Franklin Matters

Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Live reporting: School Committee - March 10, 2020

Present: D'Angelo, Keenan, Pfeffer, Scofield, Bergen, Spencer, Stokes
Absent: none

I. Routine Business
A. Review of Agenda
postponing the Oak St item from the consent agenda to a future TBD

B. Citizen’s Comments

In the spirit of open communication, “the Committee will hold a public participation segment (also called Citizen’s Comments) about matters not related to an agenda item at the beginning of each regular School Committee meeting. The Committee will listen to, but not respond to any comment made…. A Committee member may add an agenda item to a future meeting as a result of a citizen comment…. The Committee will hear public comments related to an agenda item when the Chair deems appropriate during the Committee meeting. Topics for discussion during the meeting must be limited to those items listed on the Committee meeting agenda for that evening…. ” - from Policy BEDH

C. FHS Student Representative Comments
peer leadership conf at Dean College
fashion show, Apr 2
boys basketball, hockey done playoff, girls basketball playing tonight

Chicago show coming
MICA performance
what is the outlook on the coronavirus?

Superintendent responds
reminders to wash hands, maintain personal space, if not feeling well stay home
we are seeing schools close temporarily in other communities but we are not at that yet; following Board of Health guidance
plug for the Town of Franklin portal
https://www.franklinma.gov/health-department/urgent-alerts/corona-virus-information-portal

D. Superintendent’s Report

update from the recent letter to the community
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/03/franklin-public-schools-coronovirus.html

music concerts going on at this time, exercise judgement with attendance

asked about distance learning? Dept of Ed is not authorizing at this time due to questions about the equity of access, relief on 180 days requirements being made

the school lunch program is in mind if schools were to be closed for a period

Governor declared State of Emergency today; important point creates flexibility for the State to response with resources and funding

Kennedy school incident, individual came forward today after the posts were made, had mistaken one Kennedy school for another in attempting to pick up a student

members of Central office, and others participated in guest reading at Oak St

FHS community partners and Cultural District in collaboration with LiveARTS, to host the string duo
Thanks to Diane Plouffe for putting this together

Franklin Public Schools: Coronovirus Update - Mar 10, 2020

March 10, 2020

Dear Franklin Families and Faculty/Staff,

I am writing with a follow-up communication to our March 8, 2020 and February 28, 2020 letters to the community. As a district, we continue to remain informed of the health advisories being issued by our local, state, and federal officials and agencies. We also continue to communicate internally among administrators, teachers, our local Health Department, School Nurse Leader, and consulting School Physician. Nursing staff are monitoring illness within the student body and are prepared to react appropriate to agency guidance.

Several questions emerged from the school community, which I address below.

Cleaning Procedures

Staff and families have inquired about more details related to our cleaning procedures. We are remaining vigilant about our routine cleaning practices which include: trash removal; cleaning, disinfecting, and stocking of our bathrooms; dry mopping floors or vacuuming carpets in classrooms and offices; dusting, cleaning surfaces, and wiping glass windows on a scheduled basis; and washing floors regularly and as needed.

In addition to this routine cleaning, our custodians have augmented with a disinfecting/sanitizing procedure. The custodians utilize Victory brand electrostatic sprayers, applying a Purell professional surface disinfectant to hard surfaces, commonly touched items such as doorknobs, handles, and counters, and high traffic spaces such as the main and nurses’ offices. They began using these sprayers last year when we had a spike in the seasonal flu. They have been using these several times a week including before and after weekend events in our schools.

Hand sanitizing stations are located throughout all of our schools; custodial staff are monitoring them to be sure they are full and operational. Additionally, our faculty and staff are emphasizing good handwashing practices, especially with our elementary students.

We have also asked our transportation company to increase its cleaning procedures. They have added the application of BruTab 6S to their cleaning routine. They are applying the product twice weekly in addition to daily cleaning. Our school-owned vans are also cleaned daily and a disinfecting electrostatic sprayer is used regularly.

In addition to regular use, the disinfecting procedures will be used in response to specific situations, if needed.

Evening Events and Gatherings

We remain informed and are following guidance about group events. We are also consulting with our local health department officials.

The music concerts scheduled for this evening and Thursday night will continue as planned. We feel it is important to provide our students with continuity of their curriculum in this content area and public performances are an important extension of the school learning environment. We understand that this may be of concern to some families.

Governor Baker’s press conference from earlier today identified that individuals may wish to exercise personal judgement in not attending large gatherings. This message has been emphasized for those who are at-risk including older individuals, those who are immune-compromised, or those who have
immune-compromised individuals in their household. We also ask that if you are exhibiting upper respiratory symptoms or flu-like conditions, that you also refrain from attending.

We respect that individuals may make personal decisions to not attend the performances. If families choose to keep a child or children home from participating in this event, there will not be negative consequences for them.

Other Items

For your reference, I would like to share the Town of Franklin’s Coronavirus portal, where the public can access the latest information:
https://www.franklinma.gov/health-department/urgent-alerts/corona-virus-information-portal

At this time, we have not cancelled travel plans but are reviewing field trips in light of Governor Baker’s press conference today. We will issue an update later this week about those.

