(a) When requested the Commissioner of Education shall issue a certificate of accreditation to a parochial or private school if he finds that the building and equipment, and the curriculum and teaching personnel of the school, have an efficiency substantially equal to that required in a public school of like grade. Any school having a certificate of accreditation shall display it in some conspicuous place in school, as evidence of compliance with the requirements of the compulsory school attendance provisions of this title, and all other applicable provisions of law.
(b) The Commissioner of Education shall not issue a certificate of accreditation pursuant to subsection (a) of this section until and unless the Commissioner has conducted a qualitative review and assessment of, and has approved of, each program or course of study offered by the school, institution, or other such educational facility, and the Commissioner has determined, based upon information submitted to him, all of the following:
(1) the school has facilities, financial resources, administrative capabilities, faculty, and other necessary educational expertise and resources to afford students, and require of students, the completion of a program of education that will prepare them for the educational objective the school professes to offer, including but not limited to, a degree, a certificate of graduation, a professional or technological career, or preparation for continued education at other educational institutions; and
(2) the curriculum is consistent in quality with curricula offered by similar public schools in the Virgin Islands; and
(3) the course or program offered achieves the professed claims and academic objectives of the school with verifiable evidence of this achievement.
(c) The Commissioner of Education may recognize a certificate of accreditation from recognized regional accrediting agencies (i.e. Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools) in lieu of conducting his/her own accrediting procedure, and participating schools would be required to submit to the Commissioner, required updating documents outlined by the accrediting agency.