RICHMOND
Close to four-fifths of the more than 1,800 schools across the state are fully accredited for the 2015-16 school year, according to a report released on Tuesday by the Virginia Department of Education. That number holds true here in Western Tidewater, too, where 10 of the region’s 13 elementary, middle and high schools achieved full accreditation.

These rankings are based largely on how the students perform on the state’s Standards of Learning tests, but also factor in graduation rates at the high school level. When the state released SOL scores in August, several schools saw a significant increase from the previous year, suggesting that a number of schools that were not accredited in the past would be this time.

“Offering every Virginia student a world class education in a public school is at the very foundation of our efforts to build a new Virginia economy,” said Gov. Terry McAuliffe. “This year’s strong progress is a reflection of the dedicated work of educators, parents and communities and a clear sign that the reforms we have put into place are working.”

Those that did not reach all accreditation benchmarks include Franklin’s S.P. Morton Elementary School and Joseph P. King Jr. Middle School, as well as Southampton’s Riverdale Elementary. These schools are labeled “to be determined,” meaning that they did not meet criterion in one or more of the testing subjects. S.P. Morton is also listed as a priority school — the lowest-performing five percent of Title I schools — and must engage a state-approved turnaround partner to help design and implement school-reform models that meet state and federal requirements.

Charles Pyle, director of communications for VDOE, explained that the “to be determined” designation comes as a request by the individual school districts to be partially accredited. School superintendents will travel to Richmond sometime in November to make their case about their district’s progress, personnel and instruction changes and how they will continue to make improvements in the coming years. The request is then considered, and a decision to grant or deny partial accreditation will likely be made by the end of the calendar year.

New to the ratings this year are a variety of partially accredited categories. Instead of labeling schools as “accredited with warning,” the state can deem a school as “approaching benchmark,” where schools are within two percentage points of meeting state standards in one or more SOL subject areas; “improving school,” where schools missed full accreditation but showed acceptable SOL progress, as determined by the state; “warned school,” where high schools that met SOL standards didn’t approach the graduation index and didn’t show progress; and “reconstituted school,” where schools that miss full accreditation requirements for four-straight years, but receive permission from the VDOE to reconstitute, a process that can mean restructuring the leadership, instructional program, staff or student body. Schools can also be denied accreditation after meeting with the department to resolve the “to be determined” label.

“The new ratings allow the state to be more precise in supporting schools,” Superintended of Public Instruction Steven R. Staples said. “We are now able to differentiate schools that likely can make it doing what they are already doing from schools that clearly require more support from the state.”

Board of Education President Billy K. Cannady Jr. added that, “While there have been changes in the state accountability program this year to recognize schools that are making progress, the benchmarks the schools must meet to earn full accreditation have not been lowered.”

The 2014-2015 school year was the first during which students in third through fifth grade were allowed to retake SOL tests in reading, mathematics, science and history. On average, the report said that the performance of students on expedited retakes increased pass rates by about four points on each test.

“We are pleased with the growth of our schools last school year,” Franklin City Public Schools Superintendent Willie J. Bell Jr. said. “We saw substantial gains and improvements in numerous areas. We have started this school year even more focused than last year as we are in pursuit of all schools becoming fully accredited.”

When asked about the state’s consideration of S.P. Morton as a priority school, Bell said the district is “working very hard to officially remove that status.”

Windsor High School Principal Daniel Soderholm was also asked to comment on how his school fared in the report.

“We’re very pleased with the growth our school has made,” he said. “We continue to trend upward in all our departments. We’re particularly excited about expanded opportunities for our students in our career and technical education courses for industry certification.”

Soderholm added, “Our progress shows our commitment of not only our students and stuff, but also our community. We’re grateful for the work of our parents at home and how they support what we do at the school.”