You’ve got to give the people at the McComb School District credit. They have an amazing ability to keep things interesting.
Even though he is brand new to the job, superintendent Johnnie Vick showed a flair for the dramatic at the end of the board’s work session last Monday, July 7.
Vick stood up and announced that the state Department of Education had informed him that it was investigating the school district for possible accreditation violations.
He said the problems involve the academic records of students who graduated from McComb High School in 2024. It appears that some students received a diploma without completing all of the required courses.
Vick said the problem is easily fixed, and will require some extra training for the people at the high school who are supposed to keep track of this stuff.
I made a few phone calls, and it sounds like 20 or more of the 2024 graduates didn’t get all of the credit hours they should have.
Apparently, the affected graduates don’t have to worry that the district or the state will demand the diploma’s return until they finish all their courses. It was a mistake, it happened, it’s embarrassing, but it’s not the end of the world, so let’s everybody move on.
Although I do have to ask, in our computerized world, how hard can it be for adults at a high school to keep up with what courses each student needs?
I sure wish somebody had forgotten to make me take calculus my senior year. It was positively tormenting, and my two Ds and two Cs showed it. The only Ds I ever got in my life.
I give Vick credit for answering my questions after the meeting. He didn’t dodge and weave. He spoke plainly even though the subject couldn’t have been any fun.
Having said that, and after several days thinking about it, I do not believe that the Class of 2024’s transcripts are the reason the state Department of Education has been paying attention to McComb lately.
I’m certain of this. If course problems at the high school were the big deal, then state officials would have been over there to find out went wrong.
Instead, they have attended, in person, almost every school board meeting and work session since August. This week marked a full 12 months.
Almost every time, one of the people on hand for meetings is Dr. Jo Ann Malone, the executive director of the Department of Education’s Office of Accreditation. She's not some fresh-faced intern. She has an impressive title and probably an experienced background to match it.
She and any co-workers who are with her even get to sit in during the school board’s executive sessions.
I usually sit near her during the meetings. She is very nice. She can’t discuss anything that she’s working on, and I understand that. Hopefully I am not that nuisance reporter.
There are other hints. The Department of Education also sent several people to McComb, I believe last October, to interview administrators, school board members and other school officials.
It’s just not possible to believe they were asking about 2024 credit hours. Why would they interview the school board about that?
And the state people would not attend school board meetings for a full year over high school schedule oversights. They’ve got to be looking at something else. Maybe multiple things. But they certainly don’t seem to be in any hurry to go public with it.
I hope Vick did a little due diligence when he interviewed for the McComb job. If he did, I hope someone told him, “Oh, by the way, the Department of Education comes to all of our meetings.”
Because it appears something unpleasant lies ahead.
