This Chalkboard Chat condenses the School Cmte Mtg of Feb 11 (audio)

FM #1384 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1384 in the series. 

This session shares my conversation with School Committee Chairperson Dave Callaghan. This is a new episode of our continuing “Chalkboard Chat” series. We had our discussion in person at the Franklin TV & Radio Studio on Wednesday, February 12, 2025. We recapped the School Committee meeting of February 11, 2025. 

 

We cover 

• Keller Kids “Student Council” led the pledge

• Approval of the FY 2026 Superintendent’s Recommended budget & discussion

• Redistricting is intertwined with the budget, Transportation update coming March 11

• School Calendar for Sept 2025 to start after Labor Day to allow for move

• School Committee calendar to provide for a transition to new committee in Nov

• Encourage participation in the Listening Sessions (4 remaining)

The recording runs about 35 minutes, so let’s listen in. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1384-chalkboard-chat-02-12-25/

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Contact info for Dave Callaghan -> callaghand@franklinps.net   

School Committee Meeting Info

The Franklin TV video is available for replay here -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfqefUMtloU&t=51  

The agenda doc can be found -> https://ma-franklin.civicplus.com/AgendaCenter/School-Committee-35/?#_02112025-1571  

Meeting packet (other docs as they are released after the meeting will get posted here) ->  https://www.franklinps.net/documents/departments/school-committee/meeting-packets/2024---25-meeting-packets/february-11%2C-2025-sc-meeting-packet/756881  

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

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xUU7zppEaNgj9xN442EdbZnFvnqI3VSM/view?usp=drive_link 

Photos taken during the meeting can be found in one album

https://photos.app.goo.gl/wUQtiMDnwKLSQyTa9 

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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

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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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This Chalkboard Chat condenses the School Cmte Mtg of Feb 11 (audio)

FHS Best Buddies Students vs. Teachers game Saturday (1/28/23), a fund raiser for their prom

FHS Best Buddies (@BestFHSBuddies) tweeted Mon, Jan 23, 2023:

"Show out this Saturday, the 28th, for our students vs. staff basketball game‼️ 

$5 per ticket: you can pay either at the door or on unibank! 

Proceeds go towards funding Best Buddies Prom. Teachers interested in playing can click the link in our bio to sign up!!" 

 https://t.co/JgoKAcbnjc

Shared from Twitter -> https://twitter.com/BestFHSBuddies/status/1617701594832994306

FHS Best Buddies Students vs. Teachers game Saturday (1/28/23), a fund raiser for their prom

Advances on the reading front: Library of Congress adds teachers; DESE changes screening rule

"The Library of Congress kicked off the 2022-2023 school year by welcoming two teachers to its Capitol Hill campus. Jacqueline Katz and Caneshia Mills will work closely with staff in the Library’s Center for Learning, Literacy and Engagement to make primary sources from the Library’s collections more accessible for teachers, students and families throughout the United States.

Jacqueline Katz, a high school science teacher from Princeton, New Jersey, will serve as the Library’s Albert Einstein Fellow.

Caneisha Mills, a middle school history teacher from Washington, D.C., has been named the Teacher-in-Residence at the Library. "

For more information on this program -> https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/library-welcomes-teachers-to-advance-accessibility-of-primary-sources-for-educators/s/3fd62620-9ae1-40d6-bd55-4d540d1a7cb5

Teachers to Advance Accessibility of Primary Sources for Educators

The State House News Service writes:

"Massachusetts schools for the first time will face a requirement to screen young students for dyslexia and other potential learning disabilities at least twice per year under a policy state education officials approved Tuesday. 

Taking aim at what Education Secretary James Peyser dubbed a "wait-to-fail strategy," the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted unanimously in favor of regulations setting statewide standards for districts to monitor student literacy progress.

Many Bay State schools are already performing some kind of dyslexia or learning disability screening, but officials said the existing framework is dotted with gaps. Now, schools will be subject to the same requirement to assess every kindergartener, first grader, second grader and third grader at least twice annually using state-approved tools to gauge their "reading ability and progress in literacy skills."

