About a dozen members of the Autaugaville Community are protesting outside the Autauga County Board of Education this week, calling on leaders to reverse a decision to shutter Autaugaville school.
The school board made the decision a month ago to close the school at the end of this year.
Rev. Loretta Fuller of Greater St. Joseph AME Church in Autaugaville said the group believes that the board chose to close the school because of its high population of Black students and because of its recent failing grade of 59 on the state report card.
“The school does not need to close, but the board needs to implement an intervention plan,” Fuller said.
Alumnus Don Clemons said the decisions would “basically initiate the dismantling of the town of Autaugaville.”
Superintendent Lyman Woodfin said he understands the disappointment from the Autaugaville community, but reiterated the factors that led to the school’s closure.
Under Alabama law, parents with students enrolled in a “failing school” can choose to move their kids to another non-failing school in the area. Woodfin said it became clear when talking to families after the school’s failing grade that numerous parents planned to do just that, which would have slashed enrollment to around 180 students.
An enrollment below 200 students would trigger the school to lose funding for much of its support staff, Woodfin said.
Woodfin said the closure is not a direct result of citizens voting down a tax referendum last year that could have bolstered the system’s revenue, but that there is an indirect correlation.
“If we had that revenue, maybe I could have delayed this a bit; but without it there’s no flexibility,” Woodfin said.
One concern of the Autaugaville residents is the disruption of having kids bussed across the county.
While the distance traveled on the bus will be longer, Woodfin said the amount of time spent on the bus will be comparable to other routes in more densely populated areas where the busses have to make more stops. Students can expect to spend a little over an hour on the bus.
The group said it plans to continue protesting until action is taken.
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