Franklin, MA: Financial Impact Full-Day vs Tuition-based Kindergarten

This internet radio show or podcast is number 83 in the series for Franklin Matters.

This is a special session. The audio has been synchronized with the presentation to create a complete package. The package will provide the update by Miriam Goodman, Franklin School Business Administrator, on full day vs. half-day kindergarten. The presentation and discussion occurred at the School Committee meeting on Jan 11, 2011.

You can also review the meeting video on the Franklin website.

The link to the Kindergarten presentation is here:

http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=suY%2bgbIOkRUfeduJ9u%2f2aw%3d%3d/

The full meeting can be viewed here:

http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?ecm=634307043717953928&indexSessionSKU=bV0o80oxKwE2UUa+RXKE4A%3D%3D&siteSKU=L7qhQ46xin/r3Z0jcDVCNw%3D%3D/



During the presentation you will hear the voices of Miriam Goodman and Maureen Sabolinski, Superintendent. In the question and answer period, questions and comments will be asked by School Committee members – Ed Cafasso, Sue Rohrbach, Chairperson Jeff Roy, and Bill Glynn in order of their voices.

My keyboard and that of Brian Benson, the Milford Daily News reporter, is heard in the background as we type away reporting on the meeting. Hopefully, you won't find it too intrusive.

Without further ado, here is the presentation:

Franklin MA - Financial Impact Full-day vs Tuition-based Kindergarten

View more webinars from Franklin Matters.

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin. I can use your help.

How can you help, you ask?

If you have an interest in covering the Planning Board, Conservation Commission, and or the Zoning Board of Appeals meetings in Franklin, please let me know.

And as always -

• If you like this, please tell your friends and neighbors
• If you don't like this, please tell me.

It will be via your feedback that I can improve this for you.

Thank you for listening.

-----

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com


The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

FM #82 - Week Ending 1/8/11

Let's take about ten minutes to find out what matters in Franklin, MA as this week comes to a close. There are three important meetings in the coming week. We go over the highlights for each of them.

Time: 10 minutes, 0 seconds



MP3 File

Show Notes:

This internet radio show or podcast is number 82 in the series for Franklin Matters.

In this session, let's take about ten minutes and I'll fill you in on what matters in Franklin as 2011 opens and the Fiscal Year 2012 budget season begins in earnest.


The Finance Committee was canceled this week. The first meeting they have for 2011 will be Feb 8th.

The Long Range Financial Planning Committee did meet on Wednesday for the first time since August 8, 2010. One of the citizen members (Morrison) was stepping back and a request went out for a replacement. The response was overwhelming in quantity and quality. So much so, that the group was reconstituted and resumed this week as a committee comprised of all citizens. The surprise, if any, was that there was an ex-officio Town Counselor present but no one from the Schools. Should there be? I think yes, and there is one single reason, a big one. With all due respect to the Town side of the budget, the schools account of half of the total budget. You can not leave out any insights into half the budget of any type of serious discussions. This is only the first meeting, they are still organizing, there was talk of having schools represented in some form for future meetings. We'll see what happens.

I was thoroughly impressed with the credentials of the new committee. These will be very good representatives for the citizen or outside view.

My meeting notes can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/01/live-reporting-long-range-financial.html/

The week ahead has three important meetings.

Monday – the public has an opportunity for input to the smaller of the two downtown projects. Yes, there are two. The Federal grant is $5 million and covers E Central, Main St through to the Old Brick School. The second grant, Public Works Economic Development (PWED) from the state is worth $1 million and covers Emmons Street between Main Street and Hillside Road, Dean Avenue between Main and Ray Streets, Ray Street and Depot Street.

The two projects have separate budgets and separate plans but it does make sense to coordinate the planning and eventual construction work between the two.

Details on the location and time for this meeting are contained in the link attached.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/12/public-meeting-regarding-pwed-project_30.html/

Tuesday – the School Committee meets for the first time in 2011.

