Robert Kennedy, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of South Alabama, made a plea for $1.35 million from the Mobile City Council Tuesday to continue P.O.I.N.T.E. Academy, an education program for students in Strickland Youth Center and students that have been expelled or referred out of public schools in the region, primarily Mobile County.

The academy, the largest specialized treatment center in the state of Alabama, is at risk of closing without an infusion of cash.

“My goal is to sustain educational operations while we figure out the bureaucratic paperwork to position us for long-term success,” Kennedy told the council Tuesday.

According to Kennedy, in July, P.O.I.N.T.E. Academy learned that the license it has held for the last several years to operate education programs at Strickland Youth Center and its main campus in Midtown was insufficient. As a result, on Sept. 30, the state funding that the academy normally receives will run out, before the academy has had a chance to sort out the licensing issue, he says.

Kennedy is looking for $2.1 million in stopgap funding from local governments in order to sustain operations. On Monday, he approached the Mobile County Commission for $750,000. Though he has not sought funding from the Mobile County Public School System, he says he intends to try as well.