Richmond Schools hits accreditation record right before VDOE moves the bar

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — If you’ve ever accomplished a goal only to have that goalpost moved moments later, Superintendent Jason Kamras suggested at Monday night’s school board meeting that Richmond Public Schools can relate.

In August, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) voted to begin categorizing schools as either “distinguished,” “on-track,” “off-track” or “in need of intensive support” — instead of just looking at accreditation status, which many schools have worked hard to achieve.

“Nothing at all has changed about what’s going on in the schools — all that has changed is how they mix up the data,” Kamras said at a school board meeting on Monday, Oct. 7. “We are going to have a number of schools that are actually growing very fast and are very much better, but are going to be called ‘off-track.'”

While, statewide, accreditation rates are declining, Richmond Public Schools recently celebrated 24 accredited schools — their highest number in ten years. Eight of these accredited schools earned that title over just the past two years, which leaders said reflects faster growth than any other district in Virginia.

“I am 100% for a high bar — or a higher bar, which this is,” Kamras said. “I have no quibble with that. What I do have a quibble with … [is that] the resources from the state department need to follow.”

The superintendent put things into perspective by explaining that approximately 15% of Virginia schools fall into what he said can essentially be labeled a “not good” category — but the new system is estimated to label about 60% of Virginia schools as “off-track.”

In other words, the VDOE will be labeling an estimated 45% more schools as “not good,” despite nothing about the actual educational quality decreasing.

Kamras suggested that schools need extra support, not extra judgment.

“We don’t need a new system to tell us where we need those resources,” Kamras said. “We already know that. That’s why advocacy at the General Assembly is going to be even more important this year.”

The new accountability system won’t be formally implemented until 2025. Leaders explained that we will have a clearer picture of where local schools fall according to the new standards in the near future.

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