Franklin County Public Schools will be making changes to its academic calendar following school closures caused by a winter storm last week.

The policy was adopted back in December but the school board is still working through some of the details.

The Franklin County School Board is moving forward with the closure of two elementary schools in an effort to address a financial shortfall within the district totaling millions of dollars.

The Franklin County School Board is looking to consolidate elementary schools to make up for over $3 million in funding cuts.

Progress is being made on plans for hte future Franklin County Career and Technical Education Center

Currently first-year teachers are getting paid $2,000 less than the next lowest starting pay in the region.

There was an outburst at the Franklin County School Board meeting Wednesday evening over masking in schools.

Two school districts in Southwest Virginia just voted to make masking optional this upcoming school year, Botetourt County and Franklin County.

Around one hundred people packed the Franklin County School Board meeting on Monday night to make their voices heard on policies relating to transgender students and Critical Race Theory.

FRANKLIN COUNTY, Va. – As the coronavirus pandemic goes on, school divisions like Franklin County Public Schools are trying to continually adapt. The Franklin County School Board met for an emergency session on Thursday to figure out a gameplan as the virus continues to take a toll on schools. I think we all know, want and hope to get 100% of our students back in school,” said Jon Crutchfield, Franklin County High School Principal. “I wanted to see if we had an overload in the morning, an overload around lunch, what that looked like. That’s also when high school goes hybrid.

The Franklin County School Board will hold an emergency meeting today. The board will discuss the Return to School plan for Franklin County High School. The Central Shenandoah Health District will provide an update today on vaccine distribution. If you want to attend Roanoke’s Monthly Budget Webinar this month, you must register by noon today. In Roanoke, city code says sidewalks should be cleared within three hours of the snow ending, or by 9 a.m.

ROANOKE, Va. The Franklin County School Board will meet today to talk about the reopening of schools. Last month, the superintendent discussed several options for reopening schools. School leaders an A/B schedule is possible and it is unknown if schools will open in August. The Halifax County School Board will meet today to talk about the reopening of schools this fall. The superintendent says in a video on the systems website, he will propose opening schools after Labor Day to give the schools time to plan.

The school district's policy only allows kindergartners through eighth-graders to receive alternative lunches. "Franklin County will take care of the children. We need the school board to take care of the children," said another person. Her Facebook post last week is what brought the district's school lunch policy into the spotlight. "My brother was very upset he couldn't eat, so I went and asked the lunch lady about alternative meals.