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Troubled Vallejo High School Under Close Watch By Accreditation Commission

VALLEJO (KCBS) — Bullying, student safety, and poor academic achievement are issues confronting Vallejo High School as a regional accrediting association said it's keeping close watch after issuing a negative report about the school.

Troubled Vallejo High School Under Close Watch By Accreditation Commission

Last year, the Solano County Grand Jury issued a report entitled "Safety at Vallejo High" that painted a negative and disturbing picture of the school. Then, this year, the Visiting Team from the Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges observed student bullying and spoke with other students who said they didn't feel safe at school.

Dr. Fred Van Leuven, the executive director of the Commission, said that in a worst-case scenario, accreditation could be pulled.

"It would be dependent on the work that they do. If the school stops making progress or it becomes really—having an issue, they could lose their accreditation. The commission reserves the right," he said

Such an action, Van Leuven said, could affect the entire school community.

"Students that would be going to be able to get into a UC system would not have an accredited A-G course list and so…there is a great deal of impact," he said.

In the report, based on observations made in the spring, some students said they had been robbed in the hallways.

"Students reported that in many classrooms, students swear at their teachers and 'nothing happens to them' so it makes them feel unsafe especially since the situation could escalate," the report adds. "They also feel that the campus supervisors and administrators do not all enforce the rules equally and some not at all and (students) want consistency, accountability and transparency with behavior."

Dr. Alana Shackelford, a Vallejo School District spokeswoman, said that the school has gone through an overall in the administration with one new principal and three new vice principals. She also said they are aggressively addressing the issues that were raised by the accreditation commission.

Van Leuven also said that observers will be at Vallejo High in another year to look for progress.

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