Franklin Public Schools: Newsletter for April 2023

Critical Conversations, District Highlights, School Committee Updates and more!

Franklin Public Schools District Newsletter April 2023 Food Services District Calendar School Committee Transportation Lifelong Learning 22-23 School Calendar May 5 - Early Release May 29 - Memorial Day (No School)  Access the 23-24 School Calendar High School Experience Have an 8th grader? Then you may want to consider registering them for the High School Experience - a two day program design specifically for incoming FHS Freshmen. Brought to you by the FPS Lifelong Learning Institute. Program will be held August 8-9 from 8:30am-12:30pm. Attendees will... Tour and learn to navigate their NEW school Meet and greet with FHS faculty and peers Participate in team-building activities Learn how to read an FHS class schedule Communicate with upperclassmen student leaders to learn the 'ins and outs' from an 'expert' Critical Conversations On Wednesday, April 26th, 2023, we held our event Critical Conversations: Perspectives on Student Wellbeing. Our keynote speaker Nicole Clermont shared her story on how various stressors influenced her life throughout her academic, athletic and personal career. Our panel discussion was made possible by our incredible community members who shared their take on what it means to support your student, yourself and the youth in your life. Special thank you to our Franklin High School students Vinnie Pasquarosa, Lily Eattimo, Audria Hawkins and Arsh Tyasi for volunteering their voice to the conversation. Other panelists included Risa Hawkins, Sarah Mabarty, Anne Davies, Brittany Crosby, Leanne Soulard and Jenn Briggs. You can access resources from the conclusion of our conversation by via our resources trifold here. Need to Know News! The 2023-2024 academic calendar is now available online. Access it here. The Superintendent's FY24 Budget Recommendation is available for review here. Personnel Update Welcome to the Team We are pleased to introduce our new director of Human Resources Ken Storlazzi. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Emmanuel College. Ken has over 27 years of working experience within a school district, of which 21 years have had a human resources focus. We are excited to welcome Ken to our central office team! Pictured is Ken alongside our former HR Director Lisa Trainor who served the Franklin Public School District for over 25 years! Redistricting Analysis Update On June 14, 2022, the School Committee approved moving forward to conduct a redistricting analysis based on the recommendation of the Space Needs subcommittee. This analysis included securing a consulting firm, establishing an advisory committee, reviewing multiple scenarios, and receiving feedback from families and educators. After considering all the feedback, the Space Needs subcommittee narrowed the options to one recommendation. This recommendation and the sequence of events that led to the recommendation have been compiled in a comprehensive Redistricting Analysis document that will be presented to the School Committee at the April 25th meeting. The School Committee will then make a decision on how to move forward at the May 9th meeting.  You may access the Redistricting Analysis Recommendation Report presented to the School Committee here. New Student Application for ECDC The new student application is available for the 2023-2024 academic year at the Early Childhood Education Center Access the application here. Learn more about ECDC in this welcome presentation.  All other grades can register via Aspen at any time. From the School Committee Remington Middle School Highlights! On April 25th, 2023 the Franklin Public Schools delivered a presentation on some of the recent highlights at Remington Middle School to the School Committee You can access the slideshow presentation here. We hope you are able to join us for our next School Committee meeting on Tuesday, May 9th, 2023 at 7pm. Happy Spring to our FPS Families, Faculty Staff and Franklin Community!   Franklin Public Schools www.franklinps.net

Franklin Public Schools | 355 East Central Street, Franklin, MA 02038 www.franklinps.net Sent by communications@franklinps.net powered by Try email marketing for free today!

Franklin TV and wfpr.fm schedule for Monday, May 1, 2023

• wfpr.fm or 102.9 on the FM dial = Monday

9 AM 12 PM and 6 PM Talkin’ the Blues – Jim Derick & Nick Remissong
2 hours of awesome blues music, info, interviews

11 AM 2 PM and 8 PM A More Perfect Union – Discussing American Politics and Current Events - Peter Fasciano, Dr. Michael Walker Jones, Dr. Natalia Linos, State Rep Jeff Roy, Chris Woolf, and Nick Remissong host a round table discussion on current events and American politics, bringing about thoughtful conversation, compelling discourse, and a look at what the future might hold for the United States.

• Franklin All Access TV - Our Public Access Channel (Comcast 8, Verizon 26) = MONDAY

9:00 am     Pickleball Tournament: Pickleball Tournament

11:30 am Winning Ways with the MIAA: Referee Shortage 2

12:00 pm Brook'n'Cookin: Meatballs

12:30 pm Sandya: Crepes

1:00 pm     Cooking Thyme: Spring

1:30 pm     Pizzapalooza: Black Bean, Roasted Pepper & Garlic Pizzetta

2:00 pm New England Candlepins Fall 2018 Show 1

3:00 pm Candlepin New Generation: Show 7

6:00 pm Veterans' Call: John Milot

6:30 pm     Sons & Daughters of Italy: Ciambotta

7:00 pm     Frank Presents: Chris Woolf

8:00 pm Extended Play Sessions: Season 10 Show 4 - Dicenso Clark

9:00 pm School Committee Legislative Forum 2023

• Franklin Pride TV - Our Educational Channel (Comcast 96, Verizon 28) = MONDAY

8:00 am FHS Girls Varsity Lacrosse: v Lincoln-Sudbury 04-24-23

11:30 am Winning Ways with the MIAA: Referee Shortage 2

12:00 pm FHS Boys Varsity Lacrosse: v Longmeadow 04-28-23

3:30 pm     FHS Chamber Music 2023

6:00 pm Pickleball Tournament: Pickleball Tournament

7:00 pm     School Committee Legislative Forum 2023

• Franklin Town Hall TV - Our Government Channel (Comcast 11, Verizon 29) = MONDAY

