin company says it is developing a novel device that could potentially let diabetics continuously monitor their blood-sugar levels - without having to draw blood.
Echo Therapeutics Inc. is expected to say today the device passed one of its first key tests, a pilot study with two dozen patients in the intensive-care unit at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. The Symphony system, a disc about the size of a half dollar, is designed to read glucose levels through the skin and transmit the information wirelessly to a nearby computer or hand-held meter. Currently, diabetes patients must normally prick their skin to draw a few drops of blood and place them on a measuring strip.
"I think it's extremely promising," said Dr. Stanley Nasraway, a Tufts University School of Medicine professor and director of surgical intensive-care units at the medical center. Nasraway said Echo's experimental device appeared to be reliable, relatively accurate, and easy to use, though he cautioned that it must first be tested in much larger clinical trials with a wider group of patients.
Read the full article in the Boston Globe
In the news - Chamber of Commerce Awards
GateHouse News Service
WRENTHAM —
Franklin business leaders dominated the United Chamber of Commerce's 20th annual meeting and awards gala at Lake Pearl Luciano's last night, taking home five of seven awards recognizing members.
People winning awards at last night's Chamber gala included: Franklin Town Clerk Deborah L. Pellegri, the Public Service Award; Franklin's Luigi Moccia of Putnam Investments, the Ambassador of the Year; Incontro Restaurant in Franklin, the Small Business of the Year; William D. Green, a Dean College alum and chairman and CEO of Accenture, a global management consulting and outsourcing company, Business Person of the Year.
Dean College President Paula Rooney accepted the award for Green, who was out of the country. ``He is without a doubt the most compassionate, caring intellectual human being I get the pleasure of speaking with on a regular basis,'' she said of Green.
Rooney read from a letter Green gave to her: ``We need an educated work force. Without that, the future is very bleak.'' Rooney said Green just gave Dean College a $1 million gift.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Where in Franklin? #36
Where would you have seen this clock reading about 9:37 AM looking over this snow covered lawn?
The guidelines for playing "Where in Franklin?" can be found here.
Enjoy!
Interview: Miriam Goodman (audio)
The Franklin School Committee interviews Miriam Goodman, the fourth of four candidates for the vacant School Business Administrator role. Each member of the committee took a turn asking questions. The same set of questions was used for all candidates.
Time: 24 minutes, 27 seconds
MP3 File
Time: 24 minutes, 27 seconds
MP3 File
Interview: David Proule (audio)
The Franklin School Committee interviews David Proule, the third of four candidates for the vacant School Business Administrator role. Each member of the committee took a turn asking questions. The same set of questions was used for all candidates.
Time: 27 minutes, 54 seconds
MP3 File
Time: 27 minutes, 54 seconds
MP3 File
Interview: Ann Giombetti (audio)
The Franklin School Committee interviews Ann Giombetti. The second of four candidates for the vacant School Business Administrator role. Each member of the committee took a turn asking questions. The same set of questions was used for all candidates.
Time: 24 minutes, 31 seconds
MP3 File
Time: 24 minutes, 31 seconds
MP3 File
Interview: Patricia Lange (audio)
The Franklin School Committee interviews Patricia Lange. The first of four candidates for the vacant School Business Administrator role. Each member of the committee took a turn asking questions. The same set of questions was used for all candidates.
Time: 42 minutes, 6 seconds
MP3 File
Time: 42 minutes, 6 seconds
MP3 File
SCHOOL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR / INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
3 minutes: Candidate overview - tell us who you are as a professional and why you are looking to leave your current position
2 minutes: How would you define the role of the School Business Manager/Director?
(Paula)
2 minutes: What safeguards do you employ to insure the budget is balanced annually? What recommendations would you make to the superintendent in the event the budget had to be reduced? (Paula)
2 minutes: Citing specific initiatives or activities, how do you report financial information to Principals/Directors; the Superintendent; and to the School Committee and Town Council? (Ed)
2 minutes: Describe measures you have put in place to streamline and build efficiency into the management of the Business Office. (Ed)
2 minutes: Describe the process you employ to collaborate with the Special Education Director to oversee reimbursement programs (Circuit Breaker/Medicaid) and grants?
(Roberta)
2 minutes: Have you ever found yourself in a compromising position whereby your supervisor requested you take action that you felt was not appropriate? If so, how did you handle the situation and whom did you share information with? (Roberta)
2 minutes: Please discuss your skills with respect to conflict resolution-describe a situation whereby you had to resolve a conflict between two colleagues or two staff members?
(Matt)
2 minutes: What has been your most difficult budget issue? (Matt)
2 minutes: Why do you want to work for Franklin Public Schools? (Susan Rohrbach)
2 minutes: Please discuss your experience in overseeing payroll functions-what type of accountability /checks and balances have you put in place? (Cora)
2 minutes: Describe some of the challenges you have had to overcome working with elected officials and municipal administration and explain how you established positive working relationships. (Jeff Roy)
5 Minutes: Follow-up
-----
Welcome to Franklin Matters!
Why Franklin, MA matters
2 minutes: How would you define the role of the School Business Manager/Director?
(Paula)
2 minutes: What safeguards do you employ to insure the budget is balanced annually? What recommendations would you make to the superintendent in the event the budget had to be reduced? (Paula)
2 minutes: Citing specific initiatives or activities, how do you report financial information to Principals/Directors; the Superintendent; and to the School Committee and Town Council? (Ed)
2 minutes: Describe measures you have put in place to streamline and build efficiency into the management of the Business Office. (Ed)
2 minutes: Describe the process you employ to collaborate with the Special Education Director to oversee reimbursement programs (Circuit Breaker/Medicaid) and grants?
(Roberta)
2 minutes: Have you ever found yourself in a compromising position whereby your supervisor requested you take action that you felt was not appropriate? If so, how did you handle the situation and whom did you share information with? (Roberta)
2 minutes: Please discuss your skills with respect to conflict resolution-describe a situation whereby you had to resolve a conflict between two colleagues or two staff members?
(Matt)
2 minutes: What has been your most difficult budget issue? (Matt)
2 minutes: Why do you want to work for Franklin Public Schools? (Susan Rohrbach)
2 minutes: Please discuss your experience in overseeing payroll functions-what type of accountability /checks and balances have you put in place? (Cora)
2 minutes: Describe some of the challenges you have had to overcome working with elected officials and municipal administration and explain how you established positive working relationships. (Jeff Roy)
5 Minutes: Follow-up
-----
Welcome to Franklin Matters!
Why Franklin, MA matters
- If you like what I am doing here, please tell your friends and neighbors
- If you don’t like something, please tell me
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