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The Franklin City Council voted 6-1 on Monday, March 24, to send a letter to the Franklin City School Board requesting that all seven members of the board step down.

The request came in connection with protests and public comments from community and council members expressing opposition to Franklin City Public Schools’ recent reassignment of longtime Franklin High School Principal Travis Felts.

Felts had been principal at FHS since 2012, and the school division officially announced in a Feb. 10 news release that he was being moved out of that position and being appointed as FCPS’ new director of extracurricular activities, Jobs for Virginia Graduates and virtual programs.

After expressing frustration with FCPS’ handling of the pushback to the division’s decision, the council voted 6-0-1 on March 10 to send a letter to the School Board requesting the removal of the board chair, Robert Holt.

Ward 4 Councilman Dr. Linwood Johnson abstained from the March 10 vote pertaining to Holt and was the lone dissenting voice in the March 24 vote pertaining to the entire board.

During the Council Comments portion of the March 24 meeting, council members indicated that Holt had responded to the City Council with a letter highlighting the accolades he has received for his service as a school board chair, and the City Council also received a letter from the School Board showing its support for Holt.

At a Thursday, March 20, School Board meeting, eight members of the public spoke during Citizens Time in support of Felts, and one citizen shared encouragement for the school division.

Three members of the public spoke in support of Felts during the Citizen’s Time at the March 24 council meeting, and Ward 1 Councilman Mark R. Kitchen recognized them to start his remarks during the Council Comments portion of the meeting.

He echoed one of the public commenters when he indicated that if something is not done, someone could end up getting hurt amid the dissension connected with the school division’s decision to reassign Felts.

“I’ve been preaching peace for eight weeks now,” he said. “It’s gotten to the point of people are going to the police on each other.”

Referencing the letter requesting the removal of the board chair, Kitchen said six council members agreed to sign the letter, though he said only five actually signed it.

“But then we got a letter back from the School Board,” he said. “All of them signed it in the same form of our letter, so that’s nothing but mocking us.

“I’m not going to back down,” Kitchen continued. “In Ward 1, you have the Felts family, the Holt family and Franklin High School, so that’s my business, it’s all of our business.”

Ward 6 Councilwoman Jessica G. Banks noted that Poquoson City Council recently amended, revised or edited its charter giving the council more authority to remove School Board members.

“So at this point in time, I’m going to request that we receive more information on how to update, revise or edit our charter so that we can do similar actions as a council,” she said. “And of course, Mr. Felts definitely continues to have my support as well.”

Ward 5 Councilwoman and Vice Mayor Wynndolyn H. Copeland said he agreed with both Kitchen and Banks.

Ward 3 Councilman Gregory McLemore said he was unclear on whether the letter sent to the School Board regarding Holt was requesting that Holt resign as chairman or that he resign from the board completely.

But then McLemore, referencing the situation in November 2016 when the Franklin City Council requested the entire School Board resign due to financial issues, said, “I think we should treat everybody the same, so I’m going to say that we should ask for the resignation of all of (the School Board members).”

Some applause broke out from people in attendance at the March 24 meeting.

Ward 2 Councilman Richard Grizzard said, “I’m in agreeance with we need to do something about this. I’m very interested in the procedure that Ms. Banks discussed. This is to a point where, again, as Councilman Kitchen stated and many others, if we don’t do something soon, we’re going to have violence that we don’t want in this city. I feel it’s very imperative to do something immediately, and I’m actually in agreeance with Councilman McLemore that we do something to ask for the resignation of everyone on the School Board, and let’s fix this problem.”

Franklin Mayor Paul Kaplan said he agreed that the city should pursue a charter change like Poquoson did.

“I think that would solve some of our problems,” he said. “Unfortunately, it would be a year before that could happen, because we have to request a charter change, and then the General Assembly has to be back in full session again for a charter change to be voted on by the General Assembly, and we have to have a sponsor. … I don’t think we would have a problem getting that sponsorship, but we don’t have it. We would have to go through that.

“I was as frustrated as anybody when we received the letter from the (School) Board,” he continued. “First we received a letter from Mr. Holt stating all of his accolades, all of his awards for being the School Board Chairman of the Year. That didn’t work for Mr. Felts. He had his evaluation with eight out of eight (categories) showing he was in compliance, and then three days later was transferred.

“None of this makes sense,” Kaplan added. “I feel very strongly that a situation has happened that we have virtually no control over that the board has dug their feet in the sand, and they are not going to move. So I don’t disagree with what’s been brought up by Mr. McLemore.”

Banks said, “We can state all day that we want (the School Board members) to resign, but unfortunately, they have been appointed to serve that term. We could send all the letters all day long, but until that charter is changed, unfortunately, they can just send a nice letter back like they did to say, ‘No.’

“So at this point we have to be strategic on how we move to do it,” she added. “So, once again, I think I said when this first happened to please just have patience. No it’s not fair, but I promise you that as we continue to try and fight on our end, that something will be done, that nobody’s just sweeping this under the rug.”

Kitchen said, “In the meantime, (School Board members) come up for reappointment two a year, and I am actively looking for people that are willing to serve.”

Kaplan said Wards 2 and 5 will be up for reappointment this year.

McLemore encouraged diligence and discernment on the part of the council as it interviews potential appointees for those seats.

He made the motion to send a letter to the School Board requesting that all seven members step down.

Grizzard said that in addition to the letter, he wants to see the city follow through on the business of changing the charter.

“We need to go ahead and start pursuing that so that it’s not a year from now that we’re saying, ‘Oh, look, it’s been a year, and we still haven’t pursued this,’” he said. “We need to go ahead and take care of it.”

Kaplan said, “The city manager and the city attorney would draft that charter change request in due time.”

Shortly before the vote, Johnson said, “I would like to state that I don’t see the purpose of writing a letter that has no power. It’s just words passing back and forth. We need to work with legislation, follow the rules that are set by the city and the School Board.”

He indicated that in doing so, he thinks the council can work things out for the students and the citizens.