{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-3-104.4","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 70, § 70-3-104.4","heading":"Standards for accreditation","body":"\n\nA. The State Board of Education shall adopt standards for the\n\naccreditation of the public schools in this state according to the\n\nrequirements of Section 3-104.3 et seq. of this title, to be\n\neffective as set forth in Section 3-104.3 et seq. of this title.\n\nThe accreditation standards shall incorporate the curricular\n\nstandards established pursuant to Section 11-103.6 of this title.\n\nThe accreditation standards shall equal or exceed nationally\n\nrecognized accreditation standards to the extent that the standards\n\nare consistent with an academic results oriented approach to\n\naccreditation. The accreditation adopted by the State Board shall\n\nencompass accreditation for elementary schools, middle schools,\n\njunior high schools, and high schools. The accreditation standards\n\nshall be made available for public inspection at the offices of the\n\nState Department of Education.\n\nB. Standards for accreditation adopted by the State Board of\n\nEducation shall include standards relating to the provision of\n\nschool counselors to the public school children of this state. The\n\nState Board of Education shall require each local school district to\n\nprovide information regarding the number of counselors serving each\n\nschool site, the duties of all such counselors including all\n\nadministrative duties, the number of students served by each\n\ncounselor, and information regarding the number of counselors\n\nemployed per elementary school, middle school, junior high school\n\nand high school.\n\nC. 1. Except as otherwise provided, schools shall meet the\n\naccreditation standards as a condition of continued accreditation.\n\nNothing herein shall be construed as preventing changes to the\n\nadopted standards by the State Board of Education pursuant to the\n\nAdministrative Procedures Act.\n\n2. The accreditation standards shall provide for deficiencies,\n\nwarnings, probation or nonaccredited status for schools that fail to\n\nmeet one or more of the standards.\n\n3. The State Department of Education shall investigate a\n\ncomplaint of failure to provide educational services or failure to\n\ncomply with accreditation standards within thirty (30) days of\n\nreceiving the complaint. If the State Department of Education\n\ndetermines that a school has failed to comply with the accreditation\n\nstandards, the Department shall report the recommended deficiency,\n\nwarning, probation or nonaccredited accreditation status to the\n\nState Board of Education within ninety (90) days. Before the State\n\nBoard of Education may change a school district's accreditation\n\nstatus from a warning to probation, or from probation to non-\n\naccredited based on a recommendation by the State Department of\n\nEducation as described in this paragraph, the school district shall\n\nbe given an opportunity to request a hearing before the State Board\n\nof Education pursuant to the due process procedures adopted by the\n\nBoard as provided for in this subsection. The State Board of\n\nEducation shall send the applicable school district notice of a\n\nright to a hearing within ten (10) working days of receiving the\n\nrecommendations. The hearing shall be conducted by the State Board\n\nof Education. All notices shall be sent by certified mail, with the\n\npostmark used to determine the timeliness of the notice. If the\n\nschool district fails to request a hearing within ten (10) working\n\ndays of receipt of such notice, the district's right to a hearing\n\nshall be waived.\n\n4. If a school district does not request a due process hearing\n\nwithin ten (10) working days notice from the Board, and the school\n\nor school district does not take action to comply with the\n\naccreditation standards within ninety (90) days after a report is\n\nfiled by the Department, the Board shall withdraw accreditation for\n\nthe school.\n\n5. The State Board of Education shall promulgate rules\n\nregarding notice and hearing of accreditation status pursuant to\ng\n\nwithin ten (10) working days notice from the Board, and the school\n\nor school district does not take action to comply with the\n\naccreditation standards within ninety (90) days after a report is\n\nfiled by the Department, the Board shall withdraw accreditation for\n\nthe school.\n\n5. The State Board of Education shall promulgate rules\n\nregarding notice and hearing of accreditation status pursuant to\n\nthis section and in accordance with the Administrative Procedures\n\nAct.\n\n6. The State Board of Education accreditation rules shall\n\nprovide for warnings and for assistance to schools and school\n\ndistricts whenever there is reason to believe a school is in danger\n\nof losing its state accreditation.\n\nD. If one or more school sites fail to receive accreditation as\n\nrequired pursuant to this section or subsequently lose\n\naccreditation, the State Board of Education shall close the school\n\nand reassign the students to accredited schools within the district\n\nor shall annex the district to one or more other districts in which\n\nthe students can be educated in accredited schools.\n\nE. Standards for accreditation adopted by the State Board of\n\nEducation shall include standards relating to the provision of\n\neducational services provided in partial hospitalization programs,\n\nday treatment programs, day hospital programs, residential treatment\n\nprograms and emergency shelter programs for persons between the ages\n\nof three (3) and twenty-one (21) years of age. The accreditation\n\nstandards shall apply to on-site and off-site educational services\n\nprovided by public school districts or state-accredited private\n\nschools. Each school which is providing or is required to provide\n\neducational services for students placed in a program as described\n\nin this subsection shall be actively monitored by the State\n\nDepartment of Education. The Department shall determine on an\n\nongoing basis if the educational program and services are in\n\ncompliance with the accreditation standards.