Franklin, MA: School Committee agenda 3/23/10

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
Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the Executive and Open Sessions of the March 9, 2010 School Committee Meeting.
Payment of Bills                    Mr. Glynn
Payroll                            Mrs. Douglas
FHS Student Representatives
Correspondence:  none

2. Guests/Presentations

a. Awards, Recognitions:
1. Retirement – Francis Mazzola, Van Driver
2. Matt Palazini – FHS Basketball: 1,000 points
3. Kimberely Takahata – MIAA National Women in sports Day essay contest winner
4. FHS Wrestling Team – Division 1 Champs:  Dan Telhada & Eric Des Lauriers

b. Rock Band Presentation - Annie Sullivan Middle School
1. 8th Grade:  Tom Downing, Chris Rich, Drew Simon, Joe Tobin  7th Grade:  Sophie Barrow, Kate Franklin, Kaytee Vetrano

3. Discussion Only Items
Budget to Actual
DECA Trip
School Committee Packets
Email Accounts

4. Action Items
a. I recommend approval of the FHS Program of Study.
b. I recommend acceptance of the donation of $750.00 from the JF Kennedy PCC for a field trip to Boston on May 7, 2010.
c. I recommend acceptance of the donation of $2000.00 from the Davis Thayer PCC for Library books.
d. I recommend approval of the request of FHS for the Girls Lacrosse Team’s trip to Guilford, CT on April 2-3, 2010 for a competition.
e. I recommend acceptance of the donation of $5,000.00 from the Oak St. PCC for field trips as detailed.
f. I recommend approval of the RMS recurring field trip to the IMAX Theater in Providence, RI on April 15, 2010 as detailed.
g. I recommend acceptance of a check for $64.00 from Heart of Stone for the Franklin High School.
h. I recommend acceptance of a check for $29.16 from Shaws for the Horace Mann Middle School.
i. I recommend approval to declare the attached list of books surplus for the Jefferson Elementary School.
j. I recommend approval of the FHS DECA trip to Louisville, KY for national competition as detailed.

5. Information Matters
Superintendent’s Report
a. Dean College Partnership
b. MSBA
c. FHS Open House

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
Grievance

8. Adjourn



Franklin, MA

Hope Springs Eternal

As captured on this past weekend at the Davis Thayer sign:

Franklin, MA

"the school system has declined to come out and endorse cycling to school"

Arlington has an interesting discussion underway about cycling to school. Basically, in one community that is acknowledged as leading the cycling effort, the Arlington School Dept banned students cycling to school. There is no busing as most homes are located within one mile of their elementary school. The schools do not have bike racks. Most of the traffic the cyclists would have to navigate through is other parents dropping off kids at school.

This is an educational opportunity for better health practices (cycling vs autos) apparently being missed.


Read the full article here in the Boston Globe West edition of today's paper



Franklin, MA

United Regional Chamber in Boston Globe today

The United Regional Chamber of Commerce — so called because it united the older town chambers in Attleboro, North Attleborough, and Franklin when it was formed in 2008 — has seen a small drop. The three chambers had a combined enrollment of 1070, and membership in the United Chamber today hovers around 1,000.

“We’ve absorbed three offices, and had to find ways to coordinate everything,’’ said Jack Lank, president of the United Chamber. “But we’re very proud to have kept all of our office staff."

Though Lank estimates 30 percent of the chamber’s businesses are delinquent, he says that he has been able to provide level, if not improved, services to members, with more seminars and events.

“When times are tough, people come to the chamber talks looking to drum up business,’’ Lank said. “So it’s important we help them network."

Read the full article in the Boston Globe West edition here

Note: I did make the correction to reflect the proper name of United Regional Chamber of Commerce in the first line of the quote and add the website link. The Globe doesn't include links but someday they should.


Franklin, MA

Letter from Tina Powderly

In case you are not on Tina's distribution and would like to be, she has information on how to do so in this email.  

Hello folks-

You are receiving this email either because you signed up for periodic updates on my web page or because I have corresponded with you individually on a particular issue.   In this email, I will touch on:

