Franklin (MA) Matters

This session shares the Franklin (MA) School Committee meeting of Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in 2 parts. All 7 school committee members took part in Council Chambers. They broke briefly at 5 minutes for an Executive Session and returned about 10 minutes later. That portion of the audience audio was excluded to simplify the recording.Part 1 Covers the first two and one half hours of the meetingStudent pledgeFHS Student updatesExecutive Session & returnPresentation on Comprehensive School Facilities Plan (redistricting)Questions and discussion from the School CommitteePart 2Covers the remaining 2 hours of the meetingEntire citizen comments and question period5 minute break to allow crowd to leave before resuming meeting agendaInterim Business Administrator Appointment (voted to approve appointment)Override Memorandum of Understanding (discussed but not acted upon as it needs collaborative work)Discussion Only Items - ACCEPT 3rd Quarter ReportInformation MattersA. School Committee Sub-Committee ReportsB. S

This session shares the Franklin (MA) School Committee meeting of Tuesday, April 30, 2024 in 2 parts. All 7 school committee members took part in Council Chambers. They broke briefly at 5 minutes for an Executive Session and returned about 10 minutes later. That portion of the audience audio was excluded to simplify the recording. There was also a 7 minute break after the citizen comment section of the redistricting discussion before completing the meeting.Part 1 Covers the first two and one half hours of the meetingStudent pledgeFHS Student updatesExecutive Session & returnPresentation on Comprehensive School Facilities Plan (redistricting)Questions and discussion from the School CommitteePart 2Covers the remaining 2 hours of the meetingEntire citizen comments and question period5 minute break to allow crowd to leave before resuming meeting agendaInterim Business Administrator Appointment (voted to approve appointment)Override Memorandum of Understanding (discussed but not acted upon as it needs col

This session shares the Comprehensive School Facility Planning Subcommittee meeting of Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Subcommittee Chair Dave Callaghan, Al Charles, Erin Gallagher, Supt Lucas Giguere, Asst Supt Paula Marano, Business Administrator Dr Bob Dutch, Facility Director Mike D’Angelo, and Facility Deputy Director Kevin Hart participated.Summarized topics of the discussionReview of the feedback from the School Committee meeting on Tuesday, website being updatedDiscussion on how to handle the former DT students/familiesDiscussion feedback session (to be posted as a workshop) for School Committee, confirmed Saturday, May 4 at FHS, also scheduling a session on May 7 at 6 PM (location TBD).Discussion on demographics trend and new visual createdDiscussion on some of the after school activities, like track which can’t realistically be done with the 3 different schools but could with the one combine middle schoolThe meeting recording runs about 26 minutes.--------------Agenda for this session ->  https://ww

This session of the radio show shares the Franklin (MA) Board of Health Meeting conducted on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.  The meeting was held at the Municipal Bldg and conducted in a hybrid manner. Chair Bridgit Sweet was remote. Members Jeff Harris and Kim Mu-Chow were in the room with the Health Department personnel.  My notes:Dual recording sessions underway; in board of health meeting, recording in progress for the school's comprehensive school facility subcommittee down the hall. Meeting in hybrid, Chair Sweet remote, members Harris & Mu-chow present with health staffHousing task force update, work on abandoned property in conjunction with Attorney General, 21  Country Club Blvd owner passed, going to court to get a receiver assigned so outstanding  actions can be taken care of.Avian flu update, flu now infecting cows, raw milk can spread the flu. Highly discourage consumption of raw milk. FDA, CDC advising PPE for dairy workers to help prevent spreadInspector reportNurse u

This session shares the Franklin School Committee Budget Subcommittee meeting of Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Subcommittee Chair Dave McNeill, Dr Paul Griffith, KP Sompally, Supt Lucas Giguere, & Business Administrator Dr Bob Dutch participated.Review of the Joint Meeting held on April 24 with the Town Council.Once the Town Budget was released for FY 2025, and after returning from school break, they looked at what fees and cuts would be up for consideration for providing coverage to balance the $6.3M shortfall assuming there is no override, or if there is, it doesn’t succeed.The meeting recording runs about 48 minutes.--------------Agenda for this session ->  https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/events/franklin_public_schools_budget_sub_committee_meeting.pdf My notes captured via Twitter can be found in one PDF file -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1be0w7r_ryIsluDaxxpSSiTz6lwn9sxw5/view?usp=drive_link PDF file proposed fee increaseshttps://drive.google.com/file/d/

