We are exactly one week away from the start of a new school year--a year in which a dozen school districts have already been placed in financial distress.

The state board of education gathered Monday to get what amounted to a progress report on those troubled school districts.

Education officials say a having a dozen schools on the fiscally-distressed list may seem like a lot--but it's actually just above normal. This time last year, the state board was looking at eight districts in the same condition.

(Julie Johnson Thompson, Ark. Dept. of Education) “When a school is in fiscal distress, that means that the department's looked at their budget and expenditures, and if you look two years down the road, there's a good likelihood that they're going to go below zero, have a negative balance.”

Most of those districts--like the Clinton School District--are currently developing plans to get back on track. But there are two school districts in northwest Arkansas that have already bottomed out: Decatur and Greenland.

(Thompson) “No money to pay teachers, no money to pay bills--those kinds of things.”

In the past month, both of those districts were taken over by the state. Now it's up to the board of education to figure out how to balance its budget.

(Thompson) “They're concerned--especially with the events of the summer and having to take over the two districts--because that's not anything the state ever really wants to do. But I think they were pleased to get the information.”

Included on the list are:

Bald Knob
Bismarck
Clinton
Concord
Decatur
Gentry
Greenland
Hartford
Hermitage
Mineral Springs
Murfreesboro
Westside Consolidated