A state judge said Friday that if poorly performing high schools continue to founder, he will close them unless the state replaces their principals and forces sweeping reforms. Durham's Hillside and Southern are among the 19 schools in jeopardy.

Wake Superior Court Judge Howard Manning Jr., who oversees North Carolina's long-running court case on school quality, directed education leaders to crack down on the schools. Manning told the state's two top education officials that he has lost patience.

"Superintendents and principals have run out of room and run out of time," Manning said in a 17-page letter to state Superintendent June Atkinson and Chairman Howard Lee, of the State Board of Education. "The state is clearly and ultimately legally responsible."

Gov. Mike Easley said in a statement that it's up to local school systems to avail themselves of state resources: "The judge's letter makes it clear that he expects local school officials to take advantage of the programs provided by the state to help them."

Manning has been warning state leaders since 2004 that dozens of high schools are falling short of constitutional mandates to give all students adequate educational opportunities. In May, he said several high schools in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg district were committing "academic genocide."

Easley directed the state board to send "turnaround teams" to nearly four dozen high schools during the current school year. Ten Charlotte-Mecklenburg high schools were the first to get the extra assistance.

Information was unavailable Friday from the Department of Public Instruction about the more than 30 other schools also slated for help.

"The impact of the teams hasn't been seen yet," said Seth Effron, Easley's deputy press secretary.

Manning's intervention dates to his 2002 ruling in the Leandro lawsuit over school funding. That ruling spelled out what constitutes the "sound basic education" required by the state Supreme Court: a competent, well-trained teacher, an effective principal and sufficient resources.

In his letter Friday, he blamed the low performance of about 44 high schools on poor leadership in the principals' offices, not on a lack of financial support.

"The major problem with these schools lies within the category of school leadership, not money," he told Atkinson and Lee.

Under his latest directive, principals would be replaced in schools where passing rates on state tests remained at 55 percent or less in all of the past five years, including the 2005-06 year.

Those schools also would be required to begin reform plans modeled after the small-school approach promoted by the state's New Schools Project, supported with a $10 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The smaller high schools can be carved from larger ones and are typically oriented to a particular career theme, such as health sciences or technology.

The fate of the 19 schools that have failed for four years running hinges on their performance this year.

Manning said the schools "will not be allowed to open" in the fall without the state board's approval of both the new principal and the plan for redesign.

Gail Heath, chairwoman of the Durham school board, said the district has been making a concerted effort to raise achievement at Hillside and Southern. "The system is working furiously to improve the performance of those students," Heath said.

Manning's action was welcomed by education leaders who have advocated for poor districts.

"The state can't be serious about fixing schools if they can't do what the judge is saying," said Gerry Hancock, a lobbyist for a group representing poor districts. "You would assume that the powers that be would swing into action and avert any crisis in the fall. If that doesn't happen, the state has a very serious problem."

Rep. Doug Yongue, a Democrat from Laurinburg and a House education leader, said he applauded Manning's action.

"Any time you find a successful school system that's doing what they're supposed to be doing, you're going to find competent principals and a competent superintendent," Yongue said.