Continuing the FY 2010 budget hearing
Public Facilities Acct 192
Mike D'Angelo
Jeff provides background on the Facilities arrangement since Mike started doing it on behalf of the schools.
6,300 students, all the public buildings, added hundreds of thousands of square feet to maintain, we are always looking for ways to do it better and cheaper.
Custodians did have 42 now have 32, but the buildings haven't shrunk, they have done a very good job.
You may hear people complain about the condition of the high school, the state came out and was impressed with the shape that it is in. Yes, it needs some fixing but it is working.
Mike
Consumables and parts, all prices went up, gas has come down but the prices have not
Hopefully some of the costs will maintain and not increase further
It has been a long time since I have been able to say that energy has gone down
Goldsmith -
D'Angelo - we clean FHS with 6 people, if someone is out we need to backfill
Goldsmith -
D'Angelo - I have been doing that with energy for 9 years. We bid that separately. We went to them in January and extended contracts at reduced rates. Next year electricity will be 10% less.
Cataldo - The building and rental lease is that the modulars?
D'Angelo - Yes, there is need for them in some of the buildings. These are really rental payments not lease. We should have these for a few more years.
Nutting - we are applying for a new grant to do an energy audit. If we get it, we'll do the analysis and see what we get.
Nutting - we are replacing fixtures with low water use facilities to cut down on water use. We'll relocate the facilities department to the DPW to free space for the schools and put the groups together for efficiencies. We are always looking to do things better, faster, cheaper.
Feldman - where is the grant from?
D'Angelo - From the state. NationalGrid has stepped up their programs.
Nutting - we are looking at the requirements in becoming a green community. There are zoning issues, building issues, it will be a team effort.
Feldman - there is also some Federal stimulus money there.
Roche - What was the increase at the high school?
Nutting - 30% water rate increase was part of it.
D'Angelo - in a lot of the water increase, we actually spend on irrigation of school and town fields, not on the use of the buildings itself.
Roche - HVAC contracts went up significantly
D'Angelo - we were significantly under budgeted going into this year. Remington/Jefferson is now 12 years old and that is driving my costs. The high school is driving cost due to the parts that are required.
Powderly - The HVAC increase at Horace Mann, Oak, ECDC
D'Angelo - when the budget came over from the Schools, it was broken out by school per DOE. It really is better to look at the complex rather than the schools individually. For example; Oak, Horace Mann, ECDC. I can look at 166 monitor points at the Horace Mann complex. That is good but it also means that you have 166 parts to potentially repare/replace as they go.
D'Angelo - a lot of our budget is routine maintenance. Right now we are going to make the jump into cooling, so a lot of the money is routine maintenance that pays off in the long run.
Nutting - we have purchased a work order system that will go online in JUly or thereabouts. We'll have better data to come back with an analysis on what is breaking where, and get to inventory control to keep track of what is being used
1,200,000 square feet of this one million is the schools
D'Angelo - cameras in all the new buildings, we do video recording. The town side didn't do much of that. We just implemented a buzz at the substation so if someone is not there, they get directly to the main station so a dispatcher there can view them and help them.
Roche - increases are significant, I need to take a hard look at. If we can't put food on the table, why paint the door?
D'Angelo - we take better care of our buildings by watching who goes into our buildings. we have a capital list to add a school that didn't have anything at the time it came on line. Some camera change outs have driven costs. The high school is heavily used, checking on locker access, etc. I don't see the costs sky rocketing, I do see replacements but generally what I replace cost less than what it was originally.
When I did my budget a year and a half ago, items cost far less than what they do now. We are just trying to keep up with the trash bags, toilet paper, etc.
Powderly - I am struggling with this being the only budget that was not level funded.
D'Angelo - it is actually much simpler. I pay for anything in all the buildings. No one else has that item in their budget. I don't get the choice to make a decision to tell the Library you are not getting air conditioning until July. We are doing what everbody else is doing, taking the car to the repair shops to keep it running.
