Eleven Henrico schools not fully accredited

Six Henrico County elementary schools and five middle schools failed to earn full accreditation from the Virginia Department of Education, according to data released by the agency last week. Those 11 schools received an “Accredited with Conditions” rating from the VDOE.

None of the county’s nine high schools received that rating, which denotes a school that has received low scores in some areas, though not low enough to completely revoke the school’s accreditation. Those nine and Henrico’s 47 other public schools all earned full accreditation.

Schools are graded on academic achievement in English, math, and science. They also are graded upon achievement gaps among student groups as well as chronic absenteeism. Scores are classified in three levels, with level 1 being the best and Level 3 the worst. Receiving a “Level 3” score in any area will cause the school to be conditionally accredited.

Schools at Level 3  must undergo consultation with VDOE officials or their designees in order to devise and implement plans to improve their scores. Those that fail to demonstrate progress may lose their accreditation. None of Henrico County’s schools had their accreditation revoked this year.

All 11 Henrico schools that are accredited with conditions are in Eastern or Northern Henrico: Fair Oaks Elementary, Glen Lea Elementary, Harold Macon Ratcliffe Elementary, Highland Springs Elementary, Laburnum Elementary, and Montrose Elementary, and Brookland Middle, Elko Middle, Fairfield Middle, John Rolfe Middle, and L. Douglas Wilder Middle.

Many of these schools had low test scores, high achievement gaps especially among students with disabilities, and chronic absenteeism rates of about 30 percent.

Schools with low scores had their accreditations waived last year and the year before as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with many pandemic policies being left behind this year, the normal accreditation system has resumed.

Eighty-nine percent of schools statewide have been fully accredited this year, despite test scores still being lower than usual after the pandemic. In 2019-2020, the last pre-pandemic school year, 92% of schools across the state were fully accredited.

State superintendent Jillian Balow released a statement questioning the accreditation standards.

“These ratings call into question the effectiveness of our accreditation standards in identifying schools where students are struggling to achieve grade-level proficiency,” Balow said. She and other high-ranking state education officials appointed during Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's term have criticized as too lenient various educational standards set during the administration of previous governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat.

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Anya Sczerzenie is the Henrico Citizen’s education reporter and a Report for America corps member. Make a tax-deductible donation to support her work, and RFA will match it dollar for dollar. Sign up here for her free weekly education newsletter.