After First Week, Leaders in Birmingham, Bessemer City Schools Looking for Higher Enrollment

By Bria Chatman | WBRC The leaders of Bessemer and Birmingham City Schools have shared enrollment updates after the first week of school. Bessemer City Schools Superintendent Dr. Dana Arreola reported that enrollment is at about 60%. She urged the remaining 40% of students who have not yet registered to do so. “If you have not made your way to one of our campuses to register, we ask that you please return, because our students are very much missed at this point if they have not returned to school, and we’re just excited for them to walk across that threshold and jump right into learning,” says Arreola. Birmingham City Schools Superintendent Dr. Mark Sullivan stated that this school year has seen more students attending during the first week compared to last year. “We were about 500 students higher yesterday than we were on day 6 last year. So we had around 18,600 students this year we had about 18,034-35 last year so we’re over 500 students than where we were last year,” adds Sullivan. He expressed concern for those who have not yet registered, especially given the difficulties some students may face in getting to school or experiencing homelessness. To...