Motion to approve budget (in excess of $6 million) passed
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Live reporting - Finance Committee 04/29/09
Attending:
Brett S. Feldman
Juan Rivera
Patricia Goldsmith
Phyllis Messere
Rebecca Cameron
Mark Cataldo
James Roche
Tina Powderly
Missing:
Craig Maire
Robert Teixeira
Library Acct 610
Felicia Oti
Police budget request cut 200,000, Fire request cut 600,000
Library will be closed on Friday's, hours cut to 52
will apply for a waiver to maintain certification from Library Board
Jeff hopeful that the waiver won't be an issue given what is going on
Discussions with Medway still ongoing, Town Meeting required for approval
Rivera - commendation to the Library for all the work and services you provide. Question on cost of office supply increase? Just cost related?
Oti - yes,
Nutting - focus on keeping open as much as possible, keeping 52 hours (80% level) so cutting the book budget is one way to come and balance the budget
Oti - meet minimum in hours (50.5) will only need to apply for waiver for the overall budget dollars
Powderly - What was the change in subscriptions?
Oti - We drop the access to some databases but maintains the access to the Minutemen inter-library loan. There are other sources to access the info provided via the databases.
Roche - What was the total Library staffing in 1999?
Oti - 19
Roche - big budget, easy target, what kind of services do we really want?
Cameron - How is morale? Foot traffic is increasing.
Nutting - To say morale is good or bad, they have a job. You show up and do the best you can. In any place, I have ever worked, no one has ever said morale is great.
Oti - It is low.
Feldman - Is there any utilization of volunteers?
Oti - we do use the tax workout volunteers
Rivera - How is the inter-library
Cindy Dobrinski - Library Board Director, library use has increased considerably, especially over the last several months. Even in support of the school system. She references the library video (I have the link) where the student compares the librarian to the teacher and the librarian allows him to think. She urges consideration when they make their final deliberation.
Brett S. Feldman
Juan Rivera
Patricia Goldsmith
Phyllis Messere
Rebecca Cameron
Mark Cataldo
James Roche
Tina Powderly
Missing:
Craig Maire
Robert Teixeira
Library Acct 610
Felicia Oti
Police budget request cut 200,000, Fire request cut 600,000
Library will be closed on Friday's, hours cut to 52
will apply for a waiver to maintain certification from Library Board
Jeff hopeful that the waiver won't be an issue given what is going on
Discussions with Medway still ongoing, Town Meeting required for approval
Rivera - commendation to the Library for all the work and services you provide. Question on cost of office supply increase? Just cost related?
Oti - yes,
Nutting - focus on keeping open as much as possible, keeping 52 hours (80% level) so cutting the book budget is one way to come and balance the budget
Oti - meet minimum in hours (50.5) will only need to apply for waiver for the overall budget dollars
Powderly - What was the change in subscriptions?
Oti - We drop the access to some databases but maintains the access to the Minutemen inter-library loan. There are other sources to access the info provided via the databases.
Roche - What was the total Library staffing in 1999?
Oti - 19
Roche - big budget, easy target, what kind of services do we really want?
Cameron - How is morale? Foot traffic is increasing.
Nutting - To say morale is good or bad, they have a job. You show up and do the best you can. In any place, I have ever worked, no one has ever said morale is great.
Oti - It is low.
Feldman - Is there any utilization of volunteers?
Oti - we do use the tax workout volunteers
Rivera - How is the inter-library
Cindy Dobrinski - Library Board Director, library use has increased considerably, especially over the last several months. Even in support of the school system. She references the library video (I have the link) where the student compares the librarian to the teacher and the librarian allows him to think. She urges consideration when they make their final deliberation.
Refreshing post from Franklin teacher
Click through to read this on the School Committee blog...
Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:
via Franklin School Committee by Jeffrey Roy on 4/29/09
I saw this post on milforddailynews.com this morning and thought it was worth repeating here. It is said to be from a Franklin teacher. To me, it exemplifies the typical Franklin teacher: hard-working, dedicated, and caring. It also captures empathy for the residents in Franklin, other teachers, the School Committee, and administration. [...]Things you can do from here:
- Subscribe to Franklin School Committee using Google Reader
- Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites
Back story and request for clarifications
As in most issues there are two sides to the story. Here are my notes from the first School Committee meeting on Tuesday 4/28/09 where they gathered information from the principals in preparation for the teacher unions response to the School Committee counter offer.
If there are any corrections to be made, let's get them out so we all start with the same information.
Note: feedback from the School Committee is marked in GREEN and there is a bold highlight in BLUE to indicate the sentence(s) changed.
