Live reporting - Annie Sullivan Middle School Tribute

2. Guests/Presentations

• Annie Sullivan Middle School Tribute

--- video and audio presentation ---

Ms Beth Wittcoff, Mr Eric Ledebuhr

Live reporting - school committee 9/9/08

All committee members present: Armenio, Cafasso, Kelly Mullen, Roy, Rohrbach, Trahan

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7:01 PM - Call to order Mr. Roy

Pledge of Allegiance
Moment of Silence

1. Routine Business

• Citizen’s Comments - none this evening
  
• Review of Agenda - strategic plan update will move out as the meeting did not occur yesterday
  

Minutes:
I recommend approval of the minutes from the August 26, 2008 School Committee Meeting.
6 - approved, 1 abstain

• Payment of Bills - Mr. Kelly unanimous approval
  
• Payroll Ms. Armenio
• FHS Student Representative - Brittany MacLeod
  

In the News - parking, tutors

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Sep 09, 2008 @ 01:01 AM

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FRANKLIN —

Downtown does not have a shortage of parking but continued development could create one, according to a recent study.

The study was done to identify parking problems to help town officials best plan revitalization.

The assessment, done in March and April, included a survey taken by downtown business owners and residents, a parking space inventory, site visits, research and analysis, said Franklin's Director of Planning Bryan Taberner.

An initial inventory found cars used just 1,150 of the 2,088 parking spaces (about 55 percent) downtown, he said, and on numerous site visits, a "substantial" number of spaces were not in use most days and times.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

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By Staff reports

Milford Daily News

Posted Sep 08, 2008 @ 06:00 PM

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FRANKLIN —

Franklin Public Library is seeking volunteers to teach English to non-native adults in the community who want to improve their language skills. Qualifications for this position are dependability, a friendly and optimistic attitude, patience and a sense of humor. To learn about other cultures and countries and see America through someone else’s eyes, give this a try. ESOL training, materials and computer assistance are provided.

Classes begin Monday, Sept. 15, from 7-8 p.m., in the library lobby near the reference area.
If you are interested in making a contribution to your community through volunteering, please call the Franklin Public Library at 508-520-4940 X4517.

This was posted in the Milford Daily News here

School Committee Agenda - 9/9/08

Call to order Mr. Roy
Pledge of Allegiance
Moment of Silence

1. Routine Business

• Citizen’s Comments
• Review of Agenda

Minutes:
I recommend approval of the minutes from the August 26, 2008 School Committee Meeting.

• Payment of Bills Mr. Kelly
• Payroll Ms. Armenio
• FHS Student Representatives

Correspondence:

• Budget to Actual

2. Guests/Presentations

• Annie Sullivan Middle School Tribute

3. Discussion Only Items

• Superintendent’s Search Process
• Enrollment / Class Size
• Superintendent’s Goals
• Strategic Plan Update

4. Action Items

• I recommend easement of land behind High School to Town for Senior Housing Project as described in the attached document.
• I recommend acceptance of a check for $4,800.00 from the Horace Mann PCC to support the Video Yearbook, Middle School Magic & Talent Show.
• I recommend acceptance of a check for $2,500.00 from the Parmenter PCC for the Kindergarten field trip to Davis Farmland and the Gr. 1 field trip to the Acton Discovery Museum.

5. Information Matters

• Superintendent’s Report
• Enrollment / Class size
• PCC Leadership
• HMMS / Oak Street / ECDC
• Courses not offered this year

School Committee Sub-Committee Reports
School Committee Liaison Reports


6. New Business
To discuss future business that may be brought before the School Committee.


7. Executive Session
Contractual Negotiations


8. Adjourn

Putting the storm water presentation to use

Remembering the storm water presentation from a recent Town Council meeting, I took notice of a couple of storm water grates on a recent walk up Union St. The photos don't show it very well but one of these has some water about 4-6 feet below the surface (apparently the way it should be) and one of these has a dark pile of refuse about 4 inches below the surface (probably not the way it should be).

In either case, the material on the grate should be removed to keep the grate clear to handle the next rainfall.

