Franklin council approves school grant appropriations, including security grant and Title funding boost

The Franklin City Council voted Feb. 23 to accept and appropriate multiple grants for the Franklin City Public Schools, including a Virginia Department of Education security grant and an increase in Title and other federal grant awards.

City staff explained the security grant is restricted to school security uses. "That would be the restriction on the grant," a staff member said when asked about permitted uses. Council members approved the appropriation on a voice vote.

Staff also presented a second amendment listing several federal awards (Title I, Title II and others) and said the total grant receipts for the school system will increase from an originally budgeted $1,352,300 to about $1,700,000. "The total that the school system will receive is actually $1,700,000.0," staff reported.

Council moved and approved both appropriations. One councilor asked clarifying questions about which programs and fiscal years the awards covered; staff said the adjustments are new for the current fiscal year and reflected recently received grant awards.

The council did not discuss reallocating local general-fund revenues to cover the grants; the votes were limited to accepting and appropriating the grant revenues and related expenditures. Staff said the security grant funds are earmarked and cannot be used for other purposes.

Action taken: the council approved two budget amendments to appropriate the security grant and the additional Title and related awards for the school system. Staff will incorporate the changes into the city's financial records and the school budget.