Franklin Election 2019: What does the School Committee do?

While the Town Council approves the overall Franklin budget including the school district, the oversight of the school district is the sole responsibility of the School Committee. They hire the Superintendent, who in turn is ultimately responsible (1) for the hiring of all the other school personnel and (2) the day-to-day management of the district.

Under MA law, each school principal is granted responsibility for all that happens in their building. 

The School Committee raised sports and activity fees, added a parking fee for the high school, and cut a number of positions in order to balance the budget for fiscal year 2020. The forecast is for more cuts for FY 2021 unless the Town does something to increase the funding available for the school district.

The School Committee has recently revised the homework policy and will ultimately decide to change (or not) the schools start time. The details of the proposal were initially worked by a special advisory committee and are currently being worked by the Superintendent and the school district personnel with community involvement.

All seven positions of the school committee are up for election on November 5, 2019.

More information about the School Committee can be found on the Town of Franklin page:  https://www.franklinps.net/district/school-committee

The School Committee section of the Franklin Annual Report for 2018
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2019/03/franklin-annual-report-2018-franklin.html


Find more information on the Franklin Election Nov 5, 2019 in the "election collection"  
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2019/07/franklin-election-collection-2019.html

Franklin Election 2019: What does the School Committee do?

 

FSPA Summer Theater presents "Footloose" Aug 8-9

The Franklin School for the Performing Arts Summer Theater program will present an all-student production of Footloose on August 8 and 9 at 7:30 pm at THE BLACK BOX in downtown Franklin.

When Ren and his mother move from Chicago to a small farming town, Ren is prepared for the inevitable adjustment period at his new high school. What he isn't prepared for are the rigorous local edicts, including a ban on dancing instituted by the local preacher, determined to exercise the control over the town's youth that he cannot command in his own home. 

When the reverend's rebellious daughter sets her sights on Ren, her roughneck boyfriend tries to sabotage Ren's reputation, with many of the locals eager to believe the worst about the new kid. The heartfelt story that emerges is of a father longing for the son he lost and of a young man aching for the father who walked out on him. To the rockin' rhythm of its Oscar and Tony-nominated top 40 score and augmented with dynamic new songs for the stage musical, Footloose celebrates the wisdom of listening to young people, guiding them with a warm heart and an open mind. 

Footloose will feature musical theatre students in grades 8‐12. The younger Summer Theater students will present a musical revue based on Footloose on August 9 at 5:00 pm.

The Summer Theater program at the Franklin School for the Performing Arts is an immersive experience in the production of a fully staged musical at THE BLACK BOX. Students work with FSPA’s music, drama, and dance faculty for two weeks on staging, character development, choreography, and singing culminating in public performances of their shows at THE BLACK BOX.

For tickets and more information, visit www.FSPAonline.com or call (508) 528-8668. Follow Franklin School for the Performing Arts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. 

FSPA Summer Theater presents "Footloose" Aug 8-9

In the News: Recycling company expands; MA schools top rated again

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"A national recycling center that has a presence in Franklin has moved to a larger location to meet increased demand in people recycling their old working refrigerators and freezers.

In June, Arca Recycling Inc moved from its approximately 15,000-square-foot facility at 40 Kenwood Circle to an approximately 22,000-square-foot facility at 20 Liberty Way, according to Regional Transportation Director Stefan Marszalek.

Many residents in the state are taking advantage of Mass Save’s appliance recycling program, which provides monetary incentives for eligible individuals who recycle their functional refrigerator and freezer. Mass Save is funded by the state’s major energy utilities, including Cape Light Compact, Eversource, National Grid and Unitil.

On Monday, the company hosted an open house at the Franklin location to give representatives from those utility companies a first-hand look at what goes on inside the facility, which includes taking apart and recycling the appliances."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190806/new-franklin-quarters-for-refrigerator-recycling-company

Arca Recycling  https://www.arcarecyclinginc.com/

Arca Recycling Inc

"The state’s schools were the highest-ranked in both math and reading test scores, as well as the lowest percentage of threatened and injured high school students.

For the second year in a row, Massachusetts schools are tops in the nation.

At least that was the result of a recently released study from the personal finance website WalletHub.