On the 27 versus 32 meetings
The teachers are required to attend 27 meetings during the school year plus they "may be required" to attend five meetings for a total of 32 meetings.
The 27 meetings are generally scheduled as three meetings per month (except December and June).
These meetings are generally scheduled on Wednesday's.
The meetings are used differently amongst the elementary, middle, and high school buildings.
One consistently is the principal's meeting for the building.
One generally is a department (i.e. subject) meeting.
One generally is a grade level/team meeting.
The five meetings are generally scheduled other than on Wednesday's.
Due to scheduling mistakes and calendar nuances, not all buildings have 32 meetings scheduled this year although the principals claim to need them to conduct their business appropriately.
In the 2001 contract, the elementary school teachers increased from 150 minutes of preparation to 220 minutes in return for the five meetings.
In the 2004 contract, to keep the five meetings, there was an agreement to give up two professional development days.
Contrary to the teacher's claim that there is "no cost" associated with this request, there is. In order to provide the additional prep time, activity monitors were hired by the district to cover for recess, lunch, and other non-instructional periods to provide the teachers the prep time.
While the 2004 contract was agreed to, the parties also agreed to work on a "side letter" to address the time associated with the meetings.
The teachers claim that there has been no progress on the side letter.
The School Committee/District did have at least five meetings with teacher union representatives participating on this matter.
Clearly, the issue has not been resolved, but there was an agreement to schedule the five meetings in advance of the school year to provide the teachers additional time to plan to attend them.
On scheduling meetings before report cards
The teachers are requesting not to have to attend a meeting in the two weeks prior to a report card so that their time can be focused on preparing the accurate and detailed report cards required.
The School Committee proposed that teachers would not be required to attend a meeting in the two weeks prior issuing report cards for the 2009 - 2010 school year (FY10) updated 4/29/09 per School Committee feedback
My two cents:
The real issue tying these two items together is teacher time. There is an instructional time requirement from the state. There are work hours per the contract. Neither of these reflect the actual hours required for teachers to prepare for instructional time and to review and correct student class work/home work.
There is a common misconception that teachers are only "working" during school, that when the school bell rings, the students leave and the teachers are free to do as they please.
This is far from the case. Teachers can spend more hours outside the classroom preparing for instruction (i.e. elementary level) or correcting class work/home work (i.e. middle/high school) than the actual classroom time.
The nature of the instructional time varies from elementary through middle school to high school. Let's get some agreement on the real hours of teacher classroom time, classroom preparation, and classroom post work (i.e correction of papers, preparation of report cards, etc.).
Superintendent Ogden has stated that the 6.5 hour school day is obsolete as well as the current school calendar overall. I agree. Those two items were based in our farming heritage and should be brought to the modern world. Learning should be a life long experience, it has pretty much become that. If you as an adult are not keeping up with changes in your area, you will fall behind and find yourself obsolete.
Based upon what is actually done, let's get an agreement on what is required and should be subject to compensation and what can be considered "over and above" the requirements.
-----------
On providing reasons for the "personal" day
Two paid "personal" days are provided to the teachers per the contract.
The days used to be "use it or lose it".
The contract language changed in 2004 to require a reason to be provided for personal days.
The days can be denied if they are for
The teachers have asked for a "permanent" removal of the requirement to provide the reason. The School Committee proposal to the FEA was to remove the requirement to provide a reason for personal days for the 2009 - 2010 school year (FY10)
It should also be noted that as part of the 2004 negotiation any unused personal days are converted to sick days. updated 4/29/09 per School Committee feedback
My two cents:
One possible solution would be to reword the contract such that if the day being requested fell on the calendar before or after a holiday or vacation, to require the reason be provided. If the day requested was not before or after the holiday/vacation day, then allow it to be granted without requiring a reason. Then the request for a "personal" day remains a "personal" day.
-----------
The notes from the first meeting can be found here
The notes from the second meeting can be found here
My disclosure statement can be found here
If there are any corrections to be made, let's get them out so we all start with the same information.
Note: feedback from the School Committee is marked in GREEN and there is a bold highlight in BLUE to indicate the sentence(s) changed.
On the 27 versus 32 meetings
The teachers are required to attend 27 meetings during the school year plus they "may be required" to attend five meetings for a total of 32 meetings.
The 27 meetings are generally scheduled as three meetings per month (except December and June).
These meetings are generally scheduled on Wednesday's.
