The Franklin County Board of Education voted to participate in section 4 of the Education Freedom Act of 2025 so the district can issue $2,000 bonuses to teachers, the board said during its regular meeting.

"It would therefore be resolved that the Franklin County Board of Education affirms its intention to participate in section 4 of the Education Freedom Act of 2025 relative to bonuses for teachers only," a resolution read at the meeting. The board approved the resolution on a voice vote after a motion by board member Miss Leffey and a second by Miss Morhansky. The motion carried after members voted "aye." The board instructed staff to finalize signatures and any technical changes to language before distribution.

Board members previously discussed uncertainty about whether pre-K teachers are eligible under the state fiscal memorandum; meeting comments noted local language in the board’s draft resolution excluded pre-K in case the state language ultimately did include them. A board member suggested removing exclusion language to avoid accidentally denying eligible pre-K teachers a bonus if the state includes pre-K; the board approved the resolution with the record showing voice approval.

The board approved several finance and administrative items by voice vote: intercategory transfers for March, the April 2025 general-purpose budget amendment (identified in the meeting as FY25 "GP budget amendment 182"), and an equipment-advertising action for surplus CPE equipment. The meeting record shows motions and seconders for these items (intercategory transfers motion by Mr. Williams, second by Mr. Roberts; budget amendment motion by Mr. Williams, second by Mr. Cole; equipment advertising motion by Mr. Williams, second by Miss Leakey) and each carried after a voice vote.

Under policies, the board reviewed Policies 6.1 through 6.319 and approved edits to Policy 6.4031 (head lice and bed bugs procedures) and Policy 6.505 (minor edits, including changing superintendent references to director of schools) on a motion by Mr. Williams and a second by Mr. Roberts; the motion carried. Meeting comments noted school nurses contributed to the bed-bug/lice policy language.

District staff reported an internet outage on the first day of the ELPA21 state testing window. Technology staffer Miss Baggett (first name given in meeting) and others worked throughout the day to restore service, the board heard. The technology issues caused a small number of students to reach sample questions; the district reported 17 students had progressed to sample questions and were pulled for a state random audit and alternate administration. Principals told the board the outage was intermittent and that documentation would be gathered; one principal noted concern about maintaining momentum for schools seeking to exit the ATSI designation and asked staff to document the disruption for accountability purposes.

No roll-call tallies were recorded in the meeting minutes for the voice votes; approvals were recorded as having carried by voice vote. The board completed its agenda and noted upcoming meetings with the county commission.