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Has anyone done any work with North Central Accreditation? NCA has recently joined with Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement and as far as I can tell there are no requirements now for librarians in the districts that are North Central Accredited (new standards effective 2007/08). My position was always a bit sketchy (district librarian providing release time at the two elementary buildings and no time at the middle school or high school) but now that NCA has no requirements and budgets are tight my position has been eliminated. I will be working in a fifth grade classroom next year and all the libraries will be run by support staff. Needless to say I am very disappointed. Anyhow, I was just wondering if anyone had any insight with NCA staffing requirements - maybe I just missed something that I can point out to our administration. Thanks everyone. It's been great being a part of LM_Net over the years. Kelly Sandy Newaygo Public Schools Newaygo, MI ksandy@newaygo.net -----Original Message----- From: Terrance Bynum [mailto:dpsmediaman@CHARTER.NET] Sent: Tuesday, June 05, 2007 11:03 PM To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU Subject: [LM_NET] HIT: Staffing ratios Here's the hit--thank you to everyone that responded. I did NOT use more than one response from each state. The original post... With budgets being cut all over the country, I'd like to target which states have staffing ratios mandated by state law or state education department regulations, and what those ratios are--if you know. MN--no longer any mandates. 1 librarian mandated per 1000 students for New York state middle and high school students. Here in Massachusetts we have recommendations but no mandates. The only reason my job is safe at the high school is because NEASC, our accrediting body, requires one fulltime library media specialist to maintain accreditation. Massachusetts School Library Association is working with the DOE to get some teeth into the printed State Standards. Our standard says 1 librarian and 1 full-time aide for every 500 students. It was 1 librarian for every 800 students but was changed to reflect in increasing demands on librarians. These are standards but are not enforced by the DOE. Oklahoma has definite guidelines in Accreditation Standard VII. Here is the link: http://title3.sde.state.ok.us/library/Standardvii.pdf Here is the link to Maryland's standards, staffing is one of the things mandated, as is collection size and facilities. http://www.mdk12.org/share/standards/statemed.pdf Alaska has no mandated requirements. Thank heavens ours in Montana are some of the strongest in country. Part-time req. under 250 kids, 250 to 500 1 full time, 500 to 1000 is 1.5, over 1000 is 2. That is at every level k-12. We have recommendations, no mandates in Missouri You can look at this for Tennessee, but I can tell you that some of these "requirements" go unmet every day. There's not much teeth in this. And especially in small schools, the "librarian" is often a teacher who wants out of the classroom. http://www.discoveret.org/tasl/tnstatereq_slmc.htm North Dakota has staffing ratios mandated by DPI. In order to remain accredited, a school must provide a library media specialist, unless the total school population is less than twenty-five, in which case the school must provide DPI with a library media services plan that designates what access students have to library resources and services. Credential requirements are based on the size school that is being served. I hope this is what you were needing. Rule 10 mandates 1/5th time elementary school librarians in Nebraska. Middle school and high schools are required to have 1/2 time librarians. My position was cut to 1/2 time two years ago...after 30 years of being fulltime. I serve two elementary schools. A fulltime librarian covers the middle school and high school. We each have a fulltime aide. I've been told by an administrator, but not seen in writing, the following info for NJ. Only Abbott schools MUST have a certified library media specialist in each building, while all the other schools in NJ need to have, as a minimum, one certified librarian PER DISTRICT. Staffing ratios in Michigan are set by local district contract Librarians are mandated only at the HS level in CT. Our regional accrediting body; NEASC suggests one librarian for every thousand students but, I don't think the state has a regulation for how many librarians you should have as long as you have one. Still I know several large high schools that have 2 librarians. My library has 2. We have a student population of about 1600. The other HS in the district has about 1400 kids and they have 2 librarians as well. Here in Indiana, we don't have library staffing ratios mandated to us. It's up to the school system and their prorities. (and budget.) We are only required by the state to have a certified school librarian in the high schools. However, I believe most middle schools have them as well. (Rhode Island)There is talk of revising our state standards. The following standards are considered state law now: Elementary: no librarian required for schools with fewer than 100 students 1 1/2 days a week in schools with fewer than 250 students 1/2 time librarian in schools with 250 - 499 students full-time librarian in schools with 500 - 999 students Secondary: 1/2 time librarian in schools with fewer than 250 students full-time librarian in schools with 250 - 499 students full-time librarian plus a full-time clerk in schools with 500 - 999 stud 2 full-time librarians plus a full- time clerk in schools with over 1000 students There shall be additional clerical assistance for enrollment beyond 1500 students More details are on line at: http://www.ri.net/RIEMA/BEP/bep.html So far as I can tell there is no state regulation requiring any libraries or librarians in schools in Delaware - let alone any staffing levels. Terry Bynum Media Specialist Stowe Elementary School Duluth, Mn. Terrance.Bynum@Duluth.k12.mn.us -------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. You can prevent most e-mail filters from deleting LM_NET postings by adding LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU to your e-mail address book. To change your LM_NET status, e-mail to: listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL 3) SET LM_NET MAIL 4) SET LM_NET DIGEST * Allow for confirmation. * LM_NET Help & Information: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ * LM_NET Archive: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/archive/ * EL-Announce with LM_NET Select: http://elann.biglist.com/sub/ * LM_NET Supporters: http://www.eduref.org/lm_net/ven.html -------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note: All LM_NET postings are protected by copyright law. 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