Talladega County Central High School will close at the end of the school year after the board of education voted to accept Superintendent Suzanne Lacey’s recommendation to do so.

Her recommendation came after months of discussion and a “thorough review of the facts,” according to Lacey. Those facts included the high cost of operating the school, the likelihood that enrollment will shrink further, and how state policies negatively impact the school’s ability to operate and strengthen academics, officials said.

Central High was established in 1926 and is one of seven high schools in the district. The school enrolls 143 students in seventh through twelfth grade, making it the smallest of all schools in the 6,800-student district.

Two of the factors cited as reasons to close the school directly relate to the school earning a “D” on the 2023 report card – the only one of the county’s 17 schools to earn below a “C.”

Changes made to the Alabama Accountability Act last year require all schools that earn a “D” or “F” to offer school choice to students enrolled at those schools. Talladega County Central High School’s “D” grade means students could transfer to other schools in the county, which could result in losing more students.

Rezoning wasn’t an option, Lacey said in a statement provided to AL.com, because any students rezoned to the school could request to stay in their current school.

“The current accountability system negatively impacts small schools and will continue to work against the school because of the 20 students requirement in the graduation cohort,” Lacey wrote.

Lacey attributed the school’s score of 62 – down from 81 in 2022 – to a change in how the school’s grade was calculated by state officials. Despite having an 89% graduation rate and 94% college and career ready rate, the school was not eligible to earn points reflecting those rates because fewer than 20 students were in the twelfth grade.

That meant the school’s score mostly reflects how students performed on annual standardized tests.

The final factor has to do with the high cost of operating the school.

According to school spending data AL.com reviewed, the district spent $26,500 per student at Talladega County Central during the 2021-22 school year, the fifth-highest amount spent of all non-specialty schools statewide.

The amount spent at other schools in Talladega County ranged from $7,500 to $15,200 per student.