Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Franklin County school board rejects division literacy plan after heated debate over Bookworms curriculum
Summary
After hours of discussion and public questions about book content and parent access, the Franklin County School Board voted 5-3 to reject the division'wide literacy plan that would have adopted Bookworms materials for middle grades and formalized rollout changes for K-5.
The Franklin County School Board on Thursday voted 5-3 to reject a proposed two-year division literacy plan that adopts the Bookworms knowledge-building curriculum for middle school and formalizes changes to K-5 instruction under the Virginia Literacy Act.
Board members said they needed more time and information about the middle-school novels, how parents can access or opt students out of specific texts, and last-minute state changes to allowable interventions. The vote followed more than two hours of staff presentations, teacher feedback summaries and a lengthy public exchange about specific novels and classroom implementation.
Superintendent David Sears and literacy staff defended the plan as already producing measurable gains in elementary reading benchmarks.…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
