COMMONWEALTH of VIRGINIA
Department of Education

March 18, 2011

TO: Division Superintendents

FROM: Patricia I. Wright, Superintendent of Public Instruction

SUBJECT: Pre-accreditation Eligibility (PACE) and Reporting of Other Information Required by the Board of Education

The Regulations Establishing Standards for Accrediting Public Schools in Virginia adopted by the Virginia Board of Education in 2009 prescribe an annual accrediting cycle for schools and require that schools certify compliance with certain provisions of the standards as a prerequisite to accreditation.  8 VAC 20-131-280F states:

As a prerequisite to the awarding of an accreditation rating as defined in 8 VAC 20-131-300, each new or existing school shall document, in a manner prescribed by the Board, the following: (i) the division’s promotion/ retention policies developed in accordance with the requirements of 8 VAC 20-131-30, (ii) compliance with the requirements to offer courses that will allow students to complete the graduation requirements in 8 VAC 20-131-50, (iii) the ability to offer the instructional program prescribed in 8 VAC 20-131-70 through 8 VAC 20-131-100, (iv) the leadership and staffing requirements of 8 VAC 20-131-210 through 8 VAC 20-131-240, and (v) the facilities and safety provisions of 8 VAC 20-131-260.  The division superintendent shall report to the department compliance with this subsection through the pre-accreditation eligibility procedures in 8 VAC 20-131-290.

Additionally, the Virginia Board of Education requires schools and school divisions to report on and certify other requirements not associated with the pre-accreditation process.  This information is also being collected as a part of this process.

The Board has adopted a policy to identify various educational entities in the state that are recognized as "schools" for accreditation purposes. Institutions that do not report fall membership will not be accredited independently; however, facilities that provide instruction for students who are reported in fall membership data at other schools are not fully relieved of the responsibility for meeting applicable standards.

Pre-accreditation eligibility and certain other information required by the Board for the 2010-2011 school year will be entered through the Single Sign-On for Web Systems’ (SSWS) Web-based application named Pre-Accreditation Eligibility (PACE). PACE is accessible at https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/ssws/login.page.do.

Please note the following suggestions that will help to expedite your collection and reporting of PACE information:

1. Follow the instructions for the SSWS application to enter data.

2.  Earlier this year, a contact person in your division reported certain school information through the Educational Registry Application (ERA). To eliminate delays in entering PACE data, please have your ERA contact person ensure that the name and contact information have been entered for the accreditation (PACE) contact person.  In addition, please ensure that the appropriate level of child care ("pre-school" or "school-age" or both) has been indicated under focus areas for each school that operates these programs. NOTE:  Do not report Head Start, Even Start, other educational programs, or programs offered under contract to an outside child care provider.

3. If the ERA contact person determines that information described above has been submitted incorrectly or that no information has been submitted, he or she must correct the information (using the Web-based ERA directions) at least one day prior to entering data in the PACE application.

Anyone entering or reviewing PACE data must have a login and password. Your Single Sign-On for Web Systems’ (SSWS) account manager must assign a login and password to the following individuals:

1. The accreditation (PACE) contact person,

2. Any central office staff responsible for entering or reviewing data, and

3. Any building principal who will be responsible for entering and reviewing PACE data for his/her school.

School divisions will be able to submit PACE data to the department’s database only if the above items are in place. 

Additional information related to entering PACE data:

• PACE information from individual schools is entered through the SSWS PACE application.
• Instructions for answering questions and verification forms are available through the PACE application and at this Web site: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/info_management/data_collection/soa_compliance/.
  Worksheets to assist in the completion of each section of the PACE application are available through the PACE application and at this Web site: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/info_management/data_collection/soa_compliance/.
• In all instances, corrective action plans are embedded in the PACE data that are entered.
• The PACE application will open on May 2,2011, and the division’s data must be submitted to the Department of Education no later than May 31, 2011, in the manner prescribed by the directions on the Web site.
• Five workdays after the due date, the PACE application window will lock. Division superintendents needing to enter data beyond this date must contact Dr. Yvonne A. Holloman, division level support coordinator, at (804) 225-2064 to regain access to the PACE application.
• After all data have been entered, superintendents and school board chairs must sign the verification report and submit this report and a copy of the school’s promotion/retention policy to the Office of School Improvement no later than June 10, 2011. You will access the verification report through a link on the PACE application.  This link will be visible only after all data from all schools in the division have been entered into PACE. These two documents may be submitted by e-mail to  Yvonne Holloman at Yvonne.Holloman@doe.virginia.gov or by fax at (804)786-9763. Please be sure that the division name is on both documents. 

A detailed timeline is attached to this memo that clarifies further PACE data collection activities.  If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Holloman at (804)225-2064 or by e-mail to Yvonne.Holloman@doe.virginia.gov.  Should you have questions regarding the ERA application, please contact ResultsHelp@doe.virginia.gov.

PIW/KMS/YAH/pl

Attachment:

1. Timeline for Pre-accreditation Eligibility (PACE) Data Entry (PDF)