One set of records for SB 848 and your CAIS/WASC visit

California independent schools seeking accreditation must consider some new expectations from this year. In addition to compiling evidence that demonstrates to CAIS/WASC how your school runs, state law SB 848 added safety policy duties for private schools.

Fortunately, much of the evidence for both is already in your front office. It sits in attendance, leave passes, dismissals, and emergency rolls. With the right platform, you can collect and store most of this information and have it at your fingertips when you need it, using your regular day-to-day processes.

How accreditation works in California

In California, accreditation is voluntary, but most independent schools opt to become accredited. Whether you’re seeking accreditation or not, the state requires private schools to file a Private School Affidavit. This must be filed between October 1 and 15 each year, but it’s important to remember that it does not approve or accredit your school. Accreditation is how you show your standards to families, colleges, and your own community.

When it comes to accreditation, you’ll likely encounter two acronyms frequently: WASC and CAIS. ACS WASC, the Accrediting Commission for Schools (often shortened to just WASC), is the regional K-12 accreditor. CAIS, the California Association of Independent Schools, is the member association for independent schools and runs its own peer-reviewed accreditation on a seven-year cycle.

Many schools hold both accreditations. A joint CAIS/WASC cycle lets you prepare one self-study and host one visiting team.

What SB 848 asks of your school

Last year, on October 7, 2025, Governor Newsom signed SB 848. It brings independent schools into California's child abuse prevention framework for the first time. Most of the updated framework came into effect on January 1, 2026. The updates for independent schools include:

• Written safety policies by July 1, 2026. You must document written policies that promote safe environments for learning and engagement. They must include professional boundaries between students and adults.
• Facilities supervision. Your independent school must also have written policies, plans, or specifications for school facilities that address easy supervision of classroom and non-classroom spaces.
• Mandated reporters. Employees, governing board members, certain volunteers, and contractors who have contact with or supervise students are designated mandated reporters. They must complete annual training within the first six weeks of the school year or of their employment.
• Hiring updates by July 1, 2027. These updates include expanded employment history checks, disclosure of substantiated misconduct, and participation in a statewide misconduct database.

Contact your counsel to confirm how each item applies to your school.

Where your daily records come in

While SB 848 does not directly refer to attendance, it’s connected via supervision. A written policy details how your staff supervises students. Your daily records show that it’s happening.

California already requires independent schools to keep an attendance register. Under Section 48222 of the California Education Code, your attendance register must record every absence of a half day or more. That register, along with leave passes, dismissal records, and the rolls your staff take during practice emergencies, shows how your school runs on an ordinary day.

A CAIS/WASC self-study and visit are built around showing how your school operates. Records you already keep are a direct way to show it.

Build one evidence file

Building an evidence file may sound daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. You can set it up in an afternoon and keep it current as the year goes on.

1. Confirm each SB 848 policy is adopted, dated, and filed where your leadership team can find it.
2. Next to each policy, name the daily record that shows it in practice.
3. Ensure that your attendance register captures every absence of a half day or more.
4. Decide who owns each record and where it lives.
5. Save sample records from a regular week before your visit is scheduled.
6. Ask your counsel to review how you describe your obligations.

By using a platform built into your everyday routines, you save time and energy while making it easy to compile the vital evidence you need for accreditation. A school safety platform that integrates with your SIS can not only help keep students safe, but also save you time on admin in other areas.

Where Orah fits

Orah keeps these records in one place, so you are not pulling them from a paper sign-out sheet, a spreadsheet, and a group chat. Here is what that looks like day to day:

• Real-Time Attendance. The live roll shows every student, every period, updated as staff marks them.
• Emergency Rolls. You launch an emergency roll from anywhere, and staff account for their group from a phone, wherever they are.
• Attendance Insights and Alerts. You identify and address attendance concerns before they become bigger issues.

The records sit together in Orah, so your evidence file draws on one source. Since everything feeds from the attendance records, you always have a clear, accurate picture of where students are. Your front office sees the same data as teachers, so there’s never anything to reconcile. Just by taking attendance daily, as you normally would, you’re helping to build your evidence file without extra work.

Orah does not replace your policies or your counsel. It keeps the daily record accurate, so your policies have something to point to.

See how it works

Join us on November 18 to see how Orah gives your team one picture of where students are, from the first bell to dismissal. You’ll not only see how two LA independent schools (Brentwood and Crossroads) use Orah for attendance, to prepare for emergencies, and to know where students are, but you’ll also have a chance to ask questions about what using Orah looks like day to day.

Be sure to register so we can send you the recording, whether you’re able to join us for the live event or not.

Register for the webinar