The Franklin County school board voted Thursday to open the school year for students on Aug. 20.

A new state law mandates that schools start no sooner than two weeks before Aug. 17 and end no later than the Friday before Memorial Day, therefore the school board had to adopt a new schedule rather than the one they had previously worked on.

Franklin County Superintendent Gary Williams said the biggest changes will be fewer days off during Christmas and break days cut out during the fall and the spring as well as having a couple of half-days built into the spring schedule.

The board also made several personnel moves, including hiring a new principal at Belgreen. The board approved the hiring of Myra Frederick as the new BHS principal, replacing longtime educator Steve Pounders who announced his retirement last month.

Frederick comes to Belgreen from Hackleburg, where she served as a guidance counselor. She previously worked at Phil Campbell.