Recap: School Committee meeting - 8/24/21

Quick Recap:

• The School Committee voted to adjust the agenda removing the mask policy from discussion for now as the DESE decision on masks was made earlier during the day and takes precedence. Comment time was provided and extended to accommodate the antivaccine folks
• In regular business, the handbooks modified for this school year were approved unanimously. Health and Safety was split into a separate section to acknowledge the COVID-19 protocols, With the approval, the handbooks will be distributed to the families in advance of school opening this year.
• Chair Bergen took a couple of minutes to thank those who have taken out papers to run for School Committee, letting them know this is an apolitical position, separate from the Town in many ways, there is an 8 hour course required to provide insights on how to operate successfully and legally within the guidelines. A good thing to make folks aware of. At least one successful candidate last time was even aware of the two meeting a month commitment until after they were elected. It is better to be prepared.

----

As with most meetings in this pandemic period, I took my notes via Twitter during the meeting reporting in real-time via the virtual session

 

The Twitter hashtag can be found online  #schcom0824 

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23schcom0824&src=typeahead_click 

 

Agenda doc (including connection info) ->  https://www.franklinps.net/district/meeting-packets/files/sc-agenda-8-24-21

 

Agenda folder -> https://www.franklinps.net/district/meeting-packets/pages/august-24-2021-school-committee-meeting-packet

 

• Live reporting underway the School Committee meeting tonight. #schcom0824
• Agenda item on masking for students taken off agenda given DESE action earlier today. #schcom0824
• Citizen comment on the poor audio internal in the Chambers last week for the Policy subcommittee meeting was held #schcom0824
• Superintendent's report, doc shared the day after the meeting; new faculty orientation this week, approx. 35 participating. Q prior on surplus text where to go? Places/orgs defined. #schcom0824
• Thanks to the custodial and facility staff for their work to prep for opening, DPW for work on the grounds, Technology for their work preparing equipment for this year Motion and second to remove the policy items from agenda, passes 7-0 #schcom0824
• Accept collaborative update, superintendent represents the district req to create a fund for capital accounts, students go out of district, about 10 students participate in accept training; Pfeffer has a host of questions; Q's answered motion passes 6-0-1 (stokes recuses)
• Handbook updates provided by Giguere in coordination with the school vice principals (and legal review), health and safety in a separate section of handbooks, free lunch for all students this year. #schcom0824
• Health and safety section: https://franklinps.net/district/meeting-packets/files/health-info-memo. And presentation doc https://franklinps.net/district/meeting-packets/files/health-pres  #schcom0824
• Highlights in the presentation cover changes from last year to this #schcom0824 Info from DESE expected on masks and social distancing - no minimum standard to go for this year. Lunch will be hard, K-8 easier than FHS
• Testing options proposed #schcom0824 sub coverage for staff is a potential worry (as it was last year)
• Visitors will be allowed this year and monitored carefully #schcom0824 clarification on a few points around the presentation and discussion Chair Bergen provides insights on background before the comment section (20 mins)
• Parent comment on dissatisfaction with #schcom0824; parent of student with IEP and issues with mask and speech; parent says there is no room for mandate; parent upset with mask as incentive for vaccine and 80% as the requirement; parent (via zoom) (with poor connection)
• #schcom0824 parent wants to get the info out on the testing are they authorized tests? Or emergency authorized?; Parent commending SchComm for their work; parent respectfully disagrees with other speakers who claimed they included her; difference between tests/ timing of exposure
• Bridget Sweet, Board of Health Chair, acknowledges working with the School district to work with the guidelines from DESE. Asking to take heart that the BoH is doing what is best for everyone #schcom0824
• Parent asking for school work for those who are out under quarantine; #schcom0824 parent says no evidence for folks with masks and learning effects, need real metrics for when it will end; Superintendent responds on 3 points, goal the same, measures may differ ...
• 1 things are fluid, there will be updates, 2 binex now (?) is an antigen test and a nasal swab. The committee vote on the handbook as discussed, moved and second, passes 7-0 #schcom0824
• Back to school report https://franklinps.net/district/meeting-packets/files/status-update-8-20-21 #schcom0824 Hockomock League still working on the sports protocol Still active in hiring, job fair had 15 candidates appeared last night, getting close to closing in on staff for this year
• Info matters - Jumped back to new hiring list, clarification how and why, can they be supported by the budget! Yes, they are backfills for existing roles Policy to set meeting, with DESE guidance to be reviewed #schcom0824 thanks to those setting up to run for SchComm
• 8 hour course required for SchComm, apolitical role, separate from town, #schcom0824 Next meeting, district improvement plan, etc. Motion on 8/10 minutes, second, passes 6-0-1 (Jen abstains) Consent agenda, motion to accept, seconded, passes 7-0
• Motion to adjourn , passes 7-0 That's all for tonight, catch you next time! #schcom0824

