"It will leave the school community neglected"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News

Posted Apr 12, 2009 @ 10:51 PM

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FRANKLIN —

All Franklin schools could be without a librarian this September, a move principals suggested as a way to fill the district's approximate $2.5 million budget gap.

"None of the cuts are palatable in any way," said Assistant Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski, who becomes superintendent July 1.

Administrators had to weigh their options, and librarians have the least impact on instruction on a day-to-day basis, she said.

Keeping class sizes to a manageable level is a top priority, School Committee members and principals have said.

"Principals at each level made the recommendation for that cut independently; each had librarians on the table," Sabolinski said.

Read the full article on the loss of the librarians in the Milford Daily News here

View the presentation outlining all the potential budget cuts here

Participate in the School Committee meeting Tuesday April 14th, 7:00 PM Town Hall.

"we need to find champions"

... what we do in education has little or nothing to do with what we know is good pedagogy for children. For example, we could significantly improve education at all levels and in all parts of the country with one change in policy—reducing class size to 18 or less at all grade levels. It is a basic truism of education that the more one-on-one time a child has with a teacher, the better the learning and educational outcome. Yet in practice educational policy is determined by political, economic, cultural, and personal ego concerns. This happens because children and adolescents do not vote, and have little or no say in their own governance. And we, who speak for children and youth, have not been able to muster the political muscle to make the educational needs of children either heard or responded to.

The data and arguments offered in this report are both powerful and compelling. But if they are to have any impact, we need to find champions in the media, in the arts, and in politics who will make the case for us. After all, what do we know? We are just the teachers of young children—who just happen to be the future of our nation.

Read the full report that David Elkind references here.

As Franklin enters into serious budget discussions which could include the change from full-day to half-day kindergarten, while increasing class size across the district, this report will be a timely read.


My thanks to Bernie DeKoven for sharing the link to this report.

School Committee - Agenda - 4/14/09

1. Routine Business

• Citizen’s Comments
• Review of Agenda
• Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the March 24, 2009 School Committee Meeting.
• Payment of Bills Mr. Kelly
• Payroll Ms. Armenio
• FHS Student Representatives
• Correspondence:

1. Budget to Actual
2. Budget Transfers
3. Letter from Mark Tiede and Melissa McCann
4. Letters from the Doggett family

2. Guests/Presentations

Sue Streeter – Best Buddies Grant Awards

Emily Constantine – HMMS
Marilee Gleason – ASMS
Erin Miller - FHS

FHS Experience – Info for Summer 2009

Pandora Carlucci
Kristy Yankee
Kristin Letendre Cerce

ASMS “To Kill A Mockingbird” Presentation

Kevin Philipps
Emma Campbell
Ricky Hildebrand
Matt Golding
Zoher Ghadyali
Andrew Ayotte
Matthew Peterson
Michaela Lonati

3. Discussion Only Items

FY10 Budget

4. Action Items

1. I recommend acceptance of the donation of $3127.00 from the DT PCC for the following field trips:

Grade 5 - Boston “Lessons on Liberty” & “Bostonian Society”
Grade 2 - Stony Brook
Grade K - Southwick Zoo
Grade 5 - Bus fee for visit to ASMS

1. I recommend acceptance of the donation of 20 Bose 3-2-1 GS Home Entertainment Systems (valued at $999.00 each) for the Franklin Public Schools.
2. I recommend acceptance of the donation of office supplies from the 3M Company as listed for the Franklin Public Schools.
3. I recommend acceptance of a check for $412.80 from Lifetouch for the ECDC future enrichment programs.I recommend acceptance of a check for $4,900.00 from the Keller PCC for the following field trips:

Grade K - Southwick Zoo plus buses
Grade 2 - Stony Brook plus buses
Grade 4 - Museum of Science plus buses
Grade 5 - Roger Williams Zoo plus buses

