State board authorizes review of Auburn University at Montgomery special-education program; reapproves Huntington College teacher programs

The Alabama State Board of Education on May 8 unanimously authorized a review of an educator preparation program at Auburn University at Montgomery and approved educator preparation programs at Huntington College, board members said during the meeting in Montgomery.

The action matters because the AUM review would clear a path for a proposed program to train teachers for students with visual impairments — a specialty the board and staff said is much needed but difficult for institutions to sustain. "There were a lot of questions and discussion last week about AUM, its willingness to offer a a program for visually impaired teachers, which is very much needed, but also a very rare program," Dr. Mackey said during the board meeting. "It's hard to maintain a program like that for an institution because there are not enough teachers to to make it profitable. And so I know that, I I say appreciation. We've got AUM folks here in the audience for doing that, because visual impairment, hearing impairment, and programs like that, usually, our universities take a loss in offering those programs, but they understand that they're a great service to our public schools and to the community."

Board members made both motions during the meeting and recorded unanimous votes to adopt each resolution. The board's recorded process for the AUM item was: a resolution to authorize review of an educator preparation program at Auburn University at Montgomery was offered, a motion and second were recorded, and the governor called for a raised-hand vote; the clerk announced a unanimous vote. For Huntington College the board likewise moved, seconded and recorded a unanimous vote to approve educator preparation programs.

Dr. Mackey also told the board that Huntington College had several programs reapproved and thanked the institution for its work, saying, "we have approved some big programs today, at Huntington College. Congratulations to them as I think all of their class B programs have now been reapproved." The transcript indicates AUM representatives were in the audience during that portion of the meeting.

The meeting record shows the actions followed prior discussion in the board's work session the previous week; Dr. Mackey said members who missed the work session would have missed "rich discussion" about the AUM proposal. The board did not provide dollar amounts, implementation timelines, or external approval steps for either item during the public meeting.

No members of the public signed up to speak at the meeting, and the board's next regular meeting was announced for June 12, 2025, at 10 a.m. at the Gordon Parsons Building Auditorium.