8:00 am Planning Board: 04-24-23

12:00 pm OSRP: 04-20-23

2:00 pm Planning Board: 04-24-23

Get this week's program guide for Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) online  http://franklin.tv/programguide.pdf  

Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm)

Franklin, MA: Town Council - Agenda for the May 3, 2023 Meeting

Franklin Town Council

Agenda & Meeting Packet

May 3, 2023 - 7:00 PM

Meeting will be held at the Municipal Building

2nd floor, Council Chambers 355 East Central Street 

1. ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM THE CHAIR

a. This meeting is being recorded by Franklin TV and shown on Comcast channel 11 and Verizon Channel 29. This meeting may be recorded by others.

b. Chair to identify members participating remotely.

2. CITIZEN COMMENTS

a. Citizens are welcome to express their views for up to three minutes on a matter that is not on the agenda. The Council will not engage in a dialogue or comment on a matter raised during Citizen Comments. The Town Council will give remarks appropriate consideration and may ask the Town Administrator to review the matter.

3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - None Scheduled.

4. PROCLAMATIONS / RECOGNITIONS - None Scheduled.

5. APPOINTMENTS - None Scheduled.

6. PUBLIC HEARINGS - 7:00 PM

a. New Section 12 Restaurant Common Victualer All Alcohol License and Approval of Katrina Psikarakis as the Manager - Here Come Two Greeks, LLC d/b/a Sierra’s Brick Oven Pizza & Pub, Located at 370 King Street   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/6a._sierras_new_license_app.pdf

i. See 7: License Transactions (a) below

7. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS

a. New Section 12 Restaurant Common Victualer All Alcohol License and Approval of Katrina Psikarakis as the Manager - Here Come Two Greeks, LLC d/b/a Sierra’s Brick Oven Pizza & Pub, Located at 370 King Street   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/7a.license_transaction_-_sierras.pdf

 

b. License Modification - Change of Manager: Rare Hospitality International, Inc. d/b/a Longhorn Steakhouse; Located at 250 Franklin Village Drive, Franklin, MA 02038   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/7b_license_transaction_-_longhorn.pdf

c. License Modification - Change of Officers/Directors/LLC Managers: 99 Restaurants of Boston, LLC d/b/a 99 Restaurant, Located at 847 West Central Street   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/7c._99_lic_trans.pdf

8. PRESENTATIONS / DISCUSSION

a. Presentation: FY22 Financial Audit - Scott McIntire, Partner, Marcum LLP   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/8a._presentation_-_audit.pdf

b. Presentation: Charles River Pollution Control District - Elizabeth Taglieri, Executive Director Charles River Pollution Control District  https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/8b._presentation_-_charles_river_pollution_control_district.pdf

    i. Legislation For Action 9 (a)

c. An Introduction to PFAS Regulations - DPW Director Brutus Cantoreggi and Water & Sewer Superintendent Doug Martin   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/8c._memo_-_discussion_introduction_to_pfas_in_franklin.pdf

9. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION

a. Bylaw Amendment 23-897: Sewer Rate Increase - First Reading

(Motion to Move Bylaw Amendment 23-897 to a Second Reading - Majority Vote)   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/9a._23-897_-_sewer_rate_increase.pdf 

b. Resolution 23-30: Authorizing the Borrowing of Money to Pay Costs Associated with the Franklin Sewer System Asset Management Plan (CWSRF 12541)

(Motion to Approve Resolution 23-30 - ⅔ Majority Vote)      https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/9b._23-30_-.pdf

c. Resolution 23-31: Authority For Town Administrator to File Clean Water State Revolving Fund Loan Application (Motion to Approve Resolution 23-31 - ⅔ Majority Vote)    https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/9c._23-31.pdf

d. Zoning Bylaw Amendment 23-889: A Zoning Bylaw to Amend the Franklin Town Code at Chapter 185, Attachment 7., Part VI, Use Regulation Schedule: Residential Uses - Second Reading (Motion to Approve Bylaw Amendment 23-889 - Majority Roll Call Vote)   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/9d._23-889.pdf

e. Zoning Bylaw Amendment 23-890: A Zoning Bylaw to Amend the Franklin Town Code at Chapter 185, Section 51 - Second Reading