Tom Sousa Letter to Editor

This was in the print edition of the Franklin Gazette but unfortunately is not found in their online edition. The last "Letter to the Editor" on their web site is from October 1, 2007. Tom's letter is well argued so I asked if I could republish it here and he granted permission to do so. Thanks, Tom!

Franklin’s School Superintendent Wayne Ogden’s resignation this week was very disturbing to many people. Reading Mr. Ogden’s quotes, it seems to me he resigned because he felt he couldn’t improve the school system with diminishing funds and a lack of community support.

What’s happening to Franklin? A telling sign on the state of Franklin’s education system is that approximately 10% of the incoming Franklin Freshman High School boys are going to private schools! Will we have to continue to ship our kids out of town to ensure they receive a proper education? What about those less fortunate who can’t do this?

Milford Daily News blog contributors hammered Mr. Ogden, and belittled those who appointed him, as if his departure is the critical issue at hand here. Ogden's departure is a telling sign that he doesn't want to be associated with a failing school system, because we, the people of Franklin, are incapable of managing and controlling our budget and finances.

What are "we" the residents, thinking here? Okay, okay, we didn't pass another Proposition 2.5 because our taxes would be too high, right? Why did we have to lay off 70 school employees? Since the population has almost doubled in the last 12-15 years, all of the residents with kids can only blame themselves for this happening!

Franklin’s tax rate is still one of the lowest in the state! Think about that… Franklin, voted as one of the "Best places to bring up kids”, and to “Start a Small Business” in the country has a lower tax rate than more commercialized towns like Milford? Millis, Medway, Wrentham and Norfolk have fewer infrastructures to support, some shared High Schools and yet they have higher tax rates than us; what makes us think we shouldn’t pay more to get something similar? Franklin residents must understand that all of our property values will diminish if our school system continues to wane.

I would hope that when decision time comes around again, that Franklin residents with children and grandchildren, and the Franklin residents with businesses, and the Franklin residents with town pride, and the Franklin residents that have history here will all stand up together and understand and accept that change has occurred here, and some of it seemingly out of our control. With this change though, comes a financial responsibility for the betterment of our way of life, and for that of our children and our elderly.

Can we prioritize our spending between safety (new Fire House), our history (new Sr. Center), and our future (education budget)? I think there could be a balance, there should be a balance, but the first thing we need to do is get the ship straightened out! I don't know what the answer to this problem is; I am not a politician.

Best wishes, Mr. Ogden. I for one cannot blame you for your departure. I wouldn't want this bloody situation on my hands either.

Thanks; Tom Sousa, 508.954.2911 (c), tomsousa@gmail.com

"I see a bleak future if public funding for school districts doesn't change"

Along with stocking their children's backpacks, parents are increasingly helping teachers fill their cash-strapped classrooms with glue sticks, markers, hand sanitizers, toilet paper, and other basic materials once covered by school budgets.

Many teachers sent out the pleas last month before the first day of school as part of welcoming letters. Others handed out the lists last week on opening day. And a growing number, such as those at Chelmsford's Harrington Elementary this year, posted requests on school websites, saving money on postage and paper.

The lists are another telltale sign of how budget-cutting in recent years has affected the pocketbooks of parents, coming on top of the hundreds of dollars they spend annually on ever-increasing fees for school lunches, sports, after-school programs, and buses.

With household budgets this year stretched thin by rising grocery and fuel prices, parents are questioning how much longer they can keep giving.

"Parents are starting to feel like a piggy bank," said Holly Ewart-O'Neall, the mother of a second-grader and cochairman of the Worcester Arts Magnet School's parent-teacher group, which experienced a decline last year in fund-raising revenue that sometimes goes toward supplies.

School districts, wanting to avoid cuts to staff and programs, have been spending less on classroom supplies and materials during this economically turbulent decade. Statewide, school district expenditures on instructional supplies and materials, including textbooks, dropped 4.3 percent between fiscal years 2002 and 2007 to $334.7 million, despite a dramatic increase in the cost of many items.

Read the full article from the Boston Globe here

This is one area where Franklin School policy prohibits teachers from asking parents to contribute to the classroom. Do parents still contribute? Yes. Many of them know the situation is tight and will offer to bring in items used in the classrooms. In some cases, the teachers themselves make up the shortfall.