1.       Proposed charter reviews

2.       Proposals under Planning Board consideration for new businesses in Franklin

3.       Waste management

4.       FY11 budget forecast

5.       Misc items

Proposed Charter Reviews-This is a very complicated process covering years of work, but I will try to briefly summarize what has happened and where we are now.   There are two methods available to municipalities to change a charter.  One method is with an elected Charter Commission (done in 1995) and one is with a citizens committee appointed by the Town Council. (done now).  The current citizens group made a series of recommendations after significant research and discussion spanning over a year.  A Town Council subcommittee was convened because the Citizens Committee made recommendations to the previous Town Council, who did not act on them.  Given that 3 new members needed to be brought up to speed, the subcommittee was formed not only to pass along the citizen recommendations but to review said recommendations, as the citizens committee had no binding authority.  At this point, there was much discussion about the process as well as each individual recommendation.  Frankly, my personal feeling is that the discussion was not always productive and communication could have been better, but we are moving forward.  The recommendations on which the Town Council has reached consensus almost exactly mirror the citizens group recommendations.  Specifically, change the Treasure/Collector position from elected to appointed and make a number of technical updates to the charter to reflect changes that have occurred in the past 15 years.  The Town Council has to formally approve the proposed changes and then send it to the Legislature for approval.  The most important point here is that no proposed charter revisions are final until it is approved by voters.  The hope is to get these changes on the November ballot.  The bottom line: although the process may seem convoluted, many people with many different perspectives have weighed in on this discussion and you and me, as voters, have the absolute final say on whether to approve the proposed revisions.

Proposals under consideration by the Planning Board for new businesses in Franklin-I know there is a concern about the Big Y’s application to the Planning Board for a new store on the abandoned lot on 140.  I have seen flyers circulated with some misinformation and would like to correct a few items.  First, the Big Y has merely come before the Planning Board.  Nothing is approved and the Planning Board has many concerns that need to be addressed.  Second, there currently are no other applications before the Planning Board despite the rumors of a Price Chopper, Bertucci’s etc.  These applications may eventually surface, but nothing is before the Board currently.  Please voice any concerns, or simply learn about the process by attending or watching on cable the Planning Board meeting on March 22^nd at 7pm in the Municipal Office Building.

Waste management-I have attached a link to an article in the Globe about recycling rates in MA.  I spoke with some residents who had hoped that we could improve recycling (and both control/decrease costs and improve our environmental impact) within the current system.  I think this article objectively articulates why the Recycling Committee, DPW, and the Town Council all agreed that this new system was the best way to meet our goals.

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/articles/2010/03/14/despite_environmentalists_pleas_massachusetts_recycling_rate_stalls/

FY11 budget forecast –State aid figures are not finalized, but the Governor’s proposed budget and the Senate’s proposed budget are out.  Franklin is estimated to be down $3.7M in state aid from FY09 to FY11.  In my opinion, this will have a serious impact on the level of services that Franklin can continue to provide.

Misc items

• Town Council just voted to ease restrictions that make it difficult for biotechnology companies to locate here.  We hope to attract biotech companies to vacant Industrial Park space and bring in additional revenue to the Town.

•  Roads are in tough shape and this is a priority.  Historically, road repair is funded by the state through Chapter 90.  As you can imagine, these funds have decreased.  Franklin will have to begin directing its own funds towards road upkeep, but it is exorbitantly expensive.  Please continue to give feedback while we work to address this crisis.

• And just an FYI… Dean College’s graduation in Saturday, May 8^th at noon.  Please expect high traffic and temporary road closures downtown around this time.

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions.  If you would prefer not to receive these emails, please let me know.  Finally, please forward this information along to anyone you think might be interested and encourage others to sign up for updates at www.tinapowderly.com.

Thank you.

Tina Powderly

Franklin, MA

"The town census is just as important as the federal census"

In Franklin, Town Clerk Deborah Pellegri said the town's return rates are typically at about 98 percent and have stayed that way despite it being a federal census year.

"We sent it out at the end of December," said Pellegri. "We do send out a second notice and phone calls after that, but it's very accurate."

Confusion with census forms worries some officials

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by Krista Perry/Daily News staff

Franklin, MA

Franklin, MA: Design Review Commission

The Design Review Commission (DRC) has had numerous projects come before them this year. The Commission is currently composed of Jennifer Peters, Chair; Lenley Rafuse, Vice-Chair; Richard Tobin, Jr., Jill Bedoya and James Esterbrook, as well as associate members, Mark Fitzgerald and Robin Stamp.

This past year, the Commission reviewed several Site Plans as to landscaping and lighting and Building Plans as to elevations, colors and materials, including, the Franklin Housing Authority's Plain Street facility; renovations to the 12-36 East Central Street block; Walgreen's Pharmacy; the landscaping and lighting added to the area between 12-36 East Central Street and Summer Street. Signage and awnings were reviewed and approved for many additional locations, including the above, as well as Rockland Trust, Daddario's Hardware and many more throughout the year.

Work on the Town's new sign by-law has been in progress throughout the year and hopefully will be presented to the Town Council prior to the year end.

Meetings are held at the Franklin Municipal Building, Room 205, 355 East Central Street, at 7:00 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month. Meeting times and dates are posted at the Town Clerk’s Office. Meetings are usually less than an hour and a half in length.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Peters, Chair
Design Review Commission

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.




This post was originally made on Franklin Matters on December 30, 2009.



Franklin, MA