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State specialty schools urge capital funding and dorm expansion as enrollment demand grows
Summary
Administrators from the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering, the Alabama School of Fine Arts and the Alabama School of Math and Science told the House Ways and Means Education Committee that enrollment demand exceeds dorm capacity and requested capital funding, including additional dormitories.
Representatives of three state-funded specialty schools told the House Ways and Means Education Committee that demand for residential seats is outstripping capacity and requested capital support, particularly additional dormitory space.
Matt Massey, president of the Alabama School of Cyber Technology and Engineering (ASCTE), said the school is entering its fifth year, expects more than 400 students next year and that about 35 to 40 percent of students are residential. Massey described ASCTE’s outreach programs — including Excel (Advancing Cyber Concepts and Engineering Learning) that provides camps in more than 40 schools — work with the Alabama State Department of Education on curriculum development and a newly funded Alabama cyber range to provide lab environments for k–12 and community-college students. Massey said the school has begun teacher training for an approved ALSDE AI course that the school said previously had no curriculum or trained teachers in the state.
Dr. Rosemary Hodges, ASCTE’s dean of learning, described ASCTE’s year-long senior internship that sends students to industry, government and higher-education partners four days a week for the senior year and said 21 agencies currently support 85 students in real-world placements, security-clearance processing and job offers.
Pegley (Peggy Lee) Wright, ASCTE foundation director, said industry donors have provided more than $25 million toward ASCTE’s campus and capital needs and asked the committee for support for an additional dorm so the school can accept more qualified students.
Dr. Tim Mitchell of the Alabama School of Fine Arts (ASFA) described ASFA’s specialty residential model for grades 7–12. ASFA is state funded, provides free boarding for many students, serves students from 30 counties and said roughly 25 percent of its students are residential. Mitchell described a campus master plan that includes new studio space, renovated labs and a new dormitory to support a proposed enrollment increase from about 350 to 425 students.
Dr. John Hoyle of the Alabama School of Math and Science (ASMS) said ASMS is 100 percent residential, had representation from 58 counties and said demand is high: about 600 applicants for roughly 102 seats in the most recent cycle. Hoyle said a new dormitory would allow the school to admit an additional 100–125 students. ASMS introduced a student speaker, Dorian (transcript shows “Doreen/Dorian Gonzales”), who described academic improvement and research experience — reporting a rise in ACT from 24 to 31 during enrollment and work at a cancer research institute.
Committee members expressed appreciation for the schools and asked clarifying questions about residential percentages and program outcomes. The committee did not take legislative action on capital requests during the hearing; members encouraged the schools to meet individually with representatives after the hearing for follow-up.
