Reminder: Special School Committee Meeting - March 1, 2022 - 6:00 PM

 Special School Committee Meeting

Agenda

Tuesday, March 1, 2022 - 6:00 PM

Municipal Building – 3rd Floor Training Room

“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.”

Call to Order - Ms. Spencer

I. To consider the hiring of the next superintendent of the Franklin Public Schools, including the consideration of internal candidates

Adjournment

Shared from FPS page ->   https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/agendas/scagenda_3-1-22_special_mtg.pdf

In preparation for this, listen to the Superintendent Search Workshop the committee held Feb 8, 2022 -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/school-committee-hears-options-for.html

School Committee - Special Meeting - Mar 1, 2022 - 6 PM

More Perfect Union -> "COVID and Seniors" (audio)

"In this episode, the group is rejoined with Frank Falvey to discuss the current COVID climate and the effects it's had on senior citizens; what it's like being a senior during this time, the disproportionate negative effects it's had on seniors, what has been done to aid this group and what more still needs to happen."

Audio file -> https://more-perfect-union.captivate.fm/episode/042-covid-and-seniors

More Perfect Union - episode 042

FHS girls and boys ice hockey team seeded for tournament play

The MIAA playoff brackets were released for tournament play. FHS girls are seeded 25 in D2. The boys are seeded 17 in D1.

• The girls are slated to play Andover, date/time TBD
• The boys are slated to play Winchester, date/time TBD

The Franklin portion of both brackets is shared here with links to the online and full versions.

HockomockSports.com posted the seedings/brackets for the league teams

https://hockomocksports.com/hockomock-hockey-playoff-seeds-matchups-2022/

Girls D2 bracket -> http://miaa.statebrackets.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=5785 

Girls D2 bracket -> http://miaa.statebrackets.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=5785 

Boys D1 bracket -> http://miaa.statebrackets.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=5780

Boys D1 bracket -> http://miaa.statebrackets.com/tmenu.cfm?tid=5780

FHS Panthers

Register now for the 11th Annual FBRTC 5K Road Race and 1.5Mi Walk - May 7, 2022

Hello Runners,  Registration is open for the 11th Annual FBRTC 5K Road Race and 1.5Mi Walk.   Please see TVFR Website or Register Now for more information.    Thank you, Tri-Valley Front Runners mark_capparella@waters.com 11th Annual FBRTC 5K Road Race 5/7/2022 Remington Middle School Franklin, Massachusetts

Register now -> https://www.active.com/franklin-ma/running/distance-running-races/11th-annual-fbrtc-5k-road-race-2022

Tri-Valley Front Runners
PO Box 125, Milford, MA, 01757 United States

Charles River Watershed Association: "Let the Rivers Run Free" (video)

#ICYMI Watch the full recording from Thursday (02/24/22) night's webinar "Let the Rivers Run Free" about dam removal & recreation featuring Cameron Salvatore of the #CharlesRiverNavigationProject and Climate Resilience Specialist @RobertKearns!

https://t.co/PcVTDKKvLs  or https://youtu.be/pcqWOZtgaHQ

Visit the Storymap  "A River Interrupted" here -> 

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/62917edcb76c4e10868cbb7a79638282

For more about the CRWA -> https://www.crwa.org/

Make it easier: "We humans are organisms, so we do what they do"

As we get into the discussion about what downtown Franklin should be like, we can consider the axiom of biology Jarrett Walker talks of in this article: 

"Induced demand is the observed fact that if you make something easier to do, people will do it more.  For example, if you create new capacity for cars in a place where travel demand is high, the result is more cars.  If you build more capacity to “fix congestion”, you end up back near the same level of congestion you had before.

After decades of observing this pattern, most people, including many road-building authorities, are still reluctant to face what this means.  Part of the problem, surely, is that we’re presenting induced demand as an observed discovery, allowing us to perform quarrels over data, research methods etc.

But induced demand isn’t just an observed fact.  It’s also an axiom of biology, so we are as sure about it as we are of the facts of math.  This means we don’t really need to be doing this experiment over and over, just as we don’t need to keep measuring circles to be sure of the value of pi."

