MRHS accreditation warning: The NEASC letter that started it all

Ten years after the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) placed Monadnock Regional Junior/Senior High School on warning status, the district still hasn’t resolved its facilities-related problems that threaten the accreditation status of the school. This fall the NEASC team returns for a full accreditation review. This time around, the district must meet a new set of Standards for Accreditation.

Why hasn’t the district lost its accreditation or been put on probation, the next step toward losing accreditation? At key junctures the school was able to report that plans had been made to address the problem. That included a plan for a new high school and a plan for a 22-classroom addition in 2004. Both were rejected by voters. Last year the district hired a consulting engineering firm to determine whether innovative scheduling could overcome a decade-long overcrowding problem. The report showed that to meet state and NEASC standards the district needed to come up with 22 more classrooms.

Below is a verbatim list of concerns that prompted the NEASC to put the Monadnock Regional High School/Middle School on warning status.

• The 100% room utilization in the school that includes four modular classrooms.
• The lack of specific classrooms for 95% of the teaching staff.
• The limited size of most classrooms to support the school’s mission
• The substandard science laboratories
• The use of classrooms that were formally workrooms or closets and which lack windows and appropriate ventilation.
• The over-crowded drafting classes in which the teacher at times teaches two classes simultaneously.
• The lack of available time for junior high school students to use the computer room.
• The lack of auditorium space to hold more than one third of the student population.
• The high level of auditorium use which does not allow time for junior high school productions or performances.
• The significant overcrowding of the music room with as many as 200 students during one period.
• The lack of appropriate equipment for students enrolled in the tech ed class.
• The lack of confidential areas to work with special education students.
• The inadequate size of the locker rooms.
• The sharing of locker rooms amongst junior high school and high school students.
• The lack of available time for junior high school students to receive more than nine weeks a year or physical education.
• The lack of space in the nurse’s office.
• The use of closets as offices by the guidance specialist, the athletic director, and the special education supervisor.
• The inability of guidance counselors to hold meetings with parents and students in their offices due to space limitations.