RALEIGH -- The organization that accredits Wake County’s high schools will send a team to Raleigh next month to conduct a special review of the school district’s elimination of the socioeconomic diversity policy.
The special review team from Advancing Excellence in Education Worldwide, or AdvancED, will be in Raleigh from Jan. 12-14 to meet with school officials and community groups, according to Jennifer Oliver, a spokeswoman for the Georgia-based accreditation organization.
Based on a complaint from the state NAACP, AdvancED is conducting a review of nearly every major decision made by the school board since last December, including the elimination of the diversity policy and the move to community schools.
AdvancED has also requested documentation on a variety of other matters, including requiring tickets for seats at board meetings, building a high school in Rolesville instead of on already purchased land in northeast Raleigh, contracts between the board and lawyer Thomas Farr and the cost of ending the mandatory year-round schools policy.
Some school board members have questioned whether AdvancED is exceeding its authority by reviewing policies that go beyond its accreditation of the district’s 24 high schools.
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nitially, board members had been reluctant to turn over documentation to AdvancED, prompting the group to threaten to immediately remove accreditation if it didn’t get the material by Oct. 1. But after a hastily called special meeting in September, the board agreed to turn over the documentation.
Loss of accreditation could impede students' bids to be admitted to some universities and to receive financial aid for college.
School board member Chris Malone said the review should be fine unless AdvancED attempts to dictate policy to the elected school board.
“If they tell us how to run the show, it’s beyond their purview,” Malone said. “It’s unconstitutional. It’s un-American.”