 

Audio recording of meeting to be available in couple of days

 

Superintendent Ahern updating the SchComm without her mask at the request of one member who couldn't hear her with the mask

Franklin Matters Q&A - August 26 at 1:30 PM (hybrid session - Senior Ctr and Zoom link)

Get your Franklin MA questions answered on Thursday, August 26 at 1:30 PM. 

This is a hybrid event coordinated with the Senior Center = "Franklin Matters Q&A with Steve Sherlock"

• Held at the Franklin Senior Center for those who want to meet in person
• A Zoom session is also available for remote participation

Zoom info

Topic: Franklin Matters Q&A (audio* recording session)

Time: Aug 26, 2021 01:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84222945542?pwd=QVhTd0lMVkh3ZVQwL1FMMEI1blMzZz09

Meeting ID: 842 2294 5542

Passcode: wfpr1029

One tap mobile

+13126266799,,84222945542#,,,,*67234032# US (Chicago)

+16465588656,,84222945542#,,,,*67234032# US (New York)

*While we do use Zoom to help with the meeting facilitation, only the audio portion of the meeting is recorded for playback via podcast and/or wfpr.fm radio

Q&A on Franklin Matters - August 26 at 1:30 PM

Franklin Cultural Festival updates for the Sep 12 event

More highlights of what will be available at the Cultural Festival September 12, 2021

Franklin Cultural Festival updates for the Sep 12 event

Follow the Cultural Council Facebook page for additional updates ->   https://www.facebook.com/FranklinCulturalCouncil

Shared from Facebook -> https://www.facebook.com/FranklinCulturalCouncil/posts/1492199197800569  

and Instagram ->   https://www.instagram.com/p/CS4ZHdBNc-_/?utm_medium=copy_link

Andy Slavitt's Twitter thread - 08/25/21

Via Andy Slavitt, a worthy Twitter thread to share:

