Franklin High School: Improvement Plan 2012-13

An excerpt from the Franklin High School - Improvement Plan for 2012-2013

Franklin High School, located in Franklin, Massachusetts, has an enrollment of 1612 students in grades 9-12 serviced by 104.5 Teachers and 17 Educational Assistants. In addition, the students are supported by 6 guidance counselors, 2 school psychologists and 3 adjustment counselors. The administration consists of 1 principal, 3 assistant principals, 1 special education administrator and 1 athletic director. 

Students 

Based on March 2012 SIMS data, the ethnic makeup of our school is: 1486-Caucasian, 13-Black/African American, 60-Asian, 4-American Indian, 3-Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, 24-Hispanic or Latino. The current inclusion model has 277 members of the student body classified as special needs students. Less than 1% of the student body comes from homes where their first language is not English. In March of 2009, 52 students were provided with free/ reduced price lunches and as of June 2012, 137 Students qualified for free/reduced price lunches (62% increase over three years)

The full School Improvement Plan can be found here



This is scheduled to be part of the agenda for the School Committee meeting on Tuesday, Sep 25th

"remote participation is not widespread"

The new Open meeting Law for MA provides for remote participation for members of the board or committee that is conducting the 'open meeting'. Franklin has approved remote participation for the Town Council and School Committee. The Milford Daily News article provides a review of the communities that have allowed this kind of participation.

"It was unbelievable," Mercer recalled this week, of joining his fellow councilors via a Skype phone while traveling in China last spring for work. "It was like I was sitting in the room. I could hear the audience speak and could hear everything." 

Thanks to changes to the state Open Meeting Law that allow remote participation under certain circumstances, board members such as Mercer can join in on discussions even if they are away on business.

There are time when the remote participation works well, there are times when technology impedes the process too. There are times when you just have to be there.

I have participated in hundreds of meetings reporting on Franklin business. Many of those I could easily have watched via the broadcast. There are times when the discussion is such that it is a great thing to be there. You can ensure that your question gets asked either publicly or in the followup after the meeting.

Read more: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x1531247406/Some-local-boards-using-remote-participation#ixzz27I4ODIRS

To review the full open meeting law, you can visit the MA Attorney General's webpage
http://www.mass.gov/ago/government-resources/open-meeting-law/

There is a guide that is very readable on the do's and don'ts
http://www.mass.gov/ago/government-resources/open-meeting-law/attorney-generals-open-meeting-law-guide.html

If you think there is a violation of the open meeting law, there is a complaint process to follow
http://www.mass.gov/ago/government-resources/open-meeting-law/open-meeting-law-complaint-process.html

'They delivered what our community needed'

The Milford Daily News has an article on the changes in the MA school building process. The prior organization providing oversight didn't do so well. The current Massachusetts School Building Authority has created a new operation and is accomplishing much.

Tom Mercer, Chair of the Franklin School Building Committee working on the high school project has experience with the prior organization and has seen changes.

Mercer said the MSBA now has a more active role in building, which initially surprised him. 

"I will say that in the very beginning, when we started the new high school project, I wasn’t sure how happy I was with the (MSBA) being right there with its thumb over us, approving everything we did," he said. "But the more we have gotten into this project with the MSBA, I can tell you it’s just wonderful."

Read more: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/x1531247397/MSBA-cleans-up-school-building-process#ixzz27I1Q6iCK

What is the cost for the new Franklin High School?  http://www.newfhs.com/summary.php

What is the timeline? http://www.newfhs.com/history.php

What will the building look like? http://www.newfhs.com/newdesign.php

"people with disabilities can actually use it"

The Milford Daily News writes about the ribbon cutting on Friday for the new playground at the JFK Elementary School. This was a great example of a community effort and every community effort begins with a core group of people.

The mothers — Renatta Gilarova, Sandy Brown, Ariel Doggett, Tisha Arffa and Nikki Wisniewski — were honored on Friday afternoon during a ribbon cutting ceremony for the school’s new playground. 

They spearheaded an extraordinarily successful fundraising push to replace the 12-year-old wooden one.

The drive was "extraordinarily successful" because they were determined and persistent. What they did can be used as a text book case study for another group to try. They combined all the tools they had available. They found the Pepsi grant online and leveraged Facebook to drive that. They used email, they used Twitter. They also relied on the 'old fashioned' feet on the street visiting the ball fields on the weekend and the commuter train platforms during the week.

Regular readers here saw some of their efforts. They found this webpage and our Facebook page and we helped frequently. It was a worthy cause, a great effort with excellent results. My thanks to the core group for showing how it can be done!



Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x264118100/Five-determined-Franklin-moms-bring-new-playground-to-JFK#ixzz27C5hJD7K

Related posts
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/09/kennedy-community-playground-can-use.html

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/09/2-kennedy-playground-fund-raisers.html

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2011/11/action-j-f-kennedy-playground-and-pepsi.html

news and subscription options

Franklin uses its webpage to post important news from each of its departments. There are two good examples of this type of announcement to share today:

• The Dept of Health has learned that the number of cases of West Nile and EEE viruses has increased and re-issues their caution about contact with mosquitoes.

http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_News/019410D9-000F8513

• The Cultural Council awards grants to deserving organizations and programs each year. This years application deadline is approaching October 15th.

http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_News/01979013-000F8513

For information on how to make an application visit http://www.mass-culture.org/


Note: Franklin could elect to turn on or enable an RSS service so that finding out about these announcements would be easier. Franklin could also use these kinds of announcements in their own email notifications. They have explored email notifications and seem to have stopped. As noted elsewhere on this page today, to be successful requires persistence.


In the meantime, you need to visit the Franklin page regularly to find new items on the front page. Trying to find new items buried within each department or committee page takes far too much time.

Of course, regular readers of Franklin Matters have multiple options to find out what is happening. You can

• subscribe to the daily newsletter
• subscribe to the RSS feed
• our get a selection each day on Facebook

You can subscribe to your choice of notification here http://www.franklinmatters.org/p/welcome.html

Franklin Elks hope Family Day will spark more giving

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Franklin Elks hope Family Day will spark more giving

via The Milford Daily News News RSS by Matt Tota/Daily News staff on 9/21/12

The Elks Lodge has had a busy year. So far it has raised $50,000 for a Bellingham native who lost both legs and part of an arm fighting overseas, given 100 gallons of oil to heat veterans' homes and collected items to ship out to troops serving in Afghanistan.

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to The Milford Daily News News RSS using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

In the News: Preschool fair, Yankee Quilters

Preschool fair planned in Franklin, Oct. 25

by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Yankee Quilters meet in Franklin

by GateHouse Media, Inc.

WANTED: ANTIQUE VEHICLES

WANTED

ANTIQUE VEHICLES
FRANKLIN HISTORICAL MUSEUM
SUNDAY, SEPT. 30TH FROM 11AM-4PM
(OR AS LONG AS YOU CAN!)

Please call:
Deborah L. Pellegri 508-520-4900
Town Clerk/Historical Com. Chairman

You can be part of the Harvest Festival being held that day!

For the Harvest Festival poster:
http://www.franklindowntownpartnership.org/2012/09/please-join-us.html

For additional information on the Harvest Festival, you can visit the Downtown Partnership webpage
http://www.franklindowntownpartnership.org/

Franklin SEPAC: Fund raising events

What is Franklin SEPAC?

"Special Education Parents Advisory Council" an active group of parents with interest in serving and supporting special education children.

Who can participate in SEPAC/ attend workshops?

All parents and guardians of Franklin students receiving special education services are encouraged to become involved in SEPAC. Participation is also open to other interested parties such as teachers, service providers, students studying special education, and families from other towns. All workshops are open to the public.

They have two fund raising events coming up.


Sep 27

We have an amazing Fundraiser Zumbathon® Event coming up at Sublime Fitness in Medway on September 27th 7-8:30pm. Mark your calendars ! All proceeds will benefit Franklin SEPAC! Looking forward to an amazing year!

To sign up please go to:
https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/ASP/home.asp?studioid=21261
you may have to go to 'sublime events/workshops/events' 

$10 online and $15 at the door per-person to join this wonderful event.
Bring a friend or family member ( or two!) Can't wait to see everyone there!

Oct 1

Print up a flyer ( can be found on our FB page, web-site and is also the Profile pic for this event) bring the voucher to the Franklin 99 on October 2nd from 11am-10pm and the 99 will donate 15% of your total bill to the Franklin SEPAC! 

This is valid on Dine-In and Take-Out. We recommend Call Ahead Seating 508-520-9909.
Thank you!

The flyer can also be found here:

For additional information on this group,please visit their webpage http://franklinsepac.org/home

a national embarrassment or high performing?

The Milford Daily News got to meet with the candidates for the 10th Norfolk District on Thursday. They report on the different picture that the two candidates have of the MA economy:

Despite the state boasting some of the best schools and hospitals in the country, Eustis said, it has still failed to attract new companies. 

"None of these businesses want to be here anymore," he said. "So you have to ask yourself, ‘Why is that?’ And the answer inevitably leads to Beacon Hill." 

Eustis blamed higher tax rates, saying they drive businesses out and keep them from wanting to set up shop. 

Roy, on the other hand, had a more sanguine outlook on the state’s economy. 

"Massachusetts is one of the higher-performing states," he said, listing its AA+ bond rating and 6.3 percent unemployment rate, lower than the national rate of 8.1 percent.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x1610022359/Candidates-Roy-Eustis-speak-of-two-different-economies#ixzz275w7iGrQ

Franklin Library: Resume Writing Review

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Resume Writing Review

via Franklin Public Library by Franklin Public Library on 9/20/12

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to Franklin Public Library using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

