County schools receive accreditation
In a packed-out room at the Franklin County Board of Education on Wednesday, board members, teachers and administrators heard the words they had been waiting to hear for the past two years: “We will recommend the Franklin County School System for accreditation.”
Those words were spoken by Dr. Gerald Cooper, chairman of the AdvancED – formerly known as Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) – Quality Assurance Review team, when he finished his oral presentation for the large crowd of people awaiting the news.
Over the span of three days, the QAR team listened to presentations, observed learning environments, visited each school in the district and interviewed 268 individual administrators, board members, teachers, parents, students and community members to receive the best overall picture of the kind of district the Franklin County School System had.
After analyzing all the data and information they had been given, the QAR team rated the school system on seven standards.
The Franklin County School System received “Highly Functional” ratings, which is the highest rating a school system can receive, on the standards of Governance and Leadership, Teaching and Learning, Documenting and Using Results, Resources and Support Systems, and Stakeholder Communications and Relationships.
The Franklin County School System also received “Operational” ratings, which is the second highest rating a school system can receive, on the standards of Vision and Purpose and on Commitment to Continuous Improvement.
The system did not receive any below average ratings on the standards.
In addition to the high ratings, the school system received several commendations for areas the QAR team felt the district excelled in.
“Starting from the leadership at the top and working its way through the system is an expectation and a standard of forming personal relationships and connections,” Cooper said. “It’s something we saw across the board.
“The personal way that administrators interact with teachers and teachers with students and so on impacts student achievement and their ability to learn.”
The QAR team commended FCS for their wide array of interventions at all grade levels designed to improve student achievement.
“This district goes way above and beyond in taking the data from a student’s test results, narrowing it down, and finding out what kind of program the student needs to be more successful,” Cooper said. “This makes a huge difference in the way a student learns.”
Copper said the way FCS has pursued and secured outside funding for their students’ needs is “unparalleled.”
“And ‘unparalleled’ is the strongest word we could think of to describe the way that funding is secured here,” Cooper added. “You all are reaching out and securing millions of dollars in grant money for your students and that’s huge. It really makes a big difference.”
Finally, the QAR team commended FCS for fostering effective relationships and communication among stakeholders by partnering with community-based businesses, forming collaborations, and providing outreach to the community.
“By reaching out to the community you are allowing the community to reach out to you in return, and that makes a difference with these kids,” Cooper said.
There were only two required actions the QAR team felt the district should improve on.
The first was to develop a clear district vision statement that defines the district and guides the decision making process.
The second was to develop a comprehensive district plan using a compilation and analysis of district-wide data to provide strategic direction for schools, departments, and services. The plan should align district and school improvement plans and initiatives, and be clearly aligned to the district’s mission and vision.
Franklin County Schools Superintendent Gary Williams said the two actions were something they planned to develop before the two year deadline given to complete them.
“Dr. Cooper said when he asked different individuals what the vision for the Franklin County School System was, everyone stated the vision statement for their particular school,” Williams said.
“We will work to create a vision that everyone knows and is familiar with and we will tie our district strategic plan to the QAR team’s continuous improvement plan so that we will have a unified district concept.”
Williams said he is proud of the excellent ratings the school system received and said it’s no doubt thanks to the efforts of all the personnel employed in the system.
“We have been preparing for this accreditation for the past two years and almost everyone in our school system has been involved in that preparation,” Williams said. “I’m especially grateful to (fedral programs assistant) Tilda Sumerel for the outstanding job she did in coordinating this event. The team members kept commenting on how organized and efficient everything was and that was due in large part to her hard work.”
“The good report we received just confirms to me that our personnel, administrators and teachers are doing the job they’re supposed to be doing,” Williams added.
“Three of the team members told me that if they lived in Alabama, they would be sending their children to a school in our system. That’s one of the highest compliments we could have received that these people evaluating our schools would feel comfortable enough to send their own children here. It’s a testament to the kind of system we have.”
FCS will receive the written report from the QAR team in less than 30 days.
The QAR team will submit their report and recommendation for accreditation to the AdvancED Accreditation Commission who has the final say. The next meeting of the AdvancED Accreditation Commission will be this summer and, if approved, FCS will receive their official letter of accreditation at that time.
