W. Va. Code R. § 126-13-7

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 50, December 13, 2024

Section 126-13-7 - School System Approval

7.1. Purposes. County board of education leadership, policies, management, and support provided through the superintendent and the school system staff impact student performance and school effectiveness in each school in the school system. The WVBE directs a school system approval process through the OEPA to improve school system quality. The approval process is designed to achieve three purposes:

7.1.a. provide a statewide mechanism for rating the overall quality of each school system based on the performance grades of each school within the school system;

7.1.b. implement a method of publicly reporting school system quality to parents and communities, the Governor, and the West Virginia Legislature; and

7.1.c. ensure that each school system fulfills its responsibility to provide a thorough and efficient system of education in each school within the school system.

7.2. Measures and Levels.

7.2.a. Levels. School systems can achieve one of four approval levels. The levels specified in W. Va. Code § 18-2E-5 are Full Approval, Temporary Approval, Conditional Approval, and Nonapproval.

7.2.a.1. Full Approval. A school system with Full Approval has all schools within the system earning a C or above performance grade or for those below a C, each is demonstrating acceptable annual improvement according to the WVAS.

7.2.a.2. Temporary Approval. A school system with Temporary Approval has a school or schools falling below a C performance grade and one or more of those school(s) has not made acceptable annual improvement in student performance according to the WVAS. The school system must revise its strategic plan to address the deficiencies affecting performance of those schools and submit this plan for approval to the WVBE within 90 calendar days of Temporary Approval notification.

7.2.a.3. Conditional Approval. A school system with Conditional Approval has a school or schools falling below a C performance grade and one or more of those school(s) has not made acceptable annual improvement in student performance according to the WVAS. The school system has a revised strategic plan approved by the WVBE that addresses the deficiencies in schools having less than a C performance grade and is following the timelines established in that plan. The school system remains on Conditional Approval status until all schools in the system are at or above a C performance grade or those schools below a C performance grade are showing acceptable annual improvement as defined by the WVAS.

7.2.a.4. Nonapproval. A school system may receive Nonapproval status when schools within the system are persistently low performing and when other condition sexist as described in Section 8.3.b. of this policy.

7.3. Review Processes. Beginning school year 2016-2017, all West Virginia school systems participate in cyclical reviews under the direction of the WVBE and managed by the OEPA.

7.3.a. Purposes of Cyclical Reviews. The cyclical review of school systems achieves the following purposes:

7.3.a.1. verifies State Code and policy compliance within the central office of the school system and in each individual school;

7.3.a.2. provides the county board of education feedback on the overall quality of each school within the county as measured by Policy 2322;

7.3.a.3. analyzes resource, facility, and capacity building needs in each individual school and within the school system;

7.3.a.4. identifies prevailing school system strengths and weaknesses to inform system strategic planning; and

7.3.a.5. identifies school and/or school system best practices.

7.3.b. Cycle and Schedule. At least every four years, all West Virginia school systems and each school within the school system participate in a cyclical on-site review. The on-site review is conducted by an external team of educational professionals managed through the OEPA. The on-site reviews are scheduled according to RESA location, with all school systems within the RESA visited during the same cycle. Two Regional Educational Service Agencies, hereinafter referred to as RESAs will be visited each year during a regular four-year cycle. Schedules for conducting reviews are devised by the OEPA and approved by the WVBE. In addition to cyclical reviews the WVBE may conduct special circumstance reviews pursuant to Section 13.5.c. of this policy. The WVBE may at any time alter or adjust the cycle and schedule of on-site reviews.

7.3.c. Processes. The school system on-site review process operates according to the same tenets as those guiding individual school reviews:

(1) focus on student performance,

(2) transparent standards and policy expectations, and

(3) support for local decision-making and strategic planning. The sequence of the review process includes the following:

7.3.c.1. Notification and Preparation. At least one month prior to the on-site review, the OEPA notifies the county superintendent of schools of the specific dates for the school system review. The county superintendent is provided an overview of the schedule, logistics, and expectations.

7.3.c.2. Pre-Meeting. Prior to the on-site review, the OEPA meets with the leadership of the school system. During this meeting, the school system provides an orientation regarding the school system mission, goals, improvement priorities, and needs. The OEPA provides a review of the final schedule, expectations, and procedures.

7.3.c.3. School System Review Protocol. The school system review is conducted by team members with expertise in school system operations, related policy, and Code. The OEPA team conducts interviews, reviews the system policy manual, examines core documents such as countyboard of education minutes and the school system strategic plan, and evaluates any other documents, reports, information or data that verify school system compliance with Code and policy.

7.3.c.4. Exit Conference, Preliminary Report, and Final Report. At the conclusion of the accreditation review, an exit conference is conducted with the county superintendent, countyboard of education president (or designee), school principals, and other school personnel, as feasible. During the conference, preliminary findings are reported. This report summarizes school system compliance with policy and Code and includes a profile of each school. The school profile reports include summaries of (1) school compliance with Policy 2322; (2) individual school compliance with policy and Code; (3) findings related to verification of school performance grades; (4) efficiencies, resource, facility, and capacity building needs; and (5) best practices. School and school system staff are provided opportunity to address any inaccuracies or omissions in the report. Within 30 days of the onsite review, the OEPA communicates the findings and recommendations to the county superintendent and county board of education. Recommendations are those areas that may be considered by the school or school system for future improvement action. Findings are those areas that must be addressed by the school or school system according to timelines established by the WVBE. Within a reasonable amount of time after the on-site audit, the WVBE reviews the OEPA report and (1) confirms or modifies performance grades of schools, (2) confirms or modifies the approval level of the school system, and (3) identifies findings with timelines that must be addressed by the school or school system with corrective action.

W. Va. Code R. § 126-13-7