Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified Pamela Allen-Ingram as the new principal of Barbour County Elementary School. Ms. Allen-Ingram is the outgoing principal of the former Barbour County Primary School and is retiring as of June 30, 2026. Jason Munford is the principal of the consolidated Barbour County Elementary School. The text has been corrected.

Jason Munford is the principal of Barbour County^↗ET Elementary School, the newly consolidated campus that will bring Pre-K through sixth grade students together under one roof this summer in Louisville, Alabama. Munford, who previously led Barbour County Intermediate School serving second through sixth graders, now oversees a campus that merges two formerly separate schools as the district responds to years of enrollment decline.

The consolidation is a response to math that has become unavoidable. Barbour County enrolled 938 students in 2014-15. This year, that number is 537, a 43% decline in 11 years, an average loss of about 36 students per year. The primary school was operating with roughly 100 students.

Munford was introduced by the district in August 2023 as the new principal of Barbour County Intermediate School. Ms. Allen-Ingram said Munford and his staff "have made a significant impact in Barbour County Schools and deserve their recognition and many accolades."

The foundation Allen-Ingram built

Pamela Allen-Ingram, who is retiring as of June 30, 2026, served as principal of Barbour County Primary School, which covered Pre-K through first grade. She is currently principal of the Barbour County Pre-K and Alternative Education Program. Her years leading the youngest learners in the district shaped her conviction that early childhood education determines everything that follows.

"The Pre-K through first grade years are the most critical foundation for a child's academic success and confidence as a learner," Allen-Ingram said. "These early experiences shape how students view school, relationships, and themselves."

Her priorities centered on three areas: early literacy, social-emotional development, and family engagement. "When schools and families work together, students are more confident and better prepared to succeed," she said.

The emphasis on literacy aligns with gains the district has made under the Alabama Literacy Act. Superintendent Dr. Keith Stewart told WTVM that reading proficiency at the primary level rose from roughly 28% to 81%, a jump he cited as evidence that the district's academic trajectory is moving in the right direction even as enrollment falls.

Preparing for consolidation

The merger of the primary and intermediate campuses, announced in May 2025, will bring Pre-K through sixth grade students together at the intermediate school campus in Louisville, about 15 minutes from the former primary school site. The district expects the move to free resources for a full-time assistant principal and counselor, positions the smaller campuses could not justify individually.

Allen-Ingram said clear communication was central to the transition during her time leading the primary school. "Change can create uncertainty, so it was important that everyone felt informed, supported, and included throughout the process," she said. For staff, that meant aligning expectations and instructional practices across grade levels that previously operated in separate buildings. "Bringing teams together helped build a shared vision and ensured continuity for students as they moved through the grades on one campus."

A district under pressure

Barbour County sits in Alabama's Black Belt, with a school-age child poverty rate above 40% and a population that has been declining for decades. The school system is one of seven county school systems in the state with fewer than 1,000 students. This year, Barbour County Elementary School enrolled 266 students and Barbour County High School enrolled 271.

The enrollment decline has been unrelenting. Only two years in the past 11, 2020-21 and 2021-22, saw modest gains, likely a brief COVID-era bounce. Since then, the district has lost 181 students in four years. The 2025-26 loss of 60 students was the third-largest annual drop in the period.

Chronic absenteeism compounds the enrollment challenge. In 2024-25, 48.5% of Barbour County students were chronically absent, the highest rate in Alabama, meaning nearly one in two students missed 18 or more days of school.

Sustaining the gains

Asked whether the district's reading proficiency improvements can hold as enrollment continues to shrink, Allen-Ingram pointed to systems rather than scale.

"Sustainability depends on maintaining those systems rather than relying on temporary initiatives," she said. "Smaller enrollment can actually provide opportunities to strengthen individualized instruction, deepen teacher collaboration, and ensure interventions are more responsive to student needs."

She added that continued professional development for teachers and protected instructional time will be essential. "I also believe supporting teachers with resources, collaboration, and professional learning is essential to making that vision a reality."

Data source

Enrollment data from the Alabama State Department of Education, covering school years 2014-15 through 2025-26. Chronic absenteeism data from ALSDE chronic absenteeism reports for 2024-25. School-age child poverty data from Census SAIPE via FRED. Reading proficiency figures cited by Superintendent Dr. Keith Stewart in WTVM reporting.