The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI) Quality Assurance Review (QAR) team has recommended that the Carroll County School District be considered for continued accreditation. The recommendation was a part of the External Review Teams exit report at a called board meeting on March 5, 2014.

Mr. Mike Griffin, SACS CASI Education Specialist, chaired the six-member QAR team that reviewed the district’s performance on meeting the criteria of the seven SACS CASI standards. The QAR team conducted a three-day visit for the purpose of collecting and reviewing evidence to measure the system’s performance.

The six team members spent the first day engaged in a overview of district performance, interviewing the superintendent, board members, district leaders, principals, parents and community stakeholders. The second day, the team visited six schools: Bowdon Elementary, Sharp Creek Elementary, Temple Elementary School, Central High School, Mt. Zion Middle School and Bay Springs Middle School. During the school visits, the team members observed classrooms and interviewed teachers and students. The third day of the visit was spent finalizing the teams recommendation for SACS CASI.

The exit report including the recommendation for continued District Accreditation was presented by Dr. Griffin to the superintendent and Board of Education at the called board meeting. The QAR team commended the district on the 12 For Life Program and the impact it has had for students of Carroll County as well as the districts efforts to improve communication. An area for improvement shared by the team was the continued development of a consistent framework to ensure every student has an assigned adult advisor each year. And the only required action from the team was for the system to refine its codification of the district professional learning plan each year. Dr. Griffin stated that SACS CASI will provide a published report to the district within 30 days, with the final notice of continued accreditation coming this summer. The school district will use the recommendations from the QAR team to continue efforts for improvement.

SACS Members Pictured: (Speaking) Dr. Mike Griffin, SACS Chair, (Front row left to right) Mr. Anthony Chiles, Ms. Adria Griffin, Ms. Paula Steele, Mr. Jared Hosmer and (not pictured) Ms. Suzanne Cottrell.