The guest and presentation section has the following items:

• FHS Girls Soccer Team
• Harry Potter Re-write – Davis Thayer - Debbie Taylor (Teacher) and students Katie Sumner and Reilly Deforge
• K-5 Health Program – Kristen Cerce, Michele Kingsland Smith
• Budget Update - Kindergarten

As I recall, there were two items previously scheduled for the January 25th meeting; kindergarten and the space needs report. Given the kindergarten update has been moved here, I can speculate (which is always dangerous) that kindergarten is no longer 'on the table' from a budget perspective. If you recall the analysis I did with the School Administration last year, moving from full to half day was NOT a cost savings. The Budget Subcommittee would likely have come to that conclusion in their recent meetings as well if that is the case. Again, this is reading between the lines on my part, I could be wrong. We'll find out Tuesday.

The school enrollment projections reinforce my expectation that with the shifts in population within Franklin and the overall decline in student population, we will see a re-districting proposal. Some of the schools are over capacity, others are under. It makes sense to shift the school boundaries to equalize the populations. This should be a collaborative process and not something done 'overnight'. The modular buildings over time can also be de-commissioned rather than replaced. This is also somewhat speculative on my part but I feel comfortable with that direction based upon what the numbers are showing. The details on this we should find out at the School Committee meeting on the 25th.

Either way, both of these items and their budget impact (if any) should be covered during the budget workshop on Saturday the 29th. If you don't have that on your calendar, I would encourage you to make the time for it.

Back to the meeting on the 11th, the School Committee also has a 'community engagement' item in the 'Discussion Only' section. As the parent communication survey was last done in 2005, it appears that the committee will be looking for an update.

School Committee agenda
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/01/franklin-ma-school-committee-agenda.html/

Enrollment projections
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/01/school-enrollment-projections.html/

2005 Parent Communication survey results
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/01/2005-parent-communications-survey.html/


Wednesday – The Town Council meets for the first time this year. Amongst the items on the agenda, two caught my eye. One, Franklin Cafe and Grill is looking for a liquor license for their new operation to open in what was the KFC building at 418 W Central St. Two, there is a joint easement agreement proposed between the Town and the Franklin Center Commons

The Town Council agenda can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2011/01/franklin-ma-town-council-agenda-11211.html/

These three meetings get us quickly into 2011, the budget season and important decisions about how this town will look and operate. Please stay informed, please participate, this will be a busy and important year.

In case you missed the end of year 2010 or mid-year (Jan to Jun) review, you can find them here
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/12/fm-81-second-half-2010-summary.html/

http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/07/franklin-ma-2010-midyear-review.html/


---- ---- ----

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but I can't do it alone. I can use your help.

How can you help?

If you have an interest in covering the Planning Board and or the Zoning Board of Appeals meetings, please let me know.

As always - If you like this, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like this, please tell me.

Thank you for listening.


For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com


The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

FM #81 - Second Half 2010 Summary

This internet radio show or podcast is number 81 in the series for Franklin Matters.



MP3 File


In this session, you give me about ten minutes and I'll fill you in on what matters in Franklin as the 2010 calendar year draws to a close. This segment will review the major events that occurred each month from July through December. The notes that go along with this segment will contain links rich with the details.

July

The introduction of the new trash/recycling process
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/03/franklin-ma-trash-collection.html/

Third Thursday occurred on July 15th
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/07/third-thursday-july-15th_16.html/

The Affordable Housing Strategy and Plan was out for review
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/07/affordable-housing-strategy-and_28.html/

The Native Plants of Franklin series by Michelle Clay was introduced
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/07/whats-your-name-summary.html/


August

opened with Bill Glynn of the School Committee holding a “Sit and Chat” on the Town Common
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/bill-glynn-sit-and-chat-summary.html/

Town Council meeting on the 4th
Affordable Housing Strategy approved
Economic Development Areas established along Grove St
DelCarte house purchased on Prospect St
The Spanish War Memorial gun was removed
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/town-council-080410-notes-from-meeting.html/

School Committee meeting of the 10th covered the District Improvement Plan amongst other items
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/school-committee-081010.html/

The Franklin Matters survey on the trash/recycle process results were published
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/new-trashrecycle-status-survey.html/

Town Council meeting on the 18th
Underground utilities for downtown were discussed
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/town-council-081810.html/

Third Thursday occurred Aug 19th
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/third-thursday-august-19th.html/

School Committee meeting on the 24th
Middle School Improvement Plan was reviewed amongst other items
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/school-committee-082410.html/

The survey results to pay for the underground utilities were published
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/franklin-ma-underground-utilities.html/

The School Committee added a meeting on Aug 31 due to late word on the receipt of additional stimulus funding which they chose to spend part of reserving part for next years budget cycle..


