Wednesday’s public hearing on the Corrective Action Plan for the Franklin City School Board was a refreshing break from the norm. Instead of a typical school board meeting, which would normally be attended by little more than a reporter from The Tidewater News and a couple of school employees, Wednesday’s event drew a capacity crowd to the auditorium of J.P. King Middle School.

Parents, teachers and community stakeholders seized a unique opportunity to address four members of the state board of education and state superintendent of schools, articulately and passionately verbalizing their concerns and frustrations over the condition of Franklin’s public schools.

Speaker after speaker communicated a desire to contribute in whatever way they could to the turnaround of Franklin’s schools, yet also expressed frustration that to this point they had been shut out of the process by school decision-makers. Those same speakers can’t take mere satisfaction, however, in having gotten all that frustration off of their collective chest.

Our schools need real help. The state knows it, this community knows it and now, one has to believe, the local school board knows it. It is high time the board throws open the doors to let the community in. The community, in turn, had best be ready to walk in when it does.