Both members of the public and Franklin City Council expressed significant concern Monday, Feb. 10, with Franklin City Public Schools’ decision to move Travis Felts out of his longtime role as Franklin High School principal to an FCPS director position that will operate out of Central Office.

Ten members of the public not sitting on the council spoke during the Citizen’s Time portion of the Feb. 10 council meeting, and all expressed support for Felts, who was present at the meeting but did not speak publicly.

The majority of the public speakers were opposed to the school division’s move of Felts, citing his significant impact on students and the community at FHS.

Multiple speakers conveyed support for transitioning the Franklin City School Board from being a board appointed by the council to a board elected by the voters.

A couple members of the public called for the removal of FCPS Superintendent Dr. Carlton Carter, and one suggested the potential removal of the entire School Board.

During the Council Comments portion of the meeting, all six council members that were there expressed support for Felts, and they supported the idea of looking into the matter of his reassignment.

“I’m quite disturbed by it,” Franklin Mayor Paul Kaplan said to the citizens attending the meeting. “You never know the whole story, but something doesn’t smell right, and we’re pretty upset about it, as is evident, as you are, and we’re so glad that you came here today.”

There was a consensus among the council to ask for a joint meeting with the School Board that would include the superintendent and the city manager, with the goal of discussing the matter.

“The bottom line is, we want to get to the bottom of this, and we want what’s best for the students and the parents and the voters of the city of Franklin, and we’re hoping that the School Board will accept our request,” he said.

Felts had been principal at FHS since 2012, and it was announced in a Feb. 10 FCPS news release that he had been appointed as the school division’s new director of extracurricular activities, JVG and virtual programs.

The release stated that Felts brings more than 16 years of comprehensive experience in school leadership and athletics administration to this new role.

“In his new position, Mr. Felts will leverage his extensive knowledge to manage and enhance the diverse range of sports, clubs and organizations available to students in grades K-12,” FCPS officials stated. “His plans include aligning these programs with the varied needs of the student body, thereby enhancing the extracurricular offerings within Franklin City Public Schools.” 

COMMENTS FROM CITIZEN’S TIME

Following are excerpts from the public comments delivered during Citizen’s Time of the Feb. 10 Franklin City Council meeting.

“I stand before you tonight, and my heart aches,” Audrey Lee said. “Some of you know me, and you know I’m an advocate for our children.”

She noted that she is 70 years old and has been an advocate for the majority of her life.

“I stand before you in regards to several issues,” she said. “First, myself along with other citizens feel the need to have an elected school board.

“From conversations with the Board of Education that I’ve called in Richmond, they’ve said an elected school board will keep down favoritism in our appointments, bring in more qualified candidates and give the citizens more input,” she continued. “In the meantime, we could do as it was done a few years ago and we could relinquish the School Board and start all over again until we can get the people that we need to get our schools in order.

“Our schools right now, from what I understand, are in a provisional accreditation,” she said. “That means that several of the areas that we need to be accredited in have not been met. And so we need some help in that.

“And that leads me to ask, ‘Why?’” she continued. “Why has our principal been removed from his position and given a created position, which will cause us, as citizens and taxpayers, to have to pay more money, because that’s a position that has to be paid for, along with the person who would come in as an interim for him.”

Lee was critical of the school division’s decision to make a leadership change mid-year.

“It can cause disruption to school culture and the climate,” she said. “It can break up established colleagues, relationships with students and community. It alters a sense of stability within a work environment, ultimately affecting morale. Student learning can be impacted by disrupting ongoing initiatives, consistency and may lead to loss or impede support for students and the staff.”

She noted that mid-year leadership changes present challenges for staff to adjust to a new leader, potentially increasing workloads and raising potential for staff turnover.

“It can be difficult to find a permanent replacement during mid-year when other schools already have these people that are employed that may be qualified to come in and to take that position,” she said. 

“But as a citizen of Franklin who’s been here for years, I can say that our present principal is one with much integrity,” she said. “He has been doing an excellent job in the city.”

