FCPS addresses performance of FHS
Published 6:07 pm Tuesday, March 11, 2025
- Franklin City Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Carlton Carter speaks on standards of quality Thursday, Feb. 27, in relation to administrative staffing, support and school rankings. (Photo by Titus Mohler)
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The Franklin City School Board meeting on Thursday, Feb. 27, featured more than 100 people in attendance in the wake of protests and public communications at Franklin City Council meetings from community members making known their opposition to the school division’s recent reassignment of longtime Franklin High School Principal Travis Felts.
City Council members have also made clear their concerns and desire for answers from FCPS and the School Board.
Felts had been principal at FHS since 2012, and Franklin City Public Schools officially announced in a Feb. 10 news release that he was being moved out of that position and being appointed as the school division’s new director of extracurricular activities, Jobs for Virginia Graduates and virtual programs.
The School Board meeting on Feb. 27 was the board’s first meeting since the announcement of Felts’ reassignment.
While FCPS Superintendent Dr. Carlton Carter and the School Board did not make any direct statements as to why Felts was reassigned, the portion of the meeting dedicated to the Superintendent’s Report addressed the performance of FHS and its students a variety of times. The report also addressed FCPS evaluation performance standards of administrators, specifically principals.
Following are excerpts from the Superintendent’s Report.
ACCOUNTABILITY AND ACCREDITATION
FCPS Chief Academic Officer Krystal Thompkins shared information about the division’s schools’ statuses as they relate to accreditation, accountability and Standards of Learning (SOL) scores.
She showed final performance levels in connection with SOL results, the there were three options for the levels:
- Level One: At or Above Standard;
- Level Two: Near Standard; or
- Level Three: Below Standard.
“If you have at least one Level Three, your school is considered Accredited with Conditions,” Thompkins said.
Franklin City Public Schools Chief Academic Officer Krystal Thompkins makes a presentation about accountability and accreditation during the Thursday, Feb. 27, Franklin City School Board meeting. (Photo by Titus Mohler)
She noted that S.P. Morton Elementary School is Accredited with Conditions, possessing school quality indicators at all three levels, including three at Level Three.
FHS featured five at Level One, one at Level Two and three at Level Three.
“Based on the three Level Threes, this school for this current year is considered Accredited with Conditions,” she said.
She highlighted FHS current SOL data from Semester 1, with 418 total tests taken on a first attempt with no data from retests. A presentation slide highlighted the subject area followed by the pass-rate percentage:
- Algebra I: 25%
- Algebra II: 31.8%
- Biology: 13%
- World History I: 53.1%
- U.S. & VA History: 0%
- Geometry: 33.3%
- English 11-Reading: 48%
- English 11-Writing: 35.7%
- Grade 8-Science: 8.1%
- Civics and Economics-Grade 8: 12.5%
“Out of the 418 tests, we have 175 students who would be eligible to take a retest,” Thompkins said.
She also highlighted FHS current SOL data, as of Feb. 11, that includes retests and summer school scores and Semester I.
For Math, the pass-rate percentage goal is 70%, and the overall pass-rate percentage realized was 64%, with 27 of 42 passing.
For English, the pass-rate percentage goal is 75%, and the overall pass-rate percentage realized was 56%, with 22 of 39 passing.
For Science, the pass-rate percentage goal is 70%, and the overall pass-rate percentage realized was 27%, with 24 of 90 passing.
For Social Studies, the pass-rate percentage goal is 70%, and the overall pass-rate percentage realized was 56%, with 61 of 109 passing.
“So if we take a look at some of the attempts, this gives us a window into how many times our students are taking SOL tests to get a verified credit, which is required for graduation,” Thompkins said. “A student must have five verified credits — one in Reading-English; one in English-Writing; one in Math, which can be Algebra 1; one in Biology or a science; and one in History.
“As we move forward through the presentation, the state has changed which one of these particular assessments will be counted in the accreditability model,” she continued.
A couple slides in the presentation highlighted a number of failed attempts at the SOL tests.
“We have to monitor how many times a student takes an SOL,” she said. “As you can see from this data, some students have taken assessments five or six times and have not passed those assessments. And one of the things that we have focused on is that the mastery of the content the first time is the best bet for students to be on track for graduation.
“And moving forward with this new accountability model, it is going to be imperative that our students are first-time test takers and that we get that information correct for them, because accreditation will be cohort-based as we move into the new accountability model,” she added.
She later said, “The accountability model moving forward is now based on the student’s performance on SOL tests, chronic absenteeism, a smaller percentage is based on growth, and your cohort graduation.”
She introduced the new point system and categories from the state that will be used to help determine a school’s performance:
- Distinguished: 90 points and above;
- On Track: 80 to 89 points;
- Off Track: 65 to 79 points; and
- Needs Intensive Support: Below 65 points.
She noted how mastery of content is heavily prioritized in the new system.
“If you move forward, we have to make sure that we are preparing our students to master the content, not depending on growth and not depending on retests to get our students where they need to be,” she said.
At-Large School Board Member Dr. Reid Harrison said, “Do we have any way to extrapolate where we were and where we would be in the new system?”
“It has been done, and the state has taken the data from the ’23-’24 and put it into a database,” Thompkins said. “And so Franklin High School would be an On Track school at 81. However —”
Applause broke out from many present in the Council Chambers.
