Franklin Matters: school committee

Showing posts with label school committee. Show all posts

Friday, June 26, 2026

Last Franklin School Committee Newsletter to close out the 2025-2026 School Year

The final Franklin School Committee Newsletter for the 2025-2026 school year is out now!

We wish you a happy and safe Summer.

Read the Newsletter Here: https://aptg.co/C4XTbJ

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Franklin School Committee approves contracts & takes action on policies in short meeting (video)

The Franklin School Committee met as scheduled on Tuesday, June 23, 2026. 6 of their 7 members participated, 5 in Chambers, 1 remotely so all votes were via roll call.

Franklin TV video is available for replay - https://www.youtube.com/live/QlvJl3dksVE?&t=90

The meeting agenda - https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06232026-2374

My meeting notes in one PDF - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sGhFpmgdY19KlxeJaUDB2zFewLPN1wuS/view?usp=drive_link

Quick recap:

After opening the meeting, the Committee entered Executive Session for about 15 minutes returning to open session. In open session, they voted to approve Cafeteria Workers, Secretaries and Van Drivers Unions Contracts by a 6-0-1 roll call vote (1 absent)
Voted to send policy JKAA - Prevention Criteria for use of Physical Restraint, Seclusion and Time-outs for Students to a second reading, via 6-0-1 roll call vote (1 absent)
Voted the elimination of policy CL - Administrative Reports via 6-0-1 roll call vote (1 absent)
Voted the approval of the FSC Meeting, Conduct & Discussion Structure manual via 6-0-1 roll call vote (1 absent)
Voted the approval of the Consent Agenda via 6-0-1 roll call vote (1 absent)
Some updates from the existing subcommittees, some done for the school year, Horace Mann Legacy to meet on 2nd Monday beginning July (except October)

Tuesday, June 23, 2026

What's happening in Franklin, MA: Tuesday, June 23, 2026 ???

Tuesday, June 23

12:00pm Community Closet (Franklin United Methodist Church)

5:00pm Tuesday Night Cruise (Kings Brick Oven Pizza & Pub)

For additional details on Library events -> https://www.franklinma.gov/942/Calendar-of-Events

For additional details on Senior Center events ->

https://www.franklinma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/9195/May-2026-Newsletter?bidId=

*** Town Meetings today ***

Franklin School Committee Meeting

Tuesday, June 23 Time: 7:00 PM

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06232026-2374

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Find the full Community event calendar https://bit.ly/FranklinCommunityCalendar

If you have an event to add to the calendar, you can use the form to submit it for publication: https://bit.ly/Submit2Calendar

The Town meeting calendar is found https://www.franklinma.gov/Calendar.aspx

The School district calendar is found https://franklinpublicschooldistrictma.sites.thrillshare.com/o/fpsd/page/school-calendar

Sunday, June 21, 2026

Franklin, MA: Agenda for the School Committee meeting June 23, 2026

Franklin School Committee

June 23, 2026 - 7:00 PM

Municipal Building – Council Chambers

Call to Order Dr. Griffith

Announcements from the Chair

Pledge of Allegiance

Moment of Silence

Franklin, MA: Agenda for the School Committee meeting June 23, 2026

I. Routine Business

A. Review of Agenda

B. Payment of Bills Mr. Callaghan

C. Payroll Dr. Griffith

D. FHS Student Representative Comments

E. Superintendent’s Report

II. Guests/Presentations

A. none

III. Citizen’s Comments

IV. Executive Session

A. As per M.G.L. c. 30A, § 213. (3) To discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body and the chair so declares

V. Discussion/Action Items

A. Ratification of Union Contracts

I recommend the ratification of the Cafeteria Workers, Secretaries and Van Drivers Unions Contracts as discussed.

B. Policy 1st Reading

I recommend moving policy JKAA - Prevention Criteria for use of Physical Restraint, Seclusion and Time-outs for Students to a second reading as discussed.

C. Policy Elimination

I recommend the elimination of policy CL - Administrative Reports as discussed.

D. Franklin School Committee: Meeting Conduct & Discussion Structure

I recommend the approval of the FSC Meeting, Conduct & Discussion Structure manual as discussed.