Continue reading about the regulation change 

https://franklinobserver.town.news/g/franklin-town-ma/n/122999/state-votes-mandate-k-3-literacy-screenings

Tracy Novick, Worcester School Cmte member and field director for Mass Association of School Committees (MASC), covers the full Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) board meeting held Tuesday morning (during which the above rule change was approved). Her notes and a link to the proposal can be found online

Section of meeting on rule change

http://who-cester.blogspot.com/2022/09/september-board-of-ed-amendment-to.html

DESE backup is here; regulation changes here

Note: this is an unfunded mandate. DESE provides some grant opportunities to obtain the screening tool and professional development for the tool but NOT for the actual implementation of the tool during the twice a school year period to be required. Why is that important? For this group K-3, and in particular for the K level, who manages the other 18-20+ students while the assessment on 1 is conducted? This becomes less of an issue for the students in 1, 2, 3 grades as they are more independent learners (or should be by that time).

"The Department is supporting schools with a variety of funding opportunities. The Department has offered a competitive grant twice in the last 18 months to support the purchase of early literacy screening assessments and the associated professional development, awarding over $471,955 total to 27 school districts. A similar grant will be offered again in the current school year to support schools that do not yet have an appropriate screening measure in place or are in need of training. The Early Grades Literacy Grant and Growing Literacy Equity Across Massachusetts Grants also provide funding to school districts to purchase an approved screening assessment and the associated professional development if needed. Student Opportunity Act (SOA) guidance identified early literacy screening as a key evidence-based practice, and the Department encourages school districts to use SOA funding to support this cost."

From the "backup" doc shared by Tracy  https://www.doe.mass.edu/bese/docs/fy2023/2022-09/item3.docx

Escape Into Fiction sets up teacher wish lists

"New #teacher wish lists in the store for our #localteachers. Come in or email to create yours!  

We love our #teachers. Mail@escapeintofiction.com 10 books/author, grade, school!  

#franklin #franklinpublicschools

@FranklinPSNews

@FranklinMatters

@TOFranklinMA

#wrenthamma #kpschools"

Shared from Twitter ->  https://twitter.com/EscapeIntoFictn/status/1562446370036142080

Where is Escape Into Fiction? 12 Main St in downtown Franklin or visit them on the web at -> https://escapeintofiction.com/

Escape Into Fictions sets up teacher wish lists

Teachers Are Among Most Educated, Yet Their Pay Lags

America Counts: Stories Behind the Numbers Teachers Are Among Most Educated, Yet Their Pay Lags Although teachers are among the nation's most educated workers, they earn far less on average than most other highly educated workers and their earnings have declined since 2010. More than 95% of elementary, middle and high school teachers have a bachelor's degree or more. In 2019, the average earnings of elementary and middle school teachers with a bachelor's degree or more who work full-time, year-round was $53,800. For high school teachers, it was $57,840. Read More Just over one-half of elementary and middle school teachers and 58% of high school teachers also have a graduate degree. They still earn less ($61,130 and $64,340, respectively) than that of other equally educated workers.  Young teachers and older/middle-aged teachers have lower earnings than most of their similarly educated peers. Continue reading to learn more about: Age and sex Teachers' earnings, which declined since 2010 The data About America Counts America Counts tells the stories behind the numbers in a new inviting way. It features stories on various topics such as families, housing, employment, business, education, economy, emergency management, health, population, income and poverty. Contact our Public Information Office for media inquiries or interviews. Don't miss an America Counts story! Subscribe here.

Stay connected with us! Join the conversation on social media.

"Who Will Clean Out The Desks"

"As part of teacher appreciation month, Morning Edition asked NPR's audience to write a poem about teachers who have had an impact on their lives. 

We put out this call a week before the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, so the majority of contributors are not reflecting on that horrific day but a late addition did reflect that loss. 

