The department shall develop guidance, templates, evidentiary exemplars, or rubrics to demonstrate how it will objectively measure school and division compliance with each of the Standards of Accreditation described in subsection B of this section. All such guidance shall be submitted to the board for approval and final guidance shall be published on the department's website and directly provided to local school divisions.
To develop such plans, each school shall conduct a comprehensive needs assessment in collaboration with its school division staff to identify needed actions to ensure continuous improvement for its students. For schools receiving comprehensive, targeted, or additional targeted support, results of the needs assessment shall be used to develop the multi-year school support plan, consistent with the requirements specified in 8VAC20-132-280, which shall be included in the school's comprehensive, unified, long-range plan;
If the school is not among the lowest performing 5.0% on the school quality indicators in the current year (or has improved the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate above 67% for schools identified due to low graduation rates), the school shall be designated "Fully Accredited." Further, the board may grant an exception and designate schools identified for comprehensive support as "Fully Accredited" that have not met the progress threshold using current year data but are improving at a rate using data from previous years that would lead to the school meeting the exit criteria established by the board in 8VAC20-132-280 within the required timeline.
The local school board shall be given an opportunity to correct such failure, and if successful in a timely manner, the school's "Accreditation Denied" designation may be rescinded at the board's discretion.
If the board finds that a school with multi-year accreditation status that is not identified for comprehensive support 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 neither relieve any school or division of annual reporting requirements, nor relieve any school or division of annual review of school quality indicators used for school accountability and subsequent actions as appropriate and provided for in 8VAC20-132-270 and 8VAC20-132-280.
After the completion of such review, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall present the results of such review to the board with recommendations. Each local school board shall, within a time period specified by the board, enter into a memorandum of understanding with the board and shall subsequently submit to the board for approval a corrective action plan, consistent with criteria established by the board, delineating responsibilities for the local school board, the board, school division staff, school staff, and department staff and setting forth specific actions and a schedule designed to ensure that schools within its school division meet the standards established by the board and improve performance on the school quality indicators. If the board determines that the proposed corrective action plan is not sufficient to enable all schools within the division to meet the standards established by the board, the board may return the plan to the local school board with directions to submit an amended plan pursuant to board guidance. Such corrective action plans shall be part of the relevant school division's comprehensive plan pursuant to § 22.1-253.13:6 of the Code of Virginia.
Department staff shall meet regularly with school division staff to monitor the memorandum of understanding and corrective action plan, to track progress on the school quality indicators, and to identify next steps.
School divisions that do not demonstrate evidence of progress under the memorandum of understanding and the associated corrective action plan shall be subject to additional actions, which may include more frequent meetings with department staff, required technical assistance, or appearance before the board.
In accordance with the Standards of Quality at § 22.1-253.13:8 of the Code of Virginia, if the board determines that a school division has failed or refused and continues to fail or refuse to comply with any of the Standards of Quality, including the requirement for local school boards to maintain schools designated as "Accredited" as provided in § 22.1-253.13:3A of the Code of Virginia, the board may petition the circuit court having jurisdiction in the school division to mandate or otherwise enforce compliance with such standard, including the development or implementation of any required corrective action plan that a local school board has failed or refused to develop or implement in a timely manner.
8 Va. Admin. Code § 20-132-300
Statutory Authority: §§ 22.1-16 and 22.1-253.13 of the Code of Virginia.