VI. Discussion Only Items

A. None

VII. Information Matters

A. School Committee Sub-Committee Reports

B. School Committee Liaison Reports

VI. Consent Agenda

A. Approval of Minutes

I recommend approval of the minutes from the June 9, 2026 School Committee meeting as detailed.

B. Elementary Gift

I recommend the acceptance of $3.150.00 in gift certificates from the American Heart Association/Kids Heart Challenge for supplemental supplies as detailed.

C. Championship Signage Donations

I recommend the acceptance of $6,500.00 for In-house enrichment as follows:

$ 500.00 Franklin V Golf

$1,000.00 FHS Cross Country/Track Boosters

$1,000.00 Franklin Football Gridiron Club

$ 500.00 FHS Swim Boosters

$1,000.00 Franklin Metro Basketball Association

$ 500.00 Danielle Walsh

$1,000.00 FHS Basketball Boosters

$1,000.00 Franklin Soccer Boosters

D. Horace Mann Legacy Donations

I recommend the acceptance of $100.00 for in-house enrichment as follows:

$50.00 Dave Callaghan

$50.00 Lucas Giguere

E. Districtwide Gift

I recommend the acceptance of $913.78 from AHold/Stop & Shop for in-house enrichment as detailed.

VII. New Business

To discuss any future agenda items

VIII. Adjournment

The full agenda doc includes remote participation info -

https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06232026-2374

The meeting packet folder also contains the documents released for this session (in some cases, documents are posted after the meeting).

https://www.franklinps.net/documents/departments/school-committee/meeting-packets/2025---26-meeting-packets/june-23%2C-2026-sc-meeting-packet/28227603

Thursday, June 18, 2026

Reis & Stephen recap the June 9 School Committee meeting (audio)

FM #1767 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1767 in the series.

This session shares my conversation with School Committee members Reis Hansen and Stephen Karunakaran. We had our discussion in the Franklin TV & Radio Studio on Tuesday, June 16, 2026.

Our conversation covered the following topics from the School Committee meeting of June 9, 2026:

Strawberry Stroll, Kickball Tournament, field day, and other events coming up
Superintendent review and evaluation process
Facility updates to get to the redistricting, and next steps this summer
Working group report on artificial intelligence

Our conversation runs about 47 minutes. Let’s listen

Audio link - https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1767-chalkboard-chat-06-16-26/

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School Committee page (with contact info) - https://www.franklinps.net/o/fpsd/page/school-committee

School Committee subcommittee assignments -

https://www.franklinps.net/o/fpsd/page/subcommittees-and-liaisons

Franklin TV video is available for replay - https://www.youtube.com/live/hgHgIZ5L_iY?&t=235

The agenda document https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06092026-2356

The presentations documents should be posted in a couple of days to this folder https://www.franklinps.net/documents/departments/school-committee/meeting-packets/2025---26-meeting-packets/june-9%2C-2026-sc-meeting-packet/28109200

Photos of the Facility presentation

https://photos.app.goo.gl/t3rkbwCxnDm6A9Wy6

Photos of the AI discussion presentation

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TqNxhuTk8og7WqRp8

My notes from the meeting in one PDF https://drive.google.com/file/d/10XRFLsUqujf3Z3QPzGOKU6cEOS-mWuoS/view?usp=drive_link

Capital campaign fund raising link - https://givebutter.com/FPSCaptialCampaign2026

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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

How can you help?

If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like something here, please let me know
And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach out. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

Wednesday, June 17, 2026

School Committee gets updates on Facilities, AI, and evaluates the Superintendent (audio)

FM #1766 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1766 in the series.

This session shares the Franklin (MA) School Committee meeting held on Tuesday, June 9, 2026 at 7:00 PM. 6 members of the Committee participated, 1 absent.

