In one month AdvancEd, an accreditation agency, could be in Wake County to look at the school district. Some school board members believe the agency is looking at too much, and say they are looking at other options.
School Board Member John Tedesco said the district can look at getting accredited by the state or by another agency.
NBC-17 looked at those agencies to see how their policies compare to AdvancEd’s approach.
The U.S. Department of Education recognizes six accrediting agencies across the nation and they each cover a different region.
AdvancEd covers North Carolina, but in recent months the relationship between AdvancEd and Wake County School Board leaders has become strained.
"AdvancEd, at this point, is far-reaching and overstepping the voters in Wake County into district policy making," said Tedesco.
AdvancEd offers two types of accreditation: district-wide or for schools only. Wake County Schools went with the school only option. That is why Tedesco thinks questions about the board are irrelevant.
AdvancEd disagrees and said that is spelled out under its governance policy. That policy states for accreditation: “The board should establish policies and procedures that provide for the effective operation of the school.”
Out of the six accreditation agencies, one has a policy for leadership and organization and five have governance policies similar to that of AdvancEd.
NBC-17 asked all the accrediting agencies if AdvancEd dropped Wake County accreditation would they pick it up? All of them said, not likely.
Tedesco said the board has spoken with other agencies, but would not disclose the names of those agencies. He also said his problem is not with the regulation of governance.
"We are very comfortable with the governance policies. What we are not comfortable with is an organization that goes on a witch hunt hand-and-hand with the NAACP," said Tedesco.
Wake County School Board has been getting heat after it decided to eliminate a diversity policy in favor of neighborhood schools and the resulting civil rights investigation.
AdvancEd was not on the agenda during the school board meeting on Tuesday.
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