The Mississippi Department of Education says things have improved little in the Greenwood School Public District since a critical state report earlier this year, but one official says fears of a takeover of the district are premature.
The district released a highly critical preliminary report in June, based on the findings of a state audit in May. The final report found that the district remained in violation of 17 process standards and a state accreditation policy.
Issues raised included inconsistent salaries, problems in special education programs, missing student records and inadequate minutes of the Greenwood School Board.
In its final report on the district, issued Thursday, the MDE says most of the violations listed in the preliminary findings are still present. However, regarding the possibility of a state takeover of the district, Dr. Paula Vanderford, executive director of accreditation, said, “That is not what we think will happen.”
In accordance with state policy, the district was given 30 days to reply to the charges contained in the preliminary report, either by disputing the charges or by requesting assistance from the MDE to address them.
According to the final report, the district submitted 193 requests for technical assistance to the MDE, although according to Chief School Performance Officer Pat Ross, the majority of these requests actually amounted to refutations of the findings of the preliminary report.
The next step, Ross said, is for the MDE to assign an individual to the district to help bring it into compliance with state standards.
Each fall, districts are assigned accreditation statuses by the Commission on School Accreditation, based in part on the recommendations of the MDE.
The MDE will make its recommendation based on the progress the district has made between now and when the commission meets Oct. 1.
“In the case of Greenwood, if they do not clear all of the standards that they have on record by Oct. 1, that will result in our office recommending to the Commission on School Accreditation that they be downgraded to probation,” Vanderford said.
The commission on accreditation does not assign accreditation statuses until Oct. 15. Should the Greenwood district be downgraded, it will have 90 days to develop a plan for resolving issues of noncompliance.
“If the district does not adhere ot the timeline, that could ultimately lead to the withdrawal of accreditation,” said Vanderford.
Vanderford said the next step for the district is to focus on addressing the citations listed in the audit report.
“For example, if they have citations on record for the transportation program, and that’s something they resolve in the next two weeks, they can request a follow-up visit and that program office will conduct the visit. We’ll remove that citation immediately.”
According to a statement by the district released Thursday, “in an effort to maintain the district’s 100 percent accreditation, the district will seek to ensure that no findings listen in the final report remain on the district’s record.”
• Contact Nick Rogers at 581-7235 or nrogers@gwcommonwealth.com.
Greenwood audit report
