Gulf States Special Constituency Votes to Close Bass Memorial

9 June 2025  |

A special constituency meeting Gulf States Conference has voted to close Bass Memorial Academy, ratifying a decision made earlier by the conference executive committee on January 7 to quit funding the academy at the end of this year. You can watch the constituency meeting here.

The constitution says that 3/4 of a constituency meeting had to vote in favor of closing the school. The vote in favor was 92%.

Gulf States Conference president Brian Danese reported in an email to Adventist Today that it was a good meeting, with people understanding the situation. Danese explained that legislation in Alabama and Florida contributed to the crunch.

Florida has enacted school choice, so the state gives the family $7,200 per year for any private school. Our schools in Florida are growing, and there are two day academies in the process of opening. Alabama just enacted, and starts in the fall, a school choice program as well, offering $7,000 for any private school. We currently have three day academies here in Alabama, and it appears that an additional three or four more are in development. That could bring the number of high school options to between six and seven in our conference. How can we recruit for a boarding school at $20,000 a year, when they can attend a Seventh-day Adventist day academy for free with state help?

He added that of the $2,000/month tuition for Bass Memorial, the school had only been collecting $800/month, making continued operation untenable.

The conference has stated an intention to establish a Bass Memorial Legacy Endowment that would provide $5,000 scholarships for students who would like to travel elsewhere to attend another accredited Adventist boarding academy.

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