JUNE 18, 2021
FPS Family Newsletter | 20-21 Issue 41
SCHOOL YEAR 2021-22 UPDATES
Dear Franklin Families,
I hope your summer is off to a great start. We have barely taken a breath from the last school year and are busy preparing for the fall. Knowing how important information is about the next school year regarding COVID-19, we are communicating early.
As a Board and as the Superintendent, we have the essential task of making decisions that are in the best interests of all students. Our goal has been and always will be, to provide a safe and high-quality educational experience for all Franklin Public Schools students. The mitigation protocols we put in place for in-person learning successfully supported our goal of preventing the spread of COVID-19 so schools could remain open. Now that more individuals over the age of 12 are vaccinated and overall case rates are low, children are not as exposed to infection as they have been in the past. The rest of this communication addresses details we are planning for or working on over the summer so you can know what to expect.
MITIGATION PROTOCOLS
Student Mask Wearing - This fall, we will recommend that unvaccinated students wear a mask, however, mask-wearing will not be required. Current CDC guidelines recommend that unvaccinated individuals wear masks in public.
Additional Protocols
We will continue with the following mitigation measures we had in place at the end of the 2020-21 school year including:
Tracking of positive COVID-19 cases amongst our students and staff in a dashboard
Using metrics to determine if shifting a building to virtual learning is necessary
Contact tracing to support the Franklin Health Department in quarantining students who have not been vaccinated
Cohorting students
Promoting handwashing practices and increased sanitation
Distancing students where possible
2021-22 LEARNING OPTIONS
The 2020-21 school year began by giving our students opportunities for success and parents the choice of a learning model that they believe was best for their children. We will continue to support our families by offering the following for the 2021-22 school year:
Parents of a K-12 student with a serious medical condition that could be impacted by COVID-19 will have the option to join a virtual learning model that will be provided by a third-party virtual learning provider. This will be a full-year commitment to virtual learning.
Parents of students ages 5-11, where the vaccine is not yet available at this time, will have the option to join virtual learning that will be provided by a third-party virtual learning provider. This learning model will not be staffed by FPS educators as they were last year. Please note there is no 4K virtual learning option available.
Students aged 12 and older, where the vaccine is now widely available, will attend in-person learning unless they qualify for virtual learning with a serious medical condition that could be impacted by COVID-19.
By using a third-party provider, the district will be able to allow parents to return their child(ren) to in-person learning during designated time frames throughout the school year. At the elementary and middle school level, students may return with a two-week notice around the first of the upcoming month.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Based on the information shared above, we will communicate more with you in July about the virtual learning options available to our students ages 5-11 and those with serious medical conditions. This information will inform you about how the virtual option will work as this will be very different from the at-home virtual learning we were able to provide during the 2020-21 school year.
In July, we will also send a 2021-22 VIRTUAL LEARNING REGISTRATION FORM to all families where you can opt-in for virtual learning if your child is aged 5-11 or has a serious medical condition impacted by COVID-19. All students that are not eligible for virtual learning will be assumed to return to in-person learning. Registration for virtual learning will need to occur in July so we can plan properly for instructional needs.
Over this last year, as parents and as educators, we all shared the same fears and uncertainties about what was going to happen next. While many things have been learned in the last 15 months, there are still uncertainties that could cause us to respond, potentially, in the same manner, we did in March 2020 and in September 2020. Please know that we are sincerely committed to making the best possible decisions for all students. Thank you for your support and partnership.
Have a wonderful summer, it is off to a very warm start!
Dr. Judy Mueller
District Administrator
UPCOMING DISTRICT DATES
As a reminder, the District Calendar and all building calendars can be found here.
All of our calendars are able to be subscribed to! Follow the steps at the top of the District Calendar for how to subscribe. You will also see our 2021-22 Calendar Events in your subscription!
REMINDER: COVID-19 & SUMMER PROGRAMMING
Please click on the image below for important information for our families participating in our FPS Summer Programming, including Summer Learning Program (i.e. Summer School) and Kids Camp. This update shares our FPS mitigation practices for the summer, including masking, for all summer programming beginning yesterday, Thursday, June 17th.
Since summer programming is just getting underway on Thursday, June 17th, there will be no updates to the COVID-19 dashboard until next Friday, June 25th at the earliest. Throughout the summer, the dashboard will be updated on Fridays and you can see the newest dashboard at http://www.franklin.k12.wi.us/reopen
You can click or tap on the dashboard below to see a larger version on your device.
LIVE STREAM OF FHS GRADUATION
IN THE NEWS
FOOD SERVICE UPDATES
2021-22 MEALS UPDATE
The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has extended free meals to all students through June 30, 2022. This means that all students at Franklin Public Schools School can continue to receive a lunch meal every day at no cost.
- Students at the high school and middle school can still purchase an additional entree if they choose.
- Individual milk purchases, separate from a meal, are not free under this program, so the student’s lunch account will be charged.
- During the month of August, there is no fee to add funds online using Myschoolbucks.
- Instructions for adding funds are available at the bottom of our foodservice page here.
- A student's balance continues to roll over each year. Please be aware that if a student has a negative balance, he or she will not be allowed to purchase any food. We kindly ask that all families take care of any outstanding balances as soon as possible.
SUMMER MEALS OPTIONS
As was shared last summer, there are some local districts that are continuing to provide meals for students through the summer. This is the list of available sites provided by the WI Department of Instruction. The closest offerings to Franklin are Greenfield School District and South Milwaukee School District. Click on the ads below to learn more about how to acquire meals during the summer months.
FRANKLIN PUBLIC LIBRARY SUMMER READING
Franklin Public Schools
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Email: communications@franklin.k12.wi.us
Website: http://www.franklin.k12.wi.us
Location: 8255 West Forest Hill Avenue, Franklin, WI, USA
Phone: 414-529-8220
Facebook: facebook.com/franklinpublicschools
Twitter: @fpsdistrictwi