FHS Le Blanc makes listing of Top Hockey Sophomores

"With the 2018-19 Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association high school hockey season over, it’s time to look at the top 100 players in the Bay State circuit. 

New England Hockey Journal will unveil the top 100 players who played high school hockey this winter. Yesterday, we released the top 13 freshmen. Today, we move onto the top 32 sophomores. 

Over the course of the three-month season, there were many sophomores stood out as being a cut above the rest. An interesting trend in this year’s top sophomores is the fact that there were three sets of twins on our list."

Continue reading the article online (subscription is required)
https://www.hockeyjournal.com/mass-high-school-hockeys-top-32-sophomores/

FHS Joey Le Blanc ranks #30 in MA HS list of 32 best sophomores in MA Hockey according to New England Hockey Journal article.

Over the course of the three-month MIAA season, there were many sophomores stood out as being a cut above the rest. We rank the top 32.https://t.co/ScpmZok7Av

— NE Hockey Journal (@NEHockeyJournal) March 22, 2019

"that’s not a one-time problem, either"

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"Amid an effort to reform the state’s school funding system, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education is getting a new leader. 

Chairman Paul Sagan, appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker in 2015, announced to his colleagues Tuesday morning in Malden that it was his last meeting and he was stepping down at the end of his four-year term. 

Baker subsequently nominated Katherine Craven, who has served on the 11-member board since 2014, as the new chair, and tapped Matthew Hills to take the newly vacant seat. A former chair of the Newton School Committee, Hills is a managing director at LLM Capital Partners in Boston."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20190326/katherine-craven-tapped-to-replace-paul-sagan-as-chairman-of-education-board

What is the role of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education?

"The mission of the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) is to strengthen the Commonwealth's public education system so that every student is prepared to succeed in postsecondary education, compete in the global economy, and understand the rights and responsibilities of American citizens, and in so doing, to close all proficiency gaps. 

BESE's responsibilities include approving learning standards, voting on charter school applications, deciding when to intervene in the state's lowest-performing districts, and hiring the commissioner. The Board includes the secretary of education, a student (the president of the State Student Advisory Council), and nine members appointed by the governor. Those members must include a parent representative, a labor representative, and a business representative."

From the Board web page  http://www.doe.mass.edu/bese/

Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE)

Live reporting: Consent agenda- Closing (Executive Session)

6. New Business
a. To discuss any future agenda items

middle school improvement plans
Zub will be remote for next meeting

7. Consent Agenda
a. Minutes
I recommend approval of the minutes from your March 12, 2019 School Committee Meeting as detailed.
b. Transfers
I recommend approval of the budget transfers as detailed.
c. FHS Scholarship
I recommend acceptance of a check for $1,000.00 from Robert Seide for a FHS Scholarship as detailed.
d. FHS Donation
I recommend acceptance of the donation of a Nikon D60 Camera and 55-250mm zoom lens valued at approximately $300.00 from Ivy Patten for FHS as detailed.
e. JFK Gifts
I recommend acceptance of two checks totaling $1,075.00 for JF Kennedy Elementary School as follows:

• $350.00 American Heart Association for Supplemental Supplies
• $750.00 JFK PCC for Field Trips

f. Davis Thayer Gift
I recommend acceptance of a check for $2,700.00 from the Davis Thayer PCC for field trips as detailed.
g. Music Dept. Gift
I recommend acceptance of a check for $323.00 from various music parents for in-house enrichment for the Music Department.
h. Keller Gift
I recommend acceptance of a check for $4,098.50 from the Keller PCC for field trips as detailed.
i. HMMS Recurring Trip to Save the Bay
I recommend approval of the recurring request of Rebecca Motte to take 6th Graders to Providence, RI for Save the Bay program on June 5, 6, & 7, 2019 as detailed.

motion to accept, seconded, passed 7-0

8. Payment of Bills Dr. Bergen

9. Payroll Mrs. Douglas

10. Correspondence

11. Executive Session
a. Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 30A, §21(a)(3) to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining with the FEA/RN unit as an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the School Committee and the chair so declares.

motion to go to executive session, not to return to open meeting
motion passed, 7-0


The meeting packet and documents released for this meeting can be found online
https://www.franklinps.net/district/meeting-packets/pages/march-26-2019-school-committee-packet

