FRANKLIN—The school bells will be ringing, but children probably won’t be singing on Saturday, April 4.

School will be open for a half-day on that date, after the city school board voted unanimously Thursday night to use April 4 to make up for one day that was lost because of wintry weather.

Schools in Franklin were closed on Monday, March 2, after an inch of snow fell in the city. The weather warmed the next day and schools reopened.

April 4 will follow the division’s normal half-day schedule.

When asked why a neighboring school division, Southampton County Public Schools, was not scheduling a similar make-up day, Acting Superintendent Bev Rabil said the county school division didn’t have to.

“If you attend school extra time each day, you can accrue that time and not (have to) make up (snow) days,” Rabil said. “But you have to be in a crisis situation before you can claim that, and have missed enough time to request that. We have not missed enough time to request that.”

The Southampton County Public School Board voted to use their existing hours to absorb the snow day at their March 9 meeting.

Franklin’s school board, meanwhile, briefly discussed choosing between either April 4 or April 25 —both Saturdays. Those dates were more palatable to the board than using a day during spring break, which is April 13 through 17, or Memorial Day, Monday, May 25.

“The concern that’s been voiced is that May 25 is after SOL testing has been completed,” Rabil said, referring to the state’s Standards of Learning tests.