Four out of five public schools in Charlotte County have received the status of “Fully Accredited” for the 2017-18 school year according to the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), which released the accreditation ratings Wednesday.

Randolph-Henry High, Central Middle, Phenix Elementary and Eureka Elementary all received the fully accredited designation, while Bacon District Elementary School (BDES) was termed as “To Be Determined,” for not having met the state benchmark for English Standards of Learning (SOL) tests, according to the VDOE.

The VDOE also announced federal designations with accountability requirements focused for schools that receive Title I funding to support services for economically disadvantaged students.

Both federal and VDOE ratings are primarily based on Standards of Learning (SOL) tests administered in the 2016-17 school year.

“For a school to earn full accreditation, students must achieve adjusted pass rates of at least 75 percent in English and at least 70 percent on assessments in mathematics, science and history,” VDOE officials said in a press release. “High schools must also meet a benchmark for graduation and completion. Accreditation ratings may also reflect an average of achievement over several years.”

Charlotte County Public Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Nancy Leonard said BDES had been classified as an “Partially Accredited: Improving School.”

“They earned improving status because BDES has made such significant gains and is nearing the benchmark of 75 percent in reading,” Leonard said. “They have surpassed the required pass rate in all other subject areas.”

Leonard said she suspected that the “To Be Determined” classification was because VDOE is performing final calculations on test scores before the official release.

“BDES is a great school and they have made significant achievement gains even as difficult as it is to make fully accredited status with such a small student population,” Leonard said. “BDES is beating the odds and making fantastic gains. I am so proud of Bacon District Elementary. Kudos to (Bacon District Principal Sylvia Lockett) and her wonderful staff and students.”

Last September, Eureka and Phenix elementary schools, Central Middle School and Randolph-Henry High School (R-HHS) all received “Fully Accredited” statuses for meeting their benchmarks in all four subjects. Those school received the same rating Wednesday for this academic year.