Principals at the three Roanoke schools that have consistently failed to meet state accreditation standards will now share part of their decision-making authority as part of a plan approved by state officials this week.

The move comes as the Virginia Department of Education released the latest round of state school accreditation findings Thursday that show that 91 percent of Virginia schools are now fully accredited, as are about the same percentage of Southwest Virginia schools.

Only 17 schools across the region did not earn full accreditation, and eight of those are in Roanoke.

The accreditation process is a state tool for measuring schools that is similar to but distinct from the federal standards used under the No Child Left Behind Act. A school's accreditation status reflects that school's performance on Virginia Standards of Learning tests taken the previous spring. A certain percentage of a school's students must pass the tests in order for the school to be accredited.

Two weeks ago, the Roanoke school system released statistics showing that three of those eight schools, Lucy Addison Middle, Stonewall Jackson Middle and Forest Park Elementary, have failed to earn accreditation for four straight years, even though they have made improvements.

Special committees at the three schools will work with the principals to boost student test scores, according to Vella Wright, assistant superintendent for teaching and learning. The committees will be made up of teachers, administrators, outside experts, parents and the principal, under the plan.

"Anytime you've got a group of educators together who know their content and know what best practice is, you begin to get lots of ideas," Wright said. "It's primarily to generate ideas that will work that perhaps one person on his or her own wouldn't think of."

The committees, which will meet about once a month, already have met at least once, she said.

Robert Johnson, principal at Lucy Addison, said he did not object to sharing authority with the new committee. He said the committee will make it easier for the community at large to have a say in how the school is run.

"I think collaboration is everything between school and home, school and community," he said. "We talk all the time about bridging the gap between school and the community."

The plan also calls on the schools to work with an auditor appointed by the state education department.

The three Roanoke schools are among 28 statewide that presented improvement plans to state officials. Also on the list are Pulaski Middle School in Pulaski County and Maury River Middle School in Rockbridge County.

Five additional schools, all in Petersburg, were denied accreditation this year and are pursuing a separate improvement process with the help of state officials.

This is the third straight year that at least 90 percent of the state's schools have met accreditation standards, a result that pleased state education officials.

"This level of achievement has been sustained by the hard work of thousands of educators and an unwavering commitment to high expectations for all children," said Billy Cannaday, the state's superintendent of public instruction.

Salem, Buena Vista, Lexington and Radford saw all their schools gain accreditation, as did the counties of Roanoke, Bedford, Botetourt, Franklin, Floyd and Giles.

"We're really excited," said Roanoke County Superintendent Lorraine Lange. "It's due to the hard work of our teachers, staff and all of our parents too, who help all of our students."