This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen, Deputy Town Administrator Amy Frigulietti, Conservation Agent Breeki Li Goodlander and Recreation Director Ryan Jette on Monday, April 29, 2024.    We get a very brief recap of current events (it’s all about the budget) and jump right into Earth Day and the other activities of the Conservation and Recreation departmentsConservationProjects more this year than lastFriends of Conservation group formingRecreation Growth in participation Field upgrades at Fletcher & King StBeaver Pond has a new kayak launchWe close out with discussion and laughter around the Top 35 songs about weather https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Eu2npqGS0fH9N0Uc0iB5WCitoawIMFdJ/view?usp=drive_link Our conversation runs about 41 minutes.    --------------Contact info: for Jamie & Amy -> https://www.franklinma.gov/administrator Conservation page ->  https://www.franklinm

This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Brenna Johnson, Franklin High School art/ceramics teacher and Empty Bowls (EB) coordinator. We met to record in the ceramics room at FHS on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. The FHS EBers introduce themselves as we go around the table: Kira Magliari, Senior, EB Social Media, continuing a family tradition of participating in Empty Bowls, has made a Silent Auction piece, helped make the Jeff Roy Project this yearAllie Maccalous, Senior, EB President, in AP3D Ceramics this year, assists in running Empty Bowls administratively each week, has made several Silent Auction pieces over the years, helped with the Jeff Roy Project this yearBridget Kennedy, Senior, EB Secretary, in AP3D Ceramics & Independent Study in Ceramics this year, has made several Silent Auction piecesThe conversation runs about 35 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with the FHS Empty Bowls Club leadership team--------------Tickets for Empty Bowls -> https://interland3.donorp

This session shares the Special School Committee meeting of Thursday, April 25, 2024. Chair Dave Callaghan, Al Charles, Dr Paul Griffith, Ruthann O’Sullivan, KP Sompally, Vice-Chair David McNeill were present; Erin Gallagher was absent. Candidate for the interview is the current assistant to the business administrator, as an interim position appointment. Janaina Vasconcelos-Melotti is here to present her background and answer questions.The meeting recording runs about 60 minutes.--------------Agenda for this session ->  https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/agendas/sc_special_mtg._agenda_-_4_25_24.pdf My notes captured via Twitter can be found in one PDF file -> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lPQG_l9gieATruY5JDCh1u4QEkXZhNMX/view?usp=drive_link Franklin TV Video was recorded but it is not yet available (not sure why).-------------We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.&

This session shares the Comprehensive School Facility Planning Subcommittee meeting of Thursday, April 25, 2024. Subcommittee Chair Dave Callaghan, Al Charles, Erin Gallagher, Supt Lucas Giguere, Asst Supt Dr Tina Rogers, Asst Supt Paula Marano, Business Administrator Dr Bob Dutch participated.Review of the feedback from the focus groups on visioning and portrait of the graduate were reviewed.Facility proposal outlined with 2 options on how to handle the elementary schools. Option A to keep the facility as K-5, Option B to split the K-2 and 3-5. Option B would introduce a transition and put aside. It also did not align with feedback from the focus groups.Much work remains to continue to flesh out the plans, adding the detailed long range plan as well as the implementation details. Assuming this does gain full committee approval it would begin implementation no earlier than Sep 2025.Subcommittee recommended to bring Option A forward to the School Committee meeting Tuesday, April 30. The meeting recording runs

This session shares the Joint Town Council & School Committee meeting of Wednesday, April 24, 2024 in 2 parts. All 9 Town Councilors and all 7 School Committee members participated.  Many town and school department managers were also present in the first couple of rows of the auditorium.Over 400 folks were in the FHS auditorium, another 2-300 were online via YouTube at one point or another (and that tallied 800+ unique individuals by the time the meeting ended).Part 1 Covers the first 90 minutes of the meetingTown Administrator Jamie Hellen presented the FY 2025 budgetSchool Superintendent Lucas Giguere accompanied by Business Administrator Dr Bob Dutch presented the school budget and issuesPart 2The remaining 1 hour and 40 minutes covered the public comment and question section. Speakers were allocated 1 minute, most kept to the point.--------------The Franklin TV broadcast of the 3 hour plus session is available for replay on YouTube ->   https://www.youtube.com/live/xMN27_nBPUU?s