September

Finance Committee and Town Council initially looked at a proposal for funding the design and permitting for repairs of the dams on the DelCarte property
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/09/fm-72-week-ending-91210.html/

School Committee on Sep 14th
Elementary school Improvement Plans amongst other items
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/09/school-committee-091410.html/

Town Council meeting of Sep 29, 2010
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/09/town-council-092910.html/

Executive summary for the Traffic Changes
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/09/improvement-project-traffic-changes.html/

Project presentation from May 2010
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/05/downtown-improvement-project-live.html/

Downtown Partnership letter in underground utilities
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/09/franklin-downtown-partnerships-letter.html/



October

Town Council meeting of 10/6/10
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/10/town-council-100610.html/

DelCarte - Town Council discussion
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/10/live-reporting-delcarte-proposal.html/

Where is the DelCarte property?
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/10/where-is-delcarte-property.html/

Photo tour of the DelCarte property in May 2010
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/10/franklin-ma-delcarte-tour.html/

Economic Development Summit fostered by Councilors Jones and Powderly along with the Dept. of Planning and Community Development
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/10/franklin-economic-development-summit.html/


The School Committee met on Tuesday 10/12

Most of the night was spent on the high school reviewing
The school improvement plan
The senior project
The school discipline process and statistics showing the improvements

Copies of the presentations are posted to Franklin Matters.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/10/school-committee-101210.html/

Town Council meeting 10/20
a bunch of presentations from the DPW on their operations (water, sewer, and snow/ice storm preparations.)
The Council also completed the public hearing on the underground utilities, determining not to pursue putting them underground due to the expense
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/10/town-council-102010.html/

On the weekend prior to Election Day, November 2 I spent time on the weekly podcast providing information on the ballot questions, in particular the two charter questions
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/10/fm-75-charter-changes-vote-nov-2.html/


November

The election of Nov 2 resulted in one of the two charter changes passing. The technical changes passed, the proposal to move the Treasurer/Collector to an appointed position failed.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/11/charter-question-4-yes-question-5-no.html/

Town Council Nov 3, Senator Richard Ross came to visit and speak with the Council, Jeff Nutting spoke to provide an extensive outlook on the FY 2012 budget
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/11/fm-76-fy-2012-budget-outlook.html/

School Committee meeting on Nov 9th
heard the capital budget as well as the DPW presentation on snow storms
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/11/school-committee-110910.html/

School Committee meeting on 11/16 - Mostly about MCAS
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/11/school-committee-111610.html/

Town Council 11/17 - heard about the proposal to form a cable access non-profit to run the cable TV operations on behalf of the Town. The second major item on the agenda was the initial presentation on the proposal for a new zoning district downtown along with a host of changes to bylaws and signs, etc.
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/11/town-council-111710.html/

I took the opportunity to provide feedback to both the SchCom and TC on back-to-back nights encouraging their outreach efforts and also reviewing their attendance records which I have been updating and publishing with each meeting.
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/11/fm-77-franklin-ma-mid-term-review.html/

December

Town Council met three times this month
on the 1st to approve funding to continue the water and sewer repairs
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/12/town-council-120110.html/

On the 8th, the tax rate hearing was formally held to set the tax rate for 2011 at $12.95/thousand and keep a single rate
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/12/town-council-120810.html/

I had updated my numbers and analysis on the tax information prior to the hearing
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/12/fm-79-slidecast-tax-hearing-info-for-fy.html/

and on the 15th the third and final meeting to renew the liquor licenses for 2011
and hear a revision of the downtown zoning proposal
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/12/town-council-120810.html/

The School Committee met only once, on the 14th
The anti-bullying plan was reviewed and approved
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/12/school-committee-121410.html/

So we bring a close to 2010, this will be the last of the weekly summaries this year. There will be more in 2011.

The year ahead looks to be a challenging one. The budget situation will likely result in an override vote sometime in May or June. The high school renovation project is also on schedule to come before the voters late next year. The Town Council, School Committee and other Franklin elected positions will be up for vote in November. Whether the high school project will make it to the same ballot remains to be seen.