Again, please keep children home from school when they are ill. If your child has any of the following symptoms please keep them home from school: temperature greater than 100, coughing, vomiting, diarrhea, any rash not yet diagnosed by a physician, red or pink itchy eye, and/or drainage from eye, and any contagious illness such as chicken pox, strep throat or flu. We also ask that staff stay home when they are ill in order to prevent the spread of infections.

The Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) continues to be an evolving situation that we are following closely. We will keep you informed with updates and information that become available to us.

Sincerely,

Sara E. Ahern, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools

Prior letters for reference
1 - https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/02/franklin-public-schools-information.html
2 - https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/03/franklin-public-schools-update-on.html

Coronavirus Information Portal

Franklin Public Schools: Kennedy School incident of March 6th, 2020

"Police announced Tuesday night that the individual the Franklin Police was interested in identifying earlier in the day had come forward.

The announcement came hours have they issued a press release saying they were trying to identify a young man who entered the John F. Kennedy School on Pond Street last Friday after classes had concluded for the day.

“There was no criminal intent and the matter is resolved,” said in a statement issued Tuesday night."

https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20200310/update-franklin-police-locate-and-id-man-who-entered-kennedy-school-adding-there-was-no-criminal-intent

Kennedy School incident of March 6, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 10, 2020 2:30 PM

"Franklin, Massachusetts: On Friday March 6, 2020 an unknown male individual made entry to the John F. Kennedy School on Pond Street. This occurred after school hours; however students participating in after school programs were still on site.

After making entry by entering though an open door as another parent left, he proceeded into a common hallway where he was confronted by school staff and questioned as to his reason for being in the school. At no time did he come into contact with any students. His answers to staff questions were inconsistent, and he was escorted from the building immediately.

"Franklin Police Department is only seeking to identify the individual in the photos"

At this time the Franklin Police Department is only seeking to identify the individual in the photos. No criminal charges are pending at this time.

If you have any information on this individual please contact the Franklin Police Detective Division at 508-528-1212 and press option #6."

Shared from the Town of Franklin page
https://www.franklinma.gov/police-department/news/kennedy-school-incident-march-6th-2020

Franklin Disabilities Commission: Ability Summit - April 18

The Franklin Disabilities Commission is holding an Ability Summit on Saturday, April 18 from 12 PM - 3 PM at the Franklin Senior Center.

All are welcome!

Please see the attached flyer for more details and contact information.

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/uploads/20200306111229537.pdf

Franklin Disabilities Commission: Ability Summit - April 18

FM #222 - Franklin Matters Radio with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen and Anne Marie Tracey

FM #222 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 222 in the series.

The first of a monthly series of discussions with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen was recorded in the Franklin Public Radio studio recently. Anne Marie Tracey, Marketing and Communication Specialist, joined Jamie and I for this session.

Ultimately, the plan for these sessions will be to broadcast these live. The first couple of sessions will help the studio prepare for this to go live by recording them as if we were live, then making them available for replay.

The radio show format will be deliberately ‘long form’ with a topic or two in each broadcast to spend some time with. Not so much to get into dollars and cents details but to get into the reasons why, and the rationale behind the pros and cons of the major items before us.

There will be a segment for questions from the audience. You can submit a question via the Google form on the Franklin Matters page
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/02/ask-franklin-matters-you-ask-question.html

In this session, we cover Jamie's background and how that prepared him for Town Administrator, success planning being done where possible across Franklin, a teaser on the budget process which starts now, and some info on the stormwater utility fee and information sessions scheduled for March. There will be more to come on stormwater as the details get worked out.

This audio segment runs about an hour, so let’s listen to my conversation with Jamie and Anne Marie https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/HcQcbQpX

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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm).

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

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/
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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FM #222 - Franklin Matters Radio with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen and Anne Marie Tracey

"Six Rounds of Vengeance" returns to FHS March 13

"Six Rounds of Vengeance returns to FHS on 3/13, at 730pm. Tickets are $10 for all patrons. Come support the FHSTC and their semi-final round submission for the METG Drama Festival.

This show contains strong language, and stage violence and may not be suitable for young audiences."

Shared from Twitter:
https://twitter.com/FranklinHSDrama/status/1237006967320821760

Six Rounds of Vengeance returns to FHS on 3/13

Town Council recap - MArch 4, 2020

Walter Zinchuck, the oldest Franklin resident, 102 years young, received the Boston Post Cane

The resolution on Civil Discourse passed after much discussion.

Municipal aggregation was confirmed as happening in November 2020. You can opt out of it. Why? If you already ahve a long term electrical contract or already have solar panels... For the rest of us, we get to see a savings with green energy (wind power) and a rate of 10.5 cents/KWH for three years. More to come on this as the Sep/Oct time frame when mailings to all the residential customers will be sent. In the meantime, more info can be found on the Colonial Power page for Franklin https://colonialpowergroup.com/franklin/

The first look at the budget for Fiscal Year 2021 was presented showing a deficit of $3.5M which will need to be resolved before passing a balanced budget by June 30,2020.

From the meeting I created two audio files to listen to meeting segments: