Welcome to the 2026-27 school year! We’re excited to welcome students back and look forward to a great school year. |
Several employees retired at the end of '25-'26; we are happy to welcome several new folks to our Wildcat Family!
-
Franklin High School: Garrett Schrum; science; Zoey Zeh, Speech Language Pathologist.
-
Franklin Junior High: Molly Corrado, principal; Jason Jackson, assistant principal; Anna Johnson, ELA; Stacy Smith, ELA; Connor Flanegin, math; Lauren Hetteberg, ELA; Paige Payne, ELA; Todd Gasho, Intervention Specialist.
-
Franklin Intermediate: Megan Thornton, math.
|
We’re pleased to be able to offer all district students free breakfast and lunch again this year. Last year, 82,581 breakfasts and 220,447 lunches were served free to Franklin students under the Community Eligibility Provision. |
Our Maintenance, Grounds, and Custodial teams have been working hard all summer to make sure Franklin City Schools is ready to welcome students and staff back for the 2026–2027 school year!
In addition to closing more than 100 work orders over the summer, our teams completed a wide variety of projects across the district, including:
- Asphalt repairs at Hunter and throughout the FIS/FJHS campus.
- Concrete repairs and replacement at the Hunter playground.
- Resealing of the FIS playground asphalt.
- Fire door and fire curtain repairs in McDade Auditorium.
- Installation of student hallway hooks at FIS.
- Playground mulch added at Schenck, Gerke, Hunter, and FIS.
- Parking lot striping and painting throughout the district.
- New and updated parking lot signage across the district.
- Striping of the FHS practice field. (Picture courtesy of Franklin Winter Guard.)
- Playground improvements at Gerke are planned for October 2026.
Our Grounds Crew worked diligently throughout the summer to keep our district grounds looking their best and ready for students, staff, and families.
Our Custodial Teams spent the summer preparing their buildings and classrooms, including deep cleaning, floor care and waxing, and touch-up painting throughout the district.
This is just a snapshot of the work completed this summer. We are incredibly grateful to our Maintenance, Grounds, and Custodial teams for the time, effort, and pride they put into preparing our schools.
Our facilities are in great shape, and we are ready to welcome our students and staff back this week!
|
New website: The district has rolled out a new website for this school year; it integrates completely with ParentSquare, our communications platform. Other than a small charge to migrate our content from the old to the new site, the cost to the district was a wash. The web address remains franklincityschools.com.
Early College Academy: The 2026 graduating class included 12 seniors who were also the second cohort of FHS grads of Miami University’s Early College Academy; they graduated with both their high school diploma and an associate's degree from Miami University Regionals. The Early College Academy allowed these students to earn their degree at no cost to themselves.
Town Hall meetings: Last year, the district held town hall meetings in October, March, and April. In addition to district administrators, the agenda included guest speakers from the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission and the Warren County Auditor’s Office. We also welcomed Bobbie Grice, past board member from the Little Miami School District, and Jeff Gore, who is the mayor of Huber Heights, a public educator, and the co-founder of fixohioschools.org. We anticipate several town halls this fall; watch our website and social media for more information on dates. We welcome input and feedback from the community; we hope to see you at one or more of these events.
|
Last year was challenging for many of our families; the failure of multiple levies meant the board had to make difficult decisions about cutting expenses: reducing busing to state minimums; increasing classroom and pay-to-participate fees; and eliminating full-day kindergarten. With the exception of full-day kindergarten, the District has worked diligently to protect programs that are vital to our students.
Levy failures continue to place pressure on our finances; the district’s financial picture has not improved. We do not have a spending problem; we have a funding problem. The amount of money the district received this past year from the State of Ohio was $2.2 million less than the previous year and is expected to be about $1.5 million less next year.
To address our financial picture, the Board of Education voted unanimously to place a 1.25% earned income tax on the November 3 ballot. If the issue passes, the district will also roll back one mill of property taxes, which will provide savings to homeowners. Earned income includes wages, salaries, tips, and income from self-employment (like sole proprietorships and partnerships). Excluded income includes unearned income such as retirement pensions, 401Ks, Social Security, interest, dividends, capital gains, and unemployment benefits.
|
I’ve mentioned vouchers in previous years’ welcome messages; they loom larger than ever. Vouchers are public money for students attending private schools, and they’ve taken an increasingly larger share of the money the state allocates to education. The voucher program began in 2008 as a pilot program and cost $42 million. It’s grown to over $1 billion, an increase of over 2280%. This money is primarily going to families who are already sending their students to private schools, and it means less money is available for Ohio’s 600+ public school districts.
Franklin City Schools joined hundreds of Ohio districts in a lawsuit against the state’s voucher program ( see more information). On June 24, 2025, Franklin County judge Jaiza Page ruled Ohio’s EdChoice voucher program unconstitutional on 3 of 5 counts; she stayed the decision, meaning that vouchers can continue while the lawsuit goes through the appeals process. On May 12, 2026, this case was argued in the Tenth District Court of Appeals. We eagerly await the Appeals Court’s ruling.
|
As always, we appreciate and welcome your partnership and involvement as we educate the students of our community. If you’re wondering how to get involved, here are a few ideas: read with your children and ask about their classes; be a room parent; attend a school board meeting; volunteer with the elementary PTO; join a booster group; and attend your child’s events and performances.
If you have questions or concerns about Franklin City Schools, don’t hesitate to contact me at (937) 746-1699 or msander@franklincityschools.com.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael D. Sander, Superintendent
|
|
|
