Wareham High School remains accredited following a mandatory review, but has been given a "warning" status, meaning the school could be placed on probation and eventually lose its accreditation if administrators do not complete a number of prescribed recommendations.

Wareham High School Principal Scott Palladino and Assistant Principal Debbie Freitas discussed the review with the School Committee on Wednesday, April 26, and discussed their plan for tackling the recommendations.

The problem, however, is that fixing many of the recommendations would require funding that the school does not have available, officials explained.

Wareham High School has been accredited by the Commission on Public Secondary Schools of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) since 1960.

Accreditation is a process completed by an independent agency which ensures that schools are providing a high-quality education and therefore that students' diplomas will be recognized by colleges and potential employers.

NEASC-accredited schools undergo a mandatory review process every 10 years. Wareham's review began with a self-study and culminated last October when a NEASC committee visited the school for several days. Now Wareham must work on the committee's suggestions.

NEASC rates schools on: core values, beliefs, and learning expectations, curriculum, instruction, assessment of and for student learning, school culture and leadership, school resources for learning, and community resources for learning.

Wareham High School received 46 commendations in the review and 44 recommendations.

Among other things, NEASC commended the school for:

• Illustrating its core values — scholarship, craftsmanship, sportsmanship, and citizenship — through the "Viking Ships" icon
• Its "dedicated and committed" staff members
• Requiring students to complete a portfolio of their work in order to graduate
• "The spirit, pride, and respectful culture throughout Wareham High School that results in a sense of community for both students and adults"
• Instituting a formal, ongoing advisory program
• The development of teams to support students who need academic interventions
• The librarian's effort to raise funds in support of the library and media services
• The clean, well-maintained building and grounds
• "The many community partnerships that strengthen learning opportunities"

Though referred to as "recommendations," Wareham High School must complete all of the committee's 44 suggestions in order to remain accredited by NEASC. One-third of those recommendations must be completed within 18 months.

"A roll-out committee was established as soon as we got the final" report, Palladino told the School Committee, "so we can attack the area that we need to attack."

The 44 recommendations were divided into three categories:

1. Suggestions that can be completed right away, without additional funding
2. Items that will take both time and money
3. Recommendations that require 100% funding

Of the recommendations, administrators determined that there are 10 they can address right away, 18 that will require both time and money, and 14 that will require 100% funding.

"We're trying to figure out what needs to be hammered right now, what we can deal with right now with the budget that we have," Palladino said.

NEASC, however, will soon send a list of the recommendations it considers a priority, and administrators will need to work on those things before the 18-month deadline.

Wareham High School has five years from the time the accreditation review process first began to complete all of the recommendations. That timeline gives the school approximately 3.5 years from now to have everything done.

Among the recommendations:

• Establish a short- and long-term plan for the development and revision of the school's curriculum
• Provide the school's professional staff with "sufficient personnel, time, and financial resources" for the development and evaluation the curriculum
• Secure "sufficient funding to upgrade technology, equipment, instructional materials, and supplies" that support teachers in their delivery of lessons
• Ensure that student load and class-size enables all teachers to meet the learning needs of individual students in all courses
• Update the print collection in the library
• Provide an "adequate supply of working computers" for access to the school's electronic library and media resources
• Ensure "adequate staffing" so that the school can offer classes that are tailored to students' interests and course requests
• Provide permanent space for the programs housed in portable classrooms
• Replace/repair the leaky roof
• Increase parental involvement

Many of the other recommendations involve giving teachers more time to work on lessons, curriculum, and instructional issues both alone, with their fellow teachers, and with administrators.

With cuts of more than 20 teachers throughout the district on the horizon if a Proposition 2½ override that would provide funding to avoid layoffs is not put on a town-wide election ballot and approved by voters, administrators say they are worried about completing all of the recommendations.

Also proposed are Proposition 2½ debt exclusions to fund textbooks, technology, and repairs to the high school roof, which would need to be approved by voters, but would also help the high school address some of the recommendations. (April Town Meeting, which reconvenes on April 30, also weighs in on the override and debt exclusions. The textbook debt exclusion has already cleared that hurdle. For more information, click here.)

The high school could lose six teachers without the override. If teachers are laid off, the high school must report a "substantive change" to NEASC, which could ultimately lead to the school being placed on probation sooner, Palladino said.

Schools that are placed on probation publicly appear as such on the NEASC website, www.neasc.org.

Though Wareham High faces many challenges in addressing the recommendations, officials said they were pleased with the NEASC committee's positive comments.

"I think that one of the things that's coming through loud and clear is that despite limited resources, it's incredible what we actually are doing at the high school," said School Committee member Cliff Sylvia. "We'd be remiss if we didn't say this is a team effort in terms of getting the job done."

With the status of any increased funding uncertain, School Committee member Rhonda Veugen said: "I would like to look into creative ways to solve many of the issues," adding that the school should approach the recommendations with a "never-give-up attitude."

Palladino said the staff will address the areas that can be fixed at this time and address the list of NEASC priorities once it arrives.

"We are accredited. We had more commendations than recommendations," noted Palladino, who is in his second year as principal of the school. "It's important to remember that ... this didn't just happen overnight and we're not going to fix this overnight."