Silver Hill Elementary, an underachieving Haverhill school, could be poised to start making the grade if the state Board of Education follows a recommendation to grant the facility a Horace Mann charter.
The state board on Tuesday is expected to make a decision on the recommendation by Jeffrey Nellhaus, the acting commissioner of education.
For the last two years, principal Themia Gilman has worked to convert Silver Hill from a school that lags behind the requirements of the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act into a charter school with the ability to adequately serve its students. State records show that 54.2 percent of Silver Hill students are from low-income families, while 15.3 percent have special-education needs and 6.8 percent speak limited English. Federal guidelines mandate that test scores show students, especially those from low-income families and those with special needs, "are making steady progress toward proficiency by 2014," Gilman said.
As a Horace Mann school, Silver Hill would receive $450,000 from the state over the first three years of its five-year charter, which would be in addition to the city-funded portion of its budget.
Becoming a charter school would give teachers and school staff the ability to better guide their students' education and increase academic achievement, Gilman said in an interview last week.
"We are under the gun because the DOE is there; they are looking over our shoulder," Gilman said, referring to the scrutiny by the Department of Education since Silver Hill was told to take "corrective action" for failing to meet federal requirements for at least two consecutive years.
Gilman, who has 35 years of experience in education, has spearheaded the effort to transform Silver Hill. She said she planned to attend the state board's meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the Lilla G. Frederick Pilot Middle School in Dorchester. To date, the Board of Education has not rejected a recommendation from the commissioner in regard to granting charters. Currently, 61 charter schools exist in Massachusetts, seven of them Horace Mann facilities, according to the Department of Education.
Nellhaus issued a memo on Feb. 15 endorsing Silver Hill's request for a charter along with those of three other schools: International Charter School of Southeastern Massachusetts, a K-12 school to be located in Brockton; Dorchester Collegiate Academy Charter School, a grade 4-12 school to be located in Boston; and Hampden Charter School of Science for students in grades 6-12 from Chicopee, Ludlow, Springfield, and West Springfield.
If Silver Hill's charter is granted, the elementary school on Washington Street will reopen in the fall to as many as 580 students in kindergarten through Grade 5. Gilman said that educators at Silver Hill hope to implement more student enrichment and after-school programs, as well as offer teachers increased opportunities for professional development.
"It will not be a school that waits for decisions. It will be a school that is research-based and that is action-based," she said, adding that school officials always will be asking themselves, "Who are we? What are we doing? How can we do it better?"
As a charter school, Silver Hill would operate independently from the Haverhill School Committee and be managed by a board of trustees, according to a state fact sheet. The school also would have the power to organize around a core mission and teaching method and would control its own budget and hirings. As a Horace Mann charter applicant, however, Silver Hill had to meet certain requirements, including having the School Committee and teachers union approve the charter. The school also may be exempt from provisions in collective bargaining agreements, but employees are still part of the local union, continue to accrue seniority, and receive, at minimum, the salary and benefits established by the union, according to the Department of Education.
The proposed charter has the backing of Haverhill Superintendent of Schools Raleigh C. Buchanan.
"It will . . . give the freedom of the staff to work with the principal to respond to the needs we probably wouldn't have been able to meet under the traditional approach," he said.
The Horace Mann charter would give Silver Hill access to funding resources and partnerships, Buchanan said, "that we otherwise wouldn't be able to provide." He specifically mentioned joining forces with the University of Connecticut, which has developed a teaching program under its Accelerated Schools Project.
"I feel like this is a new beginning in Haverhill," Buchanan said. "It's a shot in the arm, and it's something our city can take pride in. And I'm looking forward to the results."
Erin Ailworth can be reached at eailworth@globe.com.
