. . . as today’s news story suggests:

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.

Other than that, everything in the Petersburg school system is perfectly fine!

Some Petersburg residents reportedly were put out by a piece this department’s Robin Beres wrote about St. Joseph School, which she contrasted favorably with the Petersburg public schools generally. Apparently they were rather hasty. . .