USD 480 Begins the 2022-2023 School Year Under “Conditional Accreditation”

At the culmination of the 2021-2022 school year, USD 480 reached the end of its KESA 5-Year
Accreditation cycle. The Kansas State Board of Education voted on July 12, 2022, to approve the
recommendation from the Accreditation Review Council and grant USD 480 the status of
“Conditionally Accredited.”

Beginning in August, USD 480 will begin a new 5-year Accreditation cycle under the
“Conditional Accreditation” status from the Kansas State Department of Education. The State
Board of Education requires each school district to be assigned an accreditation status based
upon the extent to which it has met the criteria established by the State Board of Education.
The “Conditional Accreditation” status means USD 480 remains in good standing with the
Kansas Board of Education and either did not provide conclusive evidence of growth in student
performance or was not able to provide conclusive evidence of an intentional, quality growth
process.

“An accreditation process like KESA provides an external review of the school district. The
information helps us assess where we need to focus our efforts and resources as we move
forward,” said Dr. Todd Carter, superintendent.

According to the KSDE website, KESA is the K-12 accrediting model for Kansas, dedicated to
creating systemic change in school districts by reaching goals in five areas: social-emotional
factors measured locally, kindergarten readiness, individual plans of study, high school
graduation and postsecondary success. The process encourages redesigning school systems for
continuous improvement.

Based on the KSDE Accreditation Review Council report, USD 480 assuredly demonstrated
significant gains in meeting the expectations of the Kansas Vision for Education and State Board
Outcomes. The recommendation for conditional accreditation was because of an increase in
chronic absenteeism and a decline in state assessment scores.

“We received valuable feedback during our accreditation cycle and have used it to make
adjustments as well as plan for the next five-year cycle,” Carter said.