Franklin Co. Schools Receive Five Year Accreditation

By MJ Kneiser, WLHR Radio, Lavonia

The Franklin County School System wins accreditation for another five years.

“The external review team is recommending to the AdvancedEd Accreditation Commission that the Franklin County School System earn the distinction of district accreditation for the five-year term that expires June 30,2019,” said SACs team leader Dr. Kathy Spencer.

That was the conclusion of the external review team from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Accreditation or SACs.

The group gave internal school review team leaders an overview of their findings Wednesday during a special called meeting of the Franklin County School Board.

External review team chair Dr. Kathy Spencer is a retired school superintendent from North Carolina.

She and four other educators from Georgia and North Carolina reviewed the school system’s education plan and also interviewed both teachers, staff, parents, and other members of the community during a week long visit.

On Wednesday, Dr. Spencer told the school board the external review is the second part of a comprehensive review process begun by teachers and staff themselves.

“This process is just one part of the accreditation process,” she said. “The district has already done their own internal review. Your schools have done an internal review of their processes. So, this is just a culmination of what has already begun in this school system.”

Spencer outlined what she called three domains that her review team looked at, which consisted of five different standards, including areas such as student assessment, improving priorities, educational quality, and finally the accreditation recommendation.

Spencer’s team interviewed 164 stakeholders both inside the school system and in the community.

One area where she said Franklin County school leadership has excelled is in using social media to engage the community and communicate more effectively with parents, which she believes helped raise the graduation rate.

“Your graduation rate did not go unnoticed,” Spencer said. “You have put in some hard work. Your superintendent has embraced communication that meets the needs of all of her stakeholders. There was a time when you just sent home a piece of paper and that was enough, but today it’s different.”

Spencer said some parents said some teachers and leaders are doing the same thing.

“That is so powerful,” she said. “So when you talk about how about increasing graduation rates, you talk about how you can communicate and get people engaged in education so they see the value.”

According to Spencer, the staff at Franklin County has increased the graduation rate in ways that others could benefit from.

“We really wanted to make sure that you were aware that does not go unnoticed and others could learn from what you have done,” Spencer said.

Under their recommendations, Spencer suggested the school system work on developing student advocates for all students, but especially for those needing extra help.

The review team also recommended teachers and staff review their processes regularly and continue to work on the system’s technology plan.

Spencer said like learning itself, educating students is a continuous process.

“This external review is not a way to say you’re done. It’s ongoing. Things are different from what they were five years ago and they will be different five years from now. Another crew will come back and they will look at things again. It will be a constant journey of looking at how we ensure that all of our children get the very best. And we know that is why you’re here today,” she said.

Afterwards, School Superintendent Dr. Ruth O’Dell thanked her staff and teams from each school for their hard work on the internal review process.

She then handed out certificates of appreciation for each team member.