FRANKLIN SCHOOL COMMITTEE

Jeffrey N. Roy, Chair Paula Mullen, Vice-Chair

Cora Armenio ▪ Ed Cafasso ▪ Matt Kelly ▪ Susan Rohrbach ▪ Roberta Trahan

March 24, 2009

DELIVERED IN HAND

Chandler Creedon, President

Franklin Education Association
Franklin, MA 02038

RE: FY10 Budget

Dear Mr. Creedon:

For the past two budget cycles, the School Committee has had to make reductions
in teaching staff in order to meet the costs associated with a high performing school
district. Prior to that, the School Committee steadily reduced spending on other services
and imposed and increased fees for busing, athletics, and student activities, to name a
few. The savings generated from these decisions have been poured directly into the
classroom, to recruit and retain top quality teachers, to support a strong curriculum and to
maintain appropriate class sizes. It’s because we know that the human capital of our
teachers determines the quality of our schools. The result has been stellar academic
performance, to the point where our students continue to gain acceptances at the top
universities and colleges in the nation. Compared to dozens and dozens of other districts,
Franklin academically outperforms those who spend much more per pupil. We have cut
around the edges to protect our core, but our ability to continue along this path is in
jeopardy.

In FY10, as you well know, in order to meet requirements of budgeting in

difficult economic times, we are looking at further reductions in staffing in the Franklin
Public Schools. Indeed, we have known for some time that FY10 is going to be a very
difficult budget season. Several weeks ago, we noted that as a community we would all
have to dig deeply to come up with a solution to keep the system intact. In February, 51
school administrators and non-union secretaries volunteered to freeze their salaries and
forgo any kind of pay increases for next year. That’s 51 employees who took the
initiative, stepped up to the plate, and put on the table a solution which involved personal

Street Address PHONE (508) 553-4819

355 East Central St. E-MAIL jroy@ravechroy.com
Franklin, MA 02038 WEB SITE http://www.franklin.ma.us/auto/schools/fsc/default.htm
FRANKLIN SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Chandler Creedon
March 24, 2009
Page 2

sacrifice. Most of the town’s unions have followed suit and have voted to freeze their
wages in FY10 in an effort to save jobs.

It is in this spirit that I formally ask you, on behalf of the School Committee, to
ask your membership to consider a wage freeze for FY10. The savings will go directly to
the classrooms to protect teachers. We know these people work really hard, and we don't
want to put additional burdens on them through higher class sizes and curriculum
changes. But in order to protect these dedicated professionals, it means that your
members will have to give up their salary increases.

I know that your members have had this matter under consideration for several
weeks, and that you have been diligently pursuing remedies. But time is of the essence,
and we need to make decisions about the future of this district. Tonight, we have had to
begin the discussions on staffing changes, program losses, and fee increases. We can end
this with quick action from your membership.

Thank you for your consideration and please let me know your response as soon
as possible.

Very truly yours,

Jeffrey N. Roy