Live reporting - School Committee Mtg

Attending: Douglas, Cafasso, Rohrbach, Mullen, Roy, Trahan, Glynn

Missing:

Vision Statement 

The Franklin Public Schools will foster within its students the knowledge and skills to find and achieve satisfaction in life as productive global citizens.

Mission Statement 

The Franklin Public Schools, in collaboration with the community, will cultivate each student's intellectual, social, emotional and physical potential through rigorous academic inquiry and informed problem solving skills within a safe, nurturing and respectful environment.

1. Routine Business

Citizen’s Comments
Review of Agenda - add a general discussion on budget objectives for SchCom members to provide direction to Administration

Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the December 8, 2009 School Committee Meeting.  motion to pass; passed 7-0
Payment of Bills Mr. Glynn   motion to approve; passed 7-0
Payroll Mrs. Douglas
FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence: Budget to Actual – Miriam Goodman

There is a full house in the Council Chambers this evening.

School Committee - Agenda - 1/12/10

1. Routine Business

Citizen’s Comments
Review of Agenda
Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the December 8, 2009 School Committee Meeting.
Payment of Bills Mr. Glynn
Payroll Mrs. Douglas
FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence: Budget to Actual – Miriam Goodman

2. Guests/Presentations
a. War Memorial Recognition
1. DT – Anna Kelley/Gr. 5
2. Jefferson – Judi Johnson/Teacher, Beth Raffin/ PCC Pres., Mikayla/Gr. 2 & Trevor/Gr. 4
3. Keller – Ruthann McHugh/Teacher, Collin Kane/ Student Council & Andrew Purdy/ Student Council
4. Oak St – Katelyn Pokorny/Gr. 5
5. Parmenter – Aprile Albertelli Teacher/Judi Bassignani Principal, Dominic Giardini/Gr.6, Nicholas Gnaman/Gr.5, & Alexa Cornetta/Gr. 4
6. HMMS – Rob Vacca/Teacher
7. ASMS – Ashley Gatchell/Gr. 8
8. RMS – Kathy Goodwin/Teacher
9. FHS – Vince Pellegri & Andrew Travers - graduates

b. Best Buddies Grant Awards
1. Sue Streeter

c. Community Health Council / Middle School Teen Angels
1. Lisa Keohane / Students

d. FHS World Challenge – Trip to Peru
1. Peter Light, Chelsea Barnard, Advisors from World Challenge

3. Discussion Only Items

Policy - Regulation of Motor Vehicle Idling on School Grounds

Policy - First Readings:

ACE – Non-Discrimination on the basis of Disability
ADA – School District Goals and Objectives

Policy – Second Readings:

BIBA – School Committee Conferences, Conventions & Workshops
BID – School Committee Member Compensation & Expenses
BGF –Suspension of Policies
DJA – Purchasing Authority

The Race To The Top Program

4. Action Items
a. I recommend acceptance of a check for $300.85 from Barnes & Noble for the Horace Mann for In-house enrichment.
b. I recommend acceptance of the donation of 3 cameras & a Recorder/VCR valued at $2496.48 from Mr. Robert Salzberg of Resh, Inc. for the Davis Thayer Elementary School.
c. I recommend approval of the proposed trip to Peru in June/July 2011 as detailed.
d. I recommend adoption of Policy BIBA – School Committee Conferences, Conventions & Workshops.
e. I recommend adoption of Policy BID – School Committee Member Compensation & Expenses
f. I recommend adoption of Policy BGF –Suspension of Policies.
g. I recommend adoption of Policy DJA – Purchasing Authority.
h. I recommend acceptance of a check for $1877.32 from Lifetouch for the Remington Gift Account for supplies.
i. I recommend acceptance of a check for $250.00 from Maura Schaeffer-Tobin for the Jacqueline A Schaeffer Memorial Theatre Arts Scholarship Fund at the FHS.
j. I recommend approval of the request of Brad Sidwell for the recurring field trip for the FHS Wrestling Team Competition in Eason, PA from 1/22-23/2010 as detailed.
k. I recommend acceptance of two checks for $414.29 and $70.96 (totaling $485.25) from Follett for Library & Supplemental Curriculum Materials for the JF Kennedy Elementary School.
l. I recommend acceptance of the Best Buddies Grants as detailed.
m. I recommend acceptance of a check for $200.00 from the Franklin Democratic Town Committee for the FHS Young Democrats’ Club.
n. I recommend that Franklin not participate in the Race To The Top Program.
o. I recommend approval of the request of the HMMS Ski Club for their recurring trip to Mt. Sunapee, NH on January 23, 2010 as detailed.
p. I recommend approval of the request of Ms. Neal for 5 ALP students to travel to the RI Rock Wall in Lincoln, RI to participate in a leadership program with the YMCA.

