Springdale Moving Forward After "Race"

— The Springdale School District did not win this year’s Race to the Top district competition.

Springdale was named last month as one of 61 finalists nationwide competing for millions of dollars from the U.S. Department of Education. There were 372 applicants.

The department on Tuesday identified 16 of those finalists as winners of four-year awards ranging from $10 million to $40 million, depending on the number of students served by each applicant. The department will distribute a total of nearly $400 million to the winners.

Springdale would have qualified to receive between $20 million and $30 million. It was the only one of six applicants from Arkansas selected as a finalist. The Rogers School District also applied.

The Race to the Top district competition was intended to support locally developed plans to personalize and deepen student learning; directly improve student achievement and educator effectiveness; close achievement gaps; and prepare every student to succeed in college and their careers, according to a Department of Education news release.

Marsha Jones, Springdale’s associate superintendent, said she was surprised by how few awards were given, saying the department previously had indicated there would be at least 25 winners.

Though disappointed Springdale wasn’t chosen, Jones said many of the initiatives outlined in the district’s application, such as expanding the district’s prekindergarten program and increasing the number of Environmental and Spatial Technology labs, can still be achieved.

“The goals are still relevant,” Jones said. “There are still things we want to accomplish. We’re not going to put this application aside. We just didn’t get the resources to allow us to do it at an accelerated pace.”

Winning applicants included single school districts and consortiums of schools or school districts. Three of the winners are from California; others are from Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Texas, South Carolina, Washington and Washington, D.C.

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