(Motion to Approve Bylaw Amendment 23-890 - Majority Roll Call Vote)   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/9e._23-890.pdf

f. Resolution 23-32: Gift Acceptance - Town of Franklin for Red Brick School House (Donation of “Established” Sign) (Motion to Approve Resolution 23-32 - Majority Vote)   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/9f._23-32_0.pdf

g. Resolution 23-29: FY23 Capital Round 2

(Motion to Approve Resolution 23-29 - Majority Vote)   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/uploads/9g._23-29_-.pdf

10. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

11. SUBCOMMITTEE & AD HOC COMMITTEE REPORTS

a. Capital Budget Subcommittee

b. Economic Development Subcommittee

c. Budget Subcommittee

d. GATRA Advisory Board

12. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

13. COUNCIL COMMENTS

14. EXECUTIVE SESSION - None Scheduled.

15. ADJOURN

Note: Two-Thirds Vote: requires 6 votes

Majority Vote: requires majority of members present and voting

Agenda doc & remote participation info ->    https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6896/f/agendas/town_council_meeting_agenda_may_3_2023.pdf

Franklin, MA: Town Council - Agenda for the May 3, 2023 Meeting

Franklin TV: Artificial Intelligence

It’s the new ‘new thing’ and it’s coming – fast.

by Pete Fasciano, Executive Director 04/30/2023

Artificial Intelligence. It’s the current high-techie buzz – a fancy polysyllabic term. Fake Info? Says the same thing – just not in buzzy breathy brochure language.

When the ChatGPT Open A.I. interface surfaced recently, I challenged it with a simple request – Write a one-page essay on Franklin, MA history. The result started off reasonably enough, but half-way along, the rising degree of fable over fact was clear. The A.I. was fabricating – faking it, instead of making it. Open-ended A.I. is a big high-tech ‘boil the ocean’ challenge. It’s wikkid hahd. I’m also mistrusting of any endeavor where the experts state. “We actually don’t know how or why it works.”

That said, there is a subset of A.I. that does work quite well. It’s G.I. Guided Inquiry. This subset of A.I. software development rests on a simple premise. If you code the right questions and goals in software, you can get the right answers. The computer can produce useful outcomes for specific tasks through training – exercising the specified questions and goals repeatedly, and through lots of trial and error – ultimately, to produce a beneficial, dependable, emergent behavior.

This week I tested Cleanvoice, a smart audio editing system that automatically removes ‘filler sounds, stutters, hesitations and the like from speech recordings. This is a task that is well suited to G.I. designed software, and the company that offers this intelligent task-specific service appears to have gotten it right.

I uploaded a test audio file that was about 2 minutes long. Only 10 seconds later it returned a processed file that was 7 seconds shorter.

The accompanying report stated that Cleanvoice removed:

12 filler sounds, 2 stutters, 7 seconds of dead air, and a mouth sound.

I listened to their processed audio clip. I was very impressed. I was also humbled. Were I to attempt manually editing and cleaning up all those momentary blips in my 2-minute sample, it would take perhaps 30-40 minutes. Tidying up a full hour of audio to this level of error-free speech would take a long day.

When spending a little money can save a lot of time – that’s a real intelligent move.

Thanks for listening to 102.9 wfpr●fm. 

And – as always – thanks for watching.

Get this week's program guide for Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) online  http://franklin.tv/programguide.pdf   

Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm)

FHS softball & baseball teams top Attleboro on Saturday

Via HockomockSports.com and Twitter, we share the results of the spring sports competition for Franklin High School on Saturday, April 29, 2023. We also provide the link to the full set of Hockomock League results below.

Baseball = Attleboro, 0 @ Franklin, 13 – Final (5 Inn.) 

– Franklin’s Eisig Chin launched a second inning grand slam and the Panthers capitalized on 15 walks in a win over visiting Attleboro. Chin had one of the Panthers’ four hits on the day, scoring Luke Sidwell, Ryan Gerety, and Jase Lyons (two RBI) with his home run to right field. Jake Shaughnessy earned the win on the mound as he allowed just one hit and two walks while striking out four in three innings. Matt Miller and Chin each tossed a scoreless inning in relief.

Softball = Franklin, 3 @ Attleboro, 2 – Final  

– Franklin senior Kiera Kotwicki had a strong outing in the circle and freshman Sophia Sacramone helped the Panthers close out an upset win over Attleboro. Kotwicki allowed only two hits — a second inning single and a leadoff single in the fourth — but didn’t allow a runner to reach third in four innings of work, striking out two. Franklin took advantage of early opportunities to score some runs. Sarah Boozang and Carly Johnson-Pellegri had back-to-back two out singes in the first inning and both scored after an error to make it 2-0. Katy Liberman led off the top of the first with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice from Katie Dowley, stole third, and scored on a passed back to make it 3-0. Attleboro made it a one-run game in the sixth when Rylie Camacho walked and came home to score after a single and error off the bat of Lily Routhier. A RBI single from Paige Quaglia brought Routhier home to make it 3-2. The Bombardiers put the tying run on in the bottom of the seventh with a leadoff walk but Sacramone got back-to-back strikeouts to close it out.

Shared from -> https://hockomocksports.com/saturdays-schedule-scoreboard-04-29-23/

FHS Panthers