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Known as the school of second chances by its teachers and students, Pimmit Hills Alternative High School in Falls Church may not get the same reprieve.

The school is listed as one possible cut by Fairfax County administrators looking to close a nearly $176 million budget gap for the 2010-11 school year. The savings offered by closing the school are about $1 million in annual operating costs, with the option of shifting $6 million -- currently allocated for improvements to the school -- to other projects.

While administrators said that there are other schools that offer the same services as Pimmit Hills, students at the school say closing it would be a major blow to their educational efforts.

"This is the only adult education school that has a good program," said senior Yannick Simo, a 22-year-old Reston resident who is one of 277 students enrolled at Pimmit Hills. "I think we need to maintain this school because most of us students don't come from this area. Most of us already take two buses to get here. If I have to go to [another adult school in] Alexandria -- it's too far from here. I'd be taking four buses."

Simo, a Cameroon native who came to the United States a year ago, said he often wakes up at 5 a.m. --after leaving work at a Reston restaurant at 2 a.m. -- to catch his buses to Pimmit Hills.

Simo will graduate in June, but he says he worries about other students who will be affected if the school closes.

"Most of the students here take the [Metro] bus," he said. Others get rides from parents, siblings or other students or even hire taxi cabs to get to and from school.

"We have a lot of students who have gone through a lot of difficulties," said Principal Beverly Wilson, adding that she was surprised when she heard her school could be closed because of budget restraints. "Some of our students have taken breaks in their education and therefore appreciate the importance of getting an education. We're a school of second chances."

She added that maintaining smaller classroom sizes is a benefit to many of the students at Pimmit Hills. Administrators said if the school is closed, students will be shifted to one of the other five alternative high schools in the county -- two of which are in Alexandria, with others in Falls Church, Fairfax and Centreville.

Students who attend Pimmit Hills as the result of a serious disciplinary matter would be moved to a schools facility in the Dunn Loring area, administrators said.

Senior Andrew Reilly, 17, of Falls Church said Pimmit Hills represents an opportunity for him to finish his high school education.

"This is my third high school. When I got kicked out of my first high school, I thought it was no big deal," said Reilly, who is scheduled to graduate in February. "When I went before the board here, they said this was it. The private schools wouldn't take me. My grades went up from a 2.5 to 4.0 [grade point average]. I was just [named] student of the month last month, which I thought would never happen. If I didn't come here, I would have gotten my GED, and now I'm going into the Marine Corps."

Reilly said he has signed up for four years of active military service, an option he would not have had with only a GED.

Fellow senior Antonio Melendez, a former Fairfax High School student, said he was also sent to Pimmit Hills to finish school.

"They treat you better here," he said, adding that he hated all of his classes at his old school. "I never wanted to go to school. It was boring. Now I love all my classes."

Wilson said she worries for her students if the school is closed.

"The Pimmit students live too far away from those [four] other sites. The students I've talked to say they worry about having to navigate those transfers," she said. "Do I believe students will be able to move forward [if Pimmit Hills is closed]? I would like to believe they could, but a lot of these students rely on Metro [transportation].

"It's tremendous, the kind of impact that those kids can have," she said. "They are really smart kids. [Pimmit Hills] is an opportunity that they would otherwise not have."

Budget cut discussions will continue next month, with Superintendent Jack Dale presenting his proposed 2010-2011 school year budget on Jan. 7.

For more information about Fairfax County Public Schools' proposed budget and discussions related to the budget, visit www.fcps.edu/news/fy2011.htm.