• Get involved!  Reorganization Community Volunteer Form

Please email your questions to:  Email District Reorganization 

During the 2024-2025 school year, the Franklin Public Schools will embark on a Pre-K to 8 redistricting organization based on the recommendation of the School Facilities And Educational Master Plan Report.  This plan includes the creation of a central unified middle school, four partner elementary schools (each K-2 & 3-5) in two locations, one early childhood (Pre-K), and potential expansion opportunity at the existing Pond Street building.  

The Franklin Public Schools is in the process of assessing student housing locations, bussing routes, and school complex capacities.  To achieve equity, Franklin Public Schools is creating a completely new district line separating the north and south portions of town. Consideration into minimizing disruption, including for the students who have previously been reassigned with the closure of Davis Thayer School will be taken into account. 

As more information becomes available, it will be posted here:

• November 12, 2024 Reorganization Update to School Committee

• October 22, 2024 Boundary Line Presentation to School Committee

• October 8, 2024 Boundary Line Analysis Presentation to School Committee

• September 24, 2024 School Boundary Presentation to School Committee

• September 18, 2024 Story Map (with tool to look up an address)

• September 10, 2024 Reorganization Timeline Update from DIP Presentation

• August 15, 2024 School Committee July 2024 Phase 1 Status Update

• July 9, 2024 School Committee June 2024 Phase 1 Status Update

• 6/14/24 School Facilities & Educational Master Plan Update

• School Facilities and Educational Master Plan Report 2024 (building maps intentionally removed for safety) 

• Comprehensive School Facilities Assessment FAQ's

On May 14, 2024, the School Committee voted to approve the redistricting master plan.  The plan, which consolidates the town's middle schools at the Oak Street Complex and establishes two K-2/3-5 elementary schools at the Lincoln Street and Washington Street Complexes, is planned to take effect for the 2025-2026 school year.  This restructuring will allow Franklin Public Schools to provide its students with more equitable educational opportunities while better utilizing resources and building unified communities.

District attendance areas, school leadership teams, traffic plans and more are underway.  Frequent updates will be released on this site as they become available. 

If you are interested in involvement as a community member, please complete the volunteer form linked above. 

• May 14, 2024 School Facilities and Educational Master Plan Recommendation Presentation

• Portrait of A Graduate Workshop

• Educational Visioning Workshop

• Outreach Feedback

• May 3, 2024  Comprehensive School Facilities Message to Community

• April 30, 2024 Comprehensive School Facilities Recommendation Presentation

• April 25, 2024 Comprehensive School Facilities Update 

• March 26, 2024 Locker & Associates School Facilities Update

• March 26, 2024 FPS Comp. School Facilities Update

• March 13, 2024 KBA Educational Adequacy Update 

• February 2024 McKibben Demographic Report

• January 23, 2024 Comp. School Facilities Assessment Winter Update

• December 2020, Franklin Facilities Assessment KBA-Final

• March 26,2024 Comprehensive School Facilities Community Forum Invitation

• April 7, 2024 Comprehensive School Facilities Community Forum Reminder

Comprehensive Facilities Forums

Redistricting Analysis Vote

On May 9th, 2023, the School Committee voted 6-1 to approve Option 1, which proposes that “current district attendance boundaries remain the same while a School Facilities Master Plan is conducted. ASMS/Keller spaces will continue to be used flexibly. Both administrative teams at the complex will continue to work together to utilize the available space to accommodate the needs of all students.” You can read Superintendent Giguere's full letter to the community here. 

*The following information below is archived for reference*

Redistricting Analysis Defined

The Franklin Public School District begun a Redistricting Analysis, which is a data driven, community informed process that will allow the Franklin School Committee and Administration to evaluate the distribution of students and optimize facility utilization to best support educational programming within the district for the foreseeable future.