• COVID Update: There are few more important or sensitive topics than kids & their health. They are being made pawns in a dangerous game. We need to be put a stop to it. 1/
• There is a fairly loud camp that believes the focus on kids is overblown & mask mandates are harmful. Much of their logic if there is any has to turn on the fact that very very few kids have died from COVID. Thankfully most indeed recover. That argument misses a lot. 2/
• Let’s start with data. There were over 130,000 reported cases of COVID-19 in kids this week. Up 4x from a month ago. But we’re just getting started & before school is back in much of the country. 3/
• A number of these cases turn serious. Between 1/2%-2% of kids end up hospitalized & they are out of room for kids in much of the Southeast. And some kids get MIS-C or any of a number of other ailments that hit adults— from kidney disease to brain issues to cardiac issues. 4/
• So there are say 1-2 thousand kids being hospitalized every week. And frankly we’re just getting started. About 1% of those stricken with the polio virus got paralysis. We used to think that was important. 5/
• What’s that look like? I called a pediatrician virologist in Alabama Children’s today. He walked me through it. Many of us have been to an ER with our kids & when they can’t be seen for hours & it’s chaos. This feels worse. 6/
• Pediatricians describe kids with SARS-CoV-2 who can’t get their breath & are scared. Doug Ducey is bribing schools now not to require masks. He should step foot for a hot second inside a Children’s Hospital & face the families there & listen for an hour. 7/ 
• If you’ve taken your child into the hospital with swine flu or RSV, you know it’s no picnic. (Our sons have had both) If they have to stay the night, it’s generally because of their labored breathing & high fever. Being sent home because there’s no room is terrifying. 8/
• Unlike earlier respiratory viruses, pediatricians tell me that with SARS-CoV-2 & you add an array of potential mysteries, an immune system that is confused and a limited array of medicines. Generally no monoclonals. Steroids & some traditional drugs. 9/
• Parents ask questions that don’t have answers. We count on the child’s immune system to be in working order. No pediatrician I’ve talked to has seen a vaccinated kid in the hospital. Many of course are under 12 & have no choice. 10/
• Yet, to Ducey-DeSantis-Abbott, hospitalized kids are like school shootings— the price of freedom. And the numbers suggest most schools that don’t take precautions will have families in this situation 11/
• Because the costs are so patently low & the solutions so patently clear, its even harder to squint your eyes & imagine someone arguing a child sick enough to be hospitalized doesn’t require action. But here we are. 12/
• The basics of protecting kids @school are known to everyone. 1- vaccinate adults. Lower prevalence will keep kids the safest 2- vaccinate kids 12 & up. Very very few vaccinated kids are hospitalized. 3- require kids & teachers to wear masks. 4- Mitigate schools w 8+ measures 13/
• For schools who have adopted those measures (ventilation, eating, masks, etc), studies show there is almost no spread in schools. (Delta might challenge that near zero result— we don’t know). 14/
• Arguments that kids shouldn’t miss in person learning are right on. But when they’re made by an adult who hasn’t been vaccinated & doesn’t support these measures, be clear they think it’s important enough to say but just not important enough to do something about. 15/
• The idea that masks are harmful to kids (usually according to some obscure study of 14 kids in a journal no one has heard of or peer reviewed) doesn’t stand up to the science of respiratory viruses. It’s an argument made by people who feel they shouldn’t have to bother. 16/
• We are constantly reminded of the non-illness scars on kids from the pandemic. Missing school, mental health, missing friends, losing parents. This is sadly all true but it doesn’t make the argument anti-mask/vax people think it does. 17/
• Getting kids back to school safely would be maybe the one thing we might imagine everyone agrees on. But the fact that we have the tools & don’t use them says it all. 18/
• Adults should add to the list that kids can see their considerations are the bottom of anyone’s concerns— if they appear at all. When adults won’t get themselves vaccinated even to keep kids safe, it sends a clear message to kids how little they matter. 19/
• And they will have many years to remember & thank us as we age. /end

https://twitter.com/ASlavitt/status/1430598141888237569

"What should you do if you lose your COVID-19 vaccination card?"

"So you’re fully vaccinated and you have your COVID-19 vaccination card as proof, something a growing number of venues, not to mention employers, are mandating. But what if you misplace the card and can’t find it? Or you accidentally leave it in your pocket and it goes through the wash?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests taking a photo of your vaccination card and keeping a copy on your phone.

If you didn’t do that, don’t panic. There are ways you can get a replacement.

If you lose your COVID-19 vaccination card, the CDC recommends that you contact your vaccination provider directly."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/08/24/nation/what-should-you-do-if-you-lose-your-covid-19-vaccination-card/

A Department of Health and Human Services employee holds a COVID-19 vaccine record card Nov. 13, 2020, in Washington D.C.EJ HERSOM/DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Early-bird registration for the 2021 MNN Annual Conference now OPEN

Get your tickets before September 12th to take advantage of the Early Bird discount!

