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Community and Franklin City Council members continued on Monday, Feb. 24, to make known their concern about 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 operates out of Central Office.

A SILENT PROTEST

The City Council meeting was preceded by a silent protest outside City Hall that featured a noteworthy gathering of people, with some students holding signs that read, “Our School Board and Superintendent failed us!! Not Felts!! #ReplaceThem”

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, Jobs for Virginia Graduates and virtual programs.

At the conclusion of the silent protest, Audrey Lee requested that those present also come to the Franklin City School Board meeting on Thursday, Feb. 27, at 7 p.m. The meeting will be held in the City Council Chambers, which are located on the first floor of Franklin City Hall at 207 W. 2nd Ave.

“We need you,” Lee said. “Mr. Felts needs us, these children need us, the community needs us. We have enough division in this community already. We don’t need our babies to be going out here and not getting the education that they need, nor do we need them in the middle of the school year to be put in a position where they don’t feel like they have a choice.

“I understand that these babies, they had a chat line, 150 of them are signed up because they’re hurt, because their best friend, Mr. Felts, has to leave them,” Lee continued. “We have children who are graduating this year who were there, who came to that school when Mr. Felts was there, and they don’t want nobody else to give them the diploma but Mr. Felts. 

“So we’re going to have to stand strong on this and make sure that we don’t just back off of this,” she added. “They’re so used to us starting something and then quitting, but we’re not quitting. … We want to get rid of the chairman of the School Board, we want to get rid of the superintendent and the whole School Board.”

Some cheers broke out from the crowd at that point.

Another participant in the protest encouraged those present to email the City Council members, putting requests in writing to remove FCPS Superintendent Dr. Carlton Carter, School Board Chair Robert Holt and to ask for an elected School Board.

EXCERPTS FROM CITIZEN’S TIME

During the Franklin City Council meeting that followed, eight members of the public spoke in support of Felts and in criticism of FCPS leadership. The speakers included Lee, Carolyn Lawrence, Carrie Johnson, Lamont Hill, Don Spengeman, Liz Burgess, Brenda Peterson and Regina Hill.

In her comments, Lee highlighted details of an incentives program that was shared with FHS students during assemblies on Monday, Feb. 17, that followed student-led protests which took place at the school Friday, Feb. 14.

In a photo of the program presentation to students that The Tidewater News confirmed was legitimate, the program includes the following features:

• Skip It Pass – A free pass to skip one class on your choice for one block
• Tardy Free Pass – A free pass to be tardy for one class without getting written up
• Gamers Zone Pass – A free pass to skip class for one block and go to the game room at JPK and GAME ON!!
• DND – A free pass to chill on your phone for an entire block without being disturbed
• Treasure Chest – A free chance to visit the “Treasure Chest” at the FACE Space and choose a prize (It could be a gift card to Starbucks, Hibbett, Sephora, Footlocker, etc.)

Lee said the students are being bribed by this program.

“The governor, I thought he had made a rule that you couldn’t even have phones in the school,” she said. “And then they’re bribing them with, ‘You can miss a block out of your school time.’ They don’t go to school but four days a week on some weeks.”

Carrie Johnson, who formerly served on the School Board, said, “Recently, the district posted a job listing for a new principal, even though we already have one — Travis Felts — who meets and, dare I say, exceeds every qualification in that posting.

“Under his leadership, Franklin High School has been the only school in this district not flagged by the state for needing extra help,” she said. “Despite this, people have been told he didn’t meet performance standards. However, his mid-year review says otherwise. He met all eight of his standards — that’s 100%. He was removed a week before his next deadline … even though he had met all of his deadlines before that.”

She stated that FHS is the only school in the division not federally identified as needing support from the Virginia Department of Education for being in the bottom 10% for student achievement.

“Meanwhile, the struggling school still has the same leadership,” she said. “And if a school leader should be removed when a school isn’t doing well, then by that logic, why is the superintendent still here when the whole division is underperforming? If accountability matters, it should apply to everyone, not just one person. 