5. Information Matters

Superintendent’s Report
a. Race To The Top
b. H1N1
c. DESE Financial Review
d. Snow Fallout / Sidewalks

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

Let's be honest!

The first of three seminars for parents of 5th through 8th grade students will be held Tuesday evening, 7:00 PM Horace Mann Middle School Auditorium.

This is probably one of the few times, I'll say this but if you do have a 5th through 8th grader, instead of coming to or tuning into the School Committee meeting tonight, go to Horace Mann instead.

The School Committee meeting has a full agenda but the first peek at the 2011 School Budget is scheduled for Jan 26th. You can always catch the School Committee meeting via the video on demand from the Town website!

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Mindy Craven is the scheduled speaker for Tuesday's Let's be honest seminar:

Mindy Craver is a Senior Community Health and Sexuality Educator for Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts.  She has been facilitating sexual health presentations for 14 years and is part of our Professional Training team.   Mindy has held teaching positions at several area agencies including Health Awareness, Pro Health and ResourceFul, Inc. and has consulted with many other Central Massachusetts agencies, fostering a solid reputation for providing fact-based, fun and experiential sexual health programs.  Mindy has successfully reached a variety of audiences with her participatory teaching style, including public middle school students, high risk youth, social service professionals, and parents.  Mindy’s workshops are age-appropriate, thought provoking, and engaging.  Currently, Mindy is focusing her efforts on the launch of Planned Parenthood’s parent education program Let’s Be Honest in Worcester.  She is a graduate of Bridgewater State College with a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education.

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view the attached document.

"that's one bit of data that hasn't shown any indication of slowing down yet"

"The best that we can try to do in the schools is endeavor to teach students to properly use resources, including online tools," said Roy.

That's exactly what the Franklin Teenangels chapter, a division of a nationwide group of teen cyber-safety experts, is trying to do.

Worried about online social networking safety, concerned mother and Dean College technology instructor Lisa Keohane stumbled across wiredsafety.org, a Web site dedicated to Internet safety, and learned about the teen initiative which was featured on the Web site.

The presentation by the Teen Angels group is one of several at the School Committee meeting this evening. Read more in the Milford Daily News here.

FM #53 Week Ending 1/10/2010

This is what matters as the week ends Jan 10, 2010 in Franklin, MA. The session covers the Town Council and two items of importance from it's meeting on January 6th.

 

Time: 7 minutes, 56 seconds



MP3 File

Session notes:

This internet radio show or podcast is number 53 in the series for Franklin Matters.

Take about ten minutes to keep current with what matters in Franklin, MA as the week ends January 10, 2010

In this session I’ll cover the Town Council meeting of January 6, 2010

Two items of importance occurred during the meeting.

First, Brian Taberner, Director, Planning and Community Development, came before the Council to preview some bylaw changes that will be coming up at the next meeting. The bylaw changes have to do with the welcome mat that Franklin is creating for biotechnology firms to consider relocating here to conduct their business. There were bylaw changes made last year that have helped put Franklin near the top of the pile of MA communities. In an analysis of what it would take to move up the listing, one item sticks out. Franklin currently requires a potential biotech company to obtain a special permit from the Town Council. This is over and over all the normal planing board, health dept, fire dept, etc reviews required. He is proposing that this requirement be removed. He is also making some minor modifications to the zoning map itself. The changes would add about 11 parcels in the industrial park and remove one parcel that recently was obtained by State to add to the Town Forest. The formal discussion to approve these changes will come before the council in future meetings. As these are bylaw changes, they require two readings before final approval.

