CommonWealth Magazine: some school districts rollback opening in person; new testing plan announced

"Amid rising cases, districts roll back reopening plans"

"DOZENS OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS shifted to remote learning for at least two weeks after the holidays in an effort to keep the virus out of schools in the event students and parents traveled or engaged in large-person events during the break.

Brockton, which has an 11.85 percent community positive test rate, is delaying its return to in-person learning for almost 400 high needs students, which was set for mid-January, by at least two weeks. Pre-K and kindergarten students, which have been remote, would return February 8.

Continue reading the article

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/the-download/amid-rising-cases-districts-roll-back-reopening-plans/

"A shopping bag that held the key to safe school opening"

"A LITTLE BEFORE 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Liz Ruark started out from the small Worcester County town of Harvard on the 30-mile drive to Kendall Square in Cambridge. Nestled on the floor of the backseat of her Subaru Forester was a Home Goods tote bag whose contents were key to the community’s goal of keeping its schools open while also holding the COVID-19 pandemic at bay.

Ruark, a parent of two Harvard public school students, has helped spearhead a five-month effort that culminated in this week’s launch of free weekly coronavirus surveillance testing of all students, teachers, and staff in the rural district. The cargo she was rushing to a Cambridge lab held specimens from the 713 people who showed up throughout the day to have nasal swabs taken at four outdoor testing stations set up outside the town’s combined middle-high school building."

Continue reading the article

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/health/state-launching-weekly-school-covid-testing-initiative/

Gov Baker's press conference on Thursday, Jan 7 announcing the new testing plan

https://youtu.be/rHWX0Ml53-M

The press release with details on the new testing plans for schools (and limited funding for this)

https://www.mass.gov/news/baker-polito-administration-announces-pooled-testing-initiative-for-massachusetts-schools

New MA interactive dashboard for COVID-19 reporting  https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-response-reporting

Town of Franklin (MA) COVID-19 status per new MA dashboard

MA hospital capacity per MA COVID-19 dashboard

FM #429 Town Council Meeting - P2of2 - 01/06/21 (audio)

FM #429 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 429 in the series. 

This session shares the Franklin, MA Town Council meeting held on Wednesday, Jan 6, 2021. 

The meeting was conducted in a hybrid format: members of the Town Council, selected guests, and Town Administration personnel were in the Council Chambers, the public was remote via Zoom conference bridge, all to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.

I’ve split the full two hour twenty-seven minutes meeting into two logical segments:

• First - covers the opening through the Hazard Mitigation Plan presentation/discussion to the approval of it. It includes the second Legislation action item - the authorization for the Beaver St interceptor project (1 hour and 36 minutes)
• Second - covers the remainder of the Legislation for Action items through to the close of the meeting (51 mins)

The show notes contain links to the meeting agenda including documents released for this agenda. 

Let’s listen to the Town Council meeting of Jan 6, 2021.  

Audio link = https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/Hy1YpZ6S

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

Agenda document (and released supporting materials in one PDF) 
https://franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/agendas/01-06-2021_town_council_agenda.pdf

Hazard Mitigation presentation doc  https://franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/mai/files/8a._hazard_mitigation_presentation_2020_update_presentation_handout.pdf

Hazard Mitigation Plan
https://franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/mai/files/10a._hazard_mitigation_0.pdf

Beaver St summary document  https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/mai/files/10b._21-02_beaver_street_interceptor.pdf 

My notes from the meeting
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/01/town-council-meeting-jan-6-2021-recap.html  

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

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
• If you don't like something here, please let me know

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!

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

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

FM #429 Town Council Meeting - P2of2 - 01/06/21 (audio)

FM #428 Town Council Meeting P1of2 - 01/06/21 (audio)

FM #428 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 428 in the series. 

This session shares the Franklin, MA Town Council meeting held on Wednesday, Jan 6, 2021. 

The meeting was conducted in a hybrid format: members of the Town Council, selected guests, and Town Administration personnel were in the Council Chambers, the public was remote via Zoom conference bridge, all to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.

I’ve split the full two hour twenty-seven minutes meeting into two logical segments:

• First - covers the opening through the Hazard Mitigation Plan presentation/discussion to the approval of it. It includes the second Legislation action item - the authorization for the Beaver St interceptor project (1 hour and 36 minutes)
• Second - covers the remainder of the Legislation for Action items through to the close of the meeting (51 mins)

The show notes contain links to the meeting agenda including documents released for this agenda. 

Let’s listen to the Town Council meeting of Jan 6, 2021.  

Audio link =  https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-428-town-council-mtg-p1of2-1-06-21

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

Agenda document (and released supporting materials in one PDF) 
https://franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/agendas/01-06-2021_town_council_agenda.pdf

Hazard Mitigation presentation doc  https://franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/mai/files/8a._hazard_mitigation_presentation_2020_update_presentation_handout.pdf

Hazard Mitigation Plan
https://franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/mai/files/10a._hazard_mitigation_0.pdf

Beaver St summary document  https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/mai/files/10b._21-02_beaver_street_interceptor.pdf 

My notes from the meeting
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/01/town-council-meeting-jan-6-2021-recap.html  

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

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
• If you don't like something here, please let me know

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!

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

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

FM #428 Town Council Meeting P1of2 - 01/06/21 (audio)

FM #427 Board of Health Meeting - 1/06/21 (audio)

FM #427 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 427 in the series.

 
This session shares the Franklin, MA Board of Health meeting held on Wednesday, Jan 6, 2021. 

The meeting was conducted in a hybrid format: some of the Health Dept were in the Municipal Building, the remainder, Committee, (and public) were remote via conference bridge, all to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.

The show notes contain links to the meeting agenda and to my notes. 

The recording runs about 39 minutes. Let’s listen to the Board of Health meeting held on Wednesday, Jan 6, 2021. Audio file =   https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/HV06SSGS

 

--------------
Agenda doc  https://franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/agendas/agenda-1-6-21.pdf

New COVID-19 reporting dashboard  https://www.canva.com/design/DAERJvYx-CA/RDnuYIFlWB8rUKQrGQlX0Q/view 

Prior chart and reporting format of COVID-19 data   https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/uploads/covid-19_case_counts_4_1.pdf 
 
My notes from the meeting  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/01/board-of-health-meeting-jan-6-2021-recap.html 

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

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
• If you don't like something here, please let me know

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!

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

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

FM #427 Board of Health Meeting - 1/06/20 (audio)

School Committee: Budget SubCommittee Meeting - Jan 14, 2021

School Committee - Budget SubCommittee Meeting

Thursday, Jan 14, 2021 - 4:30 PM

Virtual Meeting (Link in agenda)

Agenda

"The listing of matters are those reasonably anticipated by the Chair which may be discussed at the meeting. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law."

● FY21 Budget Development

Find connection info in the Agenda PDF

https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/agendas/agenda-bsc_1-14-20.pdf 

School Committee: Budget SubCommittee Meeting - Jan 14, 2021

FHS boys hockey top Foxboro 7-2 on Friday

From HockomockSports.com we share the FHS sports results: 

Boys Hockey = Foxboro, 2 @ Franklin, 7 – Final 
– Franklin’s JT Dwyer scored a hat trick to pace the Panthers to a win over visiting Foxboro. Dwyer scored three of of Franklin’s first five goals with Sean Connelly assisting on all three tallies. Conor O’Neill also scored twice in the win with Justin Abely recording assists on each goal.

For other results around the Hockomock League

https://hockomocksports.com/fridays-schedule-scoreboard-01-08-21/

FHS boys hockey top Foxboro 7-2 on Friday

Panther TV News - Jan 8, 2021 (video)

Panther TV (@fhspanthertv) tweeted on Fri, Jan 08, 2021:

It's been a rough week, so we've worked hard to produce an entertaining show for you. We hope you enjoy it! 

@FHSPantherbook

@FranklinPSNews

@FranklinHS

  News, January 8 2021 https://t.co/zgUWi1fKii via @YouTube

Shared from Twitter: https://twitter.com/fhspanthertv/status/1347542228533653504