8 Va. Admin. Code § 20-131-390

Current through Register Vol. 40, No. 22, June 17, 2024

Section 8VAC20-131-390 - Accreditation

A. The board shall accredit schools based on achievement of the school accountability requirements of this chapter.

The principal of each new or existing school and the division superintendent shall annually document and report to the Department of Education, in a manner prescribed by the board, the following:

1. The division's promotion and retention policies have been developed in accordance with the requirements of 8VAC20-131-30;

2. Compliance with the requirements to offer courses that shall allow students to complete the graduation requirements in 8VAC20-131-50 and 8VAC2021-131-51, as applicable;

3. The school and school division's ability to offer the instructional program prescribed in 8VAC20-131-70 through 8VAC20-131-100;

4. The school and school division's offering of history and social science and English, to include writing, as prescribed in 8VAC20-131-70 C;

5. Compliance with the leadership and staffing requirements of 8VAC20-131-210 through 8VAC20-131-240;

6. Compliance with the facilities and safety provisions of 8VAC20-131-260;

7. Compliance with the parental notification provisions of 8VAC20-131-270 B;

8. The Standards of Learning have been fully incorporated into the school division's curriculum in all accreditation-eligible schools, and the Standards of Learning material is being taught to all students eligible to take the SOL tests;

9. A comprehensive school plan has been prepared and implemented as required by the Standards of Quality, in conjunction with the long-range comprehensive plan of the division. Such plan shall be available to students, parents, staff, and the public. Each school plan shall be evaluated as part of the development of the next plan. Schools may use other plans to satisfy this requirement with prior written approval from the Department of Education.

10. Actions prescribed by 8VAC20-131-400 have been completed.

11. Each school continues to meet the standards in this chapter that the school reported that it met in the previous year, and actions taken to correct any noncompliance issues that the school reported in the previous year.

B. Accreditation ratings. Effective no later than the academic year 2018-2019, schools that meet the conditions described in subsection A of this section shall be assigned one of the following accreditation designations as described in this section.

1. Accredited: When a school has each of its school quality indicators at Level One or Level Two, it shall be "Accredited." For the transition year of 2018-2019, when a school meets the accreditation standards for designation as accredited under either the 2017-2018 accreditation calculation rules or the 2018-2019 rules for multiple school quality indicators, it shall be designated "Accredited."

2. Accredited with Conditions: When a school has any school quality indicator at Level Three, it shall be "Accredited with Conditions."

3. Accreditation Denied: If a school is designated "Accredited with Conditions," and the school or school division fails to adopt and implement school division or school corrective action plans with fidelity as specified by 8VAC20-131-400 D, it may be designated by the board as "Accreditation Denied" as provided in 8VAC20-131-400 D 4.

C. Any school in violation of this chapter shall be subject to appropriate action by the board including withholding the school's accreditation rating.

D. A school's accreditation rating may be withheld by action of the board for any school found to be in violation of test security procedures pursuant to § 22.1-19.1 of the Code of Virginia.

E. Review cycles.

1. The board shall review annually the status of the performance levels for school quality indicators applied to accreditation for all schools in the Commonwealth.

2. If a school has been designated "Accredited" for three consecutive years, the board shall review the accreditation status of the school every three years. However, the board shall review the status of each school quality indicator used for accreditation each individual year within that triennial period. If the board finds that the school would have been accredited every year of the triennial review period, the board shall accredit the school for another three years. A multi-year accreditation status shall not relieve any school or division of annual reporting requirements, nor shall it relieve any school or division of annual review of school quality indicators used for school accreditation and subsequent actions as appropriate and provided for in 8VAC20-131-400, depending on performance level.

8 Va. Admin. Code § 20-131-390

Derived From Virginia Register Volume 34, Issue 8, eff. 1/11/2018.

Statutory Authority: §§ 22.1-16 and 22.1-253.13:3 of the Code of Virginia.