One Tuscaloosa school made the state’s "failing schools" list for the fifth year in a row while another made the list for the first time.

Tuscaloosa City Schools’ Central High School and Paul W. Bryant High School were two of the 75 schools across Alabama to be placed on the "failing schools" list, a compilation of the schools performing in the bottom 6 percent of schools in the state.

Central High School has been on the list every year since the inception of the Alabama Accountability Act in 2013, which set standards for if a school was "passing" or "failing" by those standards. The standards are based on results from the reading and math portions of the 2016-17 ACT Aspire tests, which are given to 10th-graders. Last year, the Alabama State Board of Education voted to do away with ACT Aspire and to use another test.

Bryant High has boasted in the past of having high graduation rates. On Wednesday night, Bryant Principal Linda Harper sent an email to parents to address the results, explaining how the state board does not believe the ACT Aspire is an accurate evaluation of a student’s academic abilities.

"First and foremost, they found that the ACT Aspire exam does not align well with Alabama's curriculum standards," Harper wrote in her letter. "This means that what our students were tested on and what the state required our teachers to teach were not necessarily always the same."

According to results from the ACT Aspire, about 87.4 percent of sophomores at Central High School were "in need of support" in math while only 2.4 percent were considered "ready." In reading, 62.2 percent of students were considered in need or support while 13.4 percent were ready. In science, 74.7 percent were in need of support while 6 percent were considered ready.

At Bryant, 86.4 percent of sophomores were "in need of support" in math while 3.7 percent were considered ready. In reading, 68.8 percent were in need of support while 10.3 percent were ready. In science, roughly 79.5 percent of students tested were in need of support while nearly 6 percent were considered ready.

This year’s results contrast with those from previous years. In the 2015-16 school year, 91 percent of sophomores at Central were in need of support in math while 68.6 percent were in need of support in reading. In addition, less than 1 percent were considered ready in math while 7.2 percent were ready in reading.

During 2015-16, 86.2 percent of sophomores at Bryant sophomores were in need of support in math while 65.2 percent were in need of support in reading. In that same report, 5.9 percent of students were considered ready in math while 13.2 percent were ready in reading.

Addressing Bryant parents, Harper wrote that she and her staff would be working to address the concerns raised by the evaluation.

"We are now faced with an additional opportunity to work even closer together to understand what the key challenges are and take meaningful, prescriptive educational actions to address the challenges and make significant changes," Harper wrote.

Starting Feb. 1, the state will release A through F letter grades for school systems and schools alike based on different criteria and testing.

Reach Drew Taylor at drew.taylor@tuscaloosanews.com or 205-722-0204.