The meetings are used differently amongst the elementary, middle, and high school buildings.
One consistently is the principal's meeting for the building.
One generally is a department (i.e. subject) meeting.
One generally is a grade level/team meeting.
The five meetings are generally scheduled other than on Wednesday's.
Due to scheduling mistakes and calendar nuances, not all buildings have 32 meetings scheduled this year although the principals claim to need them to conduct their business appropriately.
For example, the high school had scheduled a meeting that resulted in a conflict with a district wide meeting.The five meetings originated in the 2001 contract although the need for additional meetings was acknowledged in negotiations prior to this contract.
In the 2001 contract, the elementary school teachers increased from 150 minutes of preparation to 220 minutes in return for the five meetings.
In the 2004 contract, to keep the five meetings, there was an agreement to give up two professional development days.
Contrary to the teacher's claim that there is "no cost" associated with this request, there is. In order to provide the additional prep time, activity monitors were hired by the district to cover for recess, lunch, and other non-instructional periods to provide the teachers the prep time.
While the 2004 contract was agreed to, the parties also agreed to work on a "side letter" to address the time associated with the meetings.
The teachers claim that there has been no progress on the side letter.
The School Committee/District did have at least five meetings with teacher union representatives participating on this matter.
Clearly, the issue has not been resolved, but there was an agreement to schedule the five meetings in advance of the school year to provide the teachers additional time to plan to attend them.
On scheduling meetings before report cards
The teachers are requesting not to have to attend a meeting in the two weeks prior to a report card so that their time can be focused on preparing the accurate and detailed report cards required.
The School Committee proposed that teachers would not be required to attend a meeting in the two weeks prior issuing report cards for the 2009 - 2010 school year (FY10) updated 4/29/09 per School Committee feedback
My two cents:
The real issue tying these two items together is teacher time. There is an instructional time requirement from the state. There are work hours per the contract. Neither of these reflect the actual hours required for teachers to prepare for instructional time and to review and correct student class work/home work.
There is a common misconception that teachers are only "working" during school, that when the school bell rings, the students leave and the teachers are free to do as they please.
This is far from the case. Teachers can spend more hours outside the classroom preparing for instruction (i.e. elementary level) or correcting class work/home work (i.e. middle/high school) than the actual classroom time.
The nature of the instructional time varies from elementary through middle school to high school. Let's get some agreement on the real hours of teacher classroom time, classroom preparation, and classroom post work (i.e correction of papers, preparation of report cards, etc.).
Superintendent Ogden has stated that the 6.5 hour school day is obsolete as well as the current school calendar overall. I agree. Those two items were based in our farming heritage and should be brought to the modern world. Learning should be a life long experience, it has pretty much become that. If you as an adult are not keeping up with changes in your area, you will fall behind and find yourself obsolete.
Based upon what is actually done, let's get an agreement on what is required and should be subject to compensation and what can be considered "over and above" the requirements.
-----------
On providing reasons for the "personal" day
Two paid "personal" days are provided to the teachers per the contract.
The days used to be "use it or lose it".
The contract language changed in 2004 to require a reason to be provided for personal days.
The days can be denied if they are for
- leisure or recreational purposes
- extending a holiday or vacation period
The teachers have asked for a "permanent" removal of the requirement to provide the reason. The School Committee proposal to the FEA was to remove the requirement to provide a reason for personal days for the 2009 - 2010 school year (FY10)
It should also be noted that as part of the 2004 negotiation any unused personal days are converted to sick days. updated 4/29/09 per School Committee feedback
My two cents:
One possible solution would be to reword the contract such that if the day being requested fell on the calendar before or after a holiday or vacation, to require the reason be provided. If the day requested was not before or after the holiday/vacation day, then allow it to be granted without requiring a reason. Then the request for a "personal" day remains a "personal" day.
-----------
The notes from the first meeting can be found here
The notes from the second meeting can be found here
My disclosure statement can be found here
"that meeting never happened"
FRANKLIN —
After a 20-minute executive session, School Committee Chairman Jeffrey Roy announced the board and teachers union have not yet come to an agreement on wage concessions.
At the behest of Superintendent Wayne Ogden and the School Committee, the Franklin Education Association had agreed to a one-year wage deferment to save jobs on April 13, but attached three conditions. The union also offered to forgo course reimbursements to save the district another $200,000.
