(AP) — The superintendent of the Kansas City school district is vowing to “knuckle down” after failing to regain partial accreditation.

Superintendent R. Stephen Green spoke to reporters Tuesday after the Missouri State Board of Education took no action on the district’s request for provisional accreditation. Green says the district will continue its efforts to improve.

The accreditation upgrade would have meant the district no longer was subject to a state law allowing students to transfer to accredited districts. A pending legal challenge is preventing transfers for now.

Green says the transfer issue “looms large” and that complying would cause a “serious financial challenge.”