MassBudget: New Data on Income, Poverty, Health Coverage in MA

MassBudget    Information.    Participation.  Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center    Democracy. Income, Poverty, and Health Coverage in Massachusetts According to information released today by the U.S. Census Bureau, the median income in Massachusetts fell 1.7 percent between 2010 and 2011--part of a trend of falling median income across the nation. In spite of the decline, Massachusetts remains among the states with the highest median income: $63,000 as compared to $51,000 nationwide. Along with this income data, the Census also included updated details on poverty, child poverty, and health coverage in Massachusetts. Although the poverty rate in Massachusetts was unchanged between 2010 and 2011, it is still higher than it was before the Great Recession began. Across the Commonwealth, one out of every seven children lives in poverty. Nationwide, that number is one in five. Massachusetts continues to lead the nation in health insurance coverage, and between 2010 and 2011 the rate of 18-24 year olds lacking health insurance declined significantly, from 8.7 percent to 7.5 percent. To provide fuller analysis, MassBudget is releasing separate factsheets for each of these measures: poverty, child poverty, income, and health coverage. Read our FACTSHEETS The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108

In the News: Harvest Festival, medical marijuana, unemployment rate

Franklin Harvest Festival set for Sept. 30

by Staff reports

Mass police chiefs oppose medical marijuana

by Laura Krantz/Daily News staff

Massachusetts unemployment rate climbs

by Matt Murphy

Real time reporting: Town Council highlights

Via the cable feed, I managed to catch the Town Council meeting Wednesday night missing only the first 30 minutes. As it turns out, I would have been better off in the room but that is usually why I do go to the meetings. It is so much better to be in the room than watching remotely. The Dept of Health section of the meeting is recapped here. Other key points of the meeting are as follows:

NationalGrid had a meeting with Jeff Roy, Jeff Nutting and others to review their progress. We will not see a major upgrade to their infrastructure, it is not in their budget unfortunately. We will continue to see work removing tree limbs from the power lines. In some cases, they may need to replace poles and put the lines above the tree limbs. They will look more closely at the data on our 'reported' frequent outages and see if the data confirms that the situation is getting worse or is it due to our 'perception'. (side note - if they were really attentive, they should have already had this data and made it available. To the extent that they haven't done this, they could be afraid of what it would show.)

The bids for the new high school will be opened in the Council chambers next Tuesday. There was acknowledgement from Dean College and others that the athletic fields at Dean would be used in the period during the construction of the new Franklin High although work remains to be done to confirm the specific schedules.

Kudos for the professionalism and quick work of the Fire Dept to put out the King St fire were mentioned by Jeff Nutting and several councilors. According to Andy Bissanti, Robert Catalano (the home owner) will be getting back into the house soon. The reason the tower truck did not show up in response to the fire and instead units from Wrentham and Bellingham did was two-fold. One, as mentioned in a number of presentations by Fire Chief McCarragher, 44% of the calls to action for the Fire Dept come when one unit is already out on a call. They are staffed for two calls, and did not have the additional staff to use the tower. Additional staff were being called in but there is a time delay in the calling out before the staff arrives. This is something Franklin will continue to live with under these budget conditions. Council Chair Vallee says health and safety should be number 1 and no one disagrees with that but there are only so many dollars to go around. Every department is doing more with less.

Real time reporting: from food inspections to beavers

I managed to catch some of the Town Council meeting via the cable broadcast on Wednesday night. I tuned in as Dean College President Paula Rooney was reviewing how much Dean provides for Franklin and its students. Next on the agenda was David McKearney from the Dept of Health. The one item I expected him to talk about was the relocation of the needle disposal kiosk from the fire station to the DPW and it wasn't mentioned. Since I was remote and no one else asked, it was one of those times when being there really mattered.

The Milford Daily News spent most of its article on David's section and barely mentioned the Dean presentation.

"During the past 12 calendar months, we have had 10 new food establishments come to Franklin," he said. "As we continue to get more and more restaurants, we are not going to be able to keep up." 

There are 135 restaurants and 33 retail food stores here, including the new Big Y supermarket, every one requiring two inspections a year, McKearney said. "Right now we are holding our own," he said. "We work very hard and very aggressively." 

Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting extolled McKearney and his staff for their working so well with less. "We generally have a health staff that’s half the size of other communities," Nutting said.

The Dept of Health work was important during the two major storm related power outages as the food in businesses without power was checked to ensure that anything spoiled was discarded appropriately.

One odd item on the Dept of Health's list of things to do is to issue licenses for beavers. This responsibility is somewhat misplaced but defined by the Legislature. The only beaver permits issued thus far have been to the DPW to address situations where the beaver dams are interfering with the water supply.

During the Q&A with the Town Council after his lengthy review of the departments operations, he elaborated on the difficulty of enforcing some 'public health issues'. What defines a public health issue? The example he used was if a neighbor has a pile of grass clippings that is decomposing and smelling, he can't do much backed by the applicable regulations. If the same neighbor had a pool that was not maintained and contributing to the mosquito population, he could take action.

David was careful to discuss that his action is not as effective as 'waving a magic wand'. He can write an enforcement letter but it is still up to the homeowner, or family members or applicable agencies to help correct the situation. He is frustrated with how little he can do and how many he sees are recurring situations.

For the Milford Daily News write up, http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x1505344789/Franklin-health-director-say-department-does-more-with-less#ixzz2707ASBqa