This prompted applause from members of the public in the Council Chambers.

“I haven’t heard of any complaints against him, and if you look at some of the remarks from your constituents on (Facebook in the group) ‘What’s Going On In Franklin,’ you will see that he is well loved and respected by the citizens of Franklin,” Lee said.

She encouraged the City Council to meet with School Board members, have them “look over what they’ve done and see if we can make a change in this decision.

“I don’t want to lose our principal,” she continued. “I think he is awesome. When I moved my child from Franklin High to another school, he called a meeting with me. This is how concerned he was, because he could have just let him go. He called a meeting with me to find out if I felt that there was anything that he could have done to make a change or to keep my child there. And I said, ‘No, this was just a decision that he made based on the spiritual aspect.’

“So I say to you all, please help us,” Lee said in conclusion. “Y’all, this is getting ridiculous now. I don’t know who is controlling our School Board, but whoever it is, it needs to be a change made in this city.”

Applause followed.

Regina Hill was the next to speak, and she said she was going to “piggyback off” of what Lee said.

Hill noted that everyone’s main focus should be the children.

Regarding the move of Felts, she said, “When you make a drastic decision like that, you should have something to support the reason for the decision. Is it something that’s better for the children or for the school system? If it’s not then why was the decision made?”

Clyde Bailey was pointedly critical of Carter and the state of the school system.

To council members, Bailey said, “So I’m telling all y’all up here into y’all’s face — if you don’t get rid of the superintendent, Dr. Carter, y’all going to have some problems.”

He said, “We’re going to boycott. It’s a wrap. It can’t keep going on and going on and going on. It can’t happen.”

Bailey praised Felts for his impact.

“My son graduated from Franklin High — thank you, Mr. Felts,” Bailey said. “Because every time Kaden did something wrong or wasn’t right, (Mr. Felts) called and said, ‘Hey, what’s going on? Talk to him.’ He didn’t have to do that.”

Bailey said the issue with the school division starts with the superintendent and is not tied to the whole School Board, but he did advocate for an elected board.

Pam Lease introduced herself as the wife of a 32-year educator at FHS, referencing David Lease, a longtime industrial arts/building trades teacher. She noted that he retired in 2019, but with a little push from Felts, he came out of retirement in 2022.

She indicated that she thought how the move of Felts was communicated was very poor. 

“Since it was the School Board’s decision, I didn’t feel like I could go to the School Board with that complaint, but this could have been handled a whole lot better,” she said. “Communication is key. 

“I don’t care how many good things you do to build up morale, one thing like this can just tear the morale down,” she said. “So you had all the staff just talking all weekend long. Believe me, I heard it. I heard all the calls, all the cries.”

She said, “Mr. Felts is not replaceable,” which prompted applause from members of the public. “They always say you can be replaced, but he can’t. He is the heart of Franklin, and if you want businesses, the schools are the heart of the community, so that’s got to be your all’s top priority is the schools,” she said to council members.

Ricky Sykes advocated for an elected school board, stating that it would allow for democratic and diverse representation, create better transparency and enhance community engagement.

“With the appointed (board), I think it’s the opposite,” he said.

With regard to Felts, Sykes noted that he has known him for a while and spoke well of him, encouraging the council members to look into his situation.

“Whatever you guys can do to help rectify this thing, I think it needs to be done,” he said.

Carolyn Lawrence, who worked for 38 years as a teacher, including at FCPS, said she has been going through some hard times with regard to the school system. 

“We have got to do something, and I’m going to say it because it’s personal to me — that superintendent needs to go,” she said.

Lawrence noted that she and Felts go back a long way.

“Nothing bad to say about him,” she said. “He’s a great person.”

Jennifer Crouse noted that Felts made her feel comfortable with her decision to bring her eldest child to FHS. She said that six months later, she brought her daughter, who was excelling in Windsor, to FHS, where she is excelling now “more than I could ever ask for due to Mr. Felts.

