Will your 3rd-grader be held back? AzMERIT reading results not out until June 6

• State law requires 3rd-graders who can't read to be held back
• Parents won't know scores until at least July, maybe later
• Law was suspended this year because results weren't out until fall

Arizona parents and schools may not not know until this summer whether their struggling third-grade readers will have to be held back a year.

Third-graders who performed in the bottom 3 percent on the reading portion of AzMERIT — excluding students with disabilities and English language learners — are required to repeat the third grade under the state's Move On When Reading law.

But those results won't be released until June 6, and parents won't receive them until July 11. That means parents likely won't know whether their child will have to repeat third grade until about a month before school starts or even later, school officials said.

No students were held back this year. The law was signed by Gov. Jan Brewer in 2010 but was suspended for the 2015-16 school year because results from the inaugural AzMERIT test were not made available to schools until last fall.

This year, however, schools are required to enforce the fourth-grade "promotion gate" for students with the worst reading scores in the state.

AzMERIT scores: Most students failed inaugural test

The state Board of Education debated options that would've exempted some schools from having to hold back any of their students at its monthly meeting Monday.

But after hours of discussion, the board decided it must follow the law as written.

"Districts are very understandably concerned that they’re going to be getting the data late in the game," said Charles Tack, spokesman for state superintendent Diane Douglas. "There’s a lot of unknown factors and I think that’s where a lot of the anxiety comes from (with schools)."

The Move On When Reading program was recently criticized in a state audit for its lack of oversight. The March audit said schools have no way of knowing whether students in the program actually improve.

The timing of the release of AzMERIT scores does not affect schools' efforts to identify struggling readers. Most schools have internal assessments for that to help guide which students need extra support.

Administrators, though, are concerned they won't be able to notify parents before the next school year begins.

Ducey signs bill giving schools alternatives to AzMERIT

Debbi Burdick, superintendent of the Cave Creek Unified School District, said the timing of the scores' release could put her district in a tough spot. Cave Creek schools end their school year May 19.

"Most schools start identifying these students starting in kindergarten," Burdick said. "I think the challenge here is we’re going to be surprising families who think their children have been moved on and promoted to the next grade."

Suzan DePrez, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at Mesa Public Schools, said the plan for her district is to try to notify parents as soon as it receives test results.

Still, some parents could be left wondering once they receive their third-graders' report cards.

"Our plans are to put 'pending' on their report cards, that you’re not promoted or retained until we get the official clarification," DePrez said. "That would be very difficult for parents to receive a report card without knowing what would happen."