Accreditation ratings show Danville Public Schools needs improvement

by Elizabeth Tyree & Itinease McMiller

Mon, September 30, 2019 at 5:05 PM

Updated Tue, October 1, 2019 at 6:22 PM

DANVILLE, Va. (WSET) -- The Virginia Department of Education released accreditation and the results show Danville Public Schools need to make some improvements.

Only two schools out of 11 have maintained their accreditation over the past three years: Forest Hills Elementary and Galileo Magnet High School. The district standard of learning, or SOL scores, have been decreasing in areas like reading, writing, history and math.

The district has seen some improvement in school accreditation. An accreditation is an official recognition that a school is maintaining educational standards and goals that are usually set by the state.

Based on Department of Education results during the 2017-2018 accreditation year, seven Danville Public Schools were denied their accreditation, one was partially accredited, and two fully accredited. For 2018-2019, six schools were accredited with conditions and five fully accredited.

That number dropped to just two fully accredited schools and nine accredited schools with conditions for 2019-2020. Dr. Stanley Jones has already requested additional assistance from the Virginia Department of Education.

In a letter last month he said he'd like the department to conduct a division-level academic review for a deeper analysis of their strengths and opportunities of growth.