Episode 461

FM #461 - SchComm Davis Thayer FA Mtg - 02/03/21

Published on: 13th February, 2021

The meeting was conducted in a remote format; all the subcommittee, Central Office personnel and the public participants were remote via conference bridge, to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.

Catching up to this, after the fact, yes, but sharing this as a matter of public record. I was unable to participate fully in this meeting on Feb 3 due to the multiple meetings scheduled in competing time slots. You may recall that I chose to cover the Board of Health meeting (5:00 to 5:25 PM - it was short and ended then), the beginning of this meeting (5:30 to 5:43 PM) and left to cover the Economic Development Subcommittee meeting (from 5:45 to 6:50 PM) followed by the Town Council meeting at 7 PM.

I did listen to the recording provided by the Franklin Public Schools to prepare this for sharing. Unfortunately, there is not much to add to what was already reviewed and discussed during the School Committee meeting of Feb 9. In case you did not hear, the School Committee did accept the report and did vote to close the school by a 5-2 vote.

Due to the recording I viewed to make this audio copy, I could not tell how many participants there were. The three members of the committee, Supt Ahern, and Business Manager Miriam Goodman are the voices acknowledged that we hear. At the end of the meeting, Subcommittee Chair Stokes states that they will not take comments as this is their last meeting. So I feel bad for anyone in the public who did participate hoping to get to say something. My two cents would also have been silenced. 

The show notes contain links to the meeting agenda. 

The recording runs just about 51 minutes. Let’s listen to this segment of the Davis Thayer Facility Analysis meeting of Feb 3, 2021

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Agenda doc

https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/agendas/agenda_dt_subcom_1.28.21.docx.pdf

Davis Thayer Facility Analysis folder

https://www.franklinps.net/district/davis-thayer-facilities-analysis

Davis Thayer Closing Options memo

https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/uploads/davis_thayer_closing_options.pdf

The draft of the final report from the subcommittee was what was reviewed during the meeting. The final version of the report and action item for the School Committee discussion on Tuesday, Feb 9, 2021  https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/uploads/discussion_action_a_-_retirement_of_dt.pdf

Feb 3 meeting choices

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/02/too-many-meeting-choices-for-wednesday.html 

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Franklin Matters Radio
Information for the community because Franklin matters
What matters in Franklin MA - we follow the money sharing Town business meetings and interviews to enable an informed resident and voter

About your host

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Stephen Sherlock

I volunteer as the Community Information Director for Franklin, MA (USA)*. I have been providing accurate and timely information about what matters in Franklin since 2007. Currently working in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Radio (wfpr.fm) since October 2019.

*They don't have one and couldn't afford me.