Wake schools lawyer questions accreditation review

AdvancED asked the school board to identify a time when the organization could send a special review team to review recent changes in the school system.

In a response to that request sent Sept. 8, Ann Majestic, legal counsel for Wake schools, asked for clarification of questions AdvancED has and what a review would entail. The school board “has serious concerns about the basis, purpose and scope” of the visit, she wrote.

Specifically, she asked Mark Elgart, AdvancED CEO, how the board’s move to adopt a student assignment policy based on community schools is connected to accreditation.

AdvancED asked for details about the district’s controversial proposal to move away from a decade-old policy of busing students for the purposes of diversity. Majestic wrote, “These requests appear to be aimed squarely at the Board’s substantive conclusion that community schools are in the best interests of Wake County students and families. This is surprising, given that AdvancED accredits individuals high schools within the WCPSS, not the district as a whole.”

If any of Wake County's 24 high schools were to lose their accreditation, it could reflect poorly on graduates who apply for higher education.