Franklin committee approves district improvement plan; administrators outline building-level goals
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Summary
The School Committee approved the 2025-26 district and school improvement plans. New administrators were introduced and principals summarized goals around community building, MTSS, aligned instruction and communications for each grade band.
The Franklin School Committee approved the district's 2025-26 improvement plan and individual school plans on unanimous roll-call votes, and leaders used the meeting to introduce new administrators and summarize school-level goals that stress community building, aligned instruction and clearer communications.
Why it matters: The approved plans set measurable goals for a reorganized district structure, including monthly progress monitoring and a new structure for departmental goals. Committee members said the documents will help the district prioritize work during a year the town projects significant budget pressure.
Superintendent Lucas and central-office leaders framed the district plan around four goals: strengthening school community and team collaboration; building coherent systems and structures; aligning instructional practices; and improving communication. The Office of Teaching and Learning said it will develop consistent professional learning time, expand district-level MTSS (multi-tiered system of supports) frameworks and run learning walks with common protocols to analyze classroom instruction. The Office of Student Services emphasized consistent evaluations and investigation procedures and calibrating specially designed instruction across schools.
Principals from early childhood through high school summarized school-specific goals. ECDC will focus on consistent systems across its two sites and preschool assessment; the K'2 schools emphasized routines, MTSS handbooks and regular family communications; the 3'5 schools said they will align master schedules and common professional time to increase equitable access; the middle school prioritized unified culture building across the three consolidated feeder schools and stronger tiered interventions; and Franklin High outlined a three-year audit of grading practices and a focus on the new "wind block" schedule for in-day interventions and enrichment.
School leaders also described operational and communication changes: a new weekly staff memo and a district "flip-book" that summarizes goals and evidence, a Panthers app for high-school events and athletic notifications, and plans to publish monthly Office of Teaching and Learning newsletters. The committee unanimously approved the district improvement plan and each school's plan in separate roll-call votes.