This Just In ...

Let the FPS sob stories begin, and FranklinNOW has already bought in

Posted by Kevin Fischer on Nov. 10, 2011

It’s no surprise that Franklin public school officials want to tap into your wallets. They’ve been plotting strategy since the end of 2009, trying to devise a scheme whereby you part with your hard-earned tax dollars in the name of new or upgraded facilities.

To get into your purse strings, they’ll have to tug at your heartstrings. In other words, they hope to play on your emotions by claiming a recent rash of surveys mandates you help finance new construction. Prepare for the crying towels followed by innumerable mentions of, “It’s for the children.”

This website, FranklinNOW has already begun serving as drum-beating cheerleader for the cause. Reporter Rick Romano blazes the trail in his most recent piece that somehow fails to contain any quote from anyone who might remotely have an opposing view. That would be too much like journalism. Some of what Romano writes is ludicrously funny.

You can just sense Romano walking alongside Franklin High School Principal Mike Cady like a lapdog, soaking up every unchallenged quote like this one:

“This has been a district that has been well-managed financially.”

If by “well-managed financially” Cady means taxed to the max and then some each and every year, that would be true.

Superintendent Steve Patz told Romano, “We do know that our needs are mostly from the middle school level through the high school."

Scary. Why? I don’t trust most school officials to know the difference between “needs” and “wants.”

Architect Bob Vaigrt is also quoted, saying, “The way we see it is that interest rates are really low, there may be favorable government financing programs available and a lot of companies in the construction industry are looking for work. With all of those factors, this may not necessarily be a bad time to do these projects."

Translation/spin: Do it now, Franklin, and do it fast before the costs go up.

Of course, if you disagree, you are anti-child, anti-education, anti-Franklin, anti- America, anti-God.

It’s bad enough FranklinNOW publishes an incredibly one-sided puff piece. It then tries to reinforce the issue with pictures.

Check out this photo with the caption used by FranklinNOW:
 

With Franklin High School near capacity, major hallways are packed during class- change times.

I don’t know. See anything unusual there? Appears to be a typical high school hallway between classes. I see no need to rush to referendum.

Fashion students begin rehearsal for a Nov. 10 fashion show in the Franklin High School's multi-purpose room, one of the few large assembly areas in the building and the only stage for performances.

Utterly disgraceful. No space to prepare for fashion shows. How will these students ever recover from the shock.




The boys locker room is small and the storage areas are in poor condition at Franklin High School.

Excuse me, but could you tell me again how the football, baseball, and basketball teams have been doing the last several years?





Franklin High School's weight room shares space with an auxiliary gym and a second room with a wall removed.

See previous question.




Gail DeClark works with senior Nick Schott before the start of Television Production 2 class. Limited space for this class and others has forced the school to limit sections for a number of classes.

Television production class? When I went to high school we didn’t even have a TV in the whole building. What’s the problem here? Everyone seems to have a place to sit.

Hmmm. Maybe it's just me but I find it odd there's no mention or photo of concern about academics. Strange.

Bottom line:

1) The tax and spending Franklin School Board, hold-up artists a la Jesse James will vote overwhelmingly for a referendum. The vote will be unanimous if Janet Evans caves.

2) The price tag will not be reasonable.

3) The school administration propaganda machine will spin so hard it’ll resemble Warner Brothers’ Tasmanian Devil.

4) It will all boil down to whether or not Franklin residents want to vote themselves a huge tax increase.

5) The school administration is hoping you forgot the debacle of referenda questions that was 2007.

I have plenty more to say on this matter. Watch for that beginning next week.