DURHAM - Parents, school administrators and the Durham school board got some much-needed signs of encouragement late Thursday when a state leader commended the district's plans to improve two of its underachieving high schools.

Earlier this year, a judge threatened to shut down Hillside and Southern high schools if students don't start to show academic improvements. Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning pressed the schools for immediate plans of action, and those plans were outlined at the Durham school board's monthly meeting Thursday.

Among those who spoke was former state Sen. Howard Lee, who is chairman of the State Board of Education and is working with more than 40 schools that state officials say need dire improvements, or else.

"This is one of the more pleasant visits I'll be making," Lee said. "I cannot tell you that any [other] plan rises to the level of these."

Principals from both Hillside and Southern joined a state administrator to discuss their immediate improvement goals. Many of the plans will be implemented today, as students are returning to class.

Starting immediately, Hillside will issue every student ID badges that show which lunch period a student is supposed to attend to combat skipped classes.

"We have students who like to take multiple lunches," Hillside Principal Earl Pappy explained to the school board. Now students will have to show ID before wandering into the cafeteria, and that simple step could make up for a lot of lost instructional time, Pappy said.

At Southern, a "Ninth Grade Academy" will operate to ease the sometimes rough transition from middle school to high school. Instead of mingling among upperclassmen, freshmen and all their core classes will be nestled in one hallway. They will have a common team of teachers who will coordinate lesson plans and share notes on each of their students.

"The teachers will really have a chance to bond with the students," Principal Rod Teal said. "We're hoping this closeness they develop with the kids will really pay off in the end."

Many of the other plans both Teal and Pappy addressed were common to both schools. Both principals want to push better parental involvement and hope that the district's plans to hire a systemwide parent involvement coordinator can bring more parents into the schools.

Both Teal and Pappy talked about getting more community members to invest in the schools, too.

That shouldn't be hard with Hillside's rich history in Durham and many successful alumni who are willing to help, Pappy said. Their knowledge and loyalty to the school has been underutilized, he said.

Teal and Pappy addressed a series of other issues, from working harder to keep teachers to giving teachers more training.

After their plans were outlined, relief rolled across the faces of some school board members.

"I could barely contain myself," board member Kirsten Kainz said. "People, it sounds like everything is coming together."

Enthusiasm was the tone for much of the meeting, as the school board reviewed a report on its growing program for gifted and talented students. Over the past two years, the number of students enrolled in honors classes has increased 20 percent, according to a report by two district administrators. Since the 2004-05 school year, enrollment in advanced placement and international baccalaureate courses increased 61 percent, according to district figures.

The board also approved a $700,000 contract, at least part of which is grant-funded, to bring 14 social workers and nurses to 10 Durham schools on a full-time basis. Schools where many students have trouble learning because their basic needs -- food, clothing and basic health care -- aren't being met will benefit from the new positions.