By Lindsay Tice,Staff Writer

AUBURN – Edward Little High School has earned full accreditation, winning praise from experts for its course offerings, assessments, administration and staff.

But the group that reviewed the school warned Auburn that it needs to update and expand the 40-year-old building. If it doesn’t make reasonable progress, Edward Little’s new accreditation could ultimately be put on probation.

Accreditations are used to ensure students and colleges that the high school meets certain basic standards for education. Edward Little began the extensive accreditation process two years ago. This winter, a group from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges visited Auburn to tour the facilities and talk with students, staff and teachers.

School officials received the group’s final report late last month. In it, Auburn was commended for nearly 30 aspects, including its well-designed alternative school, Edward Little’s alignment to state standards, the high school’s favorable student/teacher ratios and the wide range of health and counseling services available to students. The group also praised Auburn for seating students on the school committee and for involving parents, faculty and staff in school issues.

“The accreditation report, I thought, was just excellent,” said Principal Jim Miller.

But in the same letter, the group said it had serious concerns about the aging school and the lack of community resources dedicated to it. It cited Edward Little for outdated science labs; poor kitchen facilities; inadequate media center, performing spaces and athletic training rooms; an inefficient heating system and the presence of damaged asbestos tiles in the cafeteria. It also said the school was not clean enough.

The group said it was troubled to learn that the city was spending less and less on education and that this year’s school budget had been cut by $1.4 million.

School officials disagreed with a couple of the group’s concerns, including the damaged asbestos tile, which they say doesn’t exist, and the school budget cut, which they say happened in the draft budget, not the final version.

Officials plan to respond to the report and correct any inaccuracies they see. But Superintendent Barbara Eretzian said the report does back something school officials have been pointing out for years: Edward Little needs work.

“We need to get back to being able to support our facilities and make changes,” she said. “This just supports what we’ve been saying.”

Eretzian brought up the accreditation concerns when she presented next year’s proposed budget to the City Council on Tuesday night. But no money is set aside in that budget to fix the school.

The accreditation group awarded Edward Little its accreditation but placed the school on “warning status” for the facility problems. It requested a special progress report next January and asked for short-term and long-term plans that address the building’s problems.

According to the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, schools can be placed on probation if they fail to make reasonable progress. The group said such probations are rare.

An Auburn master plan committee will begin meeting next week to discuss the future of Edward Little and the city’s other schools. Eretzian said officials will consider their options, including asking for state help to fix up the school in phases or establishing a charitable foundation to funnel donations to schools in need.