In the Globe - high school building committee

Local officials are looking for ways to deal with the aging Franklin High School, but say they don't believe the town's taxpayers would be able to foot the entire bill for a proposed $100 million renovation or a $130 million new high school.

The town is putting together a committee to assess the school district's building needs, and first on the list is the future of the 37-year-old high school.

"There are other initiatives in town and in the school system that need to be addressed as well," said Town Council chairman Chris Feeley, but the committee is "going to focus on the high school."

The school has already been the source of an architectural study commissioned by the town. Now, officials are looking for help from the Massachusetts School Building Authority, the agency responsible for disbursing $2.5 billion in state funds for projects across the state over the next five years.

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

GATRA - updated schedule

The updated GATRA schedule can be found on the new Franklin web site here (PDF)

"There were several options discussed"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News

Posted Sep 06, 2008 @ 10:27 PM

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FRANKLIN —

Laying off 17 teachers this school year following the failed override left Franklin High School with major scheduling headaches, including gaps in 200 students' schedules, said Principal Pamela Gould, a problem which has now been fixed.
Three weeks before school began, she said, attempts to realign everyone's schedule were still not completed and about 200 students had a hole in their schedules - one empty period - because administrators did not have enough courses to put the students in.
The Massachusetts Department of Education essentially banned study halls, said Superintendent Wayne Ogden, so they were not an option.
Heidi Guarino of the DOE said as part of Education Reform 1993, the state requires 990 hours of instruction for secondary schools per year, which leaves no time for study hall. Some districts still have some, but the state frowns upon them and requires them to have some learning going on.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

This was part of the School Committee meeting live reporting on Tuesday 8/26/08

Financial Planning Committee Charter - DRAFT

Draft: For discussion purposes only

Financial plan

• Develop a 3 year budget that reflects a range of feasible economic scenarios and funding choices that may be required o Develop metrics to measure and report the town's financial and operational health

Build trust in the process

• Involve key town committees, department, and others to ensure an inclusive process o Achieve buy-in from a critical mass of town leaders for the current situation and recommended course of action

Education and outreach

• Better understand the views of citizens at large, including conventional wisdom that may not be supported by facts o Educate citizens regarding the town's financial health and financial outlook, including as necessary, the need for future overrides

Recommend one or more courses of action to ensure town finances support the overall goals of the town

Financial Planning Committee Minutes of August 7, 2008

The meeting was called to order at 7:05 pm

Members present: Finance Committee Chair James Roche, Councilors Deborah Bartlett, Shannon Zollo and Steve Whalen. Finance Committee member Rebecca Cameron, School Committee Member Matt Kelley, resident Doug Hardesty. School Committee member Roberta Trahan arrived late.

Also present were Town Administrator Jeff Nutting, and School Superintendent Wayne Ogden.

Not in attendance: Resident Gwynne Wilschek

Chairperson Roche asked the Committee to determine what they should accomplish and set a schedule of meetings. Steve Whalen believed there should be an educational and communication component, a printed document that could be distributed to all residences. A discussion ensued concerning potential forms of communication, education, outreach, etc.

The Committee thought that the Council, School Committee, and Finance Committee should work hard towards agreement with the final report.

Suggestions included a historical prospective, understanding that the budget is subjective, a potential questionnaire at the November election.

The Town Administrator handed out four-year revenue and expense information and a potential list of issues the Committee would need to obtain information on.

The group thought that a three-year projection that included outreach, education and communication was the goal of the Committee.

The Committee scheduled the next meetings for August 21,2008.

The meeting adjourned at 8:15 pm.

Respectfully,

Jeff Nutting

Financial Planning Committee Minutes of July 10, 2008

The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM
Members present were Deb Bartlett, Matt Kelly, Jim Roche and Rebecca Cameron. Doug Hardesty and Roberta Trahan arrived late.

Nancy Galkowski the Assistant Town Manager from Arlington, MA presented Arlington's approach to successfully passing an override that would meet the town's needs for a five-year period.

She explained that an override had failed and that they have an annual revenue gap of about $2,000,000.

The override was successful but they have learned a few things that they would do differently including not promising an expenditure cap.

The committee also, set the next meeting for August 7, 2008 with the hope of developing a mission, goals and times. They further discussed the challenges of getting information to the public and discussed a handout at the November election along with other media options.

The meeting adjourned at 8:45 PM

Respectfully

Jeff Nutting

Financial Planning Committee Minutes of June 11, 2008

The meeting was called to order by Chairperson pro-tem Deb Bartlett at 8:05 PM

Members present were Deb Bartlett, Matt Kelly, Jim Roche, Rebecca Cameron, Doug Hardesty, Gwynne Wilschek, Shannon Zollo and Steve Whalen.

A motion was made by Deb Bartlett and second by Steve Whalen to elected Jim Roche Chair. No other nominations were enter. The vote was 8-0.

Jim Roche asked for nominations for Vice Chair. Steve Whalen moved and Deb Bartlett second that Doug Hardesty for vice chair. No other nominations were entered. The vote was 8-0.

Jim Roche asked for nominations for Clerk. Steve Whalen moved and Deb Bartlett seconded that Gwynne Wilschek be clerk. No other nominations were entered. The vote was 8-0.

A discussion ensued about asking if someone from the Town of Arlington could attend the next meeting to outline their approach to a long-term override. It was also discussed about gathering information about the history of the budget, stabilization fund, fiscal policies, hold public hearings, and making a list of barriers to success of making government more effective and more efficient.

The Town Administrator stated he would work on the above mentioned requests. The meeting adjourned at 9:00pm

Respectfully

Jeff Nutting