The Franklin Boys Basketball team will be collecting unwrapped toys to for the Franklin Police Department Toy Drive. If you'd like to donate, you can drive up to the FHS gym entrance on Sat, Dec 19th, from 11:30-12:00, & the players can retrieve the toy(s) from your vehicle.
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| FHS Boys Basketball helping Franklin Police Dept with toy drive, and you can too! |
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| St. Mary's Women's Faith Formation - Jan 2, 2021 |
From the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA)
"The Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners in mid-November released a free, 160-page guide to planning new or reconfigured public library spaces.
“This space planning guide will not only help plan flexible and efficient library buildings that meet a community’s unique needs,” said Library Building Specialist Lauren Stara, “it will also save communities time and money as they begin exploring options for a new or reconfigured library.”
“Library Space: A Planning Resource for Librarians” creates a formal set of best practices for designing library space that may be applied to libraries across the nation, according to the Board of Library Commissioners. The guide empowers librarians, administrators, space planners and architects with tools for the planning and design of public library buildings. It takes the user through the step-by-step process of determining what to consider when designing a new library for their community, and includes illustrations of different room types, adjacencies, shelving and seating that can be considered for a building project."
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| Franklin's Library in the sun after a snow storm |
"The first shots against the coronavirus made their way into the arms of eager front line health care workers nationwide this week, providing a glimmer of hope for a post-pandemic world. But once those volunteers are all vaccinated, some workers who are less excited about the vaccine could face mandates to receive it anyway, public health and legal experts say.
For now, doses of the newly authorized Pfizer vaccine are in short supply and have not yet been approved for use in children or pregnant women, meaning any potential mandates are likely still months or more away. But while President-elect Joe Biden has said he doesn’t support a vaccine mandate, in the future, private businesses, schools, and perhaps even states and localities could require the shots for those who don’t qualify for religious or medical exemptions.
“I absolutely envisage that, say, by the fall, when students are coming back to universities and when businesses are coming back and we want to get our economy on track, that there will be requirements for students and employees to be vaccinated,” said Lawrence Gostin, a professor at Georgetown Law specializing in public health law."
"The Massachusetts House on Wednesday rejected Governor Charlie Baker’s amendment to their abortion measure and restored language they’d originally adopted, allowing patients as young as 16 to get abortions without parental consent.
A supermajority, 107 members, voted against the governor’s changes, while 49 voted for them.
“The House today reaffirmed its long-standing commitment to protecting reproductive rights in Massachusetts under threat by changes in the makeup of the US Supreme Court,” House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo said in a statement. ”The House acted to keep intact those provisions in Massachusetts that safeguard reproductive choices for all.”
The Democratic-led Legislature included the measure in the state’s $45.9 billion budget bill in order to guarantee abortion access in Massachusetts, in anticipation of national changes to abortion rights under a newly conservative Supreme Court. The language would codify into state law the right to an abortion, which has been guaranteed by the court’s ruling in Roe v. Wade since 1973."
THE HOUSE on Wednesday voted 107-49 to reject Gov. Charlie Baker’s amendment paring back a legislative proposal to expand access to abortion in Massachusetts.
The measure now goes to the Senate, which is likely to vote similarly, and from there back to the governor, who can veto it, sign it into law, or let it become law without his signature.
Baker refused to say what he will do on Wednesday. “We’ll see whatever happens with whatever they send back to us,” he said.
A winter storm is approaching this evening and will be with us until tomorrow. Please make note of the following alerts:
Stay safe!
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| Urgent: Winter Storm Alerts |
December 16, 2020
Dear Franklin Families and Faculty/Staff,
We are monitoring the forecast very carefully. At this time, a long duration storm is forecasted with snow falling overnight into tomorrow and accumulating to between 10-15 inches. The snow is forecasted to be light and fluffy, which poses a lesser risk for power outages.
Given this forecast, Franklin Public Schools will have a Remote Learning day for all schools on Thursday, December 17, 2020.
In the event of a power outage, families should call their child's school office. VLA families should call the Superintendent's Office. Voicemails will be transcribed into emails and forwarded to secretaries. Students will be marked present if they participate in school using asynchronous materials provided by their teacher.
If a staff member loses power, they should contact their building administrator. A building administrator will be in touch with families of their class(es) directly.
We will monitor power outages in the area and, in the event of widespread outages, many need to alter the plan and call a snow day.
We acknowledge that this may come as a disappointment to some who love the tradition of a snow day. At this time, we think it best to continue with the plans we set in place within the past few weeks for remote learning, a model we used early in the year with the idea that we could quickly move back to it during the school year. We will monitor the experience on remote learning days during snow events to inform future decision making.
Additional information about inclement weather can be found on our website.
Sincerely,
Franklin Public Schools
Franklin Public Schools: Remote Learning - December 17, 2020
