Technically, it wasn’t the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) that placed the Monadnock Regional Middle/High School on probationary status last year. It was the Commission on Public Secondary Schools (CPSS), the branch of NEASC that accredits public schools throughout New England. That group consists of education professionals from all over New England who understand the realities of trying to run a school district, not ivory tower types, says Janet Allison, deputy director at CPSS. In this exclusive interview with Kids First Monadnock, Allison explains how the Monadnock Regional School District got to this point, what it will take to retain its certification, and the consequences of inaction.
What is NEASC and CPSS?
We are one of six regional educational accrediting associations in the country. We’re private, nonprofit, voluntary and participatory. Within the association there are six commissions. The Commission on Public Secondary Schools accredits about 660 public high schools and middle high schools in New England.
The commission itself is made up of 26 New England educators from throughout the six states, with at least three from each state. These folks work voluntarily for us. It is the commission that makes the vast majority of decisions about a school’s accreditation.
What does it mean to have an accredited school?
Accreditation means that a school is meeting a set of standards. Those are practitioner based, and they are written by New England educators.
There are three major phases in our decennial cycle. We monitor the schools throughout the ten-year cycle, some more often than others due to accreditation issues they may have.
In year eight of the cycle the school develops a self study. In year 10 the school hosts a visiting committee of peers for 10 days. They write a report based on their findings. Then they use the school self study. Once the [evaluation] report is in final form it becomes an action plan for the follow up process. That is what the commission monitors.
What happens when a school is found to be deficient in some way?
Let’s say that in visiting committee report there are 50 recommendations. Within five years the commission expects that the school will have made reasonable progress and will be close to completing all of them.Every school must submit a two-year report and a five-year report. For each recommendation they must report the extent to which each has been resolved.
If there are some adverse actions such as warning or probation the school will be monitored more closely and the commission will ask for some special progress reports.
What are common misconceptions about accreditation?
Many times they think we are the state department of education. People don’t really know who we are. People often see us as a regulatory organization, which we’re not.
They also see us as a group who are not practitioners. All of us have experience in the schools.
They often think that we as an association are telling them how to fix or remedy the issues. We never do that. We say, “How are you going to remedy the situation?” You need to demonstrate that you’re making reasonable progress.
Last year NEASC placed Monadnock Regional Middle School/High School on probation. Before that it was on warning status. Why can’t we just keep sliding by?
You can’t slide by this time. Once you’re on probation the monitoring is more frequent. There’s only one step beyond probation and that’s termination.
How important is having accredited schools to families moving into a community? To property values?
People are very interested when they are looking to move. The first thing they want to know is the price of the house. What do you think the next thing is that they ask?
“Tell us about the schools.”
Realtors will tell you that it is a factor. The perceived quality of the school has a direct correlation with real estate property values. If there are accreditation issues that are significant, and particularly if a school’s membership is terminated, that has a huge impact.
What happens next at Monadnock?
The school will remain on probation until all of the identified issues have been resolved. Whatever you’re going to do, everything has to be finished before the school is removed from that adverse action.
Who ultimately decides whether Monadnock’s accreditation is terminated?
The commission decides. The 26 public school educators who serve on that commission.
How many other New England schools are on probation today?
On our Web site there is a [probation] roster that identifies all member schools that are on probation. We have almost 670 schools and we usually have no more than 22 to 25 on probation. The vast majority do not get to that point.
Have any other New Hampshire schools had their accreditation terminated?
It is very unusual for schools to lose their accreditation …but it does happen. Every public high school in southern New England is accredited.
In New Hampshire, Thayer High School lost its accreditation and they closed the school. That is the only situation I can think of where the school actually closed.
We had Thayer, then Littleton a few years later. Before Thayer we had Stevens High School in Claremont. They were terminated.
NEASC cited a lack of public support in its review of the High School. What lead the review committee to come to that conclusion?
It’s based primarily on financial support. Part of our visit protocol insists that for any statements made there have to be three sources of evidence. Read passage on page 47 of the Evaluation Report. They heard common messages from four groups plus the self study.
Monadnock hasn’t passed a budget in five of the last six years. We haven’t had a teacher or staff contract in two years. If the budget and teacher contracts were to fail to pass again this year, what affect would that have on our efforts to retain accreditation?
The principal has to report any substantive changes to us within 60 days of the occurrence, if the changes have a negative impact on the schools or programs. If the budget does not pass or is reduced….and has a negative impact, the commission will monitor that. They might even come visit the school.
Monadnock recently completed a master plan for dealing with deficiencies in the High School/Middle School facility. The fixes will be expensive. If a plan is set before voters in 2009 and it is defeated, could that lead to a loss of accreditation?
Potentially it could, but I can’t say that definitively. I cannot project what [the commission] would do. At some point however, the issues will have to be resolved.
What happens if Monadnock’s accreditation is terminated?
To become a member again the school has to provide evidence that is has resolved all of the issues for which it was terminated. Littleton resolved its issues. It did a major renovation, and addition project. It became a candidate, did a self study and just had a visiting committee this fall.
They struggled as community to get support, but they got it.
That’s always the most puzzling thing to me is that usually when [loss of accreditation] happens, suddenly people rally and say now maybe we’ve got to do something.
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