So fasten your seat belt, the information train here at Franklin Matters and Franklin Matters Weekly will continue.

In case you missed the mid-year (Jan to Jun) review, you can find that here
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2010/07/franklin-ma-2010-midyear-review.html/


---- ---- ----

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but I can't do it alone. I can use your help.

How can you help?

If you have an interest in covering the Planning Board and or the Zoning Board of Appeals meetings, please let me know.

As always - If you like this, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like this, please tell me.

Thank you for listening.


For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com


The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!

FM #80 - Week Ending 12/12/10

Let's take about 10 minutes to review what matters here in Franklin, MA as the week comes to a close Sunday Dec 12, 2010.

Time : 8 minutes, 43 seconds



MP3 File

Session Notes

This internet radio show or podcast is number 80 in the series for Franklin Matters.

In this session, you give me about ten minutes and I'll fill you in on what matters in Franklin as this week comes to a close on Sunday Dec 12th.

This past week, the Town Council approved the smallest capital budget in recent years. While we have 2.1 M in 'free cash' the joint decision (administration and Town Council) was to keep $500,000 for snow/ice and $800,000 for unemployment insurance expense. The snow and ice budget has been growing closer to a realistic number over the years but given the variability in NE weather, and the tightness of the budget recent years, it is better to under forecast it and cover with free cash than to over forecast it. The unemployment insurance pool is being created in case an override fails come May/Jun 2011 and there are a large number of Town and School employees laid off.

The segment of the Town Council meeting covering this capital budget:
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=5qFm%2baJMGjV57Fyb%2f6R%2fsg%3d%3d

As much as some folks still think that the Administration is incompetent, the actions and their results have some quite the opposite. Their performance has shown a high level of stability in the overall budget with lots of alternative planning.

Just flash back to the chart in the appendix for last week's slide cast, the one slide I think makes this point. Look at the variation in free cash over the years. The variability has narrowed in the last several years. The revenue forecasts have been closer to reality, the budget expenses have been managed very closely. Both of these combine to result in 'free cash', which is not 'free' nor really cash. Free cash should be created each year, in a tight and acceptable range, especially given the size of the operation Franklin is running.

Back to the Council meeting, the tax rate was set at 12.95 as calculated and expected. It also continued the single tax rate that I believe rightly should be used here in Franklin. You can disagree if you choose, but the numbers speak for themselves.

The segment of the Town Council meeting covering the Tax Hearing:
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=3dwRSxWPYuVy9u0sTBN5kA%3d%3d


As another sign of good financial management, Franklin is going to fund some $2 M for school repairs with a bond issue. The bond issue will fit within the operating budget and not result in an override consideration. The Council has been operating with a policy of using up to 3.5% of the total operational budget for debt service and has been building some capacity in this area in the last year or so with more expect in the next year as debt retires. This is a good financial maneuver and you can hear more of the rational behind it during the Council discussion

The segment of the Town Council meeting covering the school bond issue:
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?indexPointSKU=RcYKs%2b0J6JuGZPLL%2fsGOyg%3d%3d


Looking ahead:
School Committee meeting on Tuesday and the next Town Council meeting Wednesday

School Committee agenda is published, the Town Council is not yet available.

School Committee has the anti-bullying plan is the major item on the agenda. The plan was released a couple of weeks ago for feedback and will be voted on during the meeting Tuesday.

While the TC agenda is not available, I did receive an advance copy of the revised approach to the downtown commercial zoning changes. If you were confused by the initial plan, you were not alone. The plan has now been split into three parts, the first part will be discussed Weds. The cover memo and supporting documents were published on Franklin Matters Sunday and the link is included here.

http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/12/approach-revised-for-downtown.html

---- ---- ----

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but I can't do it alone. I can use your help.

How can you help?

If you have an interest in covering the Planning Board, Conservation Commission and or the Zoning Board of Appeals meetings, please let me know.

As always:

• If you like this, please tell your friends and neighbors
• If you don't like this, please tell me

Thank you for listening.

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters Weekly to listen to this podcast

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark and Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission

I hope you enjoy!