\n\nF. The State Board shall provide assistance to districts in\n\nconsidering the possibility of meeting accreditation requirements\n\nthrough the use of nontraditional means of instruction. The State\n\nBoard shall also assist districts in forming cooperatives and making\n\narrangements for the use of satellite instruction or other\n\ninstructional technologies to the extent that use of such\n\ninstructional means meets accreditation standards.\n\nG. 1. Accreditation shall not be withdrawn from or denied nor\n\nshall a penalty be assessed against a school or school district for\n\nfailing to meet the media materials and equipment standards, media\n\nprogram expenditure standards and media personnel standards as set\n\nforth in the accreditation standards adopted by the Board.\n\n2. The provisions of paragraph 1 of this subsection shall cease\n\nto be effective during the fiscal year which begins on the July 1\n\nimmediately succeeding the legislative session during which the\n\nmeasure appropriating monies to the State Board of Education for the\n\nfinancial support of public schools is enacted as law and such\n\nappropriation amount is at least Fifty Million Dollars\n\n($50,000,000.00) greater than the amount of money appropriated to\n\nthe State Board of Education for the financial support of public\n\nschools for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019, pursuant to\n\nChapter 146, O.S.L. 2018. Provided, the Fifty Million Dollars\n\n($50,000,000.00) shall not include any amount of appropriations\n\ndedicated for support or certified employee salary increases.\n\nAccreditation shall not be withdrawn from or denied nor shall a\n\npenalty be assessed against a school or school district for failing\n\nto meet the media personnel standards as set forth in accreditation\n\nstandards adopted by the Board.\n\nH. 1. The State Board shall not assess a financial penalty\n\nagainst any school district which is given a deficiency in\n\naccreditation status during any fiscal year as provided for in this\nbe withdrawn from or denied nor shall a\n\npenalty be assessed against a school or school district for failing\n\nto meet the media personnel standards as set forth in accreditation\n\nstandards adopted by the Board.\n\nH. 1. The State Board shall not assess a financial penalty\n\nagainst any school district which is given a deficiency in\n\naccreditation status during any fiscal year as provided for in this\n\nsubsection.\n\n2. Beginning with the fiscal year which begins July 1, 2021, if\n\nthe amount of money appropriated to the State Board of Education for\n\nthe financial support of public schools including funds apportioned\n\npursuant to Section 426 of Title 63 of the Oklahoma Statutes, is at\n\nleast One Hundred Million Dollars ($100,000,000.00) greater than the\n\namount of money appropriated to the State Board of Education for the\n\nfinancial support of public schools for the fiscal year ending June\n\n30, 2019, pursuant to Chapter 146, O.S.L. 2018, a financial penalty\n\nshall be assessed against any school districts that do not comply\n\nwith the class size limitations for kindergarten as provided for in\n\nSection 18-113.2 of this title and class size limitations for grade\n\none as provided for in subsection A of Section 18-113.1 of this\n\ntitle. Provided, the One Hundred Million Dollars ($100,000,000.00)\n\nshall not include any amount of appropriations dedicated for support\n\nor certified employee salary increases.\n\n3. The State Department of Education shall submit a report on\n\nstatewide classroom sizes to the President Pro Tempore of the\n\nOklahoma State Senate and the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of\n\nRepresentatives no later than January 1, 2022.\n\nI. Except as provided for in subsection J of this section,\n\nbeginning with the 2019-2020 school year, evaluations of schools to\n\ndetermine whether they meet the accreditation standards set forth in\n\naccordance with this section shall occur once every four (4) years\n\non a schedule adopted by the State Board of Education. The Board\n\nmay interrupt the evaluation schedule provided in this subsection\n\nfor reasons including a change in the superintendent of the school\n\ndistrict; determination that one or more school district board\n\nmembers have not met the continuing education requirements as\n\ndefined by this title; determination that the school district\n\nfalsified information submitted to any public city, county, state or\n\nfederal official or agency; initiation of an investigation by the\n\nBoard or a law enforcement agency; or other determination by the\n\nBoard that standards for accreditation are not being met by the\n\nschool district. The schedule adopted by the Board shall allow for\n\nschool districts receiving no deficiencies for two (2) consecutive\n\nyears to be reviewed for accreditation less than annually.\n\nProvided, however, that schools shall be evaluated annually for the\n\npurposes of:\n\n1. Local, state and federal funding;\n\n2. Health and safety;\n\n3. Certification requirements for teachers, principals and\n\nsuperintendents;\n\n4. School board governance, including instructional and\n\ncontinuing education requirements for school board members; and\n\n5. Any other requirements under state or federal law.\n\nJ. Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, if a public school\n\nreceives a deficiency on its accreditation report, the public school\n\nshall be evaluated annually to determine if it meets the\n\naccreditation standards set forth in accordance with this section.\n\nIf the public school receives no deficiencies for two (2)\n\nconsecutive years, the public school shall be subject to the\n\nevaluation timeline established in subsection I of this section.","path":["OK Code","Title 70"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os70.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"4ec1de722c27f1b22030a44a8f16aa771c7607c9f87d0146863fc2a6f60703d8","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-3-104.3","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-3-104.5"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}