Springdale Makes Race to Top Cut

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

— The Springdale School District is one of 61 national finalists vying for hundreds of millions in grant dollars, the U.S. Department of Education announced Monday.

The department chose the finalists from 372 applications submitted earlier this month in the $400 million Race to the Top District competition.

Between 15 and 25 winning applications will be chosen no later than Dec. 31, according to a department news release. Winners will receive four-year awards ranging from $5 million to $40 million.

The Race to the Top district program invites applicants to demonstrate how they can personalize education for all students in their schools, close achievement gaps and prepare each student for college and their careers.

Springdale Superintendent Jim Rollins said he thought the district had a very good chance to move forward in the application process. He credited Associate Superintendent Marsha Jones for taking a leadership role in the process.

“I’m looking forward to the next phase,” Rollins said. “My hope is that we would have representatives from the (U.S. Department of Education) visit our school system and see what’s going on. ... I think that would help us with that next level of consideration.”

Springdale, based on its size, stands to receive somewhere between $20 million and $30 million if its application is chosen.

“These finalists are setting the curve for the rest of the country with innovative plans to drive education reform in the classroom,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.

Out of six applications from Arkansas, Springdale’s was the only one selected as a finalist. The Rogers School District was among the other applicants from Arkansas.

Other finalists include the school districts of New York, Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Dallas.

Race to the Top district applications were randomly assigned to three-person panels that independently read and scored each application, with independent reviewers’ scores averaged to determine an applicant’s score.