Members of the Virginia Board of Education are coming to Franklin this Wednesday at 7 p.m., and they are inviting residents to meet them and participate in developing a corrective action plan for the Franklin City Public School Board.

They are doing this because the first time FCPSB hosted a public hearing on this subject, no one came. Many on the VBOE were horrified to learn that the Franklin school board had OK’d a strategy without real input from the community. Before approving what Franklin had sent to them, VBOE members want to give people another chance to speak.

It is important to them that all stakeholders understand the CAP and are allowed to contribute ideas for improving it.

You can view the plan at www.fcpsva.org.

Now, every time a story comes out regarding the schools or sometimes even the city itself, one of the first things people are quick to say is how important the children are. The schools are no less necessary. They train Franklin’s future workforce and also are a big tool in attracting — or scaring away — needed businesses.

So, Franklin, it’s time to put your figurative money where your mouth is.

If on May 14, the J.P. King Middle School auditorium is filled with nothing but Franklin City Public Schools staff, then it will show VBOE just how much apathy the Franklin School Board is facing.