Not some of the documents will only be posted AFTER the meeting (usually during the day Wednesday)

Live reporting: Discussion Items - Information Matters

3. Discussion / Action Items
a. Policy – 2nd Reading/Adoption
I recommend adoption of Policy IJOAB – Extended Field Trips as discussed.

motion to approve, seconded, passed 7-0


4. Discussion Only Items
none

5. Information Matters
a. School Committee Sub-Committee Reports 
Budget - met last week, meeting again
 Community Relations - Apr 27, portrait of a graduate

Policy - TBD

Public Schools Advocacy - 
hearing last week, (as reported) 
meeting Weds evening

b. School Committee Liaison Reports 
Joint PCC - meeting next week

Substance Abuse Task Force - met this AM
school based supports, also when students make choices, balancing disciplinary transactions; student reps helped a great deal

School Wellness Advisory Council [SWAC]
March 5 meeting

School Start Times Advisory Committee

Live reporting: Technology Presentation

2. Guests / Presentations

d. Technology Presentation
Tim Raposa

(presentation to be added when published)

Technology Presentation - March 26, 2019 from Franklin Matters

Live Reporting: School Start Times

2. Guests / Presentations

b. Robert Seide – Art Scholarship
died recently from pancreatic cancer 
scholarship being created in her honor
she always believed in art and art scholarship
application along with 3 images of work to be submitted for consideration


c. School Start Times Advisory Committee Presentation

School Start Time Recommendation from Franklin Matters

https://www.slideshare.net/shersteve/school-start-time-recommendation

work on sleep and research formed the basis for the other subcommittees
looked at implication for before and after school care
a subcommittee was focused on busing and traffic
what other districts have or are considering start times
implications for employees

lots of work by lots of folks
research on sleep drove the work
sleep patterns change over the course of adolescence

survey reporting differences between what the students say vs the parents on how much sleep is actually achieved

survey results compare with MetroWest survey
take away = parent perceptions of sleep don't agree with reality

American Academy of Pediatrics making recommendations on start times
Center for Disease Control = CDC also made similar recommendations

if you want to know how not to do it, do it like Boston did (via computer)

Seattle High Schools did a longitudinal study
sleep duration increased; tardiness and absentees decreased 

looked at transportation next
using 31 buses and $1.5M cost
proposing to transport each level separately, uses only 20 buses (and a cost savings)
requires a minimum of 30 minutes between runs to make it work

did talk with other districts, did implement similar changes; given enough time before starting, it can work

communication is key
it was imperative to delay implementation by at least a year

survey results from parents and employees
46% survey return rate and that is pretty good (usually anything above 10% is good)

with implementation at least a year away, there would be changes on the parents as the kids age; not the same for the staff

homework was a major concern, coincidentally a homework project is underway that pre-dated the School Start Times

teacher work life balance, technology (as in student use of tech)

other major concern is after school activities; i.e sports

scenario A would involve more frequent early release for athletics; hence Scenario B

swim and gymnastics are issues with pool and facility times;

What about Solutions? early start may minimize need for early times; and would also increase need for afternoon time
would require additional planning and adjustments

recommendation to move to Scenario B
13-2 was the vote (3 absent)

charter school would be served by the high school run of the buses

still an item for contract negotiation although length of day doesn't change

MJ - quite the experience, got to know folks over the year, thanks for the presentation, well done - any additional cost? how much will it cost?

Sara - with busing a net savings of approx $350K, it shouldn't cost the district more
maybe an increase cost for swim (due to pool rental)

Feeley - I have a lot of questions, I appreciate what you did, one of the Standard Univ articles - kids have activities, building resumes, etc. kids are ready to go to bed at 11, but then they get on their phone and are in communications during the night. How are we going to fix that? We need to help them. I am not convinced that this is the solution.

Sara - one of the issues from the parent guardian night was just this, it is a bigger and broader conversation, including homework etc. 