“Was (Mr. Felts) reassigned because he refused to go along with policies that don’t put students first, ones that let students skip class; show up late; use their phone, which is against Virginia law; go to a ‘Treasure Box,’ which by the way who’s paying for that for the gift cards to Sephora and Footlocker?” she said.

She noted that as an educator herself, she is familiar with evidence-based practices being a catalyst for change. 

“However, research shows that removing a high school principal in the middle of the year hurts students, causes teachers to leave and creates chaos in schools,” she said. “Leadership changes sometimes do have to happen, but when they do, they should be planned in a way that keeps things stable, not thrown together in a way that makes everything worse.”

She said the move of Felts was done very poorly, but she did express a perspective that it was planned in advance.

“We’ve been told that removing Felts hasn’t cost the district extra money, (that) staff has just been moved around, but let’s be real — this appears to have been planned ahead of time,” she said. “Extra administrative jobs were added over the summer, and the real cost will be seen next year when his position just disappears under the excuse of budget cuts. This was never about saving money; this was about pushing him out.”

Lamont Hill, who recently resigned after serving as varsity football coach at FHS for the past three seasons, said he was “kind of pushed out similar to Mr. Felts,” but he made a point to keep the focus on Felts and the students.

“Every principal (in the division) has come and gone, and Mr. Felts has been that constant,” he said. “Mr. Felts has been in my life since 1995. (Former and longtime FHS teacher) Dave Lease has been in my life since 1993, who is no longer in the school system because of a poor decision by the superintendent, who has a track record of making poor decisions.”

Hill urged City Council members to hear the protests from the students about the school division’s decision to move Felts.

EXCERPTS FROM COUNCIL COMMENTS

During the Council Comments portion of the Feb. 24 meeting, Ward 5 Councilwoman and Vice Mayor Wynndolyn H. Copeland noted that at the council’s Feb. 10 meeting, it requested a meeting with the School Board. 

“To this date, we have not heard anything, so I would just like to say publicly to the superintendent and the School Board — the public deserves to know how two out of our three schools are ‘Off Track’ regarding SOLs 2023-24 scores, and the one that is ‘On Track,’ (it’s) principal was reassigned. The citizens want to know why, City Council wants to know why. The citizens and council deserve an answer.”

Ward 1 Councilman Mark R. Kitchen said he realizes that according to the bylaws of the School Board, it does not have to answer questions posed by the council, students, parents or teachers.

“But I’m asking the School Board to stop ignoring these groups of concerned partners and talk to them,” he said.

He noted that his understanding was that the last time the entire School Board was removed, the reason was financial malfeasance.

Kitchen then referenced the incentives program that allowed for skipping classes and also being on cellphones, which he noted as violating Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Executive Order 33.

Kitchen said those features of the program may not represent financial malfeasance, “but it’s telling students, mostly juvenile, to break the law. Thankfully the students didn’t take the bribe. 

“School Board members, please stop ignoring these students before things go sideways,” he added. “They are the true victims in all of this.”

Ward 6 Councilwoman Jessica G. Banks continued the tone from the council of pleading with the Franklin City School Board.

“If Mr. Felts weren’t so loyal to Franklin High School, I’d tell him to please apply at Southampton, but I know his loyalty to Franklin, and I know he’s committed,” she said. “Please, School Board, your time is drawing thin. Please contact us, and let’s move this city forward.”

Banks also made a point to convey her distinct disappointment that the school division had canceled the Town Hall meeting that was to be hosted Monday evening, Feb. 17, by Carter at FHS. The meeting was first announced Friday, Feb. 14, as a forum for written questions to be submitted and answered. The cancellation was announced Monday, but no reason was given publicly by FCPS.

Ward 3 Councilman Gregory McLemore said if the superintendent and school administration are indeed violating laws, “then we have an obligation as a body to remove the people who go along with violating the laws. It’s as simple as that.”