We received over 300 responses, and NPR's poet in residence Kwame Alexander took lines from submissions to create a community poem. 

This poem is dedicated to all teachers, but especially to Irma Garcia and Eva Mireles, fourth grade teachers who lost their lives at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde."

Continue reading the community generated poem online

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/59447/who-will-clean-out-the-desks-a-crowdsourced-poem-in-praise-of-teachers

 

A teacher cleans a desk in a classroom during a media tour at Dorothy Eisenberg Elementary School in Las Vegas.  (John Locher/AP)

Boston Globe: The need for substitute teachers; Globe’s climate team is expanding and rethinking its coverage

"When Toni Preston began substitute teaching for Cambridge Public Schools in November of 2019, she monitored the online job listings throughout the day to snap one up before others beat her to it.

Now, whenever Preston isn’t already signed up to work, she’s sure to wake up to an early morning robocall from the district, informing her of the many unfilled openings that day.

“When I’m on a job, I have teachers who may see me in the hall or even drop in the classroom, asking me if I can cover for them,” said Preston, 76. “That tells me that they really need a sub.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/01/20/metro/its-been-desperate-call-substitute-teachers-high-demand-districts-grapple-with-teaching-shortages/

"This is how long we have ignored warnings of a coming crisis:

It’s been more than half a century since a presidential panel under Lyndon Johnson found that fossil fuel emissions could be warming the earth.

It’s been 40 years since the National Academies of Sciences published a massive landmark study with similar conclusions.

And it’s been three decades — the span of an entire generation — since a NASA scientist named James Hansen sat before Congress and testified that human-caused global warming was not only real but “already happening now.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/01/20/science/into-red-how-globe-will-cover-climate-change/

Globe’s climate team is expanding and rethinking its coverage

Franklin Digital Learning Integrationists - Newsletter

"Check out the most recent newsletter from the Digital Learning Integrationists 

#FPSDigitalLearning @FranklinPSNews"

Newsletter link ->  https://t.co/84VzS8HMfE   or  https://www.smore.com/a540y

Shared from Twitter: https://twitter.com/DliFranklin/status/1466788666391605253

Franklin Digital Learning Integrationists - Newsletter 

"Mass. should require vaccination for all teachers and eligible students"

Tracy O'Connell Novick (@TracyNovick) tweeted Sun, Aug 29, 2021:

I was honored to be asked by the vice chair of the Worcester Board of Health Dr. Jerry Gurwitz to jointly write a piece calling for a state vaccine mandate for all eligible in our schools.

Shared from Twitter: https://twitter.com/TracyNovick/status/1431920387990904833?s=03

"LOCAL BOARDS OF HEALTH, school committees, and municipal leaders are struggling to navigate through the challenges of assuring that all eligible school children and teachers are vaccinated. Increased urgency around the need for vaccination follows from the alarming turn the pandemic has taken. The highly contagious Delta variant has very rapidly become the dominant strain across Massachusetts and the country as a whole.

While vaccination efforts across the Commonwealth continue, low vaccination rates in adolescents are extremely concerning, especially in our largest cities. In Worcester, among those ages 12 to 19, 6 out of 10 have not been fully vaccinated. Even with enhanced vaccination efforts, including the opening of new clinics over the coming weeks, these numbers are unlikely to change substantially prior to the opening of schools or in the first weeks of the school year unless the state mandates vaccinations for eligible students — as well as for teachers and staff."

 Continue to read the article online  https://t.co/SUuTTGWwRl

"Mass. should require vaccination for all teachers and eligible students"

Franklin Public Schools, MA: Open House Job Fair - Aug 23

Franklin Public Schools, MA (@FranklinPSNews) tweeted Fri, Aug 20, 2021:

Please consider attending the FPS Open House Job Fair. August 23rd from 4pm-6pm. We are seeking Educational Support Professionals at various school locations, assisting our students in the classroom environment. https://t.co/apB4b9f64Q

Shared from Twitter: https://twitter.com/FranklinPSNews/status/1428747470310449154

Franklin Public Schools, MA:  Open House Job Fair - Aug 23

BFCCPS is hiring for the 2021-2022 school year

BFCCPS is a regional public charter school for students in Kindergarten through Grade Eight.  We are exited to announce that we're hiring for the 2021-2022 school year!

