This study explores the role of municipal leadership in supporting schools in Iceland, particularly those facing challenging circumstances. Iceland’s decentralized educational governance, characterised by trust-based collaboration and soft accountability (Ólafsdóttir et al., 2022), contrasts with more rigid accountability systems in Sweden and New York. While existing research highlights significant variability in municipal leadership (Sigurðardóttir et al., 2022) and school support services (Svanbjörnsdóttir et al., 2021), little is known about how these systems address the unique challenges of schools in vulnerable or challenging situations. The study adopts a case study (Yin, 2018) methodology focusing on a single Icelandic municipality. Data are collected through document analysis and interviews with 1 superintendent, 2 deputy superintendents, 2 department heads at school offices, and 4 school principals. The following key questions are addressed: • How are challenging schools identified and supported within a soft accountability system? • Who are the primary actors providing leadership to those schools? • What strategies are employed to support the schools? • What challenges do the leaders encounter in providing the support? The theoretical underpinning is f.eg. taken from Campbell and Fullan (2019) who argue for coherence in governance systems, emphasising collaboration among municipal leaders, school boards, and principals to achieve continuous improvement. Lambert (2003) complements this perspective by advocating for shared leadership, inquiry-based practices, and collective responsibility to foster sustainable school improvement. Together, these frameworks provide a robust foundation for examining the mechanisms and strategies employed by municipal leaders. Preliminary findings indicate that the municipality does not conduct formal external evaluations to identify schools in need of support. Instead, assessments are based on factors such as recurring issues flagged by municipal leaders and consultants and surveys of parents, students, and school staff. Also, by academic performance, especially in literacy. Schools provide continuous support for students' behaviour and literacy, but crises like violence or significant infrastructure problems get much attention and take leaders' time from instructional support. Leadership capacity is moderate but rising. Municipal leaders face challenges in coordinating complex support networks and addressing the limited staffing of support services. This study contributes to the broader understanding of how municipal leadership practices adapt to decentralised governance systems by leveraging comparative insights. It sheds light on the interplay between collaborative governance and local autonomy, offering valuable lessons for policymakers and educational leaders in Europe and abroad on leadership activities in relation to school support in challenging situations.

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