Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Franklin City Council will be hearing nominations Monday, May 22, for the Ward 1 and Ward 3 seats on the Franklin City School Board.

Franklin City Manager Amanda C. Jarratt stated at the council’s May 8 meeting that the public hearing for these two school board seats will be part of the council’s regularly scheduled meeting on May 22.

“Then we’ll schedule interviews tentatively at your first June meeting, which is June 12,” she said.

The current occupant of the Ward 1 seat on the school board is Chairman Robert Holt, whose present stint on the board began when he was appointed July 1, 2020.

Tonya Smith is serving in the Ward 3 seat and has done so since her appointment on Aug. 24, 2020.

The current terms for both Holt and Smith expire June 30.

“No one can be considered for the school board if they’re not nominated at the public hearing,” Jarratt said. “It doesn’t mean that they have to physically be present, but someone must be present that will issue an official nomination.”

Asking on behalf of council members, Ward 3 Councilman Gregory McLemore said, “We can make a nomination, can’t we?”

Jarratt replied, “It has to be in the course of the public hearing; I would say that that’s fine.”

The public notice about the hearing noted that the council meeting during which the hearing takes place will begin at 7 p.m. in the Franklin City Council Chambers at 207 West Second Ave. in Franklin. 

The notice stated that nominees must be qualified voters and bona fide residents of the ward that they are nominated to represent. The Ward 1 and Ward 3 appointees will begin serving July 1, and their terms will expire June 30, 2026.

Resumés for nominees may be provided to City Council at the time of nomination.