BY OLYMPIA MEOLA

Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

It's been nearly two years since Petersburg schools entered into an agreement with the state to make drastic changes to a failing school system.

Today, five of its seven schools are still unaccredited; unlicensed teachers are teaching core subjects and there are questions about whether some middle school students who are already on a pre-GED track are missing mandated Standards of Learning tests.

Of all Petersburg public school students who take the GED, the state believes about 51 percent pass. The state average is 72 percent.

The state's assistant superintendent for assessment and reporting, Shelley Loving-Ryder, presented those and other revelations today to a concerned state Board of Education during an update on Petersburg schools.

"It's very hard to understand how you're going to move the needle for the kids in the Petersburg public schools," Board President Mark E. Emblidge told Petersburg Superintendent James M. Victory.

"We, like you, just do not want to think of another year, another month of kids not having all that they need to be successful in Petersburg."

Loving-Ryder reviewed Blandford Academy's alternative programs, including the pre-GED program, in response to board members' inquiries.

Victory said the report on Blandford Academy was hard to hear but that he would investigate conditions the state could not confirm because of incomplete data -- such as whether middle school students on the pre-GED track are taking their SOL tests.

"We know there are concerns," he said. "We ask the same questions of why and how."

Victory told board members that the district's preliminary SOL scores look promising and that scores on every grade he has seen are improving. He has made changes this school year aimed at bolstering academics and helping teachers, including more instructional resources and freshman orientation.

John Hart, president of the Petersburg Citywide PTA, said he was unaware of the Blandford Academy issues but said he has seen steady improvement in the school system in his 2½ years with the PTA.

"Everybody sees it as you're always failing," said the father of two Petersburg students. "We're not quite there but we've made drastic improvements over the last several years."

Stonewall Odom, father of two high school students and one middle school student in Petersburg schools, said change can't come soon enough. He worries about the city's high school graduates who are competing against students from other areas for college.

"There are children that are falling through the cracks on a daily basis," he said, adding that many changes have been "cosmetic."

The stakes for progress are high. Petersburg's agreement with the state requires that all seven schools achieve full accreditation this year. Vernon Johns Middle is already working with an outside support group through the state Department of Education on its accreditation status. J.E.B Stuart Elementary School and Peabody Middle School could fall in alternative governance if they don't meet state accreditation.

Some board members were not soothed by Victory's assurances. Andrew J. Rotherham said he was dissatisfied with what he perceived as a lack of urgency.

"There are enormous problems and I don't want to underestimate ... my view of the severity of this situation," he said.

Victory says his administration has implemented about 60 percent of efficiencies recommended by an advisory panel ahead of the January 2009 benchmark.

As for academics, he said in the next four weeks "we may not be fully accredited with all seven schools but I will guarantee you we will be better than we were 10 months ago."

Contact Olympia Meola at omeola@timesdispatch.com

Staff writer Juan Lizama contributed to this report.