This session shares the Joint Town Council & School Committee meeting of Wednesday, April 24, 2024 in 2 parts. All 9 Town Councilors and all 7 School Committee members participated.  Many town and school department managers were also present in the first couple of rows of the auditorium.Over 400 folks were in the FHS auditorium, another 2-300 were online via YouTube at one point or another (and that tallied 800+ unique individuals by the time the meeting ended).Part 1 Covers the first 90 minutes of the meetingTown Administrator Jamie Hellen presented the FY 2025 budgetSchool Superintendent Lucas Giguere accompanied by Business Administrator Dr Bob Dutch presented the school budget and issuesPart 2The remaining 1 hour and 40 minutes covered the public comment and question section. Speakers were allocated 1 minute, most kept to the point.--------------The Franklin TV broadcast of the 3 hour plus session is available for replay on YouTube ->   https://www.youtube.com/live/xMN27_nBPUU?s

This session of the radio show shares this special episode of Chalkboard Chat with  Franklin School Committee Chair Dave Callaghan and former School Committee Chair Dr Anne Bergen. We met to record in the Franklin TV & Public Radio studio on Monday, April 22, 2024.  Our conversation was a discussion around the school and Town budget issues in advance of the joint School Committee and Town Council meeting April 24 at 7 PM.  During our conversation we address the key topics of the rationale for the current school budget as “level service plus”the history behind the school budget cuts over the years (and resulting declining in academic performance)teachers and school personnel still providing a heroic effort in the face of challenges rising special education costs and the creative inhouse programs saving the district (and taxpayers millions of dollars)the ‘old’ classroom is not today’s classroom, how the schools are telling that storyredistricting status, fixing the holes i

This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Mary O’Neill, Franklin Commission on Persons with Disabilities. We met to record in the Franklin TV & Public Radio studio on Friday, April 19, 2024.  We talk about the Disability Expo scheduled for the Franklin Senior Center on May 4, 2024 (yes, may the fourth be with you!). It will begin at 11 AM and run until 2 PM.Free admission, free tickets to a couple of gift baskets, and plenty of resources to talk with about various aspects of disability.If you have a question for Mary, you can reach her at 508-440-1265.If you would like a “Kindness Matters” sign, text Mary at the same # and she’ll arrange for you to get one.  The conversation runs about 12 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Mary.--------------The Franklin Commission on Persons with Disabilities -> https://www.franklinma.gov/commission-persons-disabilities --------------We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Rad

This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist. We met to record in the Franklin TV & Public Radio studio on Tuesday, April 16, 2024.  We continued making sense of climate on an almost extemporaneous discussion similar to what we recently had. Starting with highlights from Ted’s experience of the eclipse, and with my highlights from the Citizen Legislative Seminar where I spent 2 days in State House.Meat a contributor https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/04/us-banks-sabotaging-own-net-zero-plans-by-livestock-financing-report-claims 80/20 rule strikes again https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/apr/04/just-57-companies-linked-to-80-of-greenhouse-gas-emissions-since-2016 How to spot five of the fossil fuel industry’s biggest disinformation tactics https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/14/climate-disinformation-explainer?CMP=share_btn_url This discussion continues our journey understanding the

This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Franklin School Committee Chair Dave Callaghan and School Committee Vice-Chair Dave McNeill. We met to record in the Franklin TV & Public Radio studio on Tuesday, April 16, 2024.  Our conversation was a recap of the budget approved by the School Committee at their meeting of April 9, 2024 and the next steps toward what funding will be provided for their budget.The conversation runs about 25 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Dave & Dave --------------Contact info for Dave Callaghan  callaghand@franklinps.net Contact info for Dave McNeill  mcneilld@franklinps.net  School Committee page => https://www.franklinps.net/district/school-committee School Budget page -> https://www.franklinps.net/district/school-district-budget/pages/1-fy2025-budget The Franklin TV broadcast of the session is available for replay on YouTube -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8KxgjR7dhkSchool Committee ag

