By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



The Jefferson County school system is getting closer to its goal of becoming accredited as a district.

Currently, all 58 schools in the Jefferson County system must be accredited individually, every five years.

If the district meets all requirements, it will then go through the accreditation process every five years, taking a large burden off of schools.

However, schools must continue to adhere to standards set by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), which grants accreditation to schools.

The school district is now working through AdvancED, which is an umbrella organization over SACS and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement.

Kim Tyra, supervisor of accreditation for the Jefferson County school system, has been working on the district accreditation process for about a year.

“This is a huge undertaking because we’re such a large district,” said Tyra.

She said the school district is in the “last stages” of the process.

In September, a 12-member district team will visit the Jefferson County Schools’ central office and several schools.

After that visit, the team will turn in a report to AdvancEd.

After the governing board reviews the report, it will inform the school district by the first of January if it will be accredited, according to Tyra.

“If so, we will receive our certificate status in the spring,” she said.

The district team will also make recommendations to the school district for improvement. The district has two years to respond to the recommendations.

Benefits to individual schools are that they will no longer have to host individual review teams at their schools when it comes time to renew accreditation, Tyra said.

“Schools will be relieved of a lot of their documentation for SACS, but they will have to keep it for the school improvement teams,” said Tyra.

A school improvement team consists of the principal, teachers and parents. The team meets regularly to “review school data and determine the current needs of the school,” said Tyra. “(Their) mission and focus is on school improvement.”

Tyra said that school administrators are excited about the idea of district accreditation.

“They’re thrilled and I’m thrilled,” she said.

That is true for Karen White, principal at Snow Rogers Elementary School.

“I think it is one of the most powerful things we have ever done as a school system. No longer are we just going through the motions and jumping through hoops at our individual schools to show that we are doing a great job, but now we are working together as a whole,” said White. “We have united to really take a good look at our district and how each individual school is impacting our district – and most importantly, how we are impacting students.”

Tyra said there are other benefits as well.

“This provides a venue for the district office to work together as a team,” she said. “It allows us as a central office to be seen as a unit and provide support for the local schools.”