91-31-37.  Accreditation recommendation and appeal.
(a) A written recommendation regarding the accreditation status to be assigned to each school shall be prepared annually by the state department of education.  Each recommendation shall include a statement of the reasons for the recommendation.

(b) The state department of education's recommendation shall be submitted to the local board of education of the school district in which the school is located.

(c) If the local board of education disagrees with the recommendation, the local board may file an appeal with the commissioner of education within fifteen days after receipt of the recommendation.  Except in regard to a recommendation for accredited on improvement, the local board of education may raise any issue and present any additional information that is relevant to its appeal.  If the recommendation is for accredited on improvement, an appeal may be filed only if the local board of education believes that a statistical or clerical error has been made in regard to the recommendation.

(d) (1) If the local board of education files an appeal, a consultation shall be ordered by the commissioner and shall be conducted by an appeal team appointed by the commissioner.

(2)  The appeal team shall consult with one or more staff members who made the recommendation and one or more representatives of the local board of education.

(3)  If there is agreement on the recommendation following the appeal, the appeal team shall forward the accreditation recommendation to the commissioner for submission to the state board.

(4)  If there is not agreement on a recommendation following the appeal, the appeal team shall request the commissioner to appoint a hearing officer to conduct a hearing and forward an accreditation recommendation to the state board.

(e)  Each recommendation for accreditation status shall be acted upon by the state board.

This regulation shall be effective on and after July 1, 2005.  (Authorized by and implementing Article 6, Section 2(a) of the Kansas Constitution; effective July 1, 2005.)