News Release
<strong>For Immediate Release</strong>
September 30, 2022

<strong>Contact </strong>

Gina Patterson, executive director

434-295-8722 or <a href="mailto:gina@vsba.org">gina@vsba.org</a>

<strong> </strong>
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Virginia School Boards Association Responds to Release of 2022-23 Accreditation Ratings; Demonstrates Continued Progress and Resilience</strong></p>
<strong>Charlottesville, VA</strong> – Despite the immense challenges experienced due to COVID-19, 89 percent of Virginia’s public schools are fully accredited in the first year of accreditation ratings since the global pandemic began. Although this is a 3-percentage point decrease from three years ago, this data demonstrates continued progress and resilience throughout Virginia’s public education system.

“The school accreditation information that was recently released emphasizes what we know to be true about public education in the commonwealth – it remains strong,” said Teddy Martin, II, VSBA President. “Regardless of the obstacles we’ve faced due to the pandemic, our teachers, students, and administrators have consistently worked hard to make progress. We are extremely proud of their determination and tenacity to beat the odds during these challenging times.”

The Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA) recognizes the rebuilding and recovery efforts of the teachers, staff, and administrators across the state which has allowed students to remain deeply engaged in learning. These accreditation ratings reflect the nuances and residual impacts on learning and instruction over the last two school years.

“Student outcomes are reliant on the collaborative investment in our public schools and 100 percent of the school boards in the commonwealth remain dedicated to advocating for the resources and supports necessary to continue this trajectory of progress,” said VSBA Executive Director Gina Patterson. “While the pandemic has had undeniable lingering effects on our public schools, we also recognize that it is not impossible to overcome. Our focus as an association is to promote excellence in public education and we encourage school boards to continue to provide the necessary supports to the 11% of schools that are not yet fully accredited while modeling the effective practices in the 89% of accredited schools that have maintained progress.”
<p style="text-align: center;"><strong>###</strong></p>
<strong>About the Virginia School Boards Association
</strong>Virginia School Boards Association, a voluntary, nonpartisan organization of Virginia school boards, promotes excellence in public education through advocacy, training and services. The Association offers conferences, information, training, and counseling designed to meet the needs of the Commonwealth’s educational leaders.

&nbsp;