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WelcomePCC Minutes for May 3rd, 2010This is the last PCC meeting for the school year. The meeting began with Jeanne Hummel going over the treasurer’s report. Next, Suzanne Senackerib, President, discussed staff appreciation week. The PCC ordered pens that say “FHS PCC Appreciates Staff”. She will wrap them up with candy and give them out to teachers during a staff breakfast this week. Suzanne also announced that this will be her last PCC meeting. She is turning over her position to Maria Cole, and Donna Goulet, who will be co-presidents next year. It was also brought up that there will be a $3 million override on the ballot on June 8th. This override is for operating expenses for the town and schools. If the override is not passed, there will be seven teaching positions eliminated at elementary schools and eight teaching positions at middle schools. There will also be an increase in athletic fees, as well as a possible early release day at elementary schools. The town will eliminate 3 dispatchers and one part-time library position. Mr. Light spoke next on several issues. First, he discussed the NEASC Report. They just received a letter within the past few weeks stating they would be continuing the school’s accreditation. The school is now being commended for various changes made, including the revamping of the library to the tech center. The NEASC originally had 80 recommendations for the school, and now they are down to five. Three of those are directly related to building a new school, and the other two are educational recommendations. The school will need to respond by June 1st, 2011. Mr. Light then went on to speak about the building project. The school committee has been working through this process for over two years now. The first phase has been approved. The next step will be to have debt exclusion on the ballot next spring. If this passes, they will break ground shortly thereafter. The options that are being discussed are a renovation as is, a renovation with additions, and a new building. The state has increased their reimbursement rate from 30% to 49%. While a new building does not cost much more than renovating an existing building, Mr. Light feels that it will probably end up as a renovation, although no decision has been made. Next, the budget impact was discussed. There will be no staff cuts next year at the high school. Also, no sports will be cut. However, there may be an increase in athletic and activity fees. They may have a family cap or a maximum amount for fees. Also, they may look at a tiered user fee system, based on type of sport. Many schools in the area are going to this type of system. The next thing discussed was the Franklin Arts Academy. There were 43 students that applied. This was about twice the amount they were going to begin with. The students had to complete an essay, receive teacher recommendations and provide a portfolio of their work. All 43 students were accepted. This will begin next year with juniors, and then the following year will extend to sophomores. Mr. Light discussed teacher appreciation. He mentioned the email that he sent out to parents asking them to email a thank you to a teacher. He said they would be doing some type of recognition each day. Mr. Light discussed the summer reading program. He said it has not been a good program, partly because there has been no follow up. They have decided to take a year off, except for Honors and AP students, then implement a better program, which will probably be announced sometime mid next year. There were some parents who felt this may not send the right message to CP students, when Honors and AP still had to do required reading. There was then a discussion regarding the perception between CP, Honors and AP classes and curriculum, and what impact it had on getting into colleges. Next, someone had a question regarding the continuation of community service. Mr. Light said that due to the program being tied to health and the faculty being cut, they would not bring community service back next year. He also said that other schools are abandoning this program. There is a community service club for those students who are interested. There was one last question regarding the current bullying situation that has been in the news and how FHS was handling. Mr. Light said that they document and investigate all incidences they are made aware of. However, the online bullying is difficult to address. There is no formal school policy in place and no formal staff training. They are waiting on the school district to probably create something over the summer. Look for something in the handbook next year. |
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