The School Committee then made a counter offer, which would give the union some of what it sought.
The union rejected the counter proposal yesterday afternoon and again put forward its original offer, which had three stipulations: The removal of five floating after-school meetings, permanent removal of the need to give a reason for personal days, and the permanent requirement that no meetings be scheduled two weeks prior to the issuing of report cards, according to a copy of the proposal.
Read the full article on the School Committee/teachers dispute in the Milford Daily News here
"The sky is the limit"
FRANKLIN —
The Fourth of July Coalition is gearing up for its second five-day Independence Day celebration, and is excited to report it will feature a parade, said group secretary Warren Revell.
The coalition didn't have time or funds to hold a parade or fireworks last year, he said, but there is a slim possibility for both this time around.
"This is a town (where) you can't just put something in front of the people - you gotta put out a quality product," Revell said.
"I'm excited, because the town needs a parade. It draws people into the town; fireworks don't. Hopefully, it'll get businesses to be in the parade," he said.
Most likely, there will not be fireworks, he said, because of the cost.
Read the full article on the 4th of July plans in the Milford Daily News here
Treesavers: Paul Barcelo
Paul Barcelo, author of The Sweet War Man
Will be appearing at Treesavers Books to sign his new book, The Sweet War Man.
Paul Barcelo completed Army Infantry training at Fort Benning, Georgia, then rotary wing training at Fort Wolters, Texas and Fort Rucker, Alabama. He flew one tour as a UH-1 pilot in Republic of Vietnam. He resides in Franklin, Massachusetts with his wife and four children. This is his first novel.
May 16, 2009 from 2:00 to 4:00 PM
Cafe Dolce - Kai Olsson
Enjoy some music at Cafe Dolce with Kai Olsson
Saturday 5/2/09 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM
Click through to listen to some samples on Kai's MySpace page
Financial Planning - Town Forum
This is the collection of posts covering the discussion of the draft report by the Financial Planning Committee taking a long term view of the financial situation we face.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
School Committee Mtg 04/28/09
The collection of live reports from the two school committee meetings held on Tuesday 4/28/09
Updated to include the "Back story" posting in the appropriate time sequence of events
- Live reporting - Subcommittee reports
- Live reproting - Superintendent
- Live reporting - Action items
- Live reporting - New lunch process
- Live reporting - School Committee resumes
- Live reporting - Executive session
- Live reporting - Teacher's proposal
- Live reporting - School Committee 2nd Mtg
Updated to include the "Back story" posting in the appropriate time sequence of events
Live reporting - Subcommittee reports
School Committee Sub-Committee Reports
Trahan - thanks to Maureen and Wayne for their help in preparing the Financial Planning Report.
Cafasso - thanks, it was a good report.
School Committee Liaison Reports
New business - need to discuss the state inspection report from the High School
Budget hearing is scheduled for the second meeting in May
Athletic fees to be taken up next meeting
Trahan - thanks to Maureen and Wayne for their help in preparing the Financial Planning Report.
Cafasso - thanks, it was a good report.
