By Kenric Ward | Watchdog.org Virginia Bureau

FREDERICKSBURG — The state Department of Education announced Wednesday that 93 percent of public schools earned accreditation for the current year. But there’s a catch — 100 of those schools were accredited “with warning.”

Seven of the 22 high schools accredited with warning had graduation and completion below this year’s 81-point benchmark for provisional accreditation, the DOE said.

A chronic under-performer, Lafayette-Wynona Middle School in Norfolk has been warned by the state … again.

In all, 5 percent of the commonwealth’s 1,800 K-12 campuses are under warning. Last year, just 30 schools received warnings.

Two schools were denied accreditation because of chronically low student achievement: Peabody Middle in Petersburg for a seventh consecutive year, and Lafayette-Wynona Middle in Norfolk for a third straight year.

The status of five schools is expected to be determined by the state Board of Education at its October meeting:

• Albemarle County’s Murray High — which was fully accredited last year — based on alternative accreditation due to a graduating class below 50.
• Alexandria’s Jefferson-Houston Elementary — which was accredited with warning last year — based on its proposed reconstitution plan.
• Norfolk’s Lindenwood Elementary — which was conditionally accredited last year — based on its continuation of reconstitution plan.
• Norfolk’s William H. Ruffner Middle — which was accredited with warning last year — based on its proposed reconstitution plan.
• Northampton County’s Kiptopeke Elementary — which was conditionally accredited last year — based on its continuation of reconstitution plan.

Under Virginia’s Standards of Learning accountability program, a school that has been on academic warning for three consecutive years and fails to meet state standards for a fourth year can apply to the Board of Education for conditional accreditation — if the local school board agrees to reconstitute the school’s leadership, staff, governance or student population.

A reconstituted school can retain conditional accreditation for up to three years if it is making acceptable progress toward meeting state standards.

Full report is linked here.