SA: I’ll comment on this later, thought it was relevant, so I will post the whole thing for now. We are already hearing the rumblings of these same threats here in Dracut.

Eagle Tribune

The accreditation shuffle is underway again in North Andover.

The former educators and school administrators who constitute the New England Association of Schools and Colleges issued another warning on the high school’s accreditation. Surely, that will help the current educators and administrators running North Andover’s schools make a case for more money from the town’s taxpayers.

This game has been going on in Massachusetts ever since the passage of Proposition 2 1x2 set limits on tax increases. When towns are at their levy limits, it’s difficult for school supporters to get the large budget increases they desire without a Proposition 2 1x2 override.

But taxpayers are reluctant to pass overrides unless there’s some kind of crisis threatening the community. No crisis, no override.

Hello, New England Association of Schools and Colleges …

The NEASC is more than happy to provide the threat to a high school’s accreditation that is sure to whip school spending advocates into a frenzy. The often-heard threat is that students who attend a high school that has lost its accreditation won’t get into college. Their futures will be ruined!

But ask college admissions officers about high school accreditation and they’ll shrug indifferently. We’ve yet to hear of a single individual being denied college admission because their high school didn’t meet NEASC standards.

North Andover High is in a kind of off-again, on-again relationship with NEASC. The high school was placed on warning in October 2006. NEASC’s warning told officials to reduce class sizes and find more money for teachers after a series of budget cuts.

But the agency lifted the warning in October 2007 after several appeals by former Principal Susan Nicholson and approval of a $1.65 million Proposition 21x2 override.

Agency officials then visited the high school later that month.

The high school was placed back on warning in June based on the agency’s visit last October.

Principal Carla Scuzzarella, much to her credit, is not calling for a massive new infusion of cash. Scuzzarella is asking the agency to withdraw the warning, arguing that many requested improvements already have been made. New scheduling and course offerings will expand the opportunities available to students.

It is ludicrous for any agency to suggest that the education provided to North Andover students is somehow inadequate. High school students outperform state averages on standardized tests. According to the state Department of Education, 75 percent of the Class of 2007 planned to go on to four-year colleges and universities.

School Committee member Stanley Limpert seems to have the right attitude toward the NEASC. At last week’s meeting, he applauded the work that’s been done at the high school in the past year.

“I feel comfortable. I feel like we’re headed in the right direction,” he said of the warning. “Maybe I don’t care as much as I would a year ago.”