Nov. 2, 2005 – Finally, some good news for students in the Virgin Islands; the Middle States Commission on Secondary Schools has reaccredited Central High School and accredited the Education Complex High School.
The reaccredidation for Central came after a three-year struggle that had many ups and downs. Gary Molloy, Central High Principal, said the campus has undergone many improvements, including critical new science labs that were opened for student use on Oct. 21. Molloy was transferred to Central in August, replacing former principal Kent Moorehead.
Judith Gomez, president of the V.I. Board of Education said Wednesday, "I would like to commend the staff and the accreditation committee. So many people worked so hard for this." She added that she thought it was very important that V.I. students attend schools that are accredited.
Kenneth Kastle, deputy executive director for the Middle States, said the commission met last Friday and acted on the recommendations of the visiting teams to the schools and approved accreditation.
All the news was not good, however. Because of concerns raised by the visiting teams, the accreditation period will only be for three years instead of the usual five-year period. Kastle said the schools will be required to make yearly reports and a visiting team will be back on the islands before November 2008 to ascertain whether to extend the accreditation through the full five years.
Kastle couldn't say what the teams' specific concerns were.
V.I. Education Commissioner Dr. Noreen Michael was unavailable for comment on Wednesday, but she said in a press release last week that Central High School had met the final requirements necessary for an accreditation vote by the Middle States Commission. She said, "During the visiting team's visit in May the school received a favorable recommendation toward its accreditation, meeting all 12 national standards."
Ivanna Eudora Kean High School, which also had its accreditation pulled in 2001 by Middle States, was reaccredited in May of this year. However, that accreditation might be in jeopardy. Kastle said that Kean was still going through some of the process. Reports this week indicated that projects with deadlines of Dec. 1 may have trouble being completed on time.
Charlotte Amalie High School, was also reaccredited earlier this year. CAHS, Central and IEKHS all lost their accreditation on Jan. 1, 2002. Education Complex, built in the early 1990s, never sought accreditation until now.
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