The results and recommendations were presented at the conclusion to the School Committee in the Spring of 2023. The School Committee pursued continuous engagement with the public prior to reaching a final decision on any boundary adjustments. Any recommendations that may have been approved by the School Committee would not go into effect during the 2022-2023 school year. The Space Needs Subcommittee presentation to the School Committee on June 14th, 2022, frames the purpose of the redistricting analysis. You may watch the video of the presentation here.

• Space Needs Subcommittee Presentation to School Committee (6/14/2022)

• Franklin Public Schools District Map

• Population and Enrollment Forecast 2020-2021 through 2029-2030 McKibben Study

• Facilities Assessment Report 2020

• Redistricting Advisory Committee Members

Rationale

The Franklin Public Schools District and School Committee has launched a comprehensive redistricting analysis during the 22-23 school year. The decision to pursue a redistricting analysis was a result of the following findings…

• Franklin’s last redistricting effort was in 2002 with the opening of the Helen Keller/ Annie Sullivan complex, 20 years ago.

• Usage of space has evolved to prepare students with the essential skills outlined in the Franklin Public School’s Portrait of a Graduate, promote student engagement and support student learning with a variety of specialized programs designed to meet evolving student needs.

• The Davis Thayer School was closed in 2021, Davis Thayer students were then transferred to Helen Keller Elementary school.

• Total enrollment is forecasted to decline until 2026-2027 and it is anticipated there will be an gradual increase through 2029-2030*

*Referencing data outlined in the Franklin Public Schools Population and Enrollment McKibben Demographics Study (2019)

Redistricting is a necessary process that ensures Public School Districts continue to have the ability to strategize and adapt operations to fully meet student needs as they evolve in the foreseeable future. The District and School committee has approved Applied Geographics Inc. (AppGeo) to act as the Redistricting Analysis consultant. It is anticipated that the Redistricting Analysis process will take 5-6 months. At the conclusion of the process, the results and recommendations will be presented to the School Committee. The committee will continue to engage the public and redistricting advisory committee through April 2023 prior to reaching a final decision on final boundary adjustments.    

Additional Information

• Redistricting Analysis FAQ's (Updated 12.15.2022)

• Guiding Principles

• Proposed Scenarios Option Input Survey (Open until 3.15.2023)

• Redistricting Analysis Report (4.25.2023)

• Redistricting Vote - Superintendent's Letter to the Community

Questions? Email Email RE Districting Analysis

Archive of Meeting Slides (Redistricting Advisory Committee)

• Redistricting Advisory Committee Kickoff Presentation (November 2022)

• Redistricting Advisory Committee Meeting Presentation (December 2022)

• Redistricting Advisory Committee Presentation (January 2023)

• Redistricting Advisory Committee Presentation (February 2023)

Please note: All scenarios, boundary adjustments and other recommendations are presented in draft stage to the Redistricting Advisory Committee during the analysis process. All recommendations presented are therefore subject to change following feedback from the Redistricting Advisory Committee. Community forums will offer the community an opportunity to provide feedback on scenarios once those scenarios have been refined by the Redistricting Advisory Committee for presentation. Forum dates are scheduled for March 7th and March 13th of 2023. 

As we continue our efforts in this process, we will update this page with information as it is made available.

The Davis Thayer Elementary School was authorized for further analysis through a study as prescribed by the School Committee Policy FCB - Retirement of Facilities. The rationale for the facilities analysis includes:
1) the age and design of the facility;
2) decreased enrollment across the district; and
3) economic efficiency.

Although preliminary enrollment projections are available, the District will be obtaining more detailed and thoroughly analyzed demographic details and enrollment projections. Additionally, the District will be examining the Davis Thayer facility and space utilization/availability across the district. You can find detailed information as is becomes available on the lefthand links. 

Updates related to this study will be shared at regular intervals at School Committee meetings, online and directly with the DT community, at least on a monthly basis. We recognize this process can be emotional; the District is committed to engaging in this study with the greatest of care towards students, families, and staff.

Above text is from Dr. Sara Ahern's Memo to the School Committee 10 -2 -19

• Demographics Study from McKibben Research

• Facilities Assessment Report

• Population & Enrollment Forecast from McKibben Research