Throughout the 2023-24 school year, we have been working towards developing a master plan through the Comprehensive Facilities Assessment Subcommittee. Our goal is to provide a short-term and long-term vision that utilizes our assets strategically and fiscally responsibly.
We are in the process of conducting that plan through the comprehensive assessment of school facilities. This is a follow-up to last year‘s redistricting assessment. It was voted not to redistrict then and recommended that we broaden our scope and look at the district as a whole.
Since then, we have updated our student enrollment forecast using the 2020 census data with post-pandemic figures using McKibbon and associates who conducted the last forecast. We have also used the KBA Facilities Assessment Report 2020 as a foundation upon which to develop further. This report outlined several options for Franklin's future. Some of these options were deemed not viable at the time due to the need for a long-term master plan. KBA Architect Kate Jessup conducted an educational adequacy assessment of our buildings to determine the suitability of each school and the spaces within it. For example, more information was needed to account for specialized programming within the district.
Dr. Fran Locker and Associates have been overseeing all aspects of this work with the goal of delivering a master plan with recommendations to the School Committee this Spring, 2024. They most recently facilitated Portrait of a Graduate Application and Educational Visioning workshops in March with representative stakeholder groups.
On March 26th, Dr. Locker will provide an update to the entire School Committee on the process. We will then host stakeholder forums in early April, which will serve as a mechanism to gather additional input from various stakeholder groups. Forums are scheduled to take place in April 2024.
This spring, Locker and Associates will develop a final report that will include organizational options to best educate all students and present recommendations to the School Committee.
Once again, our goal is to provide a short-term and long-term vision for the Franklin Public Schools by utilizing our assets strategically and fiscally responsibly. While facilities assessment and budget are intertwined, it’s important to emphasize that school reorganization or closure alone will not address the district's funding deficit. However, they could play an integral role in developing a more sustainable budget.
We are committed to this process, which will help us plan for the future and explore all options.
We will continue to share information as we move forward, including posting all presentations and reports here.
