Springdale School District officials told the school board they will begin funding master and lead teacher designations to comply with Arkansas Department of Education expectations and to ensure staffing options for third-grade promotion exemptions.

A district presenter explained that master-designated teachers are ‘‘excellent instructors’’ while lead-designated teachers ‘‘lead beyond the classroom’’ and that both designations support mentoring of residents and eligibility for merit pay. The presenter said the district faces immediate demand because third-grade promotion rules and the need to mentor aspiring-teaching-permit hires require many teachers to have these designations.

The presenter said the cost to the district is ‘‘approximately $300,000’’ and described the expense as ‘‘an unfunded mandate.’' Board materials show lead-designation costs at $1,500 per teacher and master-designation costs at $2,250 per teacher. The district plans to cover most of the initial cost with a carryover professional-learning (PL) grant, supplemented by ESA funds and leftover increasing-enrollment funds, and will partner with the Bailey Group to deliver job-embedded coaching over a 4–6 month period.

Officials cited assessment data to explain urgency: statewide, 36% of Arkansas third-grade students scored level 3 or 4 on the ATLAS summative assessment in 2025, while 32% of Springdale third graders reached those levels; district documents note roughly 514 third graders scored level 1 in 2025 and that about 414 of those may qualify for good-cause exemptions.

The presenter said district planning assumes each elementary school will need several master-designated teachers to meet promotion and mentoring requirements and that lead-designation slots were allocated for secondary schools. Board members pressed staff on recurring costs; the presenter said ongoing costs will continue as designated teachers leave or as the district hires more teachers on aspiring permits, and that future amounts may decline as new state pathways appear.

Next steps: the board approved the December financial statements that include planned uses of carryover student-growth money; staff said they will finalize provider contracts and begin rollout of the Bailey Group coaching model.