You are receiving this email because you registered for a webinar or Regional Meeting with the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network. I am excited to share that registration for our 2021 Annual Conference is now available. We hope you can join us from Tuesday, October 5 to Friday, October 8! Early-bird registration rates are now open. The rates include substantial discounts for attendees from MNN member nonprofits, non-member nonprofits, and for-profit affiliate members. MNN nonprofit members save 40% off of the regular registration price. Early-bird registration ends Friday, September 12. Sign up today to save on the price of admission! This year's conference will feature: Moderated virtual networking sessions to engage with your nonprofit peers; The awarding of two Lifetime Achievement Awards to accomplished nonprofit sector professionals; Over 20 workshops designed to help nonprofit professionals be more effective and efficient, including workshops entitled, "Addressing the Challenges of a Truly Inclusive, Multicultural Board" and "How to Leverage Skills-Based Volunteering for COVID-19 Recovery and Capacity Building;" Exhibitors with products and services to enhance your organization's work. Click below to register. Don't hesitate to reach out to our team with any questions. We hope to see you there! Best, Madeleine Morgan Director of Programs and Services mmorgan@massnonprofitnet.org 617-391-9171 REGISTER This year's conference will include: Workshops This year, watch and engage with workshops live or on your own time. Experience conference like never before with access to over 25 hours of educational content and networking. The conference workshops will cover a variety of topics for every stage of a nonprofit career, from fundraising to strategies to address equity, diversity, and inclusion in a nonprofit organization.  Virtual Event Platform Attendees will have access to a virtual conference portal through Whova that allows them to easily navigate workshops, schedule meetings with other attendees, participate in networking hours, view the attendee list, and explore the services of our sponsors and exhibitors. Join us for a conference orientation on Wednesday, September 22nd at 10 AM. Networking Opportunities Hundreds of conference attendees will take advantage of the collective experience and expertise of hundreds of professionals while building lasting connections. Enjoy moderated virtual networking sessions with your peers. In addition, you'll have access to an attendee list at any time through Whova to arrange meetings with potential connections.  Inspirational Speakers The conference will feature inspirational speakers with exceptional stories of impact from their careers, including the presentation of two Lifetime Achievement Awards to champions of the nonprofit sector. Stay tuned for the announcements of this year's speakers! Interested in sponsoring this year's event? Learn more and sign up here!

Massachusetts Nonprofit Network | 2 Atlantic Avenue, 1st Floor, Boston, MA 02110 Sent by events@massnonprofitnet.org powered by Try email marketing for free today!

Mass Audubon: "Safe to Start Feeding Birds Again!"

"Wonderful news! 

Based on the absence of confirmed cases of the mysterious avian disease in Massachusetts and declining numbers of cases in states to our south, we are following the lead of our neighbors and recommending it is once again safe to resume bird feeding in Massachusetts."

via Mass Audubon -> https://blogs.massaudubon.org/yourgreatoutdoors/safe-to-start-feeding-birds-again/

© Paul F. Silvestri

Franklin PMC Kids Ride shifts gears to virtual ride

"After initial plans to wheel back to an in-person event, the 15th annual PMC Franklin Kids Ride has backpedaled to being a fully virtual undertaking due to concerns about the latest COVID-19 surge.

"Sadly, due to delta (variant) and the increase in cases, PMC corporate decided to make all rides virtual and ride re-imagined," said one of the Franklin ride's organizers, Nancy Brogan, via email on Monday. "We want to keep them safe and healthy."

This event will still go off on the same day, just in a different direction."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/country-gazette/2021/08/24/pmc-kids-ride-franklin-benefit-dana-farber/5569472001/

To sign up, or contribute to this fund raising effort visit -> https://kids.pmc.org/franklin

Franklin PMC Kids Ride shifts gears to virtual ride

Senate President Karen Spilka sets mask requirements for MA Senate

Senate President Karen Spilka (@KarenSpilka) tweeted Wed, Aug 25, 2021:

Yesterday, the @MA_Senate Reopening Working Group, tasked with preparing us and the public for a safe and full return to the State House, recommended all Senators and employees provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination by Oct. 15. I agree. #mapoli 1/3

2/3 As Senate President, the safety, health and wellbeing of Senators and Senate employees is my top priority, particularly as COVID-19 continues to spread. #mapoli 

