The Alabama School Board voted 7-2 Thursday to raise the required score on the state’s third-grade reading test — the first hurdle determining whether a student advances to fourth grade — for the school year ongoing and beyond.

Republican board members Jackie Zeigler, whose district includes much of south Alabama, and Stephanie Bell, whose district includes part of central Alabama, voted no. Both said they were concerned that the score recommended by State Superintendent Eric Mackey was too low.

“A lot of my constituents, teachers and fellow educators reached out to me and they said we just need to step on that gas pedal a little harder,” Zeigler said of not raising the score high enough.