“His presence, boots on the ground in that school, is something that I have never seen anywhere else,” Crouse said. “He is a staple to that school, to this community.”

She pleaded with the City Council to help.

Dustin Sykes spoke to Felts’ level of dedication in supporting the students at FHS, recently traveling out of town with the wrestling team to support it at regionals.

“That man cares about them kids, and that’s all I’ve got to say,” Sykes said.

Jesse Evans Jr. said, “I’ve been knowing Mr. Travis a long, long time. I just recently started coaching in the school system, but me and Mr. Felts, we played ball together, so I know this man’s integrity. I know his intentions. I know how he feels about those kids, because we had our situation in the school system.”

Evans said, “You can’t develop a culture if you’re constantly changing things. You can’t do it. How do you expect the kids to get used to a system when you’re constantly changing it? Come on now, make it make sense.”

He advocated strongly for an elected school board.

The final non-council member who spoke during Citizen’s Time, Horatio Funches, spoke largely on a matter unrelated to the school division, but he opened by saying, “I’m in support of Mr. Felts.”

COMMENTS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS

Ward 5 Councilwoman and Vice Mayor Wynndolyn H. Copeland opened the Council Comments portion of the Feb. 10 council meeting by saying, “The citizens have spoken. I, too, have a relationship with the person that y’all were talking about. He is a well-rounded individual, he loves people, he loves the students, and he loves this community. So thank you to the principal of Franklin High School. Thank you for your service.”

Ward 1 Councilman Mark R. Kitchen said, “Like Ms. Lee said … we need to do what’s right. Something is amiss, and it’s past time to stop doing what some people like against what the parents and the kids like.

“I don’t know what kind of power trip some people are on, but two or three months ago, the Lawrences had a situation with a decision that was made,” Kitchen said. “Me and Mr. (Gregory) McLemore and Ms. Copeland met with the superintendent and the chairman. We made a little bit of difference, but it was still the us versus them mentality, and I don’t like that.

“I know it’s the law that we give (FCPS) a fat check, and they do what they want to with it, and we have nothing to do with it, and I can’t change that, but I’m asking for another meeting with Dr. (Reid) Harrison involved and a couple more different ones and the chairman and the superintendent, because something doesn’t pass the smell test,” Kitchen continued. “I call them underhanded tactics.

“Travis Felts is not only my friend but my neighbor, and if anybody can dig up some dirt on Travis Felts, then I’m moving, because they’d get all kinds of stuff on me,” Kitchen said. “His wonderful wife is by his side all the time, the two twins keep things lively in the neighborhood.

“Something’s wrong,” Kitchen said. “This is somebody’s preferential treatment and hatred toward somebody that’s doing his job for years and years.”

Ward 6 Councilwoman Jessica G. Banks praised Felts for always being friendly and helpful.

She cited her own service on the Franklin City School Board and then commented on the situation.

“At this point, something has to be done,” she said. “But what I will say is that I pray that the citizens can understand that council has a different role than the School Board. So please bear with us as we also try to protect ourselves in the jurisdictions that we have when it comes to the Franklin City Public School Board.”

She made it clear that the council had heard the members of the public who spoke.

“We understand that we appoint (the School Board members), and we understand that something has to be done,” she said. “So please be patient with us.”

Ward 3 Councilman Gregory McLemore highlighted Felts as a steadfast leader in the schools, and he said he has never heard anything negative about him.

McLemore said, “Now I think that with the turnout tonight and based on the comments that Mr. Kitchen made, council will probably want to get involved in this situation to a degree. However, you’re calling for an elected school board. If there’s an elected school board, we’ve got nothing to do with it. We can’t help you.”

McLemore said when he first came on council, he was all for an elected school board.

“But when you have an appointed school board, you have the benefit of what you’re doing tonight — bringing it to council,” he said. “And we can say to the School Board, ‘You will either address this issue, or when it comes time for reappointment, we will not reappoint you.’ That is within our power. And we need to exercise that power.”

