With over 53,000 students attending 93 campuses across the county, the Mobile County Public School System deals with pupils from all walks of life — including those struggling with homelessness — and the state’s largest school system is working to combat those issues. The Mobile County Board of School Commissioners on Monday approved a $671,000 contract with the Alabama State Department of Education to fund a community outreach event for homeless students and their families. Participants will be eligible to receive “tangible resources,” such as bus passes, gas cards, classroom and non-classroom supplies and medical services.
While the event is only for one day, MCPSS Board President Don Stringfellow said the system is continuously working to find ways to help students who may be dealing with the uncertainty of where their home will be from one week to the next. Stringfellow said MCPSS currently has around 5,000 students who are classified as homeless. While that can mean the traditional sense when it comes to homelessness, Stringfellow said the situation also applies to those who have been forced to move in with a relative or are bouncing between homes.
“It’s a big issue and it grows every year,” Stringfellow said. “Homelessness isn’t necessarily people living out under the tree or whatever. But it can be those who have moved back in with relatives.
” As a lifelong educator in Mobile County with over 50 years of experience as a teacher, administrator and board member, Stringfellow said student homelessness has increased year over year for his entire career. He said there are myriad issues that can contribute to student homelessness, ranging from the economy to migrant students who the system is forced to take in. Regardless of the situation that leads to a student being homeless, Stringfellow said it can have a negative impact on the lives of students inside the classroom as well while harming their respective mental states.
“It exacerbates the problem,” Stringfellow said. “The number of mental health issues and that number has grown every year and we really need to do more. And the homeless situation falls under that category.
” Stringfellow said while the state does chip in when and where it can, MCPSS officials try to take care of as many students as possible. He said the system provides dental services, glasses, social services and most schools even have a food pantry that allows students to take food home on the weekends, among other things. “There’s a lot more that we do than just reading, writing and arithmetic,” Stringfellow said.
“We do all of those things and we’re spending a lot of money for other services, but we need to spend more money on it. Because it’s not just an issue that’s central to Mobile, but across our country as well.” One year ago, alumni of the once-defunct Central High School voiced their concerns to board commissioners over what would happen to their beloved alma mater and the respective campus.
In April 2023, board commissioners voted to approve the system’s right to exercise a reversionary clause to reclaim the Central High School property, which had been in possession of Bishop State Community College since 1991. After the college moved its nursing program to a new facility, the building no longer served as an educational institution, meaning MCPSS had legal authority to take it back over. For the better part of a year, MCPSS officials mulled over what the best use of the property would be, while some feared the facility would be torn down.
However, those concerns have been squashed, at least for the time being, as high school students returned to the institution last week for the first time since the 1970-1971 year. When a federal judge ruled for Mobile County to completely desegregate its schools following the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Central High School closed its doors for good in 1971. Now known as The Pathway 6-8 School, the facility serves in multiple capacities.
This includes an alternative school known as the Phoenix Program, and STAR Academy which serves as a way for students who are behind their grade level in credits to catch up. District 4 Commissioner Sherry McDade said the Central High School campus is a mainstay and needed to remain in the community. After an extensive refurbishment, the new facility includes smaller classrooms, updated offices and a special alumni room for those who once roamed the halls.
“It’s been in our community for many, many years,” McDade said. “We wanted to move in a positive direction and we didn’t want to lose it because it meant so much to everyone in our community. It’s breathing a breath of fresh air into the area.
” While multiple options were thrown around about what the MCPSS should do with the buildings, District 3 Commissioner Reginald Crenshaw — who also serves as the Title III Director for Bishop State — said the decision was made to refurbish the facility and put it to use. “It’s absolutely beautiful inside,” Crenshaw said. “It’s a very historical site and there has been a lot of people in the Mobile leadership that graduated from there and now it’s come full circle back to the school system.
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