Pickens County HS Facing Budget Crunch

Officials say a high school in west Alabama is shrinking, and it currently needs $200,000 to keep some administrative jobs that federal funding pays for.

Reports indicate the number of students at Pickens County High School decreased from more than 260 last year to 221 at the start of this school year. Superintendent Jamie Chapman says if enrollment is less than 250, a school can no longer receive federal funding for salaried assistant principals or partial funding for a counselor and librarian.

Chapman says a reconfiguration among the system's schools must be done to increase Pickens County High's enrollment and keep it open.

A federal court must approve any reconfiguration because the school is currently under a desegregation order. Chapman hopes to know whether a plan will be approved by the end of the month.

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