School Committee Liaison Reports
New business - need to discuss the state inspection report from the High School
Budget hearing is scheduled for the second meeting in May
Athletic fees to be taken up next meeting
Live reproting - Superintendent
Superintendent’s Report
a. Using Data to Monitor Student Achievement
b. Best Buddies Prom -Saturday at Adirondeck 5:30 to 9:00 PM
c. Bicycle Racks - installed in next 2 weeks at schools that don't have them
d. FHS Modular Classroom - taking it down, rather than leaving it empty was going to be safer
e. Implementation of Point of Sale Technology / Food Service
DOE is now Dept of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)
Swine Flue - DPH guidelines already posted on school web site
hand washing is one of the best ways to prevent this, really pushing it in a more religious way
a. Using Data to Monitor Student Achievement
b. Best Buddies Prom -Saturday at Adirondeck 5:30 to 9:00 PM
c. Bicycle Racks - installed in next 2 weeks at schools that don't have them
d. FHS Modular Classroom - taking it down, rather than leaving it empty was going to be safer
e. Implementation of Point of Sale Technology / Food Service
DOE is now Dept of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)
Swine Flue - DPH guidelines already posted on school web site
hand washing is one of the best ways to prevent this, really pushing it in a more religious way
Live reporting - Action items
4. Action Items:
a. I recommend budget transfers as detailed. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
b. I recommend acceptance of a check for $2,500.00 from the Oak Street PCC for nurses and bus fees for upcoming field trips. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
c. I recommend approval of the ASMS 8th grade trip to Conn. River Valley and Eastern NY on May 1, 2009. Motion to Approve; Passed 6-0, 1 - Abstain
d. I recommend acceptance of the donation of 12 cases of copy paper for the Franklin Public Schools from Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Johnson. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
e. I recommend acceptance of the donation of $4,200.00 from the ASMS PCC to pay for two 8th grade field trip coach buses. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
f. I recommend declaring the graphic arts classroom modular at FHS as surplus. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
a. I recommend budget transfers as detailed. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
b. I recommend acceptance of a check for $2,500.00 from the Oak Street PCC for nurses and bus fees for upcoming field trips. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
c. I recommend approval of the ASMS 8th grade trip to Conn. River Valley and Eastern NY on May 1, 2009. Motion to Approve; Passed 6-0, 1 - Abstain
d. I recommend acceptance of the donation of 12 cases of copy paper for the Franklin Public Schools from Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Johnson. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
e. I recommend acceptance of the donation of $4,200.00 from the ASMS PCC to pay for two 8th grade field trip coach buses. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
f. I recommend declaring the graphic arts classroom modular at FHS as surplus. Motion to Approve; Passed 7-0
Live reporting - New lunch process
Presentations
c. Cafeteria – Point of Sale Implementation – Miriam Goodman
The school serve about 2400 lunches daily for an annual amount of about $1.6 million dollars.
Students would use their pin number. For the younger students, they would use an ID card.
In future to incorporate an online payment system to allow parents to update their students accounts.
The system is anticipated to move faster once the staff and students are comfortable with the new process.
The big win is the automated reporting that comes from this.
Armenio - This has been a long time coming. The anonymity of the low income students in the process will help.
Goodman - the parents can view the purchases of the student and review them with the student to ensure proper diet.
Cafasso - how are you communicating to parents about this?
Goodman - Central office update coming out. Word coming at each school, word through the cafes.
Cafasso - Consider getting the info out through to the PCC's
Kelly - How is the balance handled at the end of the year?
Goodman - The balance carries forward. The student maintains the same ID through their time at Franklin.
Trahan - Can the parent arrange something like EasyPass?
Goodman - It may have that capability, we can look at that down the road.
Slight - cash or check in the line, how is that handled?
Goodman - Just bring it in the line, it can be entered in by the cashier.
c. Cafeteria – Point of Sale Implementation – Miriam Goodman
The school serve about 2400 lunches daily for an annual amount of about $1.6 million dollars.
Students would use their pin number. For the younger students, they would use an ID card.
In future to incorporate an online payment system to allow parents to update their students accounts.
The system is anticipated to move faster once the staff and students are comfortable with the new process.
The big win is the automated reporting that comes from this.
Armenio - This has been a long time coming. The anonymity of the low income students in the process will help.
Goodman - the parents can view the purchases of the student and review them with the student to ensure proper diet.
Cafasso - how are you communicating to parents about this?
Goodman - Central office update coming out. Word coming at each school, word through the cafes.
Cafasso - Consider getting the info out through to the PCC's
Kelly - How is the balance handled at the end of the year?
Goodman - The balance carries forward. The student maintains the same ID through their time at Franklin.
Trahan - Can the parent arrange something like EasyPass?
Goodman - It may have that capability, we can look at that down the road.
Slight - cash or check in the line, how is that handled?
Goodman - Just bring it in the line, it can be entered in by the cashier.
Live reporting - School Committee resumes
The meeting resumes in public session
Payment of Bills Mr. Kelly - motion, passed 7-0
Payroll Ms. Armenio
FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence: none
Announcement of what was discussed in Executive Session
Non-union all agreed without conditions
FEA would not take any action until the School Committee publicly requested
FEA would not discuss budget reductions
FEA requested to get together ASAP to review the proposal (as announced previously).
Offered via phone call
not have to provide the reason, did want to keep all 32 meetings (including the 5), did want to keep the reimbursement, did want to convey these directly to the teachers
Response back was to schedule a meeting on Thursday 4/16/09 at 7:30 AM
Creedon, Schlefke, McGovern
Clear from that meeting there would be no middle ground without consultation with each party.
