BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Alabama public schools have lost nearly 12,000 students since last fall, a drop that could cost districts state funding for as many as 800 positions, including teachers and school administrators.
State Superintendent Eric Mackey shared the preliminary enrollment numbers with state school board members Thursday. He said the losses are affecting small rural districts and some of Alabama’s largest school systems.
Public school enrollment is down to about 702,000 students from 714,000 last year, Mackey said.
Mackey said the decline will remain substantial even after school districts finish correcting their enrollment records.
“There’s no way that we don’t have a significant loss in students,” he told board members.
The decline is more than double last year’s loss of 5,800 students, which state officials said was the largest single-year decrease in at least 40 years.
The state cut funding for 366 positions this year because of declining enrollment last year, Mackey said. He expects the latest losses could mean funding cuts for another 750 to 800 positions next year.
“That is a big deal for us across the state,” Mackey said. “We obviously want to plan for that.”
Those positions include teachers and instructional support personnel, such as assistant principals and school counselors.
Under Alabama’s Foundation Program, the state funds school staffing based largely on the number of enrolled students. The enrollment decline this fall will affect funding for the 2027-28 school year.
Losing funding for a position doesn’t necessarily mean someone will lose a job. But districts will have to decide whether they can afford to keep employees whose positions the state no longer funds.
The losses could be especially hard on small rural districts that already struggle to offer all required courses, Mackey said.
About 10 county school systems have fewer than 1,000 students, he said, adding that some have turned to Alabama’s ACCESS virtual learning program to offer courses they cannot staff locally.
“Once you get to less than 1,000 students, it’s really hard to offer all the courses that are required,” Mackey told reporters.
Larger districts are losing students, too. Jefferson County Schools’ average daily membership fell from approximately 34,875 students in 2021-22 to 33,205 in 2025-26, a decline of about 1,670, according to state enrollment reports.
Even some fast-growing communities are seeing enrollment level off. Mackey said one of the state’s 10 fastest-growing school districts added just six students this fall.
In other growing communities, districts that previously gained 200 students a year are now adding only about 20, he said.
Only a handful of districts appear to have gained more than 100 students, he said.
Where are the students going?
State education officials aren’t sure why so many students are leaving public schools. Possible reasons include fewer children being born, families moving out of state and more students attending private schools or being homeschooled.
Kindergarten had the largest drop, with about 2,700 to 2,800 fewer students this year, Mackey told reporters.
Most grades lost students, but fifth grade gained more than 1,000. Mackey said he couldn’t yet explain why.
Alabama’s CHOOSE Act, which provides education savings accounts to help families pay for private school or homeschooling expenses, may explain some of the decline, but not all of it.
Mackey said the CHOOSE Act figures he has reviewed do not come close to explaining the overall enrollment decline.
According to Alabama Department of Revenue data obtained by Alabama Daily News, 8,963 students who attended public schools last year applied for CHOOSE Act funding this year. Of those, 4,096 received awards, and 2,655, or nearly two-thirds, have activated them.
Those numbers don’t include students who may have left public schools for private schools or homeschooling without using CHOOSE Act funding.
State officials can check school records to see how many students transferred from public to private schools. But Mackey said state law prohibits the education department from collecting statewide homeschooling enrollment numbers, making it harder to account for students who have left public schools.
Once the numbers are final, officials also plan to look at which areas are losing students and whether the declines differ by race, ethnicity or gender.
Alabama is not alone
Public school enrollment is declining in other parts of the country, too, as fewer children are born, populations shift and more states expand public funding of private schools.
In Alabama, the declines could put more pressure on small districts already struggling with shrinking enrollment and budgets.
Voters will consider a constitutional amendment Nov. 3 that would allow two or more county school boards to combine their school systems.
Mackey said consolidation could eventually allow small districts to share administrators and other resources, although geography and transportation could complicate those decisions.
He said he has not heard from county school board presidents seeking to pursue consolidation.
For now, state officials are trying to find out where students have gone as districts prepare for another round of potential funding cuts.
Mackey said district- and school-level enrollment figures should be available by the end of the month or, at the latest, by November’s board meeting.