Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Live reporting - School Committee

A somber mood in the Council chambers as the meeting continues with the knowledge of the vote results.


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Discussion Only Items

· Capitol Needs Update – Mike D’Angelo

discussing the capital requirements for the school facilities
don't put huge amounts of money into the high school
even the generator, if we do something different with the building, the generator will still have useful life
carpeting pricing rising dramatically, primary raw material is oil and we know what is happening in the market with that
there is no funded capital budget either at the town or school level

paraphrasing Mike:
these projects are realistic but not funded
the school items at least can be bonded under state rules and regulations
the portables have 6-7 years life left in them, we own the large and 16 others are leased.
rubber roof guaranteed for 10 years, things will start going on them
we will need space in 6-7 years, the enrollment is not going down
the issue will be similar to a high school, this will be equivalent to a whole school to be replaced.

"you could spend money on the high school, but you don;t know how long the improvement will stay in place (given the decision on the replacement/rebuild pending)."
"the problem with the high school is that we don't have a real plan."

It will be very hard to renovate FHS with students in it.
Horace Mann as well as it was prepared before hand, it was amazing what we found once we opened up the walls. The same thing will happen with the high school.


· Memorandum of Understanding

Franklin Override Tally - June 10, 2008

Franklin Override June 10, 2008





Precinct Blanks Yes No Totals
1 0 388 538 926
2 1 380 532 913
3 0 226 653 879
4 0 568 561 1129
5 0 355 471 826
6 0 343 553 896
7 0 637 460 1097
8 0 505 522 1027
Totals 1 3,402 4,290 7,693






0.01% 44.2% 55.8%

The override failed

The vote for - 3402
The vote against - 4290
The total vote - 7693 (last year 8759)

precinct totals to follow

A sad day for Franklin but the vote is what it is.

Live reporting

heading to the High School fieldhouse for the results.

Science Safety Initiative Presentation

Maureen Sabolinski introducing the science safety presentation. This comes out of the salmonella incident that occurred almost 2 years ago. They have done the study and work to make this happen.

Currently focused on science but will expand to other study areas, like art (due to the ipigment materials) over time.

Laboratory Safety Institute provided training (based in Natick).

Looked for "best practices" to ensure safe learning in the classroom environment. Can't learn if students or teachers are at risk. Need to avoid liability.

Web based document, with hotlinks, can be expanded as necessary to get to the details required. Includes links out to the relevant government regulations and guidelines.

Has an elementary section to cover the aspect of the elementary school curriculum as well.

Document organized by curriculum area as well as by the safety procedures.
The live version will be on the web. Each classroom will have a printed copy for reference.

Butterfly certification from gov't for 3 years to obtain, grow and release according to current procedures.

Obtained two mentors from MA-DEP to help provide advice on operations.

Partnership with US-EPA to obtain a free survey on science and laboratory operations.

Issue with fire blankets, regulations and safety advice have changed. No longer stop, drop, roll and cover with a blanket. With the newer material, the blanket may worsen the fire condition and help to adhere the material to the body. So the procedures have been changed.

"We're trying to leverage what we have for what we don't have."

FEF

Tim Hurdlebrink presenting a check for $25,313 from Franklin Education Foundation fund raising efforts for teacher grants. Their efforts are raising in excess of $150,000 over the years. There are 15 grant winners this year; the most ever.

30 applications resulted in 15 funded grants.

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FEF has a coffee at the senior center Wednesday evening for meet and greet.

Teacher Retirements - live reporting

Franklin Public Schools Retirements:

1. Joanne Bould

2. Susan Brewster

3. Cindy Douglas

4. Michael Gilmore

5. Nancy Gilmore

6. Jeanne McKenna

7. Diane Newcomb

8. Dennis Pelletier

9. Jean Ristaino

10. Elaine Sumner

11. Sena Anania

12. Suzanne Stilgoe


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