District Accreditation

Overview

The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) is responsible for annually accrediting all school districts in the state. Accreditation contracts have a term of one year. CDE will send districts individualized accreditation contract templates annually if the contract needs to be renewed or upon request. Signed contracts (by the superintendent and local board president) are due back to CDE, and then are signed by the commissioner of education and the state board of education chair.

November 2022 Update:

Districts Accredited with Insufficient State Data, Improvement, Priority Improvement or Turnaround: Before the end of the calendar year, it is time to update the 2022-23 accreditation contract for districts and BOCES that operate a school.. The accreditation contract will be made available to superintendents via DocuSign and must be signed by both the district superintendent and the local school board president by Wednesday, December 28,2022. CDE will reach out once the State Board of Education finalizes district accreditation ratings (i.e., November for districts not participating in request to reconsider, December for districts participating in request to reconsider). 

Districts Accredited or Accredited with Distinction:  If requested by the district or local board, a customized accreditation contract will be made available to superintendents via DocuSign; district superintendents and board presidents will have until Wednesday, December 28,2022  to complete it. Otherwise the existing contract will be automatically renewed. Contact accountability@cde.state.co.us to request an updated contract. CDE recommends that a new contract be signed when there is a new superintendent and/or board president.  Otherwise, contracts must be signed at least every five years if the district remains at the Accredited or Accredited with Distinction levels.

 Once completed, the Commissioner of Education and State Board of Education Chair will sign the contracts.  

If you have questions, please email accountability@cde.state.co.us.