3/3 Vaccines have proven to be the best tool we have to reduce transmission and are our best hope to emerge from this pandemic and get back to better. I want to thank the members of the Working Group, along with their staffs, for their continued efforts. #mapoli 

Shared from Twitter -> https://twitter.com/KarenSpilka/status/1430643138666901513?s=03

CommonWealth Magazine article on this topic

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/state-government/spilka-lays-out-vaccine-mandate/

Senate President Karen Spilka speaks after Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signs new climate policy legislation, at the State House.. (Staff photo by Nicolaus Czarnecki/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)

"Are masks effective for kids? Here’s what to know before school starts" & DESE mask order detailed

"What do we know about masks and their effectiveness in schools?

The American Academy of Pediatrics — as well as many doctors and scientists — support universal masking policies as the best chance to keep schools safely open. A properly fitted mask that covers the nose and mouth reduces the amount of viral droplets in the air exchanged by people breathing or talking near each other, said Dr. Ibukun Kalu, a pediatric infectious diseases expert at Duke University Medical Center.

Several studies have shown the effectiveness of masks. One of the largest, conducted by the ABC Collaborative with Duke University, analyzed data from North Carolina public schools where masks were required. Researchers found that from March to June, 7,000 children and adults attended school while infectious with COVID, leading to 40,000 “close contacts” being quarantined. Of those, only 363 contracted the virus.

That low rate of in-school transmission was due in large part to masks, Kalu said, as most schools didn’t upgrade ventilation or socially distance students."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/08/25/metro/are-masks-effective-kids-heres-what-know-before-school-starts/

Arianna Licona, 6, led a class of first graders into the Hill School for Revere's first day of classes on Wednesday. For the first time since early March 2020, all 11 Revere Public Schools opened at full capacity for the 2021 school year.CRAIG F. WALKER/GLOBE STAFF/THE BOSTON GLOBE

"The new guidance from @MASchoolsK12 in line with the Commissioner's conferred authority is now online: https://t.co/C84yY6vSMF "  #MAEdu

Shared from Twitter:   https://twitter.com/MASCSchoolComm/status/1430668117538222080?s=03

DESE link ->  https://www.doe.mass.edu/covid19/on-desktop/2021-0825mask-requirement.pdf

Ready. Set. Bid. - St. John’s Church To Host Virtual Silent Auction

St. John’s Episcopal Church in Franklin is getting creative initiating their first Virtual Silent Auction for the public from August 27 through September 10. People will have a chance to bid on merchandise from local and regional businesses. Select from a variety of goods and services: food, retail merchandise, electronics, kid and adult activities, sports, museums & outings.

Access the auction three ways: 

1) the auction link at https://www.32auctions.com/StJohnsFranklin; 

2) St. John’s Church website at www.stjohnsfranklinma.org; 

3) on Facebook at St. John’s Episcopal Church   https://www.facebook.com/stjohnsfranklinma

Just register your name and contact details and the list of items will be displayed. It’s easy to scroll through and make your bid. Check back often to update your bid! Bidding starts August 27 at 12:15 am and will end Friday, September 10 at 12 noon. The highest bidder on each item will be contacted.

“Last year was tough on everyone,” said Rev. Kathy McAdams. “We have continued to gather for worship in whatever way possible. We have continued to serve the community by growing food for the Franklin Food Pantry,  providing lunch for Common Cathedral and its unhoused congregation twice, and installing a handicap-accessible restroom.” 

Funds earned from the silent auction help continue outreach to the area, Rev. McAdams added. “Please participate in our on-line auction, as well as the Pumpkin Patch in October, so that we can continue to have a positive impact in the Franklin community and beyond.”  

The Virtual Silent Auction and Pumpkin Patch replace the church’s holiday fair this winter. The annual Christmas Fair has been a staple in Franklin and a source of income for St. John’s Church. 

Want more details? Contact Blanca DiGiacomo at 617-429-4676 or blancadigiacomo@verizon.net. 

Ready. Set. Bid.  - St. John’s Church To Host Virtual Silent Auction