You may notice that several new positions are available as a result of the expansion of our Grade 7 class from 52 to 96 students next year!

You can learn more about the school's mission and history and see available openings on this page of our website.   http://bfccps.org/about/employment

Shared From the Charter School Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1551606135109407/permalink/2910830272520313/

BFCCPS is hiring for the 2021-2022 school year

School Committee: Budget SubCommittee Meeting - Mar 16

Budget Sub Committee Meeting

Virtual Meeting (Link in agenda)

Mar 16, 2021 - 4:30 PM

• FY22 Budget Development

Agenda doc includes connection info:   https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/agendas/agenda-bsc_3_16_2021.pdf

The first pass at the budget was previewed at the School Committee meeting Mar 9, 2021:

• Recommended Budget  https://www.franklinps.net/district/meeting-packets/files/supt-rec-budget-3-9-21
• Audio for this segment of the meeting Mar 9  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/03/fm-486-school-committee-mtg-030921-p2.html

chart shows decline in elementary enrollment (bars) and associated decline in # of teachers (line)

CommonWealth Magazine: "vaccine distribution is a “complete zero sum game at this point,” given the constrained supply"

 

"AFTER WEEKS OF pressure from Massachusetts teachers — and one day after President Biden urged giving educators priority for vaccines — Gov. Charlie Baker said teachers, school staff, and early educators will be eligible to sign up for COVID-19 vaccines in Massachusetts beginning March 11. 

But Baker warned that vaccine supplies will continue to be scarce, so appointments may be hard to get. 

“People will get their vaccines, but people will need to be patient unless there’s a big change in available supply in the near future,” Baker said, speaking to the press on Wednesday morning after touring the West Parish Elementary School in Gloucester, which was celebrating 101 days of in-person learning this year. "

Continue reading the article online

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/health-care/teachers-become-eligible-for-covid-vaccines-march-11/ 

Gov Baker's press conference: https://youtu.be/VP_noBqx8MU

CommonWealth Magazine: State considering remote telework as standard practice; Spilka advocates for teachers to get vaccinated

 

"CLOSE TO HALF of the state’s executive branch employees could continue some form of telework even once the pandemic ends, Secretary of Administration and Finance Michael Heffernan said Tuesday.

Speaking to the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees at a hearing on Baker’s $45.6 billion fiscal 2022 budget proposal, Heffernan laid out the broad contours of a proposed state employee remote work plan. Of 44,000 full-time employees working for state government, Heffernan said, more than 20,000 could telework in the future in some sort of “hybrid” plan. He said employees would come into the office some days and work remotely on other days.

The state’s stance on telework could be a precursor of what happens in the rest of the economy, and a permanent shift to telework could have major implications for downtowns, commercial real estate, and transportation. The MBTA, for example, is struggling to chart its future service plans amid great uncertainty about commuting and work patterns."

Continue reading the article online  https://commonwealthmagazine.org/state-government/state-eyeing-hybrid-telework-model-for-half-of-workforce/

 

"WITH THE STATE expecting to see its supply of COVID-19 vaccine increase over the coming weeks, Senate President Karen Spilka on Tuesday said Gov. Charlie Baker must let teachers get vaccinated this month and should set aside a percentage of doses for teachers and school staff.

Spilka’s call on the Baker administration to prioritize teacher vaccination comes a week after the Republican governor and Education Commissioner Jeff Riley detailed their intent to have all school districts bring elementary school students back to the classroom full-time by April.

The Senate’s top Democrat said if that is the goal then the administration must provide cities and towns with the resources and support they need, including vaccines."

Continue reading the article online

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/education/spilka-to-baker-get-teachers-vaccinated/