“However, that’s using all the data sets, not this new data set,” Thompkins continued. “So if we were to use the data currently, even with our current retests, we would not be an On Track school. Based on our current data and based on the current model that only assesses Biology, Algebra 1 and English-Reading, we would be an Off Track school.”
Thompkins noted that the new system should be going into effect in 2025-26.
Ward 4 School Board Member and Board Vice Chair Cristina Boone asked how many of the 175 students qualifying for a retake were seniors.
“There is a percentage,” Thompkins said. “I do not have that number at this time, but we do have quite a bit of seniors who are on our retake list.”
Ward 1 School Board Member and Board Chair Robert Holt said, “Do you project a larger summer school this year?”
“Yes,” Thompkins said.
EVALUATION PERFORMANCE STANDARDS
FCPS Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, HR and CTE Dr. Tanieka Ricks made multiple presentations, including one on evaluation performance standards of administrators.
FCPS Assistant Superintendent of Student Services, HR and CTE Dr. Tanieka Ricks shared information Thursday, Feb. 27, pertaining to the school division’s evaluation performance standards of administrators. (Photo by Titus Mohler)
Her presentation noted that the Code of Virginia requires that “teacher, principal and superintendent evaluations be consistent with the performance objectives (standards) included in the (Board of Education’s) Guidelines for Uniform Performance Standards and Evaluation Criteria for Teachers, Administrators and Superintendents.”
“Each year, our HR team releases a timeline,” Ricks said, “and that timeline kind of gives a flow of what evaluations should be submitted to Central Office as far as HR, how we should be evaluating teachers, how we should be evaluating staff overall, and with that evaluation process is a self-reflection component for our faculty.
“They set goals in the beginning of the year, then there’s a mid-year evaluation, and then there is a summative evaluation,” she added.
She highlighted eight evaluation performance standards of administrators that most closely aligns with those listed on the Virginia Department of Education website for principals.
Those standards for principals listed by the VDOE are as follows:
- Instructional Leadership
The principal drives the success of all students by facilitating the development, communication, implementation, and evaluation of a shared vision of teaching and learning that leads to student academic progress and school improvement.
- School Climate
The principal fosters the success of all students by developing, advocating, nurturing, and sustaining an academically rigorous, positive, welcoming, and safe school climate for all stakeholders.
- Human Resources Leadership
The principal provides human resources leadership by selecting, inducting, supporting, evaluating, and retaining quality instructional and support personnel.
- Organizational Management
The principal cultivates the success of all students by supporting, managing, and overseeing the school’s organization, operation, and use of resources.
- Communication and Community Relations
The principal fosters the success of all students by communicating, collaborating, and engaging with family and community stakeholders to promote understanding and continuous improvement of the school’s programs and services.
- Culturally Responsive and Equitable School Leadership
The principal demonstrates a commitment to equity and fosters culturally inclusive and responsive practices aligned with division and school goals, priorities, and strategies that support achievement for all students.
- Professionalism
The principal fosters the success of all students by demonstrating behavior consistent with legal, ethical, and professional standards, engaging in continuous professional development, and contributing to the profession.
- Student Academic Progress
The principal’s leadership results in acceptable, measurable, and appropriate student academic progress based on established standards.
STANDARDS OF QUALITY
Carter addressed standards of quality in relation to administrative staffing, support staff for administrators and school rankings.
He indicated that FCPS employs more administrative staff at its schools than is required in relation to the number of students.
For FHS, he stated that this was true in the 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years.
He said that most high schools do a formula of one administrator to every 300 students.
He noted that in 2023-24, FHS featured one principal and two assistant principals, which would be enough to accommodate at least 900 students while still abiding by the minimum number of administrators required. He said the enrollment at FHS that year was 381.1.
He noted that in 2024-25, FHS features one principal, three assistant principals and one dean of students, which would be enough to accommodate 1,200 students while abiding by the minimum number of admins required. He said the enrollment at FHS this year is 501.
“We don’t stop there with putting our money into the schools,” he said, going on to highlight additional support staff.
A literacy coach helps at FHS, as well as core content curriculum specialists.
Carter indicated that FHS features one teacher per every 17 students.
“We put everything that we have into our schools,” he said.
Lastly, Carter covered school rankings, including the 2024 rankings information pertaining to FHS for 2024, as listed by U.S. News & World Report.
His presentation stated, “Franklin High School is ranked 13,242 out of 17,655 in the National Rankings. Schools are ranked on their performance on state-required tests, graduation and how well they prepare students for college.”
He said this means 75% of the high schools in Virginia rank higher than FHS.
Out of 329 high schools, the rankings by U.S. News & World Report list FHS as in the No. 263-320 range of rankings among Virginia high schools; in the No. 13,242-17,655 range in the national rankings and in the No. 52-60 range in the category of Virginia Beach Metro Area High Schools.
“So what am I saying here?” Carter said in conclusion. “I’m saying here that we have a lot of work to do.”
Members of the crowd in attendance at the meeting registered objections to Carter’s comment, and Holt hammered his gavel to help return order and allow Carter to finish.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Carter said, “and we are pouring a lot of our resources — I’m just letting you know where our money is going, we’re pouring a lot of money and a lot of resources into the schools. And so I just wanted for everyone to know, this is the data.”
