At a November work session of the Alabama State Board of Education, department officials outlined plans to proceed with statewide assessments next spring while raising concerns that enrollment declines this year could reduce local school funding and suggest the legislature consider a temporary hold‑harmless funding formula.

Department staff told the board that enrollment this year is down by more than 5,000 students statewide, with kindergarten enrollment down about 5%. The department said the one‑year drop is the largest in recent history and noted that counts used to set the FY2022 budget are based on prior‑year enrollment, creating a risk that some systems could lose teacher units and other funding this fall.

The department said it is working with the governor's finance director and legislative leaders to develop a funding model that would "hold harmless" systems for losses attributable to the pandemic, but that any change would require legislative approval. Officials described discussions already underway with the governor's office and key members of the Legislature and said they would report back to the board as models solidify.

Why it matters: Alabama's funding model ties a substantial portion of recurring dollars to enrollment counts; a sudden, statewide drop in students could mean layoffs and classroom disruptions in districts that saw the sharpest declines.

Most immediate facts: The department said it still plans to administer the new statewide assessment (ACAP) in May 2021 and expects to produce report cards in the fall of 2021 unless federal policy changes. Staff warned, however, that participation rates could be low because some families have chosen full‑time virtual options and some district students will decline to come in to sit a proctored paper or computer test; staff estimated participation could fall into the 70–80% range in some places, which raises validity concerns for accountability uses.

State and federal policy context: Department staff said the U.S. Department of Education indicated there would be no blanket waiver for accountability in 2021 at the time of the discussion, but added that federal guidance was subject to change with the incoming U.S. administration. The board was advised the state's ESSA plan commits it to administer testing and issue an A–F report card, but that the board and Legislature may need to consider how and whether to apply grades created from a disrupted testing cycle.

Department next steps and board direction: Officials proposed continuing with the assessment program while convening the technical advisory group and statisticians to examine validity, participation and possible score‑conversion approaches if the new assessment is used for growth calculations. They asked the board to consider making a recommendation to legislative leadership about accountability and noted a plan to convene state assessment experts and local superintendents early in the year to craft recommendations for the Legislature and for the board.

Ending: Board members asked staff to bring back analysis and options in January and signaled interest in recommending that the Legislature consider temporary funding protections for districts affected by pandemic enrollment declines.