05/16/2026
FCPS Families,
On Wednesday, May 6, 2026 the Franklin County School Board approved a Reduction in Force plan that included the elimination of ten family liaison positions, four administrators, twenty-five teachers, three division level instructional personnel, and twenty-five support positions. Most of these positions are being eliminated through attrition and transfers but formal notifications of eliminated positions were given to the family liaisons who did not have a license that would allow them to be transferred into a lateral vacancy.
In addition to the reduction in force plan, our transportation department is working to revamp our busing system into one that uses each elementary school as a transfer hub for secondary students. The new plan includes elementary & secondary students being transported on the same bus to an elementary school and will necessitate changes to the beginning and end of the instructional day at every school. Dr. Andrew Nester, the FCPS Director of Operations, met this week with bus drivers and the student advisory team to listen to concerns and receive suggestions about what it will take to make the hub system work.
Implementing a reduction in force plan of this magnitude while improving transportation efficiency is an incredibly challenging task for our school board and administrators. We understand why these changes are upsetting to our employees, families, students, and the overall community. Unfortunately, Franklin County Public Schools has seen its budget decimated over the past few years and we have another bleak outlook for the upcoming biennium due to a significant reduction in state funds caused by an increase in the local composite index (LCI) and declining enrollment. (The school division’s total budget this year is over $14,000,000 less than it was in 2022-2023.) Despite the state’s funding formula indicating that our locality has a higher ability to pay toward education than all other divisions in our region, county funding has not been increased enough to overcome the loss of state revenue and our federal funding has dropped back to the same level it was in 2021. Given all of these budgetary constraints, it is not fiscally possible for Franklin County Public Schools to operate at the same staffing level in 2026-2027 that it has during the past few years and still be able to address the compensation plan that is designed to bring all of our employees up to where they should be on their respective salary scales after having salaries frozen for up to seven years during their careers.
Despite the reduction of positions for next year, Franklin County Public Schools is confident that we will be able to continue to offer high quality educational experiences for every student, maintain an optimal level of safety on our campuses, and move forward with the educational initiatives that have helped our academic programs move into the top 25% of all school divisions in the state. School leaders are currently working to develop plans, programs, and schedules that will fill the gaps caused by eliminated positions and make more efficient use of resources that are available. We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding as we work through these processes and will begin communicating more specific information about upcoming changes once they have been vetted by various stakeholder representatives.
Franklin County is blessed with caring talented educators and incredible community support. That will not change next year so, as long as we have those two elements, we will push forward with success. Thank you.
Dr. Kevin Siers, Superintendent
