As students in the Meridian Public School District start a new school year today, Superintendent Charlie T. Kent Jr. will be in Jackson testifying before the Commission on School Accreditation.

Shortly before the end of the 2008-09 school year, the district's accreditation status was downgraded from full to advised as a result of the Spring 2008 English Subject Area Test Violation at Meridian High School. Employment of the teacher involved has been terminated and disciplinary action was taken against the school principal and school test security coordinator.

"Everything that the commission or the state board has asked us to do, we have done," Kent said.

The commission will make their recommendations to the Mississippi Department of Education. MDE's decision will be announced in late September or early October.

After his presentation to the commission, Kent will head back to Meridian for the remainder of the first day of what he anticipates will be a successful school year.

"We're ready to get down to business," he said.

Preparations for the arrival of the district's 6,700 students have been ongoing, beginning with the superintendent and MPSD administrators – principals and assistant principals – attending a week-long professional development seminar at Harvard University's Institute for School Leadership in July.

This week, faculty and staff have attended several meetings, including presentations by Dr. Michael Bell, an internationally known motivational speaker from West Chester University of Pennsylvania, and Rucks H. Robinson, a former Pascagoula superintendent.

In addition, Kent said he has been disaggregating testing data with each building administrator and a team from each building to put in place an improvement plan, and have identified those students who can move from their current level to proficiency or advanced.

"We have identified our problems and concerns. What we're trying to do and what everybody has been charged to do is to go back and work in their building and put the plan to work so that we can move the district forward," he said.

The statewide teacher shortage has been identified as a factor in the district's problems in the classroom.

"We have been looking and trying to make sure that we have the best qualified person in a room for our students. We have quite a few teachers in the district who are on an alternative route," Kent said. "They have a degree, but have not done all the work and passed all the tests required for state certification."

Teachers who have not met all state requirements by the end of the 2009-10 school year will not return to the school district the following school year, he said.

Dates have not been scheduled for the public/parent forums Kent has promised, however the meetings will be held after each grading period.

"That means we will have four during the school year," Kent said.

Late October is the expected move-in date for the Ninth Grade Academy on the Meridian High School campus. Until then, the academy's 500 ninth-graders will attend classes at Kate Griffin Junior High School.