Speaking to the public in attendance and watching via the YouTube stream, McLemore said, “What I’d like to say to you is we are going to try to address this on your behalf. I only know sketches of what’s happened. I understand Mr. Felts has been removed from his position as principal to another position. I don’t know what’s going on with it, but I think we deserve to ask, and we deserve answers.”

Kyle D. Eldridge, an associate from Sands Anderson, the firm serving as Franklin’s city attorney, was present for the Feb. 10 council meeting, and McLemore asked him, on behalf of some members of the public, if there was anything the council could do to address the public’s concerns.

“So in terms of actually removing someone, there’s a protocol,” Eldridge said, “It’s not as simple as just saying that you’re going to remove all members. I’m actually over here scared to hear a lot of this conversation. As the attorney, it’s not my job to step in unless you ask me, but it’s a process.”

He indicated that if crimes were potentially committed, removal is possible, but there is a process.

“There’s a due process requirement, meaning there’s a lot that has to go on,” he said. “Just because you disagree with the decisions being made does not give you the authority to remove anyone.

“And we’ll have those conversations at some point, city manager and I, but it’s not that simple just to say, ‘We want somebody out,’” he said. “And that is not me speaking, that is the Code of Virginia speaking, so I’ll leave it at that.”

Ward 2 Councilman Richard Grizzard conveyed his support for Felts and said he heard everything the public had been saying and encouraged people to contact their council members to share further information.

“But I do want to see us follow up on this as well,” he said.

Kaplan said, “I don’t think there’s anybody on this dais that doesn’t support Mr. Felts.”

He said, “I have watched Mr. Felts start off as a student-teacher, as a teacher, as an assistant principal, right on up the line, and I have known nothing but excellence. I have never talked to anybody, parents, teachers, students that have ever had anything but praise for Mr. Felts.”

Kaplan encouraged people to go to the Thursday, Feb. 20, School Board meeting and sign up for Citizen’s Time to make their voice heard there. He noted that Citizen’s Time is held at the end of regular School Board meetings.

The mayor said he was absolutely opposed to an elected school board a couple weeks prior, but he indicated that he was unsure at this point. He noted that it takes a referendum on the ballot to change the method of selection from appointed to elected, and he indicated that it could be determined how many people have to sign a petition to get it on the ballot.

“I’m very active in my support of the school system, as our council is, but I’m wondering if I’ve drank the Kool-Aid too,” he said.

He shared an excerpt from a letter written by former Franklin City School Board member Carrie Johnson, who could not attend the Feb. 10 meeting due to illness.

Johnson expressed in the letter her deep concerns regarding recent leadership changes at FHS.

“As a former multi-term member of the Franklin City Public School Board, I understand the legal restrictions surrounding personnel matters,” Kaplan read from her letter. “Because of these restrictions, the public often receives only part of the story when a staff member is removed or reassigned. While confidentiality rules are meant to protect individuals, I have seen firsthand how they can be used to shield questionable, unethical, even unfair decisions from public scrutiny. It was this very pattern of concerning decision-making that led me to resign immediately in May of 2024, six weeks shy of the end of my term.

“The removal of Principal Felts has deeply unsettled many of our community and rightfully so,” Kaplan read from Johnson’s letter.

COMMENTS FROM TRAVIS FELTS

Reached for comment following the Feb. 10 meeting, Felts said, “I am very appreciative of all the support that has been given to me during this difficult time. The emails, text messages, social media posts, and the people who spoke tonight at the City Council meeting mean the world to me and have kept my spirits high. 

“Students, some of you have asked me how I am doing and what you can do for me,” he continued. “Please keep working hard, stay focused on your academics, and be the best person you can be. Your education is something no one can take away from you. 

“To the FHS staff, you are all family to me,” he said. “Thank you for your encouragement, prayers and support. Keep up the great work for our students. God is great, and He will work everything out.”