88 superintendents ask NC schools' chief to delay new reading test amid controversy

Any delay would have to be approved by state lawmakers, but Johnson told WRAL News that he is "exploring all legislative and other options to support a smooth transition, including other implementation scenarios." The State Board of Education plans to discuss the topic in a conference call Friday.

Reading assessment company asks NC schools to 'suspend or terminate' competitor's contract

Earlier this week, during a North Carolina School Superintendents’ Association meeting, all 88 local school superintendents in attendance took an informal vote to ask Johnson to delay using Istation for one year so they could "properly train teachers," according to NCSSA Executive Director Jack Hoke.

"It’s the timing that’s creating the angst, because teachers are gone and it’s just a real challenge to get the training done," Hoke said, adding that the superintendents aren't necessarily against using the new tool – they are still investigating how it works.

The superintendents' group sent a follow-up letter to Johnson on Thursday, again asking that he support their request to delay Istation's launch.

"Best practice suggests that assessments for young children should be administered in a one-on-one setting by the child’s teacher and in short segments over a period of several days or weeks," Moore wrote. "An assessment that relies solely on technology, such as Istation, does not provide teachers with information that supports students’ early literacy skills and will negatively impact the most academically fragile."

In a statement to WRAL News, Johnson said he is exploring all options about how to launch Istation in schools.

"For example, if the local superintendents support the change, we will begin measuring metrics in the middle of the school year as opposed to the beginning," Johnson wrote. "This would allow students and teachers half of the year to become familiar with the new tool without affecting growth figures. In addition, teachers will be able to access live and on-demand trainings starting next week. We look forward to supporting a successful launch."

Istation President Ossa Fisher told the news media in a statement Wednesday that Amplify's protest is "intended to harass and cause harm to our company after we were awarded the contract – fair and square."

"We urge state leaders to continue to move in the positive direction for students and deny Amplify’s frivolous and harmful request to suspend the contract and to deny them a protest hearing that has no merit and is not based on substantiating facts," Fisher wrote. "When state leaders asked for a different direction, we answered the call because we believed then – and now – that we are the best solution for North Carolina’s early readers."

"People ask, how do I know … I was there and I will not stay silent. This is the result of putting politics, not kids first," wrote Jablonski, who previously worked as DPI's director of Integrated Academic and Behavior Systems' division. She is currently running for state superintendent.

In an interview with WRAL News, Jablonski said she helped lead the committee that reviewed the companies.

"We put together a very robust evaluation team, because we wanted to have lots of different lenses and experts taking a look at these particular vendors," she said.

Last December, before Jablonski left the agency, she was part of a small group that presented the committee's findings to the state superintendent. She remembered him being attentive during the meeting and receptive to the recommendations.

That's why it came as "a bit of shock," she said, when Johnson announced earlier this month that he had signed a contract with Istation, going against the committee's recommendation. While the group did not unanimously recommend Amplify, Jablonski said, the vast majority of committee members voted for the company.

A spokesman for the state superintendent disputed Jablonski's claim, saying the committee provided "no recommendation" to Johnson.

"If they couldn’t reach a consensus, then I guess there wasn’t any way for them to make a recommendation," spokesman Graham Wilson said.

"That's inaccurate," Jablonski told WRAL News. "The committee did give their recommendation, and I was one of four people who met with Mark (Johnson) in December of 2018."

The superintendent's spokesman told WRAL News he wasn't sure if the committee voted. If they had, he wasn't sure he could share the vote publicly. He said he also wasn't sure if the agency could release any possible documents reviewed or created by the committee.

"There’s not a whole lot I can tell you about the procurement process because procurement protocol restricts sharing information with anyone outside the panel," Wilson said. "They all signed nondisclosures."

WRAL News requested a copy of the nondisclosure, and Wilson provided it. The document states that information should be kept confidential "until successful completion of the procurement process." The state superintendent signed a contract with Istation on June 7.

Jablonski also shared a copy of the nondisclosure document on her Facebook page Thursday and said she "will not stay silent."

"Even if I was not running for state superintendent, my decision to speak out against this would still be the exact way that it is because this is not what’s best for our schools in North Carolina," Jablonski told WRAL.