Proposed joint meeting with FEA and School Committee (rejected by FEA)
Invited FEA to School Committee meeting
Final proposal to convene at 3:30 PM 4/28/09
School Committee met separately from FEA in same building
Reporting today that the FEA rejected the counter proposal, nor would they change their original proposal, nor would they meet with the School Committee.
The School Committe is not inclined to address the FEA proposal.
Town Administrator agrees with the School Committee stance.
There was no opporutnity for public comment at this time!
Payment of Bills Mr. Kelly - motion, passed 7-0
Payroll Ms. Armenio
FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence: none
Announcement of what was discussed in Executive Session
Non-union all agreed without conditions
FEA would not take any action until the School Committee publicly requested
FEA would not discuss budget reductions
FEA requested to get together ASAP to review the proposal (as announced previously).
Offered via phone call
not have to provide the reason, did want to keep all 32 meetings (including the 5), did want to keep the reimbursement, did want to convey these directly to the teachers
Response back was to schedule a meeting on Thursday 4/16/09 at 7:30 AM
Creedon, Schlefke, McGovern
Clear from that meeting there would be no middle ground without consultation with each party.
Proposed joint meeting with FEA and School Committee (rejected by FEA)
Invited FEA to School Committee meeting
Final proposal to convene at 3:30 PM 4/28/09
School Committee met separately from FEA in same building
Reporting today that the FEA rejected the counter proposal, nor would they change their original proposal, nor would they meet with the School Committee.
The School Committe is not inclined to address the FEA proposal.
Town Administrator agrees with the School Committee stance.
There was no opporutnity for public comment at this time!
Live reporting - Executive session
The School Committee is still in Executive Session. It is passed their 15 minutes estimate. The longer it goes, the more interesting it becomes.
Stay tuned for a resume sometime
Stay tuned for a resume sometime
Live reporting - Teacher's proposal
The teacher's proposal previously reported was rejected by the School Committee.
As reported earlier, there were two meetings being simultaneously this afternoon. The teachers met and voted to reject the School Committee counter proposal and resubmitted their proposal unchanged.
So a stalemate is currently underway.
The School Committee received the teacher's update and are now in Executive Session likely preparing their public comment.
Stay tuned.
PS - I still have part of the School Committee meeting detailing some of the history behind the 5 meetings to write up when I get a chance.
As reported earlier, there were two meetings being simultaneously this afternoon. The teachers met and voted to reject the School Committee counter proposal and resubmitted their proposal unchanged.
So a stalemate is currently underway.
The School Committee received the teacher's update and are now in Executive Session likely preparing their public comment.
Stay tuned.
PS - I still have part of the School Committee meeting detailing some of the history behind the 5 meetings to write up when I get a chance.
Live reporting - School Committee 2nd Mtg
Attending: Armenio, Kelly, Roy, Rohrbach, Trahan, Mullen, Cafasso
1. Routine Business
Citizen’s Comments - none
Review of Agenda - move guests and presentations up, going into executive session shortly
a. Dan Telhada – All Scholastic Award
b. Coach Carmen Colace – Coach of the Year
Motion to enter executive session with potential to return to open session
Motion approved
1. Routine Business
Citizen’s Comments - none
Review of Agenda - move guests and presentations up, going into executive session shortly
a. Dan Telhada – All Scholastic Award
b. Coach Carmen Colace – Coach of the Year
Motion to enter executive session with potential to return to open session
Motion approved
Live reporting - School Committee Mtg 1st
Attending: Armenio, Cafasso, Kelly, Mullen, Roy, Rohrbach, Trahan
Also participating: Jeff Nutting, all the school principals, Ogden, Sabolinski, Goodman, and others from the School Administration office
The meeting opened with a recap by Jeff Roy of the events leading to this particular meeting. Briefly, after the Executive Session at the 4/14/09 meeting, Jeff notified the FEA of the School Committee's reluctance to accept the full proposal. They would accept the deferral of the 2.5% cost of living increase. They would waive the requirement on requiring a reason required for personal days for the remainder of the year. They wanted to keep the 32 meetings. They wanted to continue to provide the teacher reimbursements.
