Board reviews and adopts unified Student Family Handbook for back-to-school check-in

The Franklin Public School District board reviewed and accepted a draft of a new unified Student Family Handbook at its June 17 meeting, which administrators plan to include in back-to-school online check-in later this summer.

Dr. Moe explained that the draft combines elementary, middle and high school handbooks into a single document to avoid redundancy and to make required policy notices—such as Title IX and recently updated grooming law language—easier to find. Items that require active parent consent (for example, the acceptable-use policy for technology) will be pulled out of the handbook into separate sign-off forms during the online check-in process so the district can track who has completed required acknowledgements.

Board members asked about user navigation and readability; staff suggested parents use search (Ctrl+F) in the PDF for quick access and agreed to consider adding an index next year. Dr. Moe said some layout fixes will be made before distribution (for example, correcting a misplaced school listing). The board also requested highlighting of AED presence in each building; administrators said AED locations are already noted in the health section and they would add a reassuring line about AEDs in each building.

Administrators emphasized communication plans: staff will be notified first, followed by students and families; a public FAQ will accompany the handbook and the district intends to set a finite window for back-to-school online check-in and signatures. The board noted the length of the handbook and stressed that parents should be made aware of important new items and the responsibility that electronic signature implies.

The district will post the final handbook in July as part of the online check-in process and will provide targeted communications directing parents to critical pages and required sign-offs.