This session shares the Town Council meeting of Wednesday, April 10, 2024 in 2 parts. All 9 councilors took part, 8 in Chambers and 1 was remote for all but the last few minutes (Frongillo).Part 1 Covers the first hour of the meetingCitizen CommentsApproval of Minutes - March 13, 2024Appointment to Design Review Commission - Priya Natarjan2 ABCC license transactionsAnd then skips past the 40b section to include the last 30+ minus of the meetingLegislation for ActionTown Administrator’s ReportSubcommittee reportsFuture Agenda ItemsCouncil CommentEnter Executive Session (not to return to open session)Part 2Includes the entire section around the proposed “friendly 40b” development of the Stobbarts Nursery (approx. 2.5 hours)--------------The Franklin TV broadcast of the 4 hour session is available for replay on YouTube ->  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4WPC4cB_S4 Agenda and supporting documents for this session -> https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/agendas/april_1

This session shares the Town Council meeting of Wednesday, April 10, 2024 in 2 parts. All 9 councilors took part, 8 in Chambers and 1 was remote for all but the last few minutes (Frongillo).Part 1 Covers the first hour of the meetingCitizen CommentsApproval of Minutes - March 13, 2024Appointment to Design Review Commission - Priya Natarjan2 ABCC license transactionsAnd then skips past the 40b section to include the last 30+ minus of the meetingLegislation for ActionTown Administrator’s ReportSubcommittee reportsFuture Agenda ItemsCouncil CommentEnter Executive Session (not to return to open session)Part 2Includes the entire section around the proposed “friendly 40b” development of the Stobbarts Nursery (approx. 2.5 hours)--------------The Franklin TV broadcast of the 4 hour session is available for replay on YouTube ->  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4WPC4cB_S4 Agenda and supporting documents for this session -> https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif10036/f/agendas/april_1

This session shares my conversation with Town Council Chair Tom Mercer. The Council met on Wednesday, and we get together on Thursday morning to condense the meeting. In this case, one of the longer ones at 4 hours.  We look to focus on ok, what just happened? What does it mean for Franklin residents and taxpayers?Topics for this session:License Modification - Change of Officers & Change of Stock Interest of a Section 15 Retail Package Store License: Table & Vine, Inc. Located at 348 East Central St., Franklin, MA 02038New Section 15 All Alcoholic Beverages Package Store License and Approval of Michael Gannon as the Manager - Shikshapatri Corporation d/b/a Dacey’s Market & Deli, Located at 353 Lincoln St., Franklin, MA 02038Resolution 24-17: Local Acceptance of GL Chapter 166 Section 32AResolution 24-18: Gift Acceptance - Veterans’ Services Department ($2,250), Senior Center ($1,500), Franklin Historical Museum (~$600) Franklin Town Council Support for Proposed GL Chapter 40B A

This session shares my conversation with Chris Leverone, “Levvy”. We had our discussion at the Franklin TV Studios on Monday, April 1, 2024.We talk about The history of Silent movies, Magic lanternsDocumentarian, sharing storiesZen Center “Pointing at the Moon” video podcastsIf you are interested in doing a project in video or audio, contact the studio with your idea. Info@Franklin.tvThe recording runs about 35 minutes, so let’s listen to my conversation with Chris.--------------Provide Zen Center -> https://providencezen.org/ Providence Zen Center video series -> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_bcfzn6hkdTW4Vtxwt-Y8F7rPxqFKapu -------------We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial. This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.How can you help?If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends an

This session of the radio show shares Franklin, MA Economic Development Subcmte meeting held on Wednesday, April 10, 2024 in the Council Chambers. All 4 members participated; (3 in Chambers, 1 remote (Frongillo).Quick meeting recap:Bryan Taberner provided an update on moving to compliance with the MBTA requirements and per the update from MAPC, changing the commercial mixed use parking requirements would provide sufficient units to become compliantThe initial proposal would be to remove commercial parking minimums for mixed use, keeping residential parking minimums. This would not change the other single use commercial requirement for parking minimums. The calculation would produce enough units to be compliant with MBTA community requirements. It would also require a definition of "mixed used", something already recommended from the Franklin For All projectThe ensuing discussion revolved around removing parking minimums (period). arguments put forward on both sides, ultimately agreeing to move the proposal as