Continue reading the article online

https://humantransit.org/2022/01/induced-demand-an-axiom-of-biology.html

Make it easier: "We humans are organisms, so we do what they do"

Franklin's Event Outlook: Feb 25, 2022 to Mar 4, 2022

Snow today, so most of us are bundled up inside. This was a relatively quiet week due to school vacation anyway. Winter Farmers Market on Saturday and the debut of Electric Youth with two performances scheduled for Saturday. The Historical Museum is scheduled to be open both Sat/Sun.

Saturday, February 26
10:00am - Winter Farmers Market
10:00am - Historical Museum (always free)
4:00pm - Electric Youth 2022
8:00pm - Electric Youth 2022

Sunday, February 27
1:00pm  - Historical Museum (always free)

Find the full calendar  https://www.franklinmatters.org/p/blog-page.html

If you have an event to add to the calendar, you can use the form to submit it for publication:  https://forms.gle/oPdi8X3ZbHHyrHzo6

The Town meeting calendar is found  https://www.franklinma.gov/calendar

The School district calendar is found   https://www.franklinps.net/calendar-by-event-type/26

Community Calendar

Franklin Residents: Closure of Municipal Buildings 2/25/2022

Closure of Municipal Buildings 2/25/2022

Dear Franklin Constituents, 

All town administrative offices and buildings will be closed today, Friday, February 25th, 2022 due to inclement weather. 

The Police Department has declared a town wide parking ban in effect 2/25/2022 from 1am through 8pm.

All non-emergency personnel will continue to be available for remote work through our regular department business hours of 8am-1pm. Staff will still be available via phone, email and other networks to conduct business. Please call for service and a staff member will get back to you.

Please see the department directory for contact information:

https://www.franklinma.gov/home/pages/local-phone-directory

Emergency information is here:

https://www.franklinma.gov/home/pages/emergency-management-information

Franklin DPW direct contact is here: 

https://www.franklinma.gov/public-works

Please stay safe Franklin! And stay in touch with our social media channels for any updates.

Shared from Town of Franklin -> https://www.franklinma.gov/home/urgent-alerts/closure-municipal-buildings-2252022

Franklin Residents: Closure of Municipal Buildings 2/25/2022

Inside the Shamrock Walk for Refugees scheduled for Mar 19, 2022 (audio)

FM #739 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 739 in the series. 

This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Jerika Lowry and Adam Calvert. They came together as part of the Franklin Neighborhood Support Team to provide support for an Afghan family now living here. We recorded this via the Zoom conference bridge Feb 22, 2022.  

We talk about the Shamrock Walk for Refugees scheduled for March 19, 2022 on the Franklin High School track, the organization of the Neighborhood Support Team and their fundraising effort.

The recording runs about 17 minutes, so let’s listen to my conversation with Jerika and Adam. Audio file -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-739-shamrock-walk-for-refugees-02-22-22

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Register or donate to the Shamrock Walk For Refugees -> https://walkforrefugees.org/ 

For more about Acentria, the New England based non-profit providing some of the infrastructure for the Neighborhood Support Teams ->  https://www.ascentria.org/ 

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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.  

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/ or www.franklin.news/

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!

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

 

Inside the Shamrock Walk for Refugees scheduled for Mar 19, 2022 (audio)

FHS boys basketball top Worcester North to capture Worcester Tournament title

Via HockomockSports.com and Twitter, we share the results of the FHS winter sports action on Thursday:

 
Boys Basketball = Franklin, 41 @ Worcester North, 39 – Final

• End of 1Q: Franklin 7  North 13
• Halftime: Franklin 20 North 19
• End of 3Q: Franklin 25 North 26
• Timeout with 4:34 left in the 4th. North leads 34-28.
• Timeout with 2:44 left. North leads 34-31.
• Timeout called by North with 57.8 seconds left. North leads 37-35.
• Franklin timeout. North up 39-37. 34 seconds remain.
• Panthers timeout. Tied at 39. 18.2 seconds left.
• Panthers lead 41-39 with 5.8 seconds. North ball.
• Wow! Great team effort to win the Worcester Tournament with a great win over North! 41-39 final score. Congrats boys!   https://twitter.com/fhsboysbball/status/1497004004047532034