A subsequent conversation between Roy and Creedon set up a meeting for 4/16/09 7:30 AM to further review. At that meeting it was discussed setting up the 4/28/09 meetings. FEA separate from School Committee with an agreement that when something was ready for the School Committee designated intermediaries would "knock on the door".
Those two meetings are still in session.
At their request, the principals have remained in the session with them.
The School Committee meeting will return to open session at some time.
Also participating: Jeff Nutting, all the school principals, Ogden, Sabolinski, Goodman, and others from the School Administration office
The meeting opened with a recap by Jeff Roy of the events leading to this particular meeting. Briefly, after the Executive Session at the 4/14/09 meeting, Jeff notified the FEA of the School Committee's reluctance to accept the full proposal. They would accept the deferral of the 2.5% cost of living increase. They would waive the requirement on requiring a reason required for personal days for the remainder of the year. They wanted to keep the 32 meetings. They wanted to continue to provide the teacher reimbursements.
A subsequent conversation between Roy and Creedon set up a meeting for 4/16/09 7:30 AM to further review. At that meeting it was discussed setting up the 4/28/09 meetings. FEA separate from School Committee with an agreement that when something was ready for the School Committee designated intermediaries would "knock on the door".
Those two meetings are still in session.
- The FEA meeting is closed to all but union members.
- The School Committee meeting after conducting some fact finding with the principals on the history of the 5 extra meetings has now gone into Executive Session.
At their request, the principals have remained in the session with them.
The School Committee meeting will return to open session at some time.
Help avoid a train wreck?
There is an interesting confluence of meetings scheduled for Tuesday at 3:30 PM at Horace Mann.
Bottom line: These two groups have not been communicating with each other.
There are quite a few points of disagreement but the major one for me is:
The teachers feel that since the School Committee did send a letter to them asking for the salary concession, they have, in effect, opened the contract for negotiation. The three items tied by the teachers to their salary deferment were supposed to have been addressed in a side-letter after passing the current contract two years ago. For a few reasons, the most current of which is beyond the control of the individual assigned to lead the side-letter effort, resolution on these three issues has gone nowhere. As a result, these three issues were brought to the table with the salary concession and linked together.
So there seems to be a stalemate brewing.
For some reason the School Committee is hung on keeping the three items.
To the extent that they keep the three items, they will lose the million dollar concession.
Who wins?
No one, not the School Committee, not the teachers, not the children of Franklin.
In my unique position, I can not stand by and watch this train wreck occur.
Note: I am deliberately using the terms 2.5% cost of living increase deferment because that is really what it is. There are still salary increases possible for some on both the Town and School side due to "steps and lane" changes per the union contracts. In this case, the talked of "salary freeze" is a misuse of the term.
- The Teachers have scheduled to hold a union meeting. This is a closed session, open only to union members. The union will be updated on the response by the School Committee to the teachers offer of the million dollar contract concession.
- The School Committee have scheduled to hold an open meeting intending to participate in a discussion with the teachers.
Bottom line: These two groups have not been communicating with each other.
There are quite a few points of disagreement but the major one for me is:
- Contrary to what the School Committee has stated and published, the teachers union meeting of 4/13/09 did have a vote of all teachers present on a deferment of the 2.5% cost of living increase for FY 2010 without any conditions. It failed miserably.
- The vote that passed (80% for, 20% against) for was for the 2.5% cost of living deferment attached to three conditions. The three conditions have been reported in the Milford Daily News and here.
The teachers feel that since the School Committee did send a letter to them asking for the salary concession, they have, in effect, opened the contract for negotiation. The three items tied by the teachers to their salary deferment were supposed to have been addressed in a side-letter after passing the current contract two years ago. For a few reasons, the most current of which is beyond the control of the individual assigned to lead the side-letter effort, resolution on these three issues has gone nowhere. As a result, these three issues were brought to the table with the salary concession and linked together.
So there seems to be a stalemate brewing.
For some reason the School Committee is hung on keeping the three items.
To the extent that they keep the three items, they will lose the million dollar concession.
Who wins?
No one, not the School Committee, not the teachers, not the children of Franklin.
In my unique position, I can not stand by and watch this train wreck occur.
Note: I am deliberately using the terms 2.5% cost of living increase deferment because that is really what it is. There are still salary increases possible for some on both the Town and School side due to "steps and lane" changes per the union contracts. In this case, the talked of "salary freeze" is a misuse of the term.
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