By By BRUCE HIXON-Sports Editor
Whether they want to or not, both T.R. Miller and W.S. Neal High School are knocking on the door of Class 4A.
Both schools sport nearly identical enrollment numbers that factor into the Alabama High School Athletic Association's classification process. The AHSAA
enrollment count is a school's enrollment in grades 10 through 12 plus ninth grade carryovers. The AHSAA reclassifies every two years and this is a reclassification year. The reclassification will take effect in the 2006-07 school year.
T.R. Miller's total enrollment at this point is 412 students. Its AHSAA count stands at 301.
W.S. Neal High School currently has 425 students, but its AHSAA count stands right now at 305.
Both figures could see some slight change before the AHSAA takes its official count, which comes 20 school days after Labor Day or approximately around October 1.
Both T.R. Miller and W.S. Neal have experienced considerable student growth since reclassification was last done in 2003. At that time, T.R. Miller ranked 18th in Class 3A counter enrollment at 267 students, while W.S. Neal was 26th at 256 students. There are 66 schools in each class.
When reclassification was last done, Lincoln was the largest school in Class 3A with an AHSAA count of 295 students and Geneva was the smallest Class 4A school at 296 students.
The indications from down below are both schools will continue to see enrollment increases. T.R. Miller's senior class contains only 77 students, while the current eighth grade class at
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Brewton Middle School contains 106. T.R. Miller's junior class has 104 members, while the BMS seventh grade class has 123. BMS' total enrollment in grades five through eight is 447.
Meanwhile W.S. Neal Middle School contains 480 students in grades five through eight, an average of 120 per class.
Both T.R. Miller and W.S. Neal have competed in Class 4A in the past. T.R. Miller last competed in Class 4A during the 2001-02 school year. W.S. Neal has not competed in Class 4A since the 1999-2000 school year.