Second, the big snow storm that hit Franklin the weekend of Dec 19/20 dropping 14-18 inches created problems for students walking to school as the sidewalks were not cleared. Robert “Brutus” Cantoreggi reviewed the snow storm planning details and what the Town is currently capable of providing. With the current priority listing as follows:

1. the roads
2. town buildings and schools
3. sidewalks and downtown

With storms delivering under six inches of snow, the DPW can clear the sidewalks within a day after the plowing stops.

With storms delivery more than six inches of snow, the DPW will take two-three days after the plowing stops to clear the sidewalks.

This is due to resource constraints. One, equipment to clear the sidewalk. Even if we had money to purchase additional (approx. 120,000 per unit) would that be an effective use of our funds since we would only use them once or twice a year? Consider that this amount would effectively fund two teachers and some supplies or books.

Two, even with the equipment and additional manpower available, you can't start the sidewalks until the roads are complete. Otherwise, you'd end up messing up the sidewalk when the plows went by on the road. Don't believe this? What happens at the end of your driveway? How do you keep that clear with the plows going by multiple times on the roads?

Finally, Franklin has this issue due to the overall budget problems we face. Should we plow the roads less well? Should we accept the way it is? All good questions that should lead to a good discussion.

There is a quick poll set up on this question this week. You can see and respond to the poll on the front page of Franklin Matters.

Looking ahead this week, the School Committee meets on Tuesday, Jan 12th.

As I close this session this week, let me remind you that

• If you like what I am doing, please tell your neighbors
• If you don’t like something, please tell me

Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
 
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.

Maguro House

Utilization of the retail store front in the new building is coming to completion. East Coast Driving School opened next to Sarapaan. Now a new Japanese restaurant, Maguro House, will be opening on the corner. When running Sunday, I catch sight of the door sign and stopped for a photo.

Construction on the interior is still in progress.
When I find out the tentative opening date, I'll share that here.

Updated - 2/25/10
The Grand Opening Party is scheduled for Sunday, February 28th from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM

The restaurant website can be found here: http://www.magurohouse.com/

Franklin, MA: Police Dept

It has been a very difficult year for us all. The economic times have left no one unscathed including your Police Department. We have had a reduction in personnel. Currently we are down to 45 sworn officers. Our business, with all its expectations, is still there and we are doing our best to keep Franklin a great place to live.

We continue to seek out grant monies to offset some of our important projects dealing with alcohol, traffic, the elderly and our youth. Franklin has been fortunate in that we have received some grant monies to help us to continue what we have started in these areas.

Our main concerns are that we continue to be an active partner in our youth and elderly programs. Our Community Service Division has been very busy in our schools and offering summer camp programs. We will hopefully be able to provide another great Halloween event at the High School Field House as we did this past year by providing a safe and fun day for the entire family.

The High School Hockey team, the Varsity Basketball team and the Tri-County Football teams all have enjoyed great seasons ending in playoff finals or in the Super Bowl. We would like to think this was in no small part due to several of our police officers in coaching positions. I believe this interaction between our officers as coaches and the student athletes builds bridges of friendships, trust and understanding. Ben Franklin’s adage of “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” certainly appears to be true in this case.

The Alcohol Grant Awards have been very helpful in offsetting costs associated in our attempts to curb underage drinking. The success of our program has been evident with the number of license suspensions, and arrests made of those procuring for minors. Please accept my sincere thanks for being a great community in which to work. I’d like to take this opportunity to also thank the officers of our Police Department for their dedication and hard work over this past year. I boast of being blessed with great people to work with not only within the department but with all the other departments and boards.

Sincerely,
S.T. Williams
Stephen T. Williams
Chief of Police

From the 2009 Town of Franklin Annual Report. This is available in a printed version at the Municipal Building or online at the Town website here.

For additional information, be sure to  visit the Police Dept website here

• The Daily Police logs are available here
• You can follow them on Twitter here
• There are a number of safety tips available here