No better way for @fhsboysbball to prep for playoff ball than to roll in and crush the Worcester Tournament! Beating North High School in the finals by 2 #pantherpride #LETSGO #tourneytime @CoachCJNeely @CoachMDoherty @FHSSports   https://twitter.com/cathyklein03/status/1497007174819659778

For other results around the Hockomock League

https://hockomocksports.com/thursdays-schedule-scoreboard-02-24-22/

https://twitter.com/cathyklein03/status/1497007174819659778/photo/2

Sorry we missed you: How can Franklin Build Climate Resilience? (video)

"So sorry that you missed our presentation last evening "How can Franklin Build Climate Resilience?". You can find a recording of the presentation on our YouTube Channel and slides on our website. 

Additionally I wanted to share our Climate Resilience Toolkit which is located on our website and includes different policy solutions to help increase climate resilience. "

Best,

Robert

--

Robert Kearns
Climate Resilience Specialist
Charles River Watershed Association
41 West St. Suite 800

Boston, MA 02111
t 617.540.5650 x 1075
He, Him, His

www.crwa.org/support

Diversity Awareness Club schedules a Geography Night for Tuesday, March 1 at FHS Cafe

"Don't forget to join the Diversity Awareness Club's (DAC) Geography night next Tuesday (3/1) from 5-8 PM in the FHS cafeteria! 

Explore and learn more about different cultures around the world in one night"  

https://t.co/zZAqFhtnOG

Geography Night - Mar 1, 2022 from 5 to 8 PM in the FHS cafeteria

Short video contained here -> 

Don’t forget to join DAC’s Geography night next Tuesday (3/1) from 5-8pm in the FHS cafeteria! Explore and learn more about different cultures around the world in one night @FHSPantherbook @FranklinHS @FranklinMatters pic.twitter.com/zZAqFhtnOG

— Diversity Awareness Club (@DiversityFHS) February 22, 2022

Vaccination rate for Franklin moving oh so slowly upward

"Explore the overall first-dose vaccinations in each community, and see the racial/ethnic breakdown of who is receiving those vaccines. A * indicates no data was provided by the state, and the state does not report numbers below 30.

Updated Feb. 24, 2022. The state releases new data each Thursday evening."

Vaccination rate moving oh so slowly upward

Town	Franklin
Total Vaccinated	28,567
Total Vaccination Rate	84.10%
White Vaccinated	24,362
White Vaccination Rate	80.30%
Black Vaccinated	346
Black Vaccination Rate	93.30%
Hispanic Vaccinated	891
Hispanic Vaccination Rate	99.80%
Asian Vaccinated	1420
Asian Vaccination Rate	78.40%
Multi Vaccinated	923
Multi Vaccination Rate	186.10%
AI/AN Vaccinated	*
AI/AN Vaccination Rate	*
NH/PI Vaccinated	*
NH/PI Vaccination Rate	*
Other/Unknown Vaccinated	625
Other/Unknown Vaccination Rate	*

Shared from the Boston Globe
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/03/18/nation/see-who-has-been-vaccinated-your-town/

SSA: 6 Ways to Make Saving for Retirement Easier

I heartily endorse starting small as one of the steps to save for your future retirement. The Social Security Administration provides additional tips in this article. I am fortunate to be in a good retirement position now having saved early on and then gradually increased my savings along the way. 

"It’s America Saves Week! That means it’s a great time to see how you’re doing with your savings goals. Most working Americans know they need to save for retirement. Sometimes though, because retirement is far off in the future, we may delay saving. When everyday expenses routinely pop up, saving for a time that is years away in the future can seem less urgent.

We’re working with Social Security to help you consider what your retirement will look like. The following strategies can make it easier for you to save for retirement:

Start Small. Saving something is better than saving nothing – especially with compound interest. Just $5 per day could yield a return of $1 million in 48 years with the right investments. Consider saving as early as possible. Start with 1% and increase how much you save each year."

Continue reading the SSA's tips to save
https://blog.ssa.gov/6-ways-to-make-saving-for-retirement-easier/

6 Ways to Make Saving for Retirement Easier

 

Big Y: On The Spot Hiring Event! - March 1, 2022

SHOP | SAVE | MYBIGY

Click Here to Apply Before the Event