"I would say the response has been very positive"

By Peter Reuell/ Daily News staff

MetroWest Daily News

Posted Aug 30, 2008 @ 11:06 PM

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From the outside, they looked like any other assortment of little old ladies.

Moments after I walked into the Sunshine Club at Franklin's Senior Center, Lena Vitti filled me in on the rules: "You have to smile to come in the door."

Little did I know I was stepping into the lion's den.

I'd gone to Franklin to take on Vitti and a handful of other seniors in a game of what's become the hottest must-have item at area senior centers - Wii bowling.

Sure, I was a Wii newbie - the closest I'd come to using the video game system was a display at Best Buy, but being in my early 30s, and part of the generation that grew up with video games, I went in feeling pretty confident.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

In the Globe - Ogden resigns

By Rachel Lebeaux Globe Correspondent / August 31, 2008

Franklin's superintendent of schools submitted his resignation Tuesday night, citing layoffs in the wake of voters turning down a tax increase as the deciding factor.

"I came to Franklin in May 2006 to help move the public schools from good to great. Instead, we are beginning another academic year moving in the opposite direction," Superintendent Wayne Ogden wrote in his resignation letter to the School Committee. "We will start the 2008-2009 school year with 180 more students than when I arrived, and a budget that is several million dollars short of keeping pace with this growth."

Read the full article in the Globe West section of Sunday's Boston Globe here

Do you believe?

This is quite an inspirational performance from a student in Dallas; Dalton Sherman.




As you review this, translate the questions he asks to put Franklin in place of Dallas.

Do you believe in Franklin?
Do you believe in getting the best for Franklin's students?

If you do, then the time for action has never been more so than now. Don't just wait for an election.

• Show up in person at School Committee meetings
• Show up in person at Town Council meetings
• Get the Financial Planning Committee to get the plan together to figure out how we are going to sufficiently afford supporting our beliefs

Supt Ogden's resignation should be a wake up call for Franklin.
Let's stop being so immature and grow up.
We can not continue to live with a small town mentality.
The world has changed enormously in the last 30 years.

The choice is before us. Do you believe in Franklin?

What are you going to do about it?

It 's official - "It’s the perfect combination"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GateHouse News Service

Posted Aug 29, 2008 @ 08:28 PM

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FRANKLIN —

Community Web site specialist AmericanTowns.com and government Web site provider Virtual Town Hall has announced that the town of Franklin, Massachusetts has contracted with them to serve as its principal source of community information and to host its municipal Web site, respectively.

AmericanTowns.com will now provide a hyper-local platform where residents and organizations of Franklin can find and share the best local information about their community, including a unified calendar of events; announcements by and links to local organizations; and local services and resources. Virtual Town Hall, one of the major national providers of online services to city, town and county municipalitie, is now host to Franklin’s Web site.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.

Listen to the podcast where I discovered the local site had moved to AmericanTowns here.

an average of $65,000 to $135,000 annually per prisoner

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Aug 28, 2008 @ 09:45 PM

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FRANKLIN —

News of School Superintendent Wayne Ogden's resignation "devastated" a lot of teachers and school officials across the district, said Chandler Creedon, president of the Franklin Teachers' Association and a school psychologist.

Creedon said he is "terribly saddened" by Ogden's resignation.

"I think there are a lot of people who are devastated by this. He had a lot to offer Franklin. He had some great insight into what we could do with the students, and I'm sad that, for whatever reason, he didn't get a chance to (realize his visions)," Creedon said.

Ogden was always fair and very good to work with, Creedon said.

"He was really just pretty wonderful," he said.

Many teachers and staff are "very sad" and shocked over the news, he said.

Everyone was hoping for a great year, Creedon said.

Creedon said he doesn't blame Ogden for resigning, and lauded his bravery in making a statement.

"It was a very courageous statement that he made. Basically, he's saying he doesn't think he can work in an environment where people aren't really concerned about education," Creedon said.

"I'm not sure the community will get that message," he said.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

"We're entering some tough times"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Aug 27, 2008 @ 11:34 PM

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FRANKLIN —

School Superintendent Wayne Ogden formally gave his resignation Tuesday, saying in a press release that restrictive budgets and massive layoffs preclude him from moving the schools "from good to great."

"I have no desire to continue to dismantle our school system and, as such, I no longer feel I offer the right fit to lead the Franklin schools," Ogden said in a statement released by his office yesterday.

Ogden, who came to Franklin in May 2006 after serving as assistant superintendent for Wayland public schools, will end his tenure June 30, 2009, fulfilling three years of a five-year contract.

"I came to Franklin ... to help move the public schools from good to great. Instead, we are beginning another academic year moving in the opposite direction," he said in the statement.

Franklin starts the 2008-2009 school year with 180 more students than when Ogden first arrived, and a budget that is several million dollars short of keeping pace with that growth, he said.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT TO RESIGN EFFECTIVE JUNE 30, 2009

FRANKLIN, MA (August 27, 2008) – Superintendent of Schools Wayne R. Ogden today announced his decision to resign his position effective June 30, 2009. Ogden formally tendered his resignation to the Franklin School Committee Chairman, Jeffrey N. Roy following last night’s committee meeting.

Ogden issued the following statement:

“I came to Franklin in May 2006 to help move the public schools from good to great.
Instead, we are beginning another academic year moving in the opposite direction. We will start the 2008-09 school year with 180 more students than when I arrived and a budget that is several million dollars short of keeping pace with this growth. In the last two budget cycles, I have been forced to reduce school staff by more than 70 employees, the vast majority of them teachers, and to abandon plans to bring our schools to the next level academically. Our investment in the education of our students is now below average in every single category.

“This retreat has occurred despite the best efforts of the school community. The School Committee has an ambitious vision for the students of Franklin that deserves passionate and thoughtful support, but the Committee cannot sustain the academic performance that the community expects when it is not given the funding required to keep pace with basic educational needs. I have no desire to continue to dismantle our school system and, as such, I no longer feel I offer the right fit to lead the Franklin schools.”

School Committee Chairman Roy said:

“The Committee regrets the superintendent’s decision to leave his post after three years of a five-year contract. Our schools are at a crossroads and the challenges we face are serious, but the School Committee intends to do everything we can to prevent a slide toward mediocrity. With the support of our dedicated staff and our hardworking parents and students, our collective goal is to return Franklin schools to the path of greatness.

“School districts throughout the Commonwealth are struggling to recruit superintendents. We know it will be difficult to find a leader willing to come to a community that has begun to step back from supporting its educational mission. The School Committee will begin discussions regarding a successor as quickly as possible in the hopes of finding a highly qualified individual who can help us overcome the challenges ahead. ”