Board withholds accreditation after SOL problems at Richmond school

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - The state Board of Education unanimously voted to withhold state accreditation for the 2018-2019 school year in the wake of the SOL cheating scandal that rocked Carver Elementary.

The Board of Education is “withholding” the rating because, according to their Public Information Officer, “They don’t have enough information to base an accreditation rating on.”

There are not enough valid SOL tests from students in the school because, according to the Board of Education, the former principal and five teachers were allowing students to cheat on their SOL exams.

An investigation led by the Virginia Department of Education has found that proper protocols have not been followed for several years during Standards of Learning exams at Carver Elementary School.

The investigation was prompted after school board and community members expressed concern in regards to students having high SOL scores in elementary school but go on to fail in middle school.

The principal - Kiwana Yates - was fired after the incident. Three of the teachers named in the report are in an appeals process after being terminated and two teachers gave up their licenses willingly.

Richmond City Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras released the following statement on Thursday:

Every one of our students has the capacity for greatness. As I have shared previously, what most disturbs me about what occurred at Carver is that adults robbed our children of the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities without suspicion. And there are consequences for that, including the withholding of accreditation, which I fully support.

Next week, the Board of Education will release the accreditation ratings for this upcoming school year.

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