Feeley - what time do kids arrive?
Klement - I have 1800 different answers
buses will get there as early as 7, vast majority arriving just before or just after the schedule start times

Feeley - what would happen if the rides still deliver the students?
(consider the dominoes, there will be parent adjustments to the schedules)

Linden - for some of us, this was a process that was very thorough, and just what we wanted it to be. Found interesting on how much research there is; some many correlations with research and the impacts; less sports injuries, better sports performance

Douglas - parents may need to do some busing that had not been needed before; should consider students at middle and high school; concerned about early dismissal;

Klement - the most common sport for early dismissal at Sharon was golf, minimal matches but daylight and course time were requirements; 

Schultz - if the other town in the Hockomock would it make it easier?
Sara - it would make it easier but we also play some non-league games

Lifelong learning would need to do more research but based upon a specific set of info to get valid feedback

Sara - did make several attempts to resolve the student survey issues, we had a draft it was not approved as the questions were troublesome getting phrased properly. We did have 4 students actively as part of the process

Zub - it was a great experience, I have middle schoolers and would be freshman if we did go with this; at the end of the day, if this helps them for their social emotional learning; are we not doing a bad job, we need to work through the challenges, the reward is worth us working through this. this really helps our children, that is what we are here for

Feeley - I am very worried about the elementary school kids, when I heard the principals talking about their needs, that is not sitting well with me

Bergen - i had similar concerns, there is anecdotal evidence that it is a benefit
planning for an event in October for what social media is doing for kids

Donna Grady - President of the FEA
on committee, Franklin is the only committee that asked the faculty and staff of the impact; it can be a dividing issue; we have to weigh the pros/cons; the members are equally divided; most districts have looked at it for 3-5 years, Franklin did it for one

questions on what happens to ECDC?

what about work after school for students? home work, jobs, sports, staff is concerned about being available later

what about professional development? Many courses start at 3:30. A lot of work was done in the past year, and there are so many other items to review

Jessie Fanuele - high school teacher, and resident
I don't know whether to support this or not, I have heard but am not yet convinced
I appreciate the transparency of the committee; parents and students will adjust
I do like the idea of 11 less buses, great for the carbon footprint

there is a 20 minute guarantee of warm up time for every team/sport
teachers don't do this for the money, we are always for the students
may limit opportunity for a second job
I am nervous for those who do need a second job, health care is increasing, nervous about that

teachers will come to school to provide extra help with no extra pay
research is there, I can't say that it outweighs

Jamie Barrett - 2 kids one in middle school; simple question but it is not; where the elementary students considered? we talk about the impact for the teachers, the high school students, the middle school students, but where is the impact for the elementary?
instrumental music was cut in 2005, Spanish was cut year later; friends want to go to Charter and why, they offer French. You talk about SEL, those young minds, that is where the problem starts. I am speaking for the children, the elementary students

 - it is really an depth survey and research, I wished the high school students had stayed to tell us what they think; I think a lt was done but all you said was what wasn't going to work. (addressing Donna G). Parents need to adjust, and it is in our control. There is no research on elementary; yes. we will all get through the challenges together. We need more sleep, we need more recess. we need to put our kids first

Jim D'Entremont - middle school teacher and resident, wondering why your choosing 8 when the research on this says 8.5 and up?

Bergen - state representatives coming to Town Council on May 8th; before we take a vote we will be getting more information

Sara - 8 was CDC recommendation, APA said 8.5

Live Reporting: School Committee - Meeting - Mar 26, 2019

Present: Feeley, Linden, Douglas, Scofield, Bergen, Schultz, Zub
Absent:  none


1. Routine Business
a. Review of Agenda
b. Citizen’s Comments

i. In the spirit of open communication, “the School Committee will hear public comment 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” – from Policy BEDH

c. FHS Student Representative Comments
Term 3 ending Apr 5th
approx 100 student doing senior projects
this Friday is senior banquet
Mock Trial finished 2nd in state meet
Seussical at FHS this weekend

SADD presenter coming Apr 8
Dynamic Influence, open to 8th grade and up - on substance abuse
Monday also on vaping

d. Superintendent’s Report
exciting visioning process happening around the "portrait of a graduate"
focus group Apr 4 and Apr 8
more in memo (available Weds)

"Leap into Kindergarten" thanks for the presentation
to welcome kindergarten families and all things with the schools
another registration night coming Apr 3

school specific evenings to be scheduled and announced


2. Guests / Presentations
a. Special Guest – Ben Franklin
special visit, only 5 months old