Quick recap

Presentation and discussion on Facilities focused on school projects completed as part of the redistricting, and those left remaining, some of which are funded, some are pending funding and some are for future
Presentation and discussion on the potential intentional implementation of AI as an educational tool as well as how to use AI being taught to the students. The work over the last four months has developed 4 main principles to guide the further discussion and planning. Additional updates will be made as progress is made
Superintendent evaluation was discussed and approved. The doc with the feedback, goals and accomplishments is to be posted to the Schools page soon
The Committee entered into Executive Session not to return to open meeting for contract negotiations approx. 10:30 PM

Let’s listen (approx. 3 hours & 15 minutes)

Audio link - https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1766-franklin-ma-school-cmte-mtg-06-09-26/

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Franklin TV video is available for replay - https://www.youtube.com/live/hgHgIZ5L_iY?&t=235

The agenda document https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06092026-2356

The presentations documents should be posted to this folder https://www.franklinps.net/documents/departments/school-committee/meeting-packets/2025---26-meeting-packets/june-9%2C-2026-sc-meeting-packet/28109200

Photos of the Facility presentation

https://photos.app.goo.gl/t3rkbwCxnDm6A9Wy6

Photos of the AI discussion presentation

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TqNxhuTk8og7WqRp8

The working 4 guiding principles as presented

The working 4 guiding principles on AI as presented

-------------

We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

How can you help?

If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like something here, please let me know
And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach out. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

I hope you enjoy!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

Tuesday, June 16, 2026

Audio of the School Committee Policy Subcmte Meeting June 9, 2026 (audio)

FM #1765 - This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1765 in the series.

This session shares the Franklin (MA) School Committee Policy Subcmte meeting held on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. All 3 members (Dave Callaghan (Chair), Al Charles, Reis Hansen) participated in the session held in the 3rd floor training room. Dr Tina Rogers and Paula Marano also participated.

Quick recap:

discussion on new policy from DESE on seclusion and isolation needs to amend our current policy for implementation effect Aug 2026

grant also received to help with training personnel for implementation. Only 1 of many districts to receive a grant
suggestion to remove one line that seems to be duplicate with the paragraph below
suggestion on wording around a timeline for submitting a complaint for investigation by the district motion

discussion on intentional use of technology, work being done during the summer. also an update on AI tonight. Student data privacy agreement (SDPA) needed by district before a software tool is introduced, otherwise as in case with Google Maps (an exception) parents need to sign off on
discussion on SchCmte meeting agenda, order, and guidelines; adding committee comments, possibly removing 'good of the order' to use more kitchen English to make it more easily accessible
Motion to adjourn, passes 3-0

The recording runs about 53 minutes, so let’s listen in.

Audio link - https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1765-school-cmte-policy-subcmte-mtg-06-09-26/

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School Committee Subcommittee assignments

https://www.franklinps.net/o/fpsd/page/subcommittees-and-liaisons

The meeting agenda can be found ->

https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06092026-2355

My full set of notes taken during the meeting can be found in one PDF ->

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QDlmPF_aMWfY7xcOtUNWNnGE9m740rYv/view?usp=drive_link

-------------

We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

How can you help?

If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
If you don't like something here, please let me know
And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach out. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/ or www.franklin.news

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

I hope you enjoy!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

Wednesday, June 10, 2026

School Committee gets updates on Facilities, AI, and evaluates the Superintendent on Tuesday(video)

The Franklin School Committee met as scheduled in Council Chambers on Tuesday, June 9 at 7 PM. 6 of the 7 members were present, 1 absent (O'Sullivan).

Franklin TV video is available for replay - https://www.youtube.com/live/hgHgIZ5L_iY?&t=235

The agenda document https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_06092026-2356

Quick recap

Presentation and discussion on Facilities focused on school projects completed as part of the redistricting, and those left remaining, some of which are funded, some are pending funding and some are for future
Presentation and discussion on the potential intentional implementation of AI as an educational tool as well as how to use AI being taught to the students. The work over the last four months has developed 4 main principles to guide the further discussion and planning. Additional updated will be made as progress is made
Superintendent evaluation was discussed and approved. The doc with the feedback, goals and accomplishments is to be posted to the Schools page soon
The Committee entered into Executive Session not to return to open meeting for contract negotiations approx. 10:30 PM

Photos of the Facility presentation

https://photos.app.goo.gl/t3rkbwCxnDm6A9Wy6

Photos of the AI discussion presentation

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TqNxhuTk8og7WqRp8

The working 4 guiding principles as presented