The state’s schools were the highest-ranked in both math and reading test scores, as well as the lowest percentage of threatened and injured high school students. The state ranked in the top five in several other categories."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190806/report-says-massachusetts-schools-are-best-again

Read the report online  https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-the-best-schools/5335/

the highest-ranked in both math and reading test scores

Franklin Candidate Interview Questions Being Formulated

For the candidate interviews, I have dusted off questions from prior elections to bring them up to date for this 2019 Election.

My draft choices are shown below:

General question for candidates:

1. What experience or background will help you to serve in this role? Or what do you bring to the table that helps to set you apart from the others?
2. What do you see as your role's biggest challenge?
3. Do you have any suggestions on how we should resolve it?

Town Council / School Committee:

1. Franklin is facing a budget deficit next year, what do think we should do to resolve the deficit?

Town Council:

1. Social media channels from time to time are full of comments like ‘stop the building’, how do you address those?

Do you have a question to ask a candidate? Use the form to submit a question for consideration. 

I'll publish the final set of questions to asked.

Franklin Election 2019: What does the Town Council do?

The Town Council approves the budget and authorizes all spending. One exception is that the School Committee is responsible for managing the school budget after the Town Council approves the amount as part of the overall Town budget. Hence, you'll often hear of the town side and the school side as the two groups provide separate oversight for their area.

The Town Council hires and reviews the Town Administrator. The Town Administrator (Jamie Hellen) is responsible for the daily operations of the Town departments (except as noted for the schools).

The Town Council is the legislative body to approve changes to the bylaws. Usually there is some controversy when the Town Council 'forgets' their legislative role and attempts to intervene in the day to day operations.

There are nine members of the Town Council all elected 'at large' (they represent all the voters of Franklin as opposed to the individual precincts). The Council chooses their Chair, Vice Chair, and Clerk in the first session after each election.

All nine positions are up for election on November 5, 2019. Each position has a two year term.

Additional information on the Council, their process and procedures, fiscal policies, meeting agendas, minutes and a host of other information can be found on the Town of Franklin webpage https://www.franklinma.gov/town-council

"Welcome to the webpage of the Franklin Town Council. By the Town Charter, the 9-member Town Council serves as the legislative body who sets policy for the community. The Council serves as the Local Licensing Authority for Alcoholic Beverages Licenses. The Council also has several subcommittees, including Budget, Capital Budget and Economic Development. The Council also has two liaisons, one to the S.A.F.E Coalition and for Communications.

The Franklin Town Council has established high standards for customer service for the Town staff. If you have a question, concern, or need assistance, please feel free to email us directly using the email forms below, or you can email all nine members of the Council by using that option to the left of this message."

The Annual Report of the Town Council for 2018 can be found
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2019/03/franklin-annual-report-2018-town-council.html

Franklin Election 2019: What does the Town Council do?

Pew Research Center: How random sampling is used in surveys

"Here at Pew Research Center, we are often asked about how we conduct our research. We work hard to make our methodologies transparent and understandable, but we also know that survey mode effects and data weighting aren’t on everyone’s short list of water-cooler conversation topics.

That’s why we’re launching Methods 101, a new occasional video series dedicated to explaining and educating the public about the basic methods we use to conduct our survey research. We hope this effort will make survey methods more accessible, even if you’re not a statistician or pollster. We also hope it will help give our audience the confidence to be savvy consumers of all polls.

Our first video is about random sampling, a concept that undergirds all probability-based survey research. The video explains what it means and why it’s important. We hope you’ll find it useful."

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/05/12/methods-101-random-sampling/

 https://youtu.be/sonXfzE1hvo




https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/05/12/methods-101-random-sampling/

"Funny part is, we played in these parking lots when we were kids"

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"Former Red Sox catcher Rich Gedman, a Worcester native, was right at home. So was former Sox pitcher Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd.

The star battery of the 1986 American League pennant-winning Red Sox on Monday christened home plate, or rather, where home plate will be when the new Polar Park opens in 2021.

And they led a gaggle of children in an inaugural charge around what will be the base paths in Worcester’s new field of dreams.

The Sox legends joined the manager of the Pawtucket Red Sox and three current PawSox players as guests of honor in ceremonies at the site of the future home of the Boston Red Sox top minor-league club, at Gold and Washington streets just outside Kelley Square."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190805/home-plate-planted-at-polar-park-site-in-worcester

Catch the PawSox while they are still playing in McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket this year and next.  https://www.milb.com/pawtucket

"Funny part is, we played in these parking lots when we were kids"