1. I recommend acceptance of a check for $75.00 from the Keller PCC for an additional bus for the K field trip to Southwick Zoo.
2. I recommend acceptance of the donation of 12 cases of copy paper for the Oak Street Elementary School from Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Johnson.
3. I recommend acceptance of the donation of several gently used trade books from Kristen Ramel, a 5th grade student, for the Oak Street teachers.
4. I recommend acceptance of a check for $250.00 from Parmenter PCC for a bus for a field trip to the Mass Hospital School in Canton, MA.
5. I recommend the request of Peter Light to declare the attached list of books as surplus.
6. I recommend approval of the FHS request for Judi O’Neil to take 8 students to Los Angeles, CA to compete in the DECA 2009 International Conference as detailed.
7. I recommend acceptance of the check for $200.00 from C.A.N.E. (Classical Association of New England – grant) for expenses related to HMMS field trip to the Worcester Art Museum.
8. I recommend acceptance of the check for $1,488.56 from the Oak St. PCC for reading materials for all students/classrooms to access.
9. I recommend acceptance of the donation of space at the Hampton Inn for Open Circle training in 2008-09 valued at $1200.00 (4 days @ $300/per day).
10. I recommend that you declare the modular classrooms at Davis Thayer Elementary School as surplus and return them to the Town.

5. Information Matters

Superintendent’s Report

• Enrollment Comparison
• Draft of 2009-2010 FHS Administrative Structure
• FY11 School Calendar Options
• 09-10 School Committee Schedule - Draft
• Blue Ribbon: Financial Planning Committee
• Special Facilities Review - Confidential

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

"Football, hockey and basketball are the most expensive sports"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News

Posted Apr 10, 2009 @ 12:58 AM

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FRANKLIN —

Athletic fees will almost certainly go up again this year at Franklin High School, thanks to the tanking economy, said Franklin High School Athletic Director Brad Sidwell.

"I would expect an increase in the fees, for sure, but I don't know the amount yet," Sidwell said.

Assistant Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski, who becomes superintendent July 1, also said a fee increase is likely, but she hopes to avert it.

"Everyone's trying to get their heads around the stimulus money and how we can use it. We'd like to minimize fees if we can - fees are just another tax on parents," Sabolinski said.

The School Committee tried to generate more revenue by allowing paid advertisements in the high school field house, but that has only brought a few thousand dollars, Sidwell said.

I almost missed this one on the possible increase in sports fees, read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!, originally uploaded by shersteve.

"keeping everything on the table"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News

Posted Apr 11, 2009 @ 10:23 PM

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FRANKLIN —

Once again, Franklin schools are facing the prospect of losing the popular late bus.

Superintendent Wayne Ogden and Assistant Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski have not included the late bus in next year's budget, which still has about a $2.5 million deficit, Sabolinski said. That budget seeks to maintain level services from this year.

The first priority is keeping teachers, School Committee members and administrators have said.

"When you look at it, $40,000, $50,000 - that's a teaching position. We tried to save every teaching position we could. Every $50,000 is a teacher, and a series of baby steps gets you where you need to be," Sabolinski said.

Read the full article about the late bus and the current budget in the Milford Daily News here

The School Committee meeting on Tuesday, April 14th at 7:00 PM

The Town Council will hear the Financial Planning Committee report on Wednesday, April 15th. at 7:00 PM.

"Nobody called a meeting"

From Scott MacLeod writing at Dangerously Irrelevant:

Here’s what I think is the money quote from the article:

The first time chlorine was used in an improvised explosive device in Iraq, someone created a wiki page asking what intelligence officers and others in the field should do to collect evidence of the usage. "Twenty-three people at 18 or 19 locations around the world chimed in on this thing, and we got a perfectly serviceable set of instructions in two days," says Tom Fingar, who headed the National Intelligence Council from 2005 to 2008. "Nobody called a meeting, there was no elaborate 'Gotta go back and check with Mom to see if this is the view of my organization.' "

Read the full post which includes a link to the TIME article from which he found this quote.