Franklin Matters

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Live reporting - Middle Schools/ High School

continuing the

2. Guests/Presentations
a. School Handbooks - Middle School Principals

similar updates, effort to work together on getting the handbooks more user friendly and equitable
recognizing that going green has been bringing good benefits, not just financially

There are very much consistent with quality handbooks that you would see anywhere else

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Derek Folan, Asst Principal, representing the High School

This year was much more of a tune up for the handbook
Kept notes during the year on parent questions and from other events that occurred during the year
Change to more explicit language to help explain the policy

College visits
verbal request before May 1 okay, post May 1 - requires Asst Principal approval
found a few students making college visits after they had already committed to a college

Absences
when the number is exceeded per term, the student is in jeopardy of loosing credit for that course that term
Lays out the what the guidance and appeal process is
going to use Plato an online tool for credit recovery of classes missed to earn credit back
if the student doesn't pass the Plato option, then the student would have to re-take the course
Plato covers the core courses (math science, etc.) other courses could be designed and added by the teachers

Discipline
Data on class cutting jumped dramatically, used social suspension as required

Dismissals from school
nothing new here, some pieces made more explicit for parents.

Per notes from the year, added cheat sheets, notes, etc.

Q - Cafasso - "What is unauthorized collaboration on an assignment?" can you give an example
This came from a specific instance, a collaborative project worked together on the data but the report had to be individually written.

Q - Cafasso - how do you define unauthorized use of computers?
The students were to research and provide definitions and terms on their own

Q - Cafasso - Do you use a scanning tool to find plagiarism?
Yes, "Turn it in dot com. Primarily to scan the English writing projects.

Q - Cafasso - Do you think there is
We try to teach them to use these devices responsibly. Cell phone use policy changes worked nicely.

Academic Assistance
moving the tutoring to the tech center to make it more visible

Due Process Rights and Procedures
this change was done across the board in the district based upon advice from the school district's Attorney
teachers can authorize use of devices for educational purposes after conversation with an Asst Principal; the conversation is more to alert the Asst Principal into the specific and accepted use of such devices and circumstances

high school used the middle school template for the bullying/cyberbullying

Q - Cafasso - Can we get a full and finished copy?
Yes, that would be easy.

Sabolinski - at the next meeting you'll be asked to vote to accept these handbooks as part of the action items
I'd like to compliment the high school, they are getting away from punitive measures and they are making progress, student dropouts are down, student discipline is down, they are helping to form young adults to make good choices.

Add the requirement for a "Constitution Day" to the handbooks

Franklin, MA

Live reporting - Elementary principals

2. Guests/Presentations
a. School Handbooks - Principals

Sally Winslow - provided an overview on handbooks
All the Elementary school principals, and Karen Seyfried (ECDC)

Statement in five major native languages present in the district
Documents to be converted to HTML format which will enable an automatic selection of language
Student friendly language
consistent policies across the schools
policy on early childhood school readiness added
new policy on bullying/cyberbulling added to the handbooks
principals work on this effort to apply it to each of the levels within the district

I reported on my survey results of the handbooks on the websites this afternoon.
They were all found but some were called "family", some "student", some had the school name and one had "parent"
Could there be some consistency in the naming of them; perhaps using the school name to reflect some of the specialization that each does.

Franklin, MA

Live reporting - School Committee

Present: Douglas, Cafasso, Rohrbach, Mullen, Roy, Trahan, Glynn
Absent: none

1. Routine Business

Citizen’s Comments - none

Review of Agenda - no adjustments

Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the Executive Session and Open Session of the July 20, 2010 School Committee Meeting.

Motion to approve, passed 6-0 (1 abstain)

Payment of Bills - Mr. Glynn
Motion to approve, passed 7-0

Payroll - Mrs. Douglas

FHS Student Representatives

Correspondence: none

Franklin, MA

Business After Hours - Aug 11th - Canceled

From the United Regional Chamber of Commerce today, I hear that

Aug. 11 Business After Hours Canceled

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the Franklin Hawthorn Suites has canceled its Business After Hours scheduled for Wed., Aug. 11. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Please consider attending the Aug. 24 Business After Hours at Pleasant Auto Center in Attleboro.

Franklin, MA

Choices - Choices

This is one of those days when you have a choice to make. You can participate in the Franklin Citizens Rail Trail meeting at the Y or participate in the School Committee meeting.

The agenda for the Rail Trail meeting can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/franklin-citizens-rail-trail-committee.html

The agenda for the School Committee meeting can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/franklin-ma-school-committee-agenda.html

The District Improvement Plan (on the list for discussion) can be found here:
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/08/franklin-ma-public-schools-district.html

Your choice!

Franklin, MA

In the News - Price Chopper

He said the store could only be reached by two entrances from Chestnut Ridge Road - one for deliveries and the other for customers. He said they propose to install a traffic light at East Central Street and widen the entrance to Chestnut Ridge to make for easier turns.

Doherty said the building is about 35 feet lower than surrounding homes, and about a dozen 4-foot-high air conditioning units would sit on top of the building in soundproof enclosures. He said already existing evergreen trees would provide a buffer between the store and homes.