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Friday, April 27, 2012
HMEA 11th Annual Independence 5K - May 20th
The poster talking about the 11th Annual Independence 5K for HMEA is colorful!
If you want to register as a runner, you can do that directly here
http://www.active.com/register/index.cfm?CHECKSSO=0&EVENT_ID=2009516
or if you want to register and raise some funds for HMEA, you can do that here
http://www.firstgiving.com/hmea
You can also view the document here
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B0wjbnXDBhczMXJVVzMxLVFRazQ
Officials investigate Franklin High assault caught on tape
Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:
via The Milford Daily News News RSS by Brian Benson on 4/26/12
Police are investigating an assault today at Franklin High School that was videotaped and posted on a social media website, according to police and school officials.
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The text of the School Department broadcast to the school community:
*A message from FRANKLIN PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICT* ****
April 26, 2012
Dear Members of the Franklin Public Schools Community:
Franklin Public Schools has learned that a videotape has been released on a social media site that depicts a Franklin High School student physically assaulting another student today at Franklin High School. There were no weapons involved and one student was injured. We are committing our full resources to investigating and responding to this appalling incident in our school community.
We have also referred this matter to the Franklin Police Department and are giving them our complete cooperation. Franklin Public Schools is fully committed to supporting students and families who have been impacted by this incident and has made counselors available to meet with students and families.
This cowardly act is disturbing and it does not reflect the expectations we espouse as a school district or as a community. We are committed to ensuring all of our students are safe while they are in school. We will continue to collaborate with the Franklin Police as the investigation proceeds and we will keep you updated.
Respectfully,
Maureen Sabolinski
Superintendent of Schools
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Finance Committee - Budget Hearing FY 2013
The Finance Committee approved the budget put forward for Fiscal Year 2013 on Wednesday evening. The total of $102,179,773 provides the same level of service with no program reductions and no increase in school fees. Some fees on the Town side of the budget were previously approved and their revenue is accounted for.
The refinancing effort of current debt to lower the interest cost will be beneficial especially in the area of the debt exclusions. The lower interest rates were announced during the meeting as the bond sales was held on Tuesday. The final impact to the dollar amounts overall will be available later.
While the FinCom approved the total budget, they did not explicitly approve the transfer of the $350,000 from the stabilization fund for use in the budget. I expect that approval to be scheduled for their May meeting next week. Their vote on the matter is usually an input to the Town Council for their deliberation and vote.
The collection of posts from the Finance Committee budget hearing are found here:
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/04/live-reporting-finance-committee-budget.html
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/04/live-reporting-fincom.html
The summary budget documents referenced can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/04/franklin-ma-fy-2013-budget-documents.html
The refinancing effort of current debt to lower the interest cost will be beneficial especially in the area of the debt exclusions. The lower interest rates were announced during the meeting as the bond sales was held on Tuesday. The final impact to the dollar amounts overall will be available later.
While the FinCom approved the total budget, they did not explicitly approve the transfer of the $350,000 from the stabilization fund for use in the budget. I expect that approval to be scheduled for their May meeting next week. Their vote on the matter is usually an input to the Town Council for their deliberation and vote.
The collection of posts from the Finance Committee budget hearing are found here:
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/04/live-reporting-finance-committee-budget.html
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/04/live-reporting-fincom.html
The summary budget documents referenced can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2012/04/franklin-ma-fy-2013-budget-documents.html
Franklin music students win gold
Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:
via The Milford Daily News News RSS by Staff reports on 4/25/12
The Franklin Middle Schools Combined String Orchestra and the Franklin Repertory String Orchestra both took home gold medals from the regional three-day Massachusetts Instrumental & Choral Conductors Association (MICCA) festival.
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Summer Glee
Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:
via Lifelong Learning by Pandora Carlucci on 4/25/12
April 25, 2012 This summer the Music Department and Lifelong Learning are offering Summer "Glee" for students entering grades 4 and 5, and Teen Summer "Glee" for students entering grades 7 to 9. Students will experience singing in a choral setting where they will learn and practice their singing techniques. The summer music "Glee" camp will include "Glee" music from the TV show, as well as other pop music hits to be performed in a concert at the end of the music camp. The "Glee" camp will meet from July 23 to August 3 at Franklin High School. Register online at www.franklin.k12.ma.us, select Lifelong from the top gold banner, select Summer program, select Summer music. Come and be a part of this fun and musical experience.
Things you can do from here:
- Subscribe to Lifelong Learning using Google Reader
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Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Live reporting - FinCom
Citizens Comments - none
Approval of Minutes - none
Action Items:
Appropriations: $151,114 – Wages (Contract Settlement) Source: FY 12 Additional State Aid
Of the 9 unions in negotiation, we have four tentative agreements
This amount may cover all the nine settlements when the Council approves them next week
The money is coming from the extra State allocation provided last October, 2011
(add link to announcement to tie back) not in free cash but if not used, could end up in free cash
Exact line item to be determined, once the agreements get finalized, the line items
the money would be a one time payment to the employees not increasing their base, hence not in the FY 2013 budget
Motion to approve, passed 6-0
Revenues
budget subcommittee discussion on the $350
will be coming back from the stabilization account rather than free cash
Tax levy is what it is
state aid is determined by the State
combination of past collections, expectations, some are seasonal
take a deduction to create a safety net
motor vehicle excise will come in as expected
DOR won't allow forecast higher than collected the prior year, allowing within 10% of estimations
need to work within a narrow band that is fiscally prudent
we can increase a revenue if the Council votes to increase rates
action needs to justify the revenues
Question on the tax levy amount used to set the 2.5% and forecast for FY 2013
need to exclude the debt exclusion amounts from the levy base to calculate the 2.5% increase
we are getting a lull now, the real crunch will be 2014 when the state faces their numbers issue
approx $340K from meals tax
anything in misc non-recurring can not be counted as an expectation for the next year
interest income is really hitting the bottom, it is good for borrowing
other excise, is the hotel, motel we use in the non-operational accounts but it is in there
Q - If we do get extra money from the State, what would we do with it?
A - I think we would go with the Schools to avoid the draw down of the reserves
this budget is 99% to bed,I am already thinking of 2014
I'd like to cover the Schools as they are almost 60% of the budget and driving the bus
We get $52M in tax revenue with the levy, we have gotten cut $3M in state aid. Our days of big numbers from the state are long gone.
We have 20% less employees than we had years ago, you've seen the numbers on all the departments, they are all doing an excellent job. When you at rock bottom you will face difficulty
Schools going up 1.6 the levy is going up 2.1
Reading line item by line item for approval, seconded, passing 6-0
if any one of these differs, it will be noted.
The line items correspond to the following document
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B0wjbnXDBhczMmdIMjB1NENGOEk
Comment from Feldman about the Library and while there is an increase this year, what will happen next year?
Side note Bruins are loosing 1-0 to the Capitals
Bond sale, note sale and refunding sale occured today
AA stable reafirmed
105 day note for 2.5M at .3681%
1.76% came it from 7 bids
refinance bonds some of the Keller Sullivan will come off the debt exclusion amount
exact amounts on the refinancing will come in in a couple of days
motion to adjourn
Live reporting - Finance Committee - Budget Hearing
Present: Roche, Quinn, Messere, Feldman, Goldsmith, Dufour
Absent: Dewsnap, Smith, Huempfner
Budget Hearing
Education – Franklin Public Schools C-1
Miriam Goodman, Maureen Sabolinski, Paula Mullen, Sue Rohrbach, Sally Winslow
presentation may be available later
review of expectations on revenue for the School Budget
coming in at 52,170,000 which was the Town Administrator recommended number
$1,650,000 increase over prior year
health care costs and contractual obligations for employees are two key drivers
$850K loss of revenue due to expiration of Federal Funds
$916K due to contract increase
Franklin versus state average $10,693 vs $13,371 lower in every category
Q&A
The Schools are drawing down some of their revolving funds to meet this budget total
No increase in fees for buses or athletics
$3.3 million in revolving accounts as a balance (from fees and transportation items)
Money from this year transportation fees, circuit breaker, etc is used for next years budget
Circuit breaker increase helps to offset the special education out of district placements
differences among the individual school budgets due to population and teacher placement
principals get an allocation per pupil for their discretionary use
Teachers at the middle and high school cost more than a new elementary teacher
Reallocation of instructional materials some of which are covered by capital budget items, to use the budget funds for classroom teachers
Parents are partners in this, either individually or through the PCC's, the support is essential to the success of our program
Keller parents were doing mulching and flowers today, the community value of that is priceless
Administration 51% below state average, we can be having too many administrators if that is the case
Secretarial agreement came in with an increase of days worked during the school year to bring them over three years to the full school year. This year coming is when the agreement and days increase finishes
Fees generally come in about as forecast, we shouldn't see too much of a change there
Only curriculum changes are due to the state changes, aligning the grade level frameworks to meet standards. No program level reductions or eliminations this year.
We do need a principal at each school, especially with all the paperwork and other things they do
ECDC runs a tuition based program, this is used to offset the educational assistance
The change noted is more due to accounting for the funds than a significant change
Pay-to-ride using some of the reserves not that they are getting additional riders
Absent: Dewsnap, Smith, Huempfner
Budget Hearing
Education – Franklin Public Schools C-1
Miriam Goodman, Maureen Sabolinski, Paula Mullen, Sue Rohrbach, Sally Winslow
review of expectations on revenue for the School Budget
coming in at 52,170,000 which was the Town Administrator recommended number
$1,650,000 increase over prior year
health care costs and contractual obligations for employees are two key drivers
$850K loss of revenue due to expiration of Federal Funds
$916K due to contract increase
Franklin versus state average $10,693 vs $13,371 lower in every category
Q&A
The Schools are drawing down some of their revolving funds to meet this budget total
No increase in fees for buses or athletics
$3.3 million in revolving accounts as a balance (from fees and transportation items)
Money from this year transportation fees, circuit breaker, etc is used for next years budget
Circuit breaker increase helps to offset the special education out of district placements
differences among the individual school budgets due to population and teacher placement
principals get an allocation per pupil for their discretionary use
Teachers at the middle and high school cost more than a new elementary teacher
Reallocation of instructional materials some of which are covered by capital budget items, to use the budget funds for classroom teachers
Parents are partners in this, either individually or through the PCC's, the support is essential to the success of our program
Keller parents were doing mulching and flowers today, the community value of that is priceless
Administration 51% below state average, we can be having too many administrators if that is the case
Secretarial agreement came in with an increase of days worked during the school year to bring them over three years to the full school year. This year coming is when the agreement and days increase finishes
Fees generally come in about as forecast, we shouldn't see too much of a change there
Only curriculum changes are due to the state changes, aligning the grade level frameworks to meet standards. No program level reductions or eliminations this year.
We do need a principal at each school, especially with all the paperwork and other things they do
ECDC runs a tuition based program, this is used to offset the educational assistance
The change noted is more due to accounting for the funds than a significant change
Pay-to-ride using some of the reserves not that they are getting additional riders
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