Troubled Schools-New District

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) _ South Carolina schools Superintendent Mick Zais wants to create a new, statewide district for failing schools. Zais told the State Board of Education that South Carolina’s current options for helping those schools have either proven unsuccessful or are ineffective. The comments come as the board considers what to do with seven schools that consistently perform in the bottom tier of state rankings. The options are providing more training, replacing the school’s principal or taking it over. The state has not seized control of a school since 1999, when the agency took over rural Allendale County’s schools. Control returned in 2006, and the districts’ students continue to underperform. Allendale-Fairfax Middle is among the schools before the board Wednesday. Zais advocates creating a turnaround district that removes the schools from local control.