When Escambia County Schools Assistant Superintendent Mary Bess Powell first saw the school system’s accountability test results for the last academic year, she saw red — literally.

That’s because the color-coded grid showing the results of the school system’s performance on state standards was a red “no” for reading scores across the board. But after the initial shock, Powell dug deeper into the numbers and began quickly working with school officials on an improvement plan.

“When I saw it, I came unglued,” Powell said Monday. “I know how hard the teachers work.”

Escambia County Schools did not meet all of the academic standards set by the state because reading scores from special education students were too low, according to results released by the state department of education Monday.

Brewton City Schools did meet their goals, according to the state reports. Like Escambia County, Brewton did have some subgroups that did not meet “adequate yearly progress” — known as AYP — but none of those subgroups reached the 40-student threshold set by the state for reporting.

Escambia County’s plan for improvement includes restructuring some educators’ roles to serve as improvement specialists across the county. Previously only one person had that role.

“We have set the gears in motion,” Escambia County Superintendent Billy Hines said.

County schools that did not make AYP include Escambia County High School, Escambia County Middle School, W.S. Neal Middle School and W.S. Neal High School.

Schools are graded based on math and reading scores for the overall student population and for certain subgroups, including special education, race designations and free and reduced lunch.

At some schools, reading or math scores from special education students were also too low to meet state standards, but the number of students in that subgroup did not meet the threshold of 40 students.

Escambia County High School will be in a phase the state department calls “school improvement” for the fourth year and must offer school choice to students, Powell said. Anyone interested in the school choice opportunity must fill out a form at the high school or the Atmore central office.

The school improvement designation also requires restructuring, including hiring a new principal, which the school system has already accomplished with new principal Zickeyous Byrd.

At W.S. Neal High School, the school showed improvement in its graduation rate — which has been a problem in years past — but did not meet proficiency goals in reading for students overall or for students on free and reduced lunch.

Powell said school officials will be working closely with administrators and teachers at W.S. Neal, where a new principal is expected to be hired Aug. 12 to replace the late Phillip Ellis, who died of cancer last month.

“It’s been a very stressful year at W.S. Neal High School,” Powell said, giving credit to interim principal Patty Frazier. “She has worked very hard,” but Ellis’ illness “impacted everything that school.”

Brewton City Schools Assistant Superintendent Baxter Baker said school officials were “delighted” about the results, although they know that standards continue to increase, with more students expected to meet the goals each year.

“We want schools to keep on doing their best,” Baker said. “But we’re set up for defeat here. You reach a point of diminishing returns.”

Under the No Child Left Behind Act, all schools are expected to reach 100 percent of their goals by 2014 — which school officials have said is an impossibility, especially when looking at the natural limits of special education students.

Baker and Powell said they believe that a growth model, which would measure improvement from year to year rather than requiring all students to reach a certain mastery within a selected timeframe, would be more beneficial.

The Escambia County Schools system has also increased the ranks of its improvement specialists, educators who will work closely with teachers and students at the schools that most need attention. Powell said the educators are committed to a “team effort” to improve student performance.

“We’re not going to let any of our kids fall through the cracks,” Powell said.