Six Arkansas school districts that are failing under new standards face an ultimatum from state education officials: Show progress, or risk state intervention.

“These F’s need to go away when we issue grades next summer,” state Education Secretary Jacob Oliva told the leaders of those districts during a state Board of Education meeting.

The Watson Chapel, North Little Rock, Pine Bluff, Lafayette County, Crossett and Fordyce school districts all received F letter grades under a new accountability system approved by lawmakers earlier this year. The districts’ superintendents and board presidents, as well as the leaders of their respective education cooperatives, presented improvement plans to the state board Thursday.

The leaders also provided signed statements of assurance that they would employ an “immediate proactive and decisive approach to accelerate student outcomes and reverse negative trends.”

State board members pressed district leaders on how they plan to make good on those assurances, arguing that too many district officials had prioritized the needs of adults in leadership over the students they serve. Board members also joined Oliva in suggesting that changes in leadership could follow if districts do not show meaningful growth.

Some strategies outlined by the districts were the similar, such as improved teacher and leader quality, heightened monitoring of classroom instruction, revised support for academic interventions targeted at low-performing students and redoubled attention to the use of high quality instructional material to improve grade-level instruction.

North Little Rock School District Superintendent Gregory J. Pilewski highlighted three areas of focus: strengthening the instructional leadership pipeline, developing a “network-based teacher support structure” that prioritizes schools in need of intensive support and better integrating wraparound services for students and families.

Wraparound services refer to a holistic, or overarching, approach to ensuring a student or family’s full range of needs are met.

Pilewski cited the district’s high volume of unlicensed teachers as well as chronic student and teacher absenteeism as key hurdles for his schools. Pilewski said he believes shifting the organization of the district to a vertical model that provides different levels of support will play a major role in improving performance. Under the new system, seven schools are under tier three, meaning they need of “intensive support”; three schools are in tier two, needing “moderate support”; and two schools sit in the first tier, receiving only “consultative support.”

Some board members complimented Pilewski on the amount of information in his presentation. David Peacock said he wished the district’s goals had more “meat behind them.”

Lafayette County Superintendent Jon Estes told board members his district had “the lowest test scores in the state,” and he was “ashamed and embarrassed.”

“I knew the district was struggling, but I had no idea how bad,” said Estes, who emerged from retirement about six months ago.

State education leaders praised Estes for grappling with how to improve the district but sharply criticized the local school board for tolerating problems in their schools.

Oliva said he didn’t believe the Lafayette County School Board, which included members who had been there for decades, would support efforts to meaningfully change the district’s performance.

“I don’t think this board is going to stand behind (Estes), because those decisions are going to disrupt the status quo,” Oliva said, adding that if the board remains inactive “then we’re probably going to be making future recommendations on that board.”

Speaking to Watson Chapel Superintendent Keith McGee, board member Jeff Wood emphasized the opportunity and peril confronting the struggling districts.

“A couple of years from now there will be no kinds of excuses,” Wood said. “All kinds of tools are being laid in front of administrators all over the state to do whatever you need to do, and this board is willing to do whatever we can do.”

The board will not allow district leaders to return in a few years with no progress to show, he said.

McGee assured him that the next report he delivers “will be one of celebration.”

“We’ll see,” Wood said. “I believe you, but I want to tell you that I hear that a lot.”

The Education Department will monitor districts to ensure they follow best practices and their performance improvement plans are properly implemented. If achievement does not improve even if the plan is being closely followed, officials will consider making adjustments to the plan. If achievement remains static and the district is not adhering to its plan, “we need to call them back and hold folks accountable,” Oliva said.

“If we have a system that’s continuing to fail, that system may need to look different in a year or two,” Oliva said. “That’s what happened to Blytheville.”

In May, the state board voted to dissolve the district’s board and allow Oliva to appoint a new superintendent. The district also entered into a $1.9 million transformation contract with an Arizona-based firm in an effort to boost academic outcomes.

In November, the Education Department released letter grades for school districts for the first time; the previous accountability system only released grades for individual schools. The letter grades were based upon the 2024-25 school year results from the Arkansas Teaching and Learning Assessment System, or ATLAS. Letter grades for individual schools were released in September.

Among the state’s 254 districts: 23 received A’s; 98 each, B’s and C’s; 24, D’s; and 11, F’s.

In August, lawmakers approved a new public school grading system, and the state shifted to the ATLAS. The new assessment was first administered in the 2023-24 school year, and the 2024-25 school year was the first in which official school letter grades were assigned.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who hired Oliva to replace former Education Secretary Johnny Key in 2023, made overhauling the state’s education system a key plank of her campaign. She championed the passage of Act 237 of 2023. That sweeping legislative package, known as the LEARNS Act, included a requirement that the Education Department update its requirements for third-grade promotion, with the 2025-26 school year being the first in which students must meet that standard.

With support from the ADG Community Journalism Project, LEARNS reporter Josh Snyder covers the impact of the law on the K-12 education system across the state, and its effect on teachers, students, parents and communities. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette maintains full editorial control over this article and all other coverage.