All Wyoming public schools, as well as several private schools and institutions, have received accreditation through the State Board of Education and the North Central Association.

However, some education officials still are pushing for more accreditation of schools and school programs throughout the state.

The state board on Tuesday approved accreditation of every Wyoming public school district through an evaluation process the Department of Education undertakes in conjunction with the North Central Association.

For educators, accreditation means that the schools are progressing toward improvement goals and that teachers are properly assigned to subjects in which they are qualified.

For parents and students, the accreditation process serves a more practical goal. Students who attend non-accredited schools generally cannot transfer their academic credits to other public schools, and those who graduate from non-accredited schools may be ineligible for college admission, scholarships and federal loans.

"It's actually a huge issue for parents and students. Accreditation has a certain guarantee, if you will, of quality. It's a quality mark that the programs have been evaluated and an assurance that credits will transfer," said State Deputy Superintendent Annette Bohling. "If you graduate from a non-accredited school, you usually have to sit for a GED, because no one has performed an outside look at programs and can attest to their quality."

In addition to public schools, the NCA and state board also accredited 11 institutional schools, some run by the state and some private. Bohling, however, said she would like to see such accreditation extend further.

"We do have some institutions that do not seek NCA nor state accreditation," Bohling said. "The Wyoming Behavioral Institute does not seek accreditation. That is an issue for any of our schools … if students are court-ordered placed there or enrolled there, it's an issue of transferring credits."

The Wyoming Behavioral Institute, based in Casper, offers substance abuse and mental illness treatment for children, teens and adults. The institute includes an on-site school, though institute CEO Bill Sexton said treatment remains the primary focus of the program and most students spend a limited amount of time in the program.

"In terms of our in-patient programs, you're probably looking at 14 to 17 days. And even our residential program, which is longer, is about 60 days for the average patient," he said. "In many of the other residential programs (around the state), students may stay a year or two."

Cheryl Schroeder, director of the Education Department's educational quality and accountability division, said the length of time students spend in an institutional program like WBI or the also-unaccredited YES House in Gillette, may determine whether that program deems accreditation necessary.

"That helps institutions sometimes decide which way they want to go," she said, adding that sometimes districts can send homework to students through their own home-bound programs instead of depending on the institution's educational programs.

Sexton said that often is the case at WBI, though the institute does offer classrooms with certified teachers and an educational program that has been at least reviewed by the state Department of Education.

"We have the requisites to provide the education," he said. "But the need to grant credits back to the home school is not the same, and that's what accreditation really does."

He added, however, that the institute is considering participating in the next accreditation process, a move Bohling supports.

"It's the best thing for our students," she said. "The point is, (students) cannot afford to lose all that time while being treated. They still have to have their educational needs met."

She praised the other institutions around the state that sought and received accreditation, which included Attention Homes Inc., Big Horn Basin Children's Center, C-V Ranch, Cathedral Home for Children, Jeffrey C. Wardle Academy, Normative Services, Powder River Basin Children's Center, St. Joseph's Children's Home, Wyoming Boys' School and Wyoming Girls' School. Red Top Meadows, a residential treatment program and therapeutic wilderness program for adolescent boys, also received full accreditation but will require a follow-up visit.

Three private schools also received accreditation Tuesday through the NCA: St. Mary's School in Cheyenne and St. Stephen's High and Indian schools in Arapahoe.

Staff writer Jenni Dillon can be reached at (307) 266-0619 or Jenni.Dillon@casperstartribune.net.