By Greg Oliver
Courtesy The Journal

goliver@upstatetoday.com

EASLEY — It appears the School District of Pickens County’s efforts to address concerns by AdvancED are finally starting to make the accreditation agency take notice in a positive way.

District spokesman John Eby said Friday the district received an update from AdvancED in which the agency noted significant progress taking place in several areas.

The report focused on improvement priorities related to the following four indicators: the governing body ensures that the leadership at all levels has the authority to meet goals for achievement and instruction and to manage day-to-day operations efficiently; the system maintains facilities, services and equipment to provide a safe, clean and healthy environment for all students and staff; curriculum, instruction and assessment throughout the system are monitored and adjusted systematically in response to data from multiple assessments of students learning and an examination of professional practice; and the governing body operates responsibly and functions effectively.

Eby said AdvancED acknowledged the district’s “tremendous commitment” to addressing the first and fourth indicators relating to the School Board of Trustees.

Previously, AdvancED reports encouraged the district to “ensure that decisions and actions of the governing body are ethical, free of conflict of interest and in accordance with defined roles and responsibilities.” In its current report, Eby said AdvancED “congratulated the district on progress made.”

Steps taken by the board to address the issue included agreeing on best practices with a consultant and legal counsel, updating policies regarding board activities, participating in board retreats and professional development and establishing a plan to review all policies with the South Carolina School Boards Association.

As recently as May, AdvancED issued a letter to the school district stating that “little to no progress” had been made toward two required actions cited during a March 24 visit that featured interviews with board trustees and district staff.

Not only did the state schools accreditation agency state it was evident that board members continued to function outside their defined roles and responsibilities but also that a lack of compliance had reached “a severe level of non-compliance.”

The AdvancED report issued at that time led to fears the agency could strip the school district of its accreditation if problems were not addressed.

In July, the school board of trustees enlisted help from the School Boards Association — requesting it conduct a comprehensive review of school district policies and conducting training sessions with the board — and held its first retreat in years.

In December, the school district submitted a progress report to AdvancED, required after the agency’s March visit.

AdvancED’s latest report, issued in response to the district, also noted progress on the other two indicators — the $4.6 million capital needs plan approved by the board last year was noted as an important step toward the district maintaining “facilities, services and equipment to provide a safe, clean and healthy environment for all students and staff.”

AdvancED also accepted the school district’s Instruction Design Model as evidence that “curriculum, instruction and assessment throughout the system are monitored and adjusted systematically in response to data from multiple assessments of students learning and an examination of professional practice.”

Progress reports on those two indicators will not be required by AdvancED until the next regularly scheduled reaccreditation cycle in 2018.

Because of the progress AdvancED noted in its latest report, the agency won’t be sending a monitoring team back to the district unless they receive a formal complaint from the community or if board actions warrant intervention.

AdvancED has requested the district submit another progress report in Dec. 2016 showing continued improvement.

Superintendent Danny Merck said he is pleased over the latest AdvancED report, in which the school district continues to be fully accredited and follows a year of high academic performance.

That includes ACT and SAT scores among the top five of all South Carolina school districts, Top 10 for students scoring Silver and above on the ACT WorkKeys, increased Advanced Placement participation and performance, ASPIRE scores for students in third-grade through eighth-grade above the national average in 20 out of 30 categories and a graduation rate that rose for the seventh year in a row.

“Showing progress on our board governance was key to earning this positive report, and I am extremely grateful for the very hard work our board has done to make sure our schools continue to be some of the best in the state,” Merck said.