Flag-burning art decried in Franklin
from The Milford Daily News News RSSFranklin veterans remembered
from The Milford Daily News News RSSFranklin, MA
Providing accurate and timely information about what matters in Franklin, MA since 2007. * Working in collaboration with Franklin TV and Radio (wfpr.fm) since October 2019 *
Item | Override Fails | Override Passes |
Personnel | Loss of: 7 elementary teachers 8 middle school teachers | Staffing remains at FY10 levels |
Fees | Club and activity fees at middle and high school will double to $50. Athletic fees will increase and move to a tiered system, resulting in fees ranging from $175 to $450 (up from current $125 fee) | No fee increases |
Class sizes | Increases in class sizes in grades K-8, up to 30 students in a classroom, and a shortened school day at elementary schools | No changes |
Transportation | Elimination of 3 buses | No change in service |
Police | Loss of three police dispatchers; potential implementation of recorded service for emergency call system; less coverage of parking meters and parking enforcement downtown. | No change in service |
Fire | Loss of one firefighter; uncertainty on availability of 2nd ambulance; revenue loss from ambulance fees | No change in service |
DPW | Needed roadway repairs delayed indefinitely; 3 less employees; slower response times | Road repairs begin |
Library | Loss of one employee; reduction in book budget of over $60,000. | No changes |
At the middle school, Peri said course offerings have drastically changed in recent years.
"People may not understand when I started in this district, kids were taking (over 500) sessions of a foreign language over three years," Peri said. "Now, it's (just over 100). Things like that are happening all over the place."
Committee member Sue Rohrbach said a frequently asked question is why the shared elementary and middle school buildings don't have a shared principal.
"The differences between kindergarten and fifth grade and sixth through eighth grades are drastic," Peri said, explaining that students are facing different challenges at different ages.Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
Prop 2 1/2 provides for the voters of Franklin to make a choice. We either are satisfied with the services we receive and vote to maintain these services (police, fire, DPW, Library, etc.), or we are not and as a result we decide to do with less services.
No matter which you choose, make sure you do vote on June 8th.
Comments don't count on June 8th, only votes do.
The money on the museum comes from the 'capital' fund which cant be used for 'operations'. The capital money for the museum was small change made mighty big by contributions from volunteers and other organizations. Tri-County students built the shelves and displays. The move from Washington St to downtown was done by volunteers on a Saturday. The hours the museum is being kept open is staffed by volunteers, no expense to the Town.
The museum is actually a very good case for the creative 'thinking out of the box' approach that the Town has being doing to save us money and provide something to be proud of.
The Senate Ways & Means (SWM) budget proposal addresses a budget gap of close to $3 billion by recommending significant budget cuts and relying heavily on assistance from the federal government. It does not include the Governor's tax reform proposals, or other new taxes. Also unlike the Governor's proposal, it does not draw on the state "Rainy Day" fund. It does, however, rely on some other temporary state revenue sources and some one-time savings.As the state enters the third year of a severe fiscal crisis brought on by the national recession, the SWM budget proposes a third year of serious cuts across state government, including in human services and health care, the second year of deep cuts in local aid, and new cuts in both K-12 and higher education (which had been spared deep cuts in prior years largely because of funding from the federal stimulus law, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, or ARRA).A new report, Budget Monitor: The Senate Ways & Means Fiscal Year 2011 Budget, examines the SWM budget by program area and describes how the spending levels compare to those proposed by the House and the Governor and to historic and current spending levels.
The full report is available here.
See MassBudget's Budget Browser to explore Massachusetts state budgets from Fiscal